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In WWE, stars often hit their peak at different ages. Some WWE Superstars begin their careers young, only ever wrestling for the one company, and some work through different promotions over many years.
There have been many superstars that won a championship in WWE at a very young age. Some of the stars who win big whilst still young continue to have long and healthy WWE careers. However, some end up moving onto pastures new or even retire from wrestling when younger than their peers.
Winning a championship title in WWE is a huge accomplishment, especially for somebody who does so at a young age. Some performers make their television debuts whilst they are still teenagers. Some even go on to win championships before their twenty-first birthday.
Here are the five youngest championship winners in WWE history so far.
#5 Hornswoggle - WWE Cruiserweight Champion aged 21
When Hornswoggle joined WWE in May 2006, he first appeared as the partner of Finlay. In 2007, WWE changed the performer's character and he became more involved in matches in his own right.
Later in 2007, Hornswoggle was part of the Cruiserweight open at the Great American Bash. The commentary team and fellow competitors were unaware of Hornswoggle even being in the match until he pinned Jamie Noble. Hornswoggle became the WWE Cruiserweight Champion at the age of 21 years, one month and three days.
After winning the championship, the star became involved in a rivalry with Jamie Noble and successfully defended the belt against him. As well as being the youngest Cruiserweight Champion, Hornswoggle was also the final performer to hold the title at that time. The Cruiserweight Championship was quietly retired from WWE a few months later, before being reintroduced in 2016.
#4 Kenny Dykstra - WWE World Tag Team Champion aged 20
In 2006, Kenny Dykstra was one of the five members of the Spirit Squad, a stable including a group of male cheerleaders. The group were part of a feud in WWE between Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels, often coming in to attack the latter on the command of McMahon.
The Spirit Squad also wrestled in the WWE tag team division. They became WWE Tag Team Champions when Kenny and Mickey shockingly defeated Big Show and Kane. When the Spirit Squad won the WWE Tag Team Championships, Dykstra was 20 years and 18 days old, having joined RAW as a teenager.
Over the months, The Spirit Squad was involved in a long rivalry against the members of D-Generation X. At this time, the group defended their WWE Tag Team Championships against a number of teams. They included Jim Duggan and Eugene, Charlie Haas and Viscera and The Highlanders, who they successfully defended the title against at Unforgiven.
The group also developed a rivalry with Cryme Tyme, as well as Ric Flair. Eventually, The Spirit Squad lost the WWE Tag Team Championship at Cyber Sunday.
#3 Tyler Bate - WWE NXT United Kingdom Champion aged 19
In later 2016, Tyler Bate was announced as one of 16 performers to be involved in a tournament to determine the inaugural WWE NXT UK Champion. The two-day tournament took place in January 2017, with Bate defeating Tucker and Jordan Devlin to proceed to the semi-finals. Bate was later successful against Wolfgang to earn his place in the final.
The final match was between Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate. Dunne and Bate also had a history of competing against one another in independent promotions before the championship tournament. In the final, Bate defeated Dunne, becoming the first-ever WWE NXT UK Champion and also earning a WWE contract.
When crowned WWE NXT UK Champion, Tyler Bate was still a teenager. The superstar was aged 19 years, 10 months and eight days when he won the belt and is still one of the youngest championship winners in WWE history.
Tyler Bate successfully defended the championship against Trent Seven, before losing it to Pete Dunne, ending his reign at 125 days.
#2 Rene Dupree - WWE World Tag Team Champion aged 19
Rene Dupree was still a teenager when he made his WWE debut on RAW as one half of La Resistance, paired with Sylvain Grenier in 2003. The pair attacked Scott Steiner on their first appearance on the red brand, establishing a feud with him and Test.
On their first pay-per-view match, La Resistance defeated Steiner and Test at Judgement Day. They later moved into a rivalry with Kane and Rob Van Dam, who they beat at Bad Blood to become the WWE World Tag Team Championship holders.
This title win made Rene Dupree the youngest-ever championship winner in WWE at the time. He was aged 19 years and six months when he lifted the championship with Sylvian Grenier at his side. He was also the first-ever teenager to win a WWE title.
La Resistance remained WWE World Tag Team Champions for 98 days, until they were dethroned by The Dudley Boyz at Unforgiven in September 2003.
Rene Dupree would become a two-time champion in WWE at the age of 20, when he won the WWE Tag Team Championships paired with Kenzo Suzuki on SmackDown a year later.
#1 Nicholas - WWE RAW Tag Team Champion aged 10
In the build-up to WrestleMania 34, Braun Strowman decided to become involved in a tag team Battle Royale on RAW, despite not having a partner. At the time, WWE RAW Tag Team Champions The Bar had claimed that they had defeated every single tag team on their brand. They added they were ready for a new team to challenge them.
Even though Strowman didn't have a tag team partner, he emerged as the winner of the match. Kurt Angle, who was the RAW General Manager at the time, told Strowman that he would receive a shot at the titles at WrestleMania 34, if he had a partner in time for the event.
At WrestleMania 34, Strowman did indeed get his title match and waited until he, Cesaro and Sheamus were in the ring to reveal his partner... a fan from the crowd. The fan in question was 10 year-old Nicholas, who ended up becoming the youngest-ever champion in WWE history after Strowman performed a running power slam on Cesaro.
The unlikely champions relinquished the WWE RAW Tag Team Championships a day later, due to Nicholas not being to defend the titles while still being a schoolboy.
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