On the July 4, 2012 episode of NXT, Parker teamed with Nick Rogers in a losing effort against Corey Graves and Jake Carter. He was then initially used as a jobber on NXT and was defeated by the likes of Roman Reigns and in a tag team match with Mike Dalton against The Ascension, before suffering an injury that kept him out of action for several months. Parker returned to NXT in July 2013 with a new hippie character, beginning a feud with Tyler Breeze that saw the two trading wins over several months. Although intended to be a fan favorite, Parker's hippie gimmick was largely unpopular and he was turned heel for the first time in his WWE career as a result on the February 12th, 2014 edition of NXT, berating the fans for not getting behind him, calling them "Sheeple", and blaming them for the growing issues with the environment. He would tweak his character to that of an eco-warrior who berated fans for damaging the environment. Parker beat Tye Dillinger in January 2014 but was then largely unsuccessful, losing to main roster stars like Antonio Cesaro, The Miz and The Great Khali, as well as a defeat by Mojo Rawley at NXT Arrival.
Parker began a feud with Xavier Woods, defeating Woods twice on NXT before resuming his losing streak against Adrian Neville. At NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way, Parker was squashed by Baron Corbin in Corbin's official debut, and he then suffered further losses to Corbin and Breeze in the following weeks before losing to the debuting Kevin Owens at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution. During the match, Parker legitimately broke Owens' nose with a palm strike, himself suffering a deep gash to the hand. On the February 18 episode of NXT, Parker attempted a protest due to him not appearing at NXT TakeOver: Rival. However, he was attacked by the debuting Solomon Crowe. His final televised appearance was in a losing effort to Hideo Itami on the taped in advance April 22 episode of NXT.
On March 31, 2015, it was reported that Parker had left WWE after requesting his release from the company. WWE later announced that he officially confirmed his release on April 3, 2015.