The Last 10 NXT Champions, Ranked Worst To Best

Rising in popularity in 2014, WWE's developmental program, NXT, would be launched to new heights in 2015, as the Black & Gold brand would begin running bigger venues and would tour the world. Since then, some of the best names in pro wrestling have called NXT home, including Johnny Gargano, Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Keith Lee, Finn Balor, and Shinsuke Nakamura.

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Looking back at some of the more recent names to carry the brand, the NXT Championship has had a number of hits and misses as of late with the brand's top champion. Whether it be the Pandemic Era, NXT 2.0, or regular NXT, these are the last 10 NXT Champions ranked based off the quality of their reign as champion.

10 Karrion Kross (1st Reign)

Becoming one of the most polarizing wrestlers in WWE over the past few years, Karrion Kross would begin his time in NXT with dominance, quickly becoming NXT Champion in only his third match. Dethroning Keith Lee at NXT Takeover: XXX, Kross would certainly look like a star thanks to his entrance and having Scarlett by his side, though his match with Lee would underwhelm. Unfortunately, his reign would end there, as he would get injured and be forced to vacate the belt before ever defending it.

9 Samoa Joe (3rd Reign)

During 2021, Samoa Joe would be fired from WWE as part of the company's mass releases, though Triple H would re-hire him, bringing Joe in for another NXT run. Joe would win the NXT Championship for a third time, though he would vanish from TV ahead of the NXT 2.0 rebrand. Upon the new era of NXT launching, Joe would be forced to vacate the belt due to a storyline injury before once again being released. Joe's title win felt more special than Kross', though both remain at the bottom of the pack for recent NXT Champions due to reasons out of their control.

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8 Bron Breakker (1st Reign)

With NXT 2.0's launch came the mega-push for Bron Breakker, the son of Rick Steiner. As the new era of NXT got off the ground, it became clear from day one that Breakker was a long-term project in NXT, as he would be set up to be rivals with Tommaso Ciampa, the man who would win Samoa Joe's vacated NXT Championship.

In early 2022, Bron would defeat Ciampa to win the NXT Championship for the first time, defending the belt once against Santos Escobar before meeting his shocking match. In one of the most bizarre booking choices, Dolph Ziggler would defeat Breakker to become NXT Champion, cutting Bron's reign extremely short.

7 Dolph Ziggler

While it would be a puzzling choice to put the strap on Dolph Ziggler, he'd certainly take the ball and run with it, turning into a great, short-term heel champion. His reign would only last a month, and it would see him bewilderingly defeat Bron Breakker a second time during NXT Stand & Deliver 2022, only to lose to Bron on Raw days later. But it was at least a more memorable reign than Bron's first run with the NXT Championship, and gave Ziggler something to do.

6 Carmelo Hayes

The current NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes got his big win during WrestleMania 39 weekend, as he would defeat Bron Breakker to become the new NXT Champion, something fans had been clamoring for. Despite only just winning the belt in April, Carmelo has already topped the previously mentioned champions thanks to his title victory feeling truly important, as well as his first defense being a banger bout against Grayson Waller at NXT Spring Breakin' 2023.

From all angles, Carmelo Hayes appears to be one of the most promising young stars in the entirety of pro wrestling, and that all starts with this first reign as NXT Champion, which is off to a great start for Hayes.

5 Tommaso Ciampa (2nd Reign)

Following Samoa Joe's vacating of the NXT Championship in late 2021, a new champion would need to be crowned. On the first episode of NXT 2.0, the promotion would host a Fatal 4-Way Match in the main event to crown a new champion, with Pete Dunne, Tommaso Ciampa, LA Knight, and Von Wagner all vying to become the new NXT Champion.

Ciampa would walk out of the show with gold over his shoulder, entering his second reign as NXT Champion in strong fashion as he would be the new face of NXT for the time being. Ciampa's reign would last until January 2022, when he'd be defeated by Bron Breakker after initally beating him at Halloween Havoc.

4 Bron Breakker (2nd Reign)

Despite the strange booking of Bron Breakker, having him lose his belt shortly into his run only to regain it quickly, the man would manage to keep most of his momentum upon capturing the NXT Championship for the second time. His feud with Ziggler failed to add anything much to Breakker's character, with his character work being the weakest part of his entire reign.

Bron's second reign would be much more memorable, though most of his matches remained less than great, as he would hold the belt for over a year, defeating a number of NXT's biggest names, and would even defeat Tyler Bate in a unification match for the NXT UK & NXT Championships. Breakker would finally drop his belt at NXT Stand & Deliver 2023 to Carmelo Hayes.

3 Keith Lee

Making history during the summer of 2020, Keith Lee would be reigning as NXT North American Champion as he geared up to challenge Adam Cole for the NXT Championship. The two men would face off at NXT's Great American Bash special in July 2020, with it being the first-ever Winner Take All Match for both titles. Keith Lee would manage to reach the top of the mountain, defeating Adam Cole to become the first-ever dual NXT North American & NXT Champion.

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His first defense would be an incredible match against one of his real-life best friends, Dominik Dijakovic, with both belts on the line as Lee would successfully retain before being forced to vacate the North American Championship without much of a reason. Lee's reign would come to an end a little over a month later, with Karrion Kross cutting his reign short at NXT Takeover: XXX.

2 Karrion Kross (2nd Reign)

After suffering a major injury and being forced to vacate his NXT Championship, Karrion Kross would be put on the shelf for several months before returning to the black and gold brand in early 2021. Coming back with something to prove, Kross would defeat the man that won the belt in his absence, Finn Balor, to become NXT Champion for the second time in his career.

Kross' second reign as NXT Champion would go a lot better than his first go around as champion, with a number of thrilling matches, including his title victory against Balor, a lenghty rematch on TV between the two, and a marquee Fatal 5-Way that saw Kross defeat Adam Cole, Pete Dunne, Johnny Gargano, and Kyle O'Reilly. Kross' reign would eventually end at the hands of Samoa Joe, before Kross & Scarlett would be let go as part of another WWE mass release, though the couple would return the following summer on the main roster.

1 Finn Balor (2nd Reign)

Returning to NXT in 2019 after some time out of the spotlight, Finn Balor would hit the ground running and would become a featured player on the Black & Gold brand throughout the next several months. Following Karrion Kross' injury and the vacating of the NXT Championship, Balor would eventually be the one to step up and win NXT gold for the second time in his career.

Defeating Adam Cole in a nearly 25 minute match for the vacant belt, Balor's second reign would be an important one for the brand, as he would help carry NXT through the end of 2020 and early 2021, with great defenses against Kyle O'Reilly, Pete Dunne, and Adam Cole, before dropping the belt back to a returning Karrion Kross at NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver 2021, ending a truly great reign from Finn Balor.