10 Best NXT Champions Of The Black And Gold Era
4. Pete Dunne
The NXT UK Championship Tournament ended with Tyler Bate as the inaugural title holder but the true star was Pete Dunne. And such, it really was no surprise that he got his hands on the prettiest title in all of NXT in quite short order.
Dunne was instantly a fully-formed character and vicious player worthy of swinging that belt from his teeth. The Bruiserweight was deadly and threatening, not just because he delighted in cracking the bones of his opponent but because, going by his disinterested shrug, it was all he cared about.
The NXT UK title didn’t have a lot of champions in its time but it did have two pretty prominent ones. Despite Walter holding the belt longer, by a not insubstantial 200 days in fact, he did so during an awkward time with the pandemic restricting the champion’s appearance. As such, it’s Dunne that often comes to mind first.
And whilst Dunne had his own small absences, he was the perfect player to build NXT UK around. With a year of NXT USA to build his rap sheet as well as indie appearances at the likes of wXw and PROGRESS, Dunne gained an unstoppable aura that made him a star attraction across WWE and the wider world of wrestling.