First 5 WWE NXT Champions: Where are they now?
From starting out as a competition-oriented show that aimed at crowning a breakout star for WWE to being recognized as the third flagship brand of the company, NXT has surely come a long way. What was once considered a developmental territory for molding up-and-coming talents into Superstars of the future is now one of the most premier brands of professional-wrestling.
After WWE rebranded its official developmental territory FCW into NXT in August 2012, the NXT Championship was introduced as the top championship of the brand. A few years later, the title was soon recognized as a world championship by the company along with the WWE Championship and the WWE Universal Championship.
Several Superstars have since then gone on to become NXT Champions before moving to either RAW or SmackDown. Some of the former NXT Champions have also gone on to hold other titles in the company and have even become world champions on multiple occasions while some are no longer with the company. Today, we will take a look at the first 5 Superstars to have won the NXT Championship and their current scenario.
#1 Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins is arguably one of the most successful Superstars to have ever held the NXT Championship. He defeated Jinder Mahal in the finals of the Gold Rush Tournament on August 29, 2012, to become the inaugural NXT Champion and has since gone on to hold multiple titles on the main roster. He along with Roman Reigns and former WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley) debuted on the main roster as The Shield where they delivered their own brand of justice.
Rollins then turned his back on the group and aligned himself with Triple H and the Authority in 2014 after which he became the WWE Champion by cashing in his Money In The Bank contract at WrestleMania 31 in the match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. Since then, he has been a United States Champion, an Intercontinental Champion, Universal Champion, and RAW Tag Team Champion.
After he lost the WWE Universal Championship to 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt at WWE Crown Jewel, Rollins turned his back on the WWE Universe, aligned himself with AOP and Murphy and became a messianic figure for which he was dubbed The Monday Night Messiah. He then started a heated rivalry with Kevin Owens and the two are now scheduled to face each other in a match at WrestleMania 36.