Some wrestlers hit their peak early on in their wrestling career which ultimately results in a title reign. WWE currently has 20 championships at their disposal with some currently holding a record as the youngest champion with that respective championship.
Every wrestler who steps foot in a wrestling ring has the aspiration of becoming a champion. Especially becoming a World Champion is the goal for the majority of wrestlers but not everyone is lucky to hold a world championship. Nevertheless, WWE has produced several championships over the years with many titles retired in favor of newer titles.
A large chunk of wrestlers hit their prime later on in their careers but some can grab the brass ring at a young age. Between Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and NXT UK there are 20 titles for wrestlers to fight for so there is a lot of healthy competition on offer. Nevertheless, some of the youngest champions have proved to be a success and others had forgettable reigns.
20 Universal Champion: Kevin Owens (32)
A huge opportunity opened up for Kevin Owens after Finn Balor, unfortunately, sustained an injury in his Universal Championship triumph at SummerSlam 2016. The title was vacant but Owens prevailed in a fatal-4-way match for the newly-established Universal Title.
Owens became the youngest Universal Champion in WWE history at the age of 32. He did a remarkable job as Universal Champion as he held the title for 188 days before he emphatically dropped the gold to Goldberg at Fastlane 2017.
19 Million Dollar Champion: Ted DiBiase Jr. (27)
There was a lot of expectation on Ted DiBiase Jr.'s shoulders as he is the son of the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase. He was a member of Legacy alongside Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes, and he captured the World Tag Team Titles twice with Rhodes.
Nevertheless, DiBiase was on his lonesome by 2010 and he was awarded the Million Dollar Championship. It was the second time that the title was reactivated and he was the youngest titleholder at 27 years of age. He held the title for 224 days but Goldust stole the title and the championship was going to be returned to him but he refused it.
18 24/7 Champion: Bad Bunny (26)
The 24/7 Championship is pretty much a carbon copy of the Hardcore Championship with title changes happening at any time and any place. Akira Tozawa had just captured the title from R-Truth but Tozawa made a catastrophic error when he bumped into Bad Bunny and Damian Priest backstage.
On the February 15, 2021 edition of Raw, Bad Bunny covered Tozawa to become the youngest 24/7 Champion at the age of 26. Bunny had help from Priest in successful title defenses, and he was champion for 28 days until he relinquished the title back to R-Truth in favor of some Steve Austin memorabilia.
17 WWE Women's Tag Team Champion: Peyton Royce (26)
The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship has certainly had its ups and downs, but there was a low moment for the title at WrestleMania 35. The Ilconics became the second WWE Women's Tag Team Champions in history when they ended Sasha Banks and Bayley's reign in a fatal-4-way tag team match.
Thus two years later, Peyton Royce remains the youngest WWE Women's Tag Team Champion. Her reign with the gold alongside Billie Kay wasn't the greatest as the title was barely defended, and they weren't the greatest in-ring performers either.
16 NXT UK Tag Team Champion: James Drake (25)
The UK version of NXT has tons of talent, and the NXT UK Tag Team Championship crowned its first titleholders at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool. The Grizzled Young Veterans' James Drake and Zack Gibson defeated Trent Severn and Tyler Bate to become the inaugural champions.
Drake is the youngest man to hold the title thus far at the age of 25. Drake and Gibson were champions for seven months until they dropped the titles to Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff.
15 SmackDown Women's Champion: Alexa