Ranking Every Woman To Have Held The WWE NXT Women's Championship

6. Paige

Bayley Asuka
WWE.com

There really wasn't a better fit for the inaugural NXT Women's champion than the black-and-gold brand's resident Anti-Diva, Paige.

The newcomer from Norwich quickly earned a reputation for being one of WWE's finest women's wrestlers soon after being signed to a developmental deal in 2011. While she never won the FCW Divas Championship, she did win a tournament in the summer of 2013 to become the first-ever NXT Women's champion, a far more important honor.

Not to be held back by the division's lack of depth, Paige took on all comers to her championship. Her impressive 274-day title reign saw her set back challenges from the likes of Summer Rae, Natalya and most notably Emma at NXT Arrival.

With each of those bouts being better than the last, it didn't take long for NXT's women's division to overshadow what the women were doing on Raw and SmackDown. Paige was the antithesis of what a "Diva" was supposed to represent (hence the nickname) and such a breath of fresh air compared to all the other ladies under contract at the time.

Along with Asuka, Paige is only one of two women to never formally drop the championship due to her abrupt move to the main roster in April 2014. Had her reign not gone as well as it did, it's possible the title wouldn't be viewed as highly as it is today.

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Since 2008, Graham has been a diehard pro wrestling fan and, in 2010, he combined his passions for WWE and writing when he joined Bleacher Report. Equipped with a master's in journalism, Graham has contributed to WhatCulture, FanSided's Daily DDT, Sports Betting Dime, and GateHouse Media. Along the way, he has conducted interviews with wrestling superstars like Chris Jericho, Edge, Goldberg, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Ross, Adam Cole, Tessa Blanchard, Ryback, and Nick Aldis among others.