Ranking Every Woman To Have Held The WWE NXT Women's Championship
3. Bayley
Based off how she was booked as an enhancement talent for the first year or so of her NXT run, it couldn't have been more blatant that Bayley was never supposed to succeed. Paige, Charlotte Flair and Asuka were all handpicked from the get-go to be the face of NXT's women's division, whereas Bayley earned that opportunity through years of hard work and determination.
That isn't to say those other superstars had it easy, but Bayley's climb to the top of the mountain on the brand was much more organic. She contended for the NXT Women's Championship on countless occasions throughout 2014 and 2015 before finally knocking off Sasha Banks for the belt at TakeOver: Brooklyn in an all-time classic encounter.
As if that match wasn't amazing enough, they went on to wrestle in the first-ever women's Iron Man match in the main event of TakeOver: Respect. No matches NXT's resident hugger had in the remainder of her reign as champion came close to topping either one of those, but they were all unique in their own way.
For example, she managed to get great matches out of Alexa Bliss and Eva Marie when the gold was up for grabs. She also told a terrific story with Nia Jax when they faced off at TakeOver: London. Even her outing with Carmella was fun for what it was.
Throw in the matchup she dropped the title to Asuka in and Bayley being as high up on this list as she is should be a no-brainer.