Ranking All 11 WWE NXT Champions
2. Finn Bálor
When everyone else failed to end Kevin Owens' reign of terror in NXT, Finn Bálor was successful at the Beast in the East live special in July 2015, capturing the NXT Championship in the process. It had been rumored around that time that Bálor's main roster call-up was imminent, but due to Hideo Itami getting hurt, he was needed in NXT for the foreseeable future.
The 'Demon' ran with the opportunity and became the babyface the brand desperately needed. After finishing up his feud with Owens at TakeOver: Brooklyn, he entered the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, won it with Samoa Joe, and then feuded with the Samoan submission machine for the next eight months.
During that time, Bálor contested excellent matches on NXT TV with the likes of Apollo Crews, Neville, Tye Dillinger, Rich Swann, and many others. He didn't develop a ton as a character, but Bálor's record-setting reign as NXT champion brought the brand into the mainstream. Not to mention his feud with Joe was excellent and led to Joe winning the title in April 2016.
Bálor's contributions to NXT as its champion should not go unnoticed, but there was one other individual who had a better championship run than he did...