30 things you need to know about NXT

by NZPWI

August 20, 2020

in WWE

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Keith Lee defends against Karrion Kross, Dakota Kai challenges Io Shirai, and the North American Championship hangs in the balance this weekend on WWE Network. Before NXT holds its 30th TakeOver event, here are 30 things you need to know about the black-and-gold brand…

NXT TakeOver XXX: 30 for 30

NXT first debuted in 2010 as a reality-show, inviting contestants to compete for the chance to win a WWE contract. Each episode featured the rookie contestants being mentored by WWE Superstars in a series of physical and mental challenges.
As part of NXT’s original incarnation, The Miz was a mentor to a then-competing Daniel Bryan. Other featured rookie talent included Titus O’Neil and Byron Saxton.
There have been 19 NXT Championship reigns with 17 different champions:
- Seth Rollins
- Big E
- Bo Dallas
- Adrian Neville
- Sami Zayn
- Kevin Owens
- Finn Balor
- Samoa Joe (x2)
- Shinsuke Nakamura (x2)
- Bobby Roode
- Drew McIntyre
- Andrade
- Aleister Black
- Tommaso Ciampa
- Johnny Gargano
- Adam Cole
- Keith Lee
Seth Rollins became the first-ever NXT Champion in 2012 after defeating Jinder Mahal.
NXT’s Championships have been won in:
- USA
- Japan
- Canada
- England

In 2016 at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, Samoa Joe was the first NXT Superstar to become a two-time NXT Champion after defeating Shinsuke Nakamura.
Adam Cole holds the record for the longest-reigning NXT Champion (403 days) followed by Finn Balor (292 days).
After appearing in the front row at NXT TakeOver: Orlando, Drew McIntyre re-signed with the company and joined the NXT roster. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III in August 2017 he defeated Bobby Roode to become NXT Champion. Drew McIntyre is the first WWE Superstar to win the NXT Championship having previously been on Raw and SmackDown, and the first Scotsman to do so.
The NXT Women’s Championship was introduced on April 5, 2013. Paige became the inaugural NXT Women’s Champion following an eight-woman single-elimination tournament.
There have been 12 NXT Women’s Championship reigns with 10 different champions:
- Paige
- Charlotte Flair (x2)
- Sasha Banks
- Bayley
- Asuka
- Ember Moon
- Shayna Baszler (x2)
- Kairi Sane
- Rhea Ripley
- Io Shirai

Asuka holds the record for the longest single reign as NXT Women’s Champion (522 days) followed by Shayna Baszler (416 days).
The NXT North American Championship was introduced in 2018 and won by inaugural champion Adam Cole.
There have been six NXT North American Championship reigns with six different champions:
- Adam Cole
- Ricochet
- Johnny Gargano
- Velveteen Dream
- Roderick Strong
- Keith Lee
- …next to be decided at NXT TakeOver XXX in a 5-Man Ladder Match
The NXT Tag Team Championship was introduced in 2013 and won by inaugural champions British Ambition (Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey).
There have been 21 NXT Tag Team Championship reigns with 18 Tag Teams composed of 37 members. The shortest recorded reign belongs to Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven) at 22 days.

Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, is the regular home of NXT. The partnership between Full Sail and WWE also sees contributions made to a scholarship fund for students enrolled at the university.
In February 2014, NXT held a two-hour event, NXT ArRIVAL, which was the first live wrestling event on WWE Network.
In 2014, William Regal was revealed as the new General Manager of NXT and has been in the role ever since.
The first NXT event on WWE Network under the TakeOver brand was in May 2014, from Full Sail University. The show included Charlotte Flair (with Ric Flair) defeating Natalya (with Bret Hart) for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship.
On August 22, 2015, NXT held its first TakeOver outside Full Sail University with NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, from Barclays Center.

NXT TakeOver events have been held in Orlando, Brooklyn, London, Dallas, Toronto, San Antonio, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Bridgeport, and Portland.
The first NXT TakeOver event held outside the USA was NXT TakeOver: London on December 16, 2015, from The SSE Arena, Wembley.
NXT TakeOver: London saw Finn Balor defend the NXT Championship against Samoa Joe in a singles match in the main event.
At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in 2015, NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks defended her Title against Bayley in one of two main events. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley went on to be voted Match of the Year at the NXT Year-end Awards.
Survivor Series 2019, from the Allstate Arena in Chicago, was the first Survivor Series event to include the NXT brand and the first to feature three-way Survivor Series Elimination Matches.

At Survivor Series 2019:
- Team NXT (Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Candice LeRae, Io Shirai & Toni Storm) defeated Team Raw (Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane & Sarah Logan) and Team SmackDown (Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans & Nikki Cross) in a 5-on-5-on-5 Women’s Survivor Series Triple Threat Elimination Match.
- Roderick Strong defeated AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura in a Champions Triple Threat Match.
- Shayna Baszler defeated Becky Lynch and Bayley in a Champions Triple Threat Match.
In 2020, Charlotte Flair won the Royal Rumble and chose Rhea Ripley as her WrestleMania opponent to challenge for the NXT Women’s Championship.
NXT Superstars represent countries from all across the world including:
- Bronson Reed from Australia
- Chelsea Green from Canada
- Xia Li from China
- Danny Burch from England
- Indus Sher from India
- Finn Balor from Ireland
- Io Shirai from Japan
- Santos Escobar from Mexico
- Dakota Kai from New Zealand
- Killian Dain from Northern Ireland
- Mansoor from Saudi Arabia
- Tegan Nox from Wales
- …and many more
In a recent interview, Triple H spoke about the future talent of NXT: “…the long term is very exciting. We have a lot of stars. There are a lot of hungry young athletes, and the pipeline to bring in more as they continue to train and get better is very exciting. The future is very bright in that regard.”
Notable NXT alumni include:
- Aleister Black
- Alexa Bliss
- Angel Garza
- Angelo Dawkins
- Apollo Crews
- Asuka
- Baron Corbin
- Bayley
- Becky Lynch
- Big E
- Billie Kay
- Braun Strowman
- Bray Wyatt
- Cesaro
- Chad Gable
- Charlotte Flair
- Daniel Bryan (from the NXT reality show era)
- Drew McIntyre
- Ember Moon
- Kevin Owens
- Lacey Evans
- Liv Morgan
- Mojo Rawley
- Montez Ford
- Murphy
- Peyton Royce
- Ricochet
- Robert Roode
- Roman Reigns
- Ruby Riott
- Sami Zayn
- Sasha Banks
- Seth Rollins
- Titus O’Neill (from the NXT reality show era)
- Xavier Woods
- Zelina Vega
- …and many more