All NXT Champions Ranked - From Worst To Best
7. Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn's single run as NXT Champion lasted only 62 days, making him the shortest reigning NXT Champion to date. By the time Zayn won the title from Adrian Neville at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution in December 2014, he had already had countless shots at the championship stretching back to when Bo Dallas was champion.
Once he won the title, the belt itself took a backseat as he was immediately turned on once again by Kevin Owens, and the feud between the two would dominate NXT until Owens picked up the belt by referee stoppage just two months later at TakeOver: Rival.
To add to all of this, Zayn only had a single successful title defence, against former champion Neville. It was all about Zayn and Owens, not the title.
Still, Zayn's reign is remembered bizarrely fondly, mostly because of the novelty of seeing the man on top of the tree.