First 5 WWE NXT Champions: Where are they now?

From starting out as a competition-oriented show that aimed at crowning a breakout star for WWE to being recognized as the third flagship brand of the company, NXT has surely come a long way. What was once considered a developmental territory for molding up-and-coming talents into Superstars of the future is now one of the most premier brands of professional-wrestling.

After WWE rebranded its official developmental territory FCW into NXT in August 2012, the NXT Championship was introduced as the top championship of the brand. A few years later, the title was soon recognized as a world championship by the company along with the WWE Championship and the WWE Universal Championship.

Several Superstars have since then gone on to become NXT Champions before moving to either RAW or SmackDown. Some of the former NXT Champions have also gone on to hold other titles in the company and have even become world champions on multiple occasions while some are no longer with the company. Today, we will take a look at the first 5 Superstars to have won the NXT Championship and their current scenario.

#1 Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins is arguably one of the most successful Superstars to have ever held the NXT Championship. He defeated Jinder Mahal in the finals of the Gold Rush Tournament on August 29, 2012, to become the inaugural NXT Champion and has since gone on to hold multiple titles on the main roster. He along with Roman Reigns and former WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley) debuted on the main roster as The Shield where they delivered their own brand of justice.

Rollins then turned his back on the group and aligned himself with Triple H and the Authority in 2014 after which he became the WWE Champion by cashing in his Money In The Bank contract at WrestleMania 31 in the match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. Since then, he has been a United States Champion, an Intercontinental Champion, Universal Champion, and RAW Tag Team Champion.

After he lost the WWE Universal Championship to 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt at WWE Crown Jewel, Rollins turned his back on the WWE Universe, aligned himself with AOP and Murphy and became a messianic figure for which he was dubbed The Monday Night Messiah. He then started a heated rivalry with Kevin Owens and the two are now scheduled to face each other in a match at WrestleMania 36.

#2 Big E

The second Superstar to win the NXT Championship was Big E when he defeated Seth Rollins on an episode of NXT in 2013. He would then go on to hold the title for 153 days before he eventually dropped it.

After making his move to the main roster, Big E became an Intercontinental Champion and a multi-time Tag Team Champion after he aligned with Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston to form The New Day.

Along with the other two members of New Day, Big E holds the record for the longest Tag Team Championship reign in the history of WWE at a total of 483 days and is a record five-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion. Big E and Kofi Kingston recently lost the SmackDown Tag Team titles to The Miz and John Morrison at the 2020 WWE Elimination Chamber.

After The Miz and John Morrison interfered in a #1 contender's match for the SmackDown Tag Team titles between The New Day and The Usos on last week's episode, it was made official that both the teams will face The Miz and Morrison for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 36.

#3 Bo Dallas

Bo Dallas became the third person to win the NXT Championship after he defeated Big E on an episode of NXT in 2013. He would go on to hold the NXT title for an impressive 260 days which was then the longest reign before it got broken by Finn Balor and eventually Adam Cole who is the current NXT Champion.

Dallas's father is WWE legend Irwin R. Schyster and his grandfather is Hall of Famer Blackjack Mulligan. His two uncles Barry and Kendall Windham were also professional wrestlers, so, it can be said that professional wrestling was in Dallas's blood. Some may not know, but former Universal Champion Bray Wyatt is also his brother.

After he got drafted to WWE RAW in 2014, Dallas began a winning streak until it got broken by R-Truth. Since then, Dallas has not been able to replicate the same amount of success that he achieved in NXT even though he has been a former RAW Tag Team Champion and a 24/7 Champion.

Dallas and Curtis Axel acted as lackeys for The Miz during 2017 where they were known as The Miztourage but after The Miz was drafted to SmackDown in 2018, they remained on RAW and rebranded themselves as The B-Team where they became RAW Tag Team Champions after they defeated Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt at 2018 Extreme Rules.

Dallas has rarely appeared on WWE television after Axel and he were drafted to SmackDown as a part of the 2019 Superstar Shake-up. For a person who held the NXT Championship for such a long time, it is hard to believe that he has not made much impact on the main roster.

#4 Neville/PAC

PAC, who is currently a wrestler for AEW, was known as Neville in WWE. While he was on the Black and Gold brand, he defeated Bo Dallas at NXT Arrival in 2014 in a Ladder Match to become the fourth NXT Champion.

Before he became an NXT Champion, PAC was also a former NXT Tag Team Champion having defeated The Wyatt Family to win the titles along with his tag team partner and fellow British Superstar Oliver Grey where they were known as British Ambition. He won the tag titles for a second time with current WWE SmackDown commentator Corey Graves when he was a Superstar in NXT.

This also made PAC the first person to hold the NXT Tag Team Championship and the NXT Championship. He later got drafted to WWE RAW where he impressed the WWE Universe with his high-flying aerial attacks.

'The Man That Gravity Forgot' later won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship twice and created a record by being the longest reigning Cruiserweight Champion.

PAC then left WWE in 2018 due to a dispute in contract following which he signed with All Elite Wrestling in 2019. Since making his debut on AEW, PAC has had feuds with Hangman Page, Kenny Omega and most recently Orange Cassidy whom he defeated at AEW Revolution.

#5 Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn following his Intercontinental title win

Few Superstars can match the experience that Sami Zayn possesses. Having wrestled in over 29 countries, Zayn arrived at NXT in 2013 to much hype and anticipation. Known for his eclectic style of wrestling where he mixes acrobatic maneuvers with hard-hitting strikes, the Canadian born Superstar immediately wowed the NXT and WWE Universe.

After pursuing the NXT Championship for nearly a year, Zayn defeated Neville (PAC) at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution in 2014 to become the fifth Superstar to win the NXT Championship. However, the celebration did not last long as it was cut short by a heinous attack from Kevin Owens who seemingly came in to congratulate him at first before stabbing him from the back.

Zayn has had a storied on-and-off friendship and rivalry with Owens from their time in the indies and has also continued their feud in NXT and even on the main roster. However, after always coming withing arms reach of winning a championship only to see it being taken away from him, he turned to the dark side by aligning with Owens for a brief period.

Zayn was drafted to SmackDown as a part of the 2019 draft and became the manager of Shinsuke Nakamura when the latter held the Intercontinental Championship. A few weeks later, he also started managing Cesaro and the trio named themselves as The Artist Collective.

After Braun Strowman defeated Nakamura to become the Intercontinental Champion, Zayn challenged him to a 3-on-1 handicap match at the 2020 Elimination Chamber. Zayn along with Cesaro and Nakamura defeated The Monster Among Men to win the Intercontinental title for the first time in his career which also marked his first major singles title win after 5 years since he last held the NXT Championship.

Zayn will be defending the IC title against Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 36.