SAnitY

After a series of cryptic vignettes teasing the stable, it was announced on October 4, 2016 that "**Sanity**" would debut on WWE's *NXT* brand as part of the second annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, although the nature of the group and the identity of its members remained anonymous. In the first round of the tournament on the October 12 episode of *NXT*, the stable made their debut, appearing as four hooded individuals. Alexander Wolfe and Sawyer Fulton were the first to unmask, and faced the team of Tye Dillinger and Bobby Roode, winning their first round match after Roode walked out on his partner. After the match, Eric Young and Nikki Cross revealed themselves as the last two members of the stable.

The following week on the October 19 episode of *NXT*, Cross made her in-ring debut against Danielle Kamela; she originally won the match, but continued to assault Kamela afterwards, forcing the referee to reverse his decision. Wolfe and Fulton went on to defeat T.J. Perkins and Kota Ibushi in the second round of the tournament on November 2, but were eliminated by TM61 in the semi-finals on November 9.

Shortly after the tournament, Fulton suffered a torn pectoral. He was subsequently written off. On November 30, after Sanity teased that Fulton was no longer associated with the group after Young stomped on Fulton's jacket before kicking it out of the ring, Damo was teased as a potential new member of Sanity by attacking No Way Jose, but he threw away Fulton's jacket. On January 18, right after Tye Dillinger refused to join Sanity, Damo, now using the name Killian Dain, officially joined the group by attacking Dillinger and accepting Fulton's jacket. Fulton never re-appeared on television, and was ultimately released by WWE on November 3, 2017.

At NXT TakeOver: San Antonio, Young defeated Dillinger, while Cross was unsuccessful in capturing the NXT Women's Championship in a fatal four-way match won by defending champion Asuka. Dillinger continued his feud with Sanity, gaining new allies with No Way Jose, Roderick Strong, and the debuting Ruby Riott. The eight-person feud culminated at NXT TakeOver: Orlando, where Sanity defeated Dillinger, Strong, Riot, and Kassius Ohno (a replacement for Jose, who was attacked earlier in the night by Sanity). Sanity's feud with Dillinger ended on the April 19, 2017 episode of *NXT*, when Dillinger, who had recently been drafted to *SmackDown*, had his last *NXT* match, where he defeated Young in a steel cage match. At NXT TakeOver: Chicago, Young suffered his first pinfall defeat to Roderick Strong whilst Nikki Cross once again failed to win the Women's Title in a triple threat match against Asuka and Riot.

After a series of confrontations between Sanity and the NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain throughout July, it was announced on August 2, that Dain and Wolfe would face the champions for the titles at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III. At the event, Wolfe started the match, but instead of tagging Dain in, tagged Young, effectively making him his partner; Wolfe and Young defeated The Authors of Pain, becoming NXT Tag Team Champions. Following the celebration, they were attacked by Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, who formed The Undisputed Era with Adam Cole later the same night. Dain subsequently also defended the titles under the Freebird Rule, but was not recognized as champion.

On the September 20 episode of *NXT*, Sanity helped Drew McIntyre against The Undisputed Era, thus turning the stable face in the process. At NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Young, Wolfe and Dain faced The Undisputed Era and the team of The Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong in a WarGames match, the first one in twenty years, but ultimately lost when Young was pinned by Cole.

On the December 20 episode of *NXT*, Young and Dain lost the NXT Tag Team Championships to Fish and O'Reilly. At NXT TakeOver: New Orleans on April 7, 2018, Dain unsuccessfully competed in a six-man ladder match to determine the inaugural NXT North American Champion against EC3, Lars Sullivan, Ricochet, Velveteen Dream and eventual winner Adam Cole.

On the April 17, 2018 episode of *SmackDown Live*, a vignette aired to promote Sanity's debut as part of the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up. Later in the night, it was revealed that Cross would be staying on *NXT* as a singles competitor. On June 19, Sanity made their debut on *Smackdown Live*, beating down The Usos prior to their scheduled tag match, turning back to heels. At Extreme Rules, Sanity defeated The New Day in a six-man tag team tables match. Following that win, the stable was nearly completely absent from television for the remainder of the year. On the April 2, 2019 episode of *SmackDown Live*, all three members of Sanity were defeated by The Miz in a handicap falls count anywhere match. During their year on *SmackDown*, they did not win a single match as a team.

The team disbanded on April 15, 2019, when Young was drafted to *Raw* during 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up. On April 20, 2019, Wolfe debuted in the *NXT UK* brand, teaming with Marcel Barthel, Fabian Aichner, and Walter to form a stable called Imperium. Dain returned to *NXT* at a live event on May 16.