WWE NXT: Ranking Every Performer to Hold the NXT Championship

Credit: WWE.com

1. Adrian Neville

When discussing Adrian Neville’s time in WWE, the language most commonly used is that of “what could have been.” However, for those with a more “glass half full” approach to life, they need only look at what he managed to accomplish during his time in NXT to see what “The Man that Gravity Forgot” is truly capable of.

Armed with the most protected and crowd popping of finishers, the Red Arrow, won the NXT Championship from Bo Dallas in an excellent ladder match at NXT ArRival before embarking on a reign shorter than Finn Balor’s only by a few days.

In that time, Neville racked up nine successful defenses of the belt, more than any Champion before him or since, including the absolute classic title match of TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way with Sami Zayn, Tyson Kidd, and Tyler Breeze.

While Neville remained a babyface throughout the entirety of his NXT run, he proved himself to be a master at manipulating the crowd without needing to resort to cheap heat seeking tactics. For an example, one need look no further than his now-classic feud with Sami Zayn.

The angle saw Neville, the proud Champion, resort to morally gray behavior like feigning an injury to defeat Zayn, but never actually doing anything that could be called cheating. Zayn’s refusal to stoop to these lows, Neville claimed, proved that he was too nice to make it to the top. The joy we all felt when Neville was proven wrong is something that cannot be put into words.

While Neville is currently plying his trade in Japan following what can only be called an acrimonious split with WWE, it hopefully comes as some solace to his fans that, amongst a very crowded field, Adrian Neville stands out as the greatest NXT Champion of all time.

How would you rank NXT’s fourteen champions? Comment your list down below or tweet them to us @FansidedDDT!