8 Superstars who have won RAW and SmackDown world titles but not NXT

NXT, since being introduced a decade ago, has been the brand to help young and new Superstars hone their craft and learn the WWE way before moving to RAW and SmackDown.

While NXT has carved a niche for itself and produces fantastic matches and storylines, is still seen as a stepping stone to the main roster. Superstars who win titles on NXT or have feuds for these titles eventually get called up to the main roster.

But, there have been some Superstars who have been successful on the main roster and won world titles on RAW and SmackDown even though they didn't on NXT.

Here, let's take a look at 8 Superstars who have won RAW and SmackDown world titles but not NXT:

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#8 Becky Lynch

Becky Lynch as RAW Women's Champion

Becky Lynch took the WWE women's division by storm over one and a half years ago, and was in one of the hottest feuds in WWE against Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair. The Man won the RAW and SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 35.

She won the SmackDown Women's title for the third time and the RAW Women's title for the first time at WrestleMania 35, but Lynch has never won the NXT Championship. Lynch joined WWE in 2013 and joined NXT, and was on the black and gold brand for two years.

She had the opportunity to win it at NXT TakeOver: Rival in 2015 in a fatal 4-way match featuring Charlotte Flair, Bayley, and the eventual winner, Sasha Banks. She had another opportunity at winning the title at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, this time in a singles match against Banks, which Banks won.

She was called up to the main roster a few months later, and just a year later became the first-ever SmackDown Women's Champion when she won at Backlash, winning a six-pack elimination challenge match.

#7 Jon Moxley (fka Dean Ambrose)

Jon Moxley, fka Dean Ambrose, is a former WWE Champion

Dean Ambrose, who is now known as Jon Moxley on AEW television, was a part of NXT, much like the other two members of The Shield - Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. Ambrose joined WWE in 2011 and was a part of the now defunct Florida Championship Wrestling developmental territory.

Ambrose was involved in just a handful of matches on NXT, before he was called up to the main roster alongside Reigns and Rollins, and went on to make a major impact on WWE. Ambrose, though, never won a single title in NXT, unlike Seth Rollins, who was the inaugural NXT Champion.

But, Ambrose did win one world title on the main roster, winning the WWE Championship once when he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at the PPV of the same name in 2016. He cashed it in on Rollins, who had defeated Roman Reigns just a few minutes earlier. That was the only world title Ambrose won before he left WWE for AEW in 2019.

#6 Natalya

Natalya has been a part of WWE for over a decade, signing with the company back in 2007 and being a part of Deep South Wrestling and FCW, before her main roster call-up. After her debut on SmackDown in 2008, she won the Divas Championship in 2010.

She was then a part of NXT and had her first shot at the NXT Women's title in 2013 when she faced and lost against Paige at an NXT TV show. She had yet another opportunity to win the title the following year at the first-ever NXT TakeOver in 2014, when she faced Charlotte Flair and lost.

But a few years later, Natalya won her first world title when she captured the SmackDown Women's Championship at SummerSlam 2017. Natalya faced Naomi at the PPV and defeated her after locking her in the Sharpshooter. This was her first title since winning the Divas Championship seven years earlier.

Her last world title opportunity came at SummerSlam once again in 2019, when she faced Becky Lynch in a singles match.

#5 Jinder Mahal

Jinder Mahal won the WWE Championship for the first time in 2017

Jinder Mahal, too, was a part of FCW, joining in 2010. A year later he was called up to the main roster, featuring alongside Khali on SmackDown. But, he was then moved back to NXT, where he had a winning streak that was set to help his push.

He had a decent singles run on the black and gold brand. NXT had a tournament to crown the first NXT Champion back in 2012, where Mahal reached the final, only to be defeated by Seth Rollins. He then returned to the main roster as part of the 3MB faction alongside Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal, and was released in 2014.

After re-signing with WWE in 2016, things seemed to turn around for him. He earned a shot at Randy Orton's WWE Championship at Backlash 2017, where he won the title, which is his only world championship reign in WWE. He lost the title later in the year to AJ Styles at a SmackDown show.

#4 Carmella

Carmella defeated Charlotte to win the SmackDown Women's title

Like Jinder Mahal, no one would have expected Carmella to win a world title on the main roster. The Princess of Staten Island is not the best in the ring or has a gimmick that stands out, which is why her world title win in 2018, when she beat Charlotte Flair on SmackDown, was quite a shock.

She earned that opportunity after winning the Money in the Bank briefcase in 2017, which was the very first women's Money in the Bank ladder match. She went on to defend the title a few times against the likes of Charlotte, Asuka, and Becky Lynch, before losing to Charlotte at SummerSlam 2018.

When she was in NXT, Carmella had the opportunity to win the NXT Women's title on three occasions - twice against Bayley at NXT shows, and the other against Asuka at the NXT Download Festival.

But, she was unsuccessful on all three occasions. However, she has come a long way as a wrestler, which eventually earned her the SmackDown Women's Championship in 2018.

#3 Alexa Bliss

Alexa Bliss as SmackDown Women's Champion

For a long time, critics of Alexa Bliss said that Little Miss Bliss wasn't the best in the ring, and she did not deserve to hold any title in WWE. But, Bliss has proved those critics wrong as she has improved in the ring, while her skills on the mic have gone up several notches.

Bliss first was a ring announcer on NXT, before improving her in-ring skills to be taken seriously inside the ring. She had a few shots at the NXT Women's title, with the first of those coming back in 2015, when she faced Bayley. She had a few more chances on NXT live shows, but never really came close to winning the title.

But things changed after she was promoted to the main roster in 2016. She won her first world title later in the year, when she defeated Becky Lynch for the SmackDown Women's title. She won the title once more in 2017, before being moved to RAW, where she has three RAW Women's titles to her name.

#2 Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns was previously a part of WWE's NXT brand

Like Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns was also a part of FCW and NXT, but had a few more matches than Ambrose on the black and gold brand. Back then, Reigns wasn't the blue-eyed boy of WWE's creative team. In fact, it was Rollins who was higher up the rank than Reigns on NXT.

But, years later, it's Reigns who has become the face of the company. Reigns never won any title on NXT and was not even in any world title match. Reigns and Rollins have the same number of world titles - 4. The Big Dog has won the WWE Championship thrice and the Universal Championship once, while Rollins has won each of those titles twice.

The Big Dog's last world title run was back in 2018 when he won the Universal Championship from Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. But, he had to relinquish the title a few months later as he had to step away from the ring due to his leukemia diagnosis.

#1 Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt on NXT

Bray Wyatt is one of the Superstars that was on the original NXT competition as well as the NXT brand. Wyatt was a part of the NXT competition back in 2010 as Husky Harris, before moving back to FCW.

Wyatt was then part of the newly-formed NXT brand, albeit briefly, before being recalled to the main roster. He had a handful of matches in NXT in 2012 and 2013, one of which was against then WWE Superstar Chris Jericho. On NXT, he never had any title opportunities, but made a name for himself on the main roster as the leader of The Wyatt Family.

But, he had to wait a few years to get his hands around a world title as he won his first WWE Championship in 2017 at the Elimination Chamber PPV. He won the Chamber match which had the likes of John Cena, AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, The Miz, and Baron Corbin.

After a lull in his career, Wyatt returned as the newly-packaged Fiend, winning the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel after defeating Seth Rollins.