NXT is currently considered to be the gold standard when it comes to professional wrestling, and because of that, the NXT Championship itself has become one of the richest prizes in the sport at the moment.
A look back at the history of everyone who has held the title provides a real who's who of top tier wrestling talent, with the vast majority of them going on to have tremendous success on the main roster as well.
Whilst, not every championship run has been perfect, the vast majority have been incredibly entertaining and within this article, we will rank the 10 greatest NXT Champions in history.
10 Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins was the first-ever NXT Champion in history, setting the lineage of the title off to an amazing start, especially considering how great his career has gone on to become on the main roster.
Rollins won a "Gold Rush" tournament in order to be crowned the first-ever NXT Champion, defeating Drew McIntyre, Curtis Axel, and Jinder Mahal in order to pick up the championship.
Unfortunately for Rollins, NXT wasn't the star loaded show that it is today with major Takeover events allowing people to showcase themselves, and because of that his actual time as champion was fairly forgettable, but still not the worst in history.
9 Andrade
When it comes to title length, Andrade's wasn't one of the longest, however that doesn't mean that it wasn't a fantastic title run, with it being one that totally came by surprise with fans not expecting to see him at the top of NXT at any point.
However, even though his run was shorter than most, he made the most out of his time with the title, putting on some amazing matches including his Takeover bouts against Johnny Gargano.
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Going from a mid-card player to the main event star, Andrade made sure that he proved he was good enough to be a main event star and helped continue to grow the NXT brand.
8 Aleister Black
Aleister Black brought a level of mystery and darkness to the NXT Championship that hadn't been seen before and was a very popular champion within the brand due to his incredible in-ring style.
Black brought out one of the best matches of Lars Sullivan's career, showing just how talented he is, and whilst he didn't always get featured as much as other champions, he remained incredibly popular throughout it.
However, Black did end up getting caught in the Gargano and Ciampa storyline and because of that, his title run was impacted as a lot of the focus was taken away from him.
7 Adrian Neville
Even though his main roster career was very much hit and miss, Adrian Neville's time in NXT was superb, with the Englishman putting on some of the greatest matches in the history of the black and yellow brand.
Neville really did help start to get the world talking about NXT with excellent title matches against the likes of Tyson Kidd, Tyler Breeze, and Sami Zayn, proving he was a true fighting champion.
The fact he was able to constantly perform to a high standard set the tone for what NXT was going to become, a show for fantastic wrestling that fans would enjoy.
6 Bo Dallas
Those who didn't watch NXT in the early days will have missed out on Bo Dallas' time in NXT where he was one of the greatest heels on the entire brand, with fans turning up specifically to boo him.
Dallas was the NXT Champion for the first-ever Takeover event and had plenty of pressure to perform at a high level, and considering how the event has since transpired, it's fair to say he did a great job.
Starting out as a classic babyface, it wasn't until he turned heel that Bo really got going and once he did there was no stopping him, which is why it's a real shame he hasn't gone on to have bigger success on the main roster.
5 Shinsuke Nakamura
The King Of Strong Style took the wrestling world by storm when he finally made the jump to WWE, and it didn't take him too long to capture the NXT Championship, proving he was one of the top talents in the world.
Shinsuke Nakamura put on some of the most amazing matches in NXT history, showing a wider world just how talented he is as a wrestler as he battled one of NXT's greatest feuds with Samoa Joe.
Nakamura finished his NXT career as a two-time NXT Champion and showcased why he deserved to be in NXT, and why the NXT Championship is one of the top titles in the world.
4 Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe was a name that nobody ever expected to see in a WWE environment, so just seeing him holding a title in NXT was an amazing situation, but the fact he was able to make such an impact was even better.
Joe was originally brought in to just be a helping hand to put over other talents, but he quickly made his mark and proved that he should be at the top, as he captured the NXT Championship after a brutal and bloody feud with Finn Balor.
Joe then went on to have another excellent feud with Shinsuke Nakamura as he secured his second reign, becoming the first-ever two-time NXT Champion.
3 Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens was one of the first major 'indie' names that joined NXT and helped the black and yellow brand get some major attention, and a large reason for that was because of his obsession with the NXT Championship.
KO's whole reasoning behind betraying his best friend in order to become champion was to provide for his family, which was a very interesting twist on being a heel and helped make the title even more interesting.
However, it was the fact he showed up on the main roster as NXT Champion and defeated John Cena on PPV that really made him a top champion, as he put NXT on a platform like no other.
2 Tommaso Ciampa
If it wasn't for Tommaso Ciampa's unfortunate neck injury, Tommaso Ciampa's run as NXT Champion would likely have lasted a lot longer and he probably would have topped this list.
Sadly, that wasn't to be, but that doesn't mean that Ciampa's time at the top of the NXT mountain was a bad one, in fact, it was one of the greatest reigns as champion of all time with the Psycho Killer really making the title seem like a massive deal.
No other titleholder has made as much of a fuss over the title as Ciampa did, putting the title over as he clung on to "Goldie" at all available opportunities. With Ciampa promising to return and win the title back though, he still might end up in the top spot.
1 Finn Balor
When you think about WWE your mind traditionally goes to names such as John Cena and Stone Cold Steve Austin, the franchise players who helped make the company what it was, and NXT has the same situation.
Finn Balor was arguably the biggest name in NXT history, helping to take the brand to totally new levels, changing it from simply developmental to a fully-fledged touring brand, with him as the headline name.
Balor's time as champion was incredible, and he is still the longest-running champion in history, holding the title for 292 days after battling with incredible rivals such as Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe.