WWE NXT Championship

[4.0] "The NXT Championship is truly a sad case. At one point, this was the most exciting and best booked championship in North American wrestling. Back when NXT was black and gold, and it was a tight, 1 hour, digestible piece of weekly wrestling greatness on the WWE Network. This championship spawned so many great reigns and memorable moments. The era where Ciampa, Gargano, Adam Cole, Aleister Black and Keith Lee were chasing this belt was the absolute PEAK of late 2010's/early 2020's wrestling. When the Takeovers were topping anything main roster was doing and even exceeded almost everything in NJPW save Dominion and WK. Back then? That belt was a 10/10, no debate. Today however, it's a different story entirely. No one cares about this belt anymore, I almost never hear big title changes discussed online, not to mention the quality of the reigns or anything. This is a belt utterly devoid of any sort of buzz or excitement whatsoever, and is a victim of the crap booking of modern NXT. The downfall of this title began the same time as the downfall of NXT. Long story short, WWE tried to use NXT to kill a certain upstart competitor. This is why you randomly see title reigns like those of Finn Balor in 2020 and Samoa Joe in 2021, they were hotshotted title changes meant to pop a big rating. When NXT lost the "war" Vince decided to nuke NXT, move out of fullsail and into the Performance Center and rebrand as the brightly colored NXT 2.0. Eventually that mess of an era ended and NXT evolved into something akin to a hybrid of Black and Gold and 2.0, but it hasn't recovered since. Nor has this belt, I mean Dolph Ziggler won it for Christ sake. Gone are the days of NXT Title Matches being 5+ star classics, now it's just another belt that doesn't elevate stars or mean much anymore. It's incredibly sad because if WWE just kept NXT the way it was, and transitioned it into the hands of a quality creative mind and not Shawn Michaels, this title could rival the AEW belt as the best in North American wrestling. Instead it's a husk of it's former glory."

[10.0] "Honestly probably the best-booked title in WWE overall. Barely a miss of champions since the beginning. Yes, it's lost its early flare, but I don't think that marks it down just yet. I'm also really glad they're going more places for NXT overall, and you can both the tour flip and the post-COVID flip. Great title, a lot of great matches between incredible wrestlers on so many of these title reigns over the years."

[8.0] "The NXT Championship's rating is elevated to the level of prestige that would be enjoyed by national promotions since it's the AAA-level affiliate for a globally-operating promotion. Not that there hasn't been any shortage of deserving champions holding the belt, as many have found continued titular success after either getting promoted to WWE or signing on with AEW."

[7.0] "It's a title with a good lineage but now that NXT looks and feels like a place where trainees are, it's lost a bit of it's prestige. And now I have to reach 200 characters because evidently a 7 rating isn't good enough."

[7.0] "At one point, this title was a true world title. Now I'd consider it more of a "junior" world title, as it has lost a lot of what made it special during the "Takeover Era." The title still has a great history and great lineage, but it's no longer a world title in my eyes like it was from roughly 2015-2020. Maybe it will reach "world" status again someday, but right now it simply isn't on the level of the best titles in the world."

[8.0] "The title has never had bad designs. They were all different and tasteful. The history of the title is rich: it knows both successful and unsuccessful champions, which is typical for any title. Unfortunately, winning the NXT title does not guarantee a bright future on the main roster. Only 5 wrestlers, going through NXT as main champions, then achieved winning the world championship in WWE + Dolph Ziggler, who has the opposite situation. Adam Cole is considered to be the best champion, but for me he won't be such for the reason he did not even try to make a run on RAW or SmackDown. I don't know for sure whether he got scared or there were no plans for him, but the fact these were the most meaningless 396 days in the history of the NXT title. Seriously, just open the list of champions and you will see Adam Cole being the only one who did not move to the main roster after losing the title. Did we need such a champion? Hell no. This is clearly a dark spot in the history of the NXT belt. In many cases, it was not even the wrestlers themselves who were to blame, but the creative regime. Let's be honest, Aleister Black and Keith Lee could've succeeded if they hadn't stupid decisions with changing music, names and gimmicks. In general, the title rather does a good job of preparing talent for the big leagues. It bears main eventers, midcarders, sometimes jobbers like Bo Dallas and Karrion Kross"

[7.0] "This title has lost a lot of what's made it feel special over the past few years. The current Trick run is ass, if the plan was for him to lose it to Oba Femi eventually then I think the Ethan Page detour was a waste of time. Still a great lineage but it's not interesting right now"

[10.0] "Certainly one of the best booked world titles in the company, even compared to the WWE championship. A title that has made many of it's holder's careers, and a title that has held some of the best matches in the company, let alone in just the brand. Had a moment when transition from the golden age of NXT to where we are now, especially with NXT 2.0, where it wasn't being booked to its original heights, but it seems to be back ever since Bron Breakker's reign with the title. Jam packed with history, even though it's only 12 years old."

[6.0] "A very weird title, for much of its lineage it was either just part of a posh developmental system and then a sure sign someone was about to be called up. Since the first Karion Kross reign it has been a bit all over the place despite the programme it is on never being more popular."

[7.0] "I get that the NXT Championship was this symbol of change from within for WWE, but that change has been snuffed out, and the title lost its way well before the 2.0 era even began. The "FCW with better production value" era of Seth/Big E/Bo was totally fine as a purely developmental title; Big E's 5-count and Bo's gradual heel turn were super underrated angles. Neville's reign was by far the best in the title's history, making it look important week after week and delivering in every single defense. Zayn & Owens had weaker reigns but managed to make the title feel even more important to hold. From Balor's first reign on though, the problem sinks in: the NXT Title has now become a championship that well-known outside talent comes in and challenges for and then usually wins to defend against other well-known veteran talent. Actual developing male talent is mostly kept to the Tag Division from then on, even when the NA & Cruiserweight Titles come into the picture. Good matches occurred in that stretch from Balor through Ciampa, sure, but it really lost its luster. Then came the era of NXT trying to go for "epics" that baited star ratings and MOTY honors with guys like Gargano & Cole, and while I might be in the minority here, fuck I hate that. Matches that go long just to be long, matches that have a bunch of moves just to look cool without playing the face vs heel thing nearly at all; there's a limit I have for both of those things but together I don't even want to bother. From Kross winning the title on it's basically been a joke too, with two instances of it being vacated and nobody new winning a title that was designed for talent learning the WWE style and coming up to the main roster. Just give the Steiner kid the title and let it be proper developmental again, don't even try to cling to the previous era, and this title will go back to being decent. EDIT: Carmelo & Dragunov have brought this belt's quality in terms of both matches & character back up without needing to go full developmental again, so I'm giving it another point. If they can stick the landing on Ilja's reign and get another couple good ones in the books (Trick & Dijak perhaps), then I might go higher."

[8.0] "Does its job as a development world title belt, most who have held had some decent level of main roster success."

[8.0] "Since the introduction of the 2.0 brand and then the rebranding of the old NXT once again, the title has been slowly drifting away from a good prestige title for the development brand. Looking at the past history, most of the winners received a well-deserved push on the main roster, but some were completely unutilised. As a title, it does wonders at keeping the NXT brand in check for their variation of PLEs, and having Ilja Dragunov as the current champion is perfect, as this guy will work his ass off to make his reign memorable, especially with his dedication to story in his matches."

[8.0] "At one time it was the most prestigious championship in wrestling alongside the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, like many things because of NXT 2.0, it has been ruined."

[9.0] "A lot of great champions and matches over this championship. Most champions have had some form of success on the main roster. Title managed to be both a work rate title and a star power title."

[8.0] "Was Easily one of the most prestigious title in the world during the mid to late 2010s. Rollins was the first Champion and he was still the Champion when he made his debut as a member of the Shield but Rollins didn't do much for the title. The title began to grow its prestige under the reign of Neville with Owens, Balor, Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Andrade, Chiampa, etc. elevating the title to great heights and then came Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole who brought the Title to its peak. I consider Adam Cole's first reign to be one of the greatest Championship reign in WWE history (any Championship reign). Although it remains one of the better Championships in WWE, it has started to loose prestige especially since NXT 2.0 but the new stars are a welcome sight even if it is hard to get interested in the new NXT with no real stars. Hopefully, we get better and fresh reigns in the future."

