7. Kevin Owens
From the moment Kevin Owens stepped into the NXT landscape, he made an impact. It started with a match against CJ Parker at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution and took off just two hours later, turning on Sami Zayn during his NXT Championship celebration.
Only two months later, Owens took home the title from Zayn in a storyline and emotionally-filled match at TakeOver: Rival. KO won after powerbombing his best friend so many times, that the action had to be called.
The wrath of Owens got off to a monumental start, as he tore through NXT on this wrecking-ball path. He cut vicious promos on Zayn, looking to destroy him at any cost for getting to WWE earlier. Feuds along the way with Alex Riley, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe established the former Kevin Steen, too, sending him on a warpath through the brand to prove why he’s the best.
Owens eventually lost the belt to Balor at Beast in the East on Jul. 4, 2015, almost two months after debuting on the main roster. It was a fun match, just like the others he had during this reign. This, nor did anything else, leave a sour taste about what he did as champion, but there were six others that made greater impacts.