All NXT Champions Ranked - From Worst To Best
The list of men to hold the big X is impressive to say the least.
The NXT Championship was established in the summer of 2012, when then-commissioner Dusty Rhodes (RIP) announced a tournament to decide the first champion of his show. The tournament included four NXT chaps and four main roster blokes, and holy moly does it show how thin the roster was.
The first round saw Seth Rollins defeat Drew McIntyre, Jinder Mahal best Bo Dallas, Richie Steamboat go over Leo Kruger, and Michael McGillicutty beat Justin Gabriel. To think, an eight man tournament in NXT today could feature Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Austin Aries, Andrade Almas, Bobby Roode, Finn Bálor, Hideo Itami, and Oney Lorcan.
Yes, in the four years that the title has been active, a lot has changed, but in those four years only eight men have had the honour of holding the NXT Championship aloft. The average reign has lasted an impressive 180 days - practically six months. It is a championship that is treated with the utmost respect, to say the least.
The eight men to hold the title truly read as a 'Who's Who' of NXT's finest superstars, from its beginnings all the way to the indie-darling current age. Who has been the finest NXT Champion to date? The title of this piece says 'From Worst To Best', but 'Worst' isn't a fair description. Who has been the least awesome?
Read on to find out.
8. Samoa Joe
Now, this isn't to say that Samoa Joe has been the worst NXT Champion to date. The simple fact is that we are far too early into his run at the top of the brand to properly judge his reign. There's every chance that Joe will go on to become the greatest NXT Champion in the brand's history, but for now this remains pure speculation.
Joe has been champion for 80 days and counting, after beating Finn Bálor for the belt at a live event back in April. This was the only NXT title change to take place outside of a television environment. He has since defended it against the deposed Demon, and a showdown with Shinsuke Nakamura looms large on the horizon.
How will Joe's reign rank in one year's time? We'll have to wait and see.