[10.0] "The NXT championship, a good title with great champions and great fights since 2012. It is a good maximum championship and has had good designs"

[7.0] "Black and Gold was my favorite modern fed from the start of the network through Covid. Then 2.0 came along and it's so far removed from what I love. It's still better than the main roster stuff, but just not for me. I'm not the target audience"

[10.0] "The current most prestigious and protected title in WWE. The lineage of this title has truly only been the very top of the card which elevates this above the rest. Former holders include Neville (now PAC), Sami Zayn, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Adam Cole and Keith Lee, to name a few. All of these were undeniably at the top of the card and roster at the time of picking up the belt, and at the time of losing, passed it onto the man who was being built as the new Top Guy. The only blip with this title comes from a Ciampa injury, however this cannot be blamed on performers or booking, and is a freak incident. This even led to the excellent trilogy of matches between Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano at back-to-back Takeovers - so arguably a better end result than planned. Currently, Bron Breakker is champion at the helm of NXT 2.0 after dethroning Ciampa, so it remains to be seen the direction that this will go. This earns it's 10 based on the history and the trajectory of the men who have held this title, who have either gone onto bigger things on the main roster shows, or who found bigger things elsewhere."

[7.0] "I used to have this title at 10, it used to be WWEs top championship in terms of match/feud quality. But now, I think the title is better known for terrible booking and champions being injured during their reigns that the match/feud quality."

[7.0] "This is the only WWE title that's worth anything. Several great matches for the title. Subpar booking over the years (2019 and beyond) and an unfortune injury from Ciampa when he was at his peak. Far too many transitionary face champions who could've had a stronger reign like Black and Lee. Past year or so this title has gotten less interesting with Karrion Kross as champion. I wasn't always a fan of the matches but Adam Cole was a strong champion for the brand. Oh and Balor's best work in WWE was his second run as NXT champion."

[9.0] "Some of the best matches in the modern era of wrestling were for this belt, but it has had it's downside as sometimes it's hot potatoed around with champions having little time to do anything because they got called up."

[9.0] "Among the best belts that exist in the WWE. Wrestlers like Tommaso Ciampa, Adam Cole, Neville, Bobby Roode looked best with this belt. Ciampa remains the best champion of this belt"

[8.0] "Title held by great wrestlers. Matches for the title were great and some were one of the best in WWE history. I gotta give it 8 though because the booking of it in 2020 was really bad and it didn't affect the title prestiege well."

[7.0] "Actually, this is currently the only belt in WWE that defines the talent of the actual title holder. It doesn't have the biggest value on intenational wrestling scene, but in United States, this might be the most valuable one."

[6.0] "I read a lot of "Very well booked and protected", well, i think it's the contrary in the last months. It has history, and great matches all throughout but i feel like it lost a lot of momentum with the whole Double Champ thing. Booked horribly. Nonetheless, a good title. It doesn't have a lot of "weight" but it's still a good developmental title."

[10.0] "Easily WWE's most prestigious title, every since Neville won it, the matches and prestige of the belt has been at all time high and never looked back"

[10.0] "The NXT Championship became one of the most prestigious Titles in all of North America. Triple H really booked this as a truly Main Event Championship, we had great wrestlers holding this title, like Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Johnny Gargano, Andrade Almas and now Adam Cole! I hope the NXT Title never gets mistreated again."

[10.0] "Currently, this is the most relevant and prestigious title in the WWE. Most champions have been booked well and have been made to look dominant while they were champions."

[10.0] "This title is really worthy and high valued, the changes are good and well thought and all the champions were worth the title, this makes the title really prestigious, the design is really good and it complements the NXT promotion really well as the main title."

