WrestleMania main-eventer, Former WWE Champion- 5 current WWE stars who surprisingly never won a championship in NXT
NXT is WWE's developmental brand and a proving ground for the stars of tomorrow. The typical route for most Superstars is to spend some time on the black-and-gold brand before jumping ship to the main roster.
Given that it is considered a complete brand distinct from RAW and SmackDown, NXT has its storylines and championships specific to each division. Most of the main roster Superstars are graduates of the developmental brand.
Many of these NXT graduates have touched championship gold on the black-and-yellow brand. Riddle is a former NXT North American Champion, as are Ricochet and Damian Priest. Rhea Ripley, Shayna Bazler, and Charlotte Flair won the NXT Women's Championship. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens won the top prize on the developmental brand.
However, not all current WWE Superstars held championship gold on NXT, and this listicle looks at the most surprising ones.
#5 Happy Corbin never won a single championship during his NXT tenure.
Upon debuting in 2012, Happy Corbin, then known as Baron Corbin, was always booked strongly. With a cold demeanor and an imposing physique, the Lone Wolf ran roughshod over the entire NXT locker room and had an impressive winning streak.
He brought this momentum to the main roster as he won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32. Since then, Corbin has added several accomplishments to his name. From winning the Men's Money in the Bank briefcase to retiring Kurt Angle, he has always been a significant player, despite the odd failures.
However, while he was a dominant force on NXT, he surprisingly won no championship gold on the brand. The picture was quite different on the main roster as Corbin is a former WWE United States Champion.
#4 Former WWE RAW Women's Champion, Alexa Bliss won no championships on NXT.
Little Miss Bliss is one of the most accomplished and celebrated women on the main roster. Alexa Bliss is a three-time RAW Women's Champion, two-time SmackDown Women's Champion, two-time WWE Women's Tag-Team Champion alongside Nikki Cross (A.S.H), and a former Money in the Bank winner.
One of the best talkers in WWE, Bliss has connected with fans like very few can. She has consistently reinvented herself and remained relevant during her main roster stint. Having fought the best in the division, the former RAW Women's Champion is an invaluable addition to the women's division.
While her main roster career has been incredible, her NXT run was not nearly as memorable. Owing to minimal experience, her wrestling skills were sub-par, and thus the matches weren't up to the mark. Bliss spent three years in the black-and-gold brand, but couldn't grab any championship gold.
#3 Bianca Belair never touched championship gold on NXT.
BIANCA DID IT!!!!!!!
@BiancaBelairWWE is the NEW #WWERaw Women's Champion at #WrestleMania! https://t.co/hs5tl8ocCs
Behind Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair may be the biggest player in the women's division. In her short main roster career, The EST of WWE has achieved incredible heights.
Belair won the 2021 Women's Royal Rumble match, and defeated Sasha Banks in the main event of WrestleMania 37: Night One to win the SmackDown Women's Championship. This year, she dethroned Big Time Becks to win the RAW Women's Title at the Show of Shows.
While she may have bagged several titles on the main roster, the 33-year-old never tasted gold on NXT. Not that her run on the brand was underwhelming, but it pales in comparison to the success she's achieved in recent years. Throughout her four-year tenure on NXT, she played second-fiddle to the likes of Rhea Ripley.
#2 Becky Lynch never won any NXT Championship
Becky Lynch is almost on every WWE poster nowadays. Ever since becoming The Man in late 2018, her popularity has soared, reaching unprecedented heights. As she herself put it, she was breast-feeding and was still the most over woman in the female division.
Big Time Becks is a multi-time Women's Champion and former Royal Rumble winner. She was the first woman to walk out of WrestleMania with both the women's championships. Together with Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair, she made history when the three women main-evented the Show of Shows in 2019.
While Lynch may be a huge money-maker for the company today, she wasn't nearly as popular and successful on NXT. After all, she was not "The Man" then, and her character was pretty one-dimensional. Like Belair, she took a second-seat against other women. As a result, she had limited opportunities and didn't win a single championship on WWE's developmental brand.
#1 WWE's Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns, never tasted championship gold on NXT
For over 700 days, you’ve sat at MY table and enjoyed MY body of work. It’s not over, I’m not finished, but if you’ve waited until this point to do so… #AcknowledgeME https://t.co/HIIwLdGvFc
Roman Reigns is arguably WWE's biggest star today. The Head of the Table has been in a league of his own for the past two years, defeating the best professional wrestling has to offer. The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion's historic reign has terrorized the locker room, and there's no stopping him.
The Tribal Chief first appeared on the main roster as a member of the Shield at Survivor Series 2012. In a decade, he has closed out six WrestleManias, won several World Championships, and become a Grand Slam Champion. He has defeated multiple legends, including The Undertaker, Goldberg, and John Cena.
However, fans would be surprised to know that Reigns, one of the most dominant champions of all time, never tasted championship gold on NXT. While this is a surprising fact for a man of his caliber, the Head of the Table spent limited time on the black-and-gold brand. He spent only a handful of months on the revamped brand that took over from FCW.