NXT Season 2 Runner-Up: Michael McGillicutty
The runner-up in the second season of NXT’s challenge format was none other than Michael McGillicutty. McGillicutty was accompanied by WWE pro Kofi Kingston. In his first NXT match, on June 15, 2010, Kofi Kingston and Michael McGillictty would defeat Lucky Cannon and Mark Henry. McGillicutty would amass a record of six wins – the most out of anyone on this season of NXT – and four losses.
As previously mentioned, McGillicutty would debut alongside Husky Harris in an effort to join Wade Barrett’s Nexus stable. The two would eventually find success, where McGillicutty would form a tag team with David Otunga and win the WWE Tag Team Championships. They would later lose the belts to Air Boom (Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne).
In 2011, McGillicutty would return FCW/NXT, where he would find mixed success. This would lead to his eventual repackage and debut on the main roster in 2013.
On the May 20, 2013, edition of WWE Raw, McGillicutty would make his entrance under the name “Curtis Axel”. With Paul Heyman as his new manager, Axel would face Triple H in his first match back on the main roster, winning by knockout after Triple H suffered “concussion-like symptoms”. This would lead to Axel going on a massive winning streak over the likes of Triple H, Chris Jericho, and John Cena. He would win the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Payback later that year. He would hold the strap for 155 days before losing it to Big E Langston on Raw later that year.
Later on, Axel would find himself in a short-lived tag team with Ryback, dubbed “RybAxel”. This team would see moderate success, but would never lay claim to championship gold.
Axel would later find himself in The Social Outcasts, a team of enhancement talent in WWE who were looking to make a name for themselves. This team, while arguably entertaining, did not amount to much.
In June 2017, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas would rekindle their Social Outcast days as members of The Miz’s entourage. Axel and Dallas would aid The Miz in his defense of the WWE Intercontinental Championship, eventually turning on The Miz in April 2018.
Now on their own, Dallas and Axel would be known as “The B-Team”. Under this moniker, the pairing would win the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships from Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy at Extreme Rules 2019. They would go on to lose the belts to Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre, ending their reign at 50 days.
On April 30, 2020, Curtis Axel would be cut from the company, with WWE citing budget cuts as the primary reason. Curtis Axel would wrestle final his match two months prior in a five-minute loss to Daniel Bryan on SmackDown. Currently, you can find Axel residing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is still active on social media, however, there is no telling what is in store for the recently released performer.