[9.0] "A well-protected and well booked title. In modern WWE, no less. That's quite the accomplishment. I think pretty much every champion except for maybe Nakamura was in the right position to win the title when they did so."

[8.0] "Started watching when Bo Dallas was champion and the title has come a long way since then, with great matches and even better feuds. The sky is the limit for this belt. Almas winning the title was a shock but made sense once it was revealed McIntyre was injured and since then they made the most of it and hoenstly Almas has been fantastic, now let's see what Black can do."

[10.0] "Best title in WWE right now. Held by the best talents in the world (except Bo) and every title match in every Takeover is special and entertaining. This shows how NXT has surpassed the main roster."

[9.0] "01/2015: WWE gibt ihrer Entwicklungsliga viele Freiräume, den Titel so anzulegen, dass er stetig an Wert gewinnt. Das hat man in den vergangenen paar Jahren auch geschafft, indem man Titelwechsel rar gemacht hat. Es scheint, dass wirklich nur diejenigen den Gürtel umschnallen dürfen, die ihn verdienen. Das ist wichtig und richtig! EDIT 11/17: Inzwischen ist der NXT-Titel quasi zu einem Karrieresprungbrett geworden. Wer ihn hält, wird bei Verlust ins Main-Roster befördert. Das Positive: der Titel wird wertvoll und ist Äquivalent zu Vorschusslorbeeren. Das Negative: Langfristige Fehden findet man selten."

[7.0] "This title is a joke now. They lost the point of it. This title should be to guys who are new in the place and only few people knew who they are, like Neville and Rollins in the past. Now, top names like McIntyre, Roode and Nakamura hold it."

[10.0] "I love this title, I think the majority of people to hold this championship are excellent... but my only issue is how few title defenses these champions are able to have. Defenses seem to only happen on Takeover shows and with NXT's compulsion to give leaving champions a rematch before they go to RAW/Smackdown, you may only see the new champion retain once over the previous champion before losing it to the next and repeating the cycle. However, I am thrilled Drew McIntyre is the NXT Champion. I think the list of names who held the title is excellent, Nakamura, Joe, Rollins, McIntyre, Owens, Balor are all some of the best in the world. Zayn has languished slightly on the main-roster but it's only a matter of time for him to reach greater heights. Neville and Big E have had their time lower on the card since winning this title between the Tag and Cruiserweight divisions, they have become tremendous successes since too."

[3.0] "Honestly, the feuds for this title haven't been great since 2014. Finn Balor's reign was boring, and his feud with Samoa Joe lasted too long. Neither Samoa Joe nor Shinsuke Nakamura (or Bobby Roode, for that matter), and the NXT Championship's booking suffers from these aging veterans being in the main event. The NXT Championship has been reduced to nothing more than a prop for the next "Hottest Free Agent"."

[10.0] "Much like the Ring Of Honor World Heavyweight Title, the prestige of the belt had an excellent 1st champion (Seth Rollins), followed by a Champion or 2 that weren't up to much (Big E & Bo), and then it has title holders who bring the championship to a very high place (Every champion from Adrian Neville and beyond). It's now 1 of the hottest wrestling titles on the planet, and 1 that likes to savour it's story building."

[10.0] "The cleanest title that WWE has had in decades. They don't rush to change it and when it does, it makes sense in the story. Not a single reign lasted less than two months and all the matches for it are pretty good, absolutely nothing to complain, this is how you make a title interesting"

[10.0] "From Rollins to Neville and on this title has been the dream title, Zayn, Owens, Balor, and hopefully more and more to come!"

[8.0] "A very strongly defended and honored championship. It is the new kid on the block but it and the promotion that it represents has radically changed the landscape of wrestling. Whomever holds the NXT championship is essentially a made man and will get the call up to the main WWE roster. The NXT is fast becoming the new standard in wrestling and the number two belt after the WWE World title."

[9.0] "The NXT championship is everything a good title should be. Long reigns with plenty of hard fought contests, memorable storylines, and plenty of emotion. The title is treated with the utmost respect and is coveted as such."