NXT Championship: Reigns Covered by the Players Over Time
Seth Rollins defeated Jinder Mahal in the tournament’s championship match to become the inaugural champion. He held the position for almost 133 days.
Image Credit: twitter.com/@WWERollins
The championship was first shown on NXT on July 1, 2012, when NXT Commissioner Dusty Rhodes announced a “Gold Rush” tournament. Four NXT Superstars from the developmental roster and four WWE Superstars from the main roster would compete in a knockout system to see who the first NXT Champion would be. This tournament replaced the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship, which was retired the same month after FCW merged with WWE. The first NXT Champion was named on July 26, 2012, when Seth Rollins beat Jinder Mahal in the tournament final. Samoa Joe became the first WWE Superstar to hold the belt multiple times on November 19, 2016, at NXT TakeOver: Toronto.
Reigns
As of March 19, 2017, 10 people have won the championship 12 times. Seth Rollins was the first winner. Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura have two reigns, which is the most of anyone. Finn Bálor’s reign as champion is the longest at 292 days (WWE says 293), and Samoa Joe’s second reign is the shortest at 14 days. Bo Dallas is the youngest champion ever. He won the title two days before he turned 23. Bobby Roode is the oldest champion at age 39. Leaked documents show that Triple H will win the NXT Championship. Kayfabe News
Bobby Roode is now the champion, and this is his first reign. He won the title by beating Shinsuke Nakamura on January 28, 2017, at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio in San Antonio, TX.
List of NXT Champions:
| No. | Champions | Event | Reign | Date Of Reign | Days |
| 1 | Seth Rollins | NXT | 1 | July 26, 2012 | 133 |
| 2 | Big E Langston | NXT | 1 | December 6, 2012 | 168 |
| 3 | BO Dallas | NXT | 1 | May 23, 2013 | 280 |
| 4 | Adrian Neville | NXT Arrival | 1 | February 27, 2014 | 287 |
| 5 | Sami Zayn | NXT Take Over
R Evolution |
1 | December 11, 2014 | 62 |
| 6 | Kevin Owens | NXT Take Over Rival | 1 | February 11, 2015 | 143 |
| 7 | Finn Balor | The Beast in the East | 1 | July 4, 2015 | 292 |
| 8 | Samoa Joe | House shoe | 1 | April 21, 2016 | 121 |
| 9 | Shinsuke Nakamura | NXT Take Over: NXT Take Over | 1 | August 20, 2016 | 91 |
| 10 | Samoa Joe | NXT Take Over: Toronto | 2 | November 19, 2016 | 14 |
| 11 | Shinsuke Nakamura | NXT | 2 | December 3, 2016 | 56 |
| 12 | Bobby Roode | NXT Take Over: San Antonio | 1 | January 28, 2017 | 203 |
| 13 | Drew McIntyre | NXT Take Over: NXT Take Over | 1 | August 19, 2017 | 91 |
| 14 | Andrade ‘Cien” Almas | NXT Take Over: War Games | 1 | November 18, 2017 | 140 |
| 15 | Aleister Black | NXT Take Over: New Orleans | 1 | April 7, 2018 | 102 |
| 16 | Tommaso Ciampa | NXT | July 18, 2018 | 238 | |
| Vacated | NXT | March 13, 2019 | |||
| 17 | Johnny Gargano | NXT Take Over: New York | 1 | April 5, 2019 | 57 |
| 18 | Adam Cole | NXT Take Over: XXV | 1 | June 1,2019 | 197 |
Seth Rollins defeated Jinder Mahal in the tournament’s championship match to become the inaugural champion. He held the position for almost 133 days. Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura must maintain a two-match championship advantage. Adma Cole is the champion with the longest reign, having held the title for more than 331+ Days during his first reign. If we consider the issue for the Combined reigning champion, it also applies to Adam Cole, who has 403 days remaining in his reign. In addition, Samoa Joe’s second reign is the shortest, lasting only 14 days. The current champion, Keith Lee, defeated Adam Cole on July 1, 2020, at the NXT: Great American Bas event, which was also for Lee’s NXT North American Championship.
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