WWE: Every NXT Champion Ranked
NXT, originally a developmental brand, has exploded in popularity becoming the third brand of WWE. Serving as the stomping grounds to many future WWE superstars, the NXT Championship has been a prestigious honor. Fourteen men have held the title.
For the first time ever the championship is held vacant, and the fifteenth champion will be crowned at TakeOver: New York in a two out of three falls match between Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole. The winner will join some elite company as we countdown the greatest champions in the history of the yellow brand.
#14 Drew McIntyre
First and foremost, Drew McIntyre is great. The Celtic Colossus is as talented as they come and is one of the best superstars on this list. For the purpose of this article however, we are only looking at his title reign and not his unlimited potential. McIntyre blew through NXT like a hurricane, quickly racking up wins and earning a title shot, defeating Bobby Roode for the title at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III.
This was a difficult list to rank as NXT champions are almost always the very best competitors on the brand and typically enjoy lengthy reigns. McIntyre ranks not as the worst champion ever, but merely the least impactful as his reign lasted 91 days, making him the second shortest reigning champion of all time.
McIntyre bellowed that he didn't just climb the mountain in NXT, but he is "the bloody mountain!" This gem of a promo, along with a stellar championship match against Adam Cole with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee, were among McIntyre's few contributions to the yellow brand as their flag bearer. Most of his reign saw him getting attacked from behind, by the debuting Undisputed ERA, and by Andrade "Cien" Almas.