25 Most Important Wrestlers In NXT History
7. Finn Bálor
When you ask fans who the greatest NXT Champion of all time is, a lot of people will say Finn Bálor.
The former Prince Devitt arrived in NXT in 2014 with a lot of momentum behind him. The New Japan star had been leader and founder of the Bullet Club stable before he left the promotion and a lot of people were excited to see where his new character would take him.
His high-energy offence and recognisable "Demon" persona soon got Bálor over in a big way and he quickly earned himself some NXT title shots. He would capture the belt at WWE's "Beast In The East" event in Tokyo and would go on to hold it for 292 days, which is still a record in NXT.
Bálor's reign as NXT Champion coincided with arguably the promotion's best period. He was champion at the very first TakeOver: Brooklyn show, champion at TakeOver: Dallas - NXT's first show to run over WrestleMania weekend - and he won the first ever Dusty Rhodes tag team classic with Samoa Joe.
Bálor's popularity and longevity as champion helped establish NXT as the juggernaut it is today. Whilst his main roster run has been very inconsistent, his time in developmental was pretty much flawless from start to finish.