Underdog superstar shocks the world, unlikely tag team title win - 5 WWE Superstars who won their first championship in 2022
2023 is almost here and fans are already speculating over which WWE Superstars may have a standout year. While it's fun to look ahead, it can also be enjoyable to look back at the crazy year that has been 2022.
Some massive headlines dominated the industry this year, with Cody Rhodes jumping ship to World Wrestling Entertainment, Stone Cold Steve Austin coming out of retirement, and Vince McMahon stepping down from his position as Chairman due to numerous allegations.
Some news has been bad, some has been good. Some superstars have had tough years, while others have reached new heights. In fact, a handful of superstars won their first-ever title in World Wrestling Entertainment in 2022.
For the sake of this list, we are only considering superstars who were yet to win titles in WWE prior to 2022. Wrestlers winning gold in smaller organizations in the past won't be excluded from the list, as it only focuses on the talent's first WWE title.
Below are five WWE Superstars who won their first championship in 2022.
#5. Austin Theory won his first title this year, then won it a second time
Austin Theory is one of the most despised stars in WWE. The 25-year-old superstar was once the protege of Vince McMahon, but he's also sat under the learning tree of Seth Rollins and Johnny Gargano's The Way. He's been with the company since 2019.
Theory won his first-ever title on Monday Night RAW. He battled Finn Balor for the United States Championship on April 18th and walked away with a brand-new piece of hardware.
A-Town's Finest ultimately lost the title to Bobby Lashley at Money in the Bank, the very same night where he won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. The young star reclaimed his coveted title at Survivor Series WarGames.
#4. Liv Morgan won big
Liv Morgan cashes in her Money In The Bank to win her first WWE title 🔥
#MITB https://t.co/CAOKLONVGJ
Liv Morgan has been a part of WWE since she began training at the Performance Center in 2014. Over the next eight years, she honed her craft on NXT, RAW, and SmackDown but never held a belt until 2022.
Morgan earned the nickname "The Miracle Kid" at Money in the Bank 2022. She won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match and then went on to cash-in the briefcase to dethrone Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown Women's Championship on the very same night.
Unfortunately, Liv did ultimately lose the title. Ronda Rousey reclaimed the championship after a hard-hitting bout at Extreme Rules 2022. Since her loss, Morgan has shown off a new side of herself and recently formed a new alliance with Tegan Nox. Could more gold be on the way?
#3. Solo Sikoa briefly held his first-ever title in the company
Solo Sikoa is the enforcer of The Bloodline. The powerful superstar first joined World Wrestling Entertainment in 2021. He was almost immediately introduced as part of the revamped NXT where he quickly became part of the North American Championship title picture.
The Street Champion of The Bloodline was called up to the main roster at Clash at the Castle when he helped Roman Reigns retain his titles against Drew McIntyre. It seemed as though Solo would go without winning a title before being called up, but he quickly returned to NXT and defeated Carmelo Hayes for the North American Championship.
Sikoa only held the title for a short period of time, defending the belt against Madcap Moss on Friday Night SmackDown before having to vacate the title due to his move to the blue brand. Still, his win on the September 13th, 2022 edition of NXT will forever be part of wrestling history.
#2. Aliyah captured her first belt after years with World Wrestling Entertainment
Aliyah is the ultimate underdog babyface. The charming superstar first joined WWE in 2015 and struggled to find her footing on NXT. She joined the main roster in 2021 where she once again at times struggled to find a role on the brand.
Things changed once she began teaming up with Raquel Rodriguez. Boujee and The Beast shocked the world by winning the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship Tournament, a move very few expected.
Their time as champions was short-lived, however. Aliyah and Rodriguez lost their tag team titles to Damage CTRL's IYO SKY and Dakota Kai just two weeks later. Aliyah was then injured by the devious faction. Still, she'll likely have gold in her sights when she returns to action in 2023.
#1. Roxanne Perez won her first WWE singles and tag title this year
Roxanne Perez is only 21 years old. She signed with WWE in the spring of 2022. Perez went on to win the NXT Women's Tag Team Titles with her former best friend Cora Jade at NXT's The Great American Bash before vacating the titles once the team broke up. That wasn't her only title win in 2022, however.
Perez shocked the world when she battled Mandy Rose in what was essentially an impromptu title match on the most recent episode of NXT. She won the right to a title match at Deadline just days prior after winning the first-ever Iron Survivor Challenge Match.
Mandy attacked Roxanne early on in the show, which led to the two battling in the main event of the December 13th edition of NXT TV where Roxanne won the NXT Women's Championship. Unfortunately, the talented Rose was released by the company the next day, but there's no denying that Roxanne Perez had an incredible first nine months in the company.