All NXT Champions Ranked - From Worst To Best
3. Bo Dallas
Much like Rollins, Big E. lost the title when he became a fixture on the main roster. Whilst many were in favour of Seth dropping the strap to Langston, the decision to replace E. as NXT Champion with Bo Dallas brought groans upon groans upon groans. To many, it was the worst possible choice.
The NXT roster wasn't exactly overflowing with options, however. To give you an example of how thin it was, people felt that Corey Graves or Conor O'Brien (yes, Konnor from The Ascension) were the best options for the spot. Dallas got it however, and over the next 280 days proceeded to show that it was a fantastic decision.
During his reign, Dallas went from the most vanilla of babyfaces to the character that many grew to love, the heel that didn't realise he was a heel. The crowd despised him, and instead of putting their heads in the sand, the NXT creative team ran with it. Dallas would defend his title against Leo Kruger, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, and others.
Dallas was the first NXT Champion to truly take on the role, to stand atop the NXT mountain and look down as opposed to looking at the WWE mountain that stands next to it. Dallas was the champion as NXT grew from developmental show to full-on brand of its own. He was the champion going into the first NXT live special too, although it was Neville who ended that show with the big gold X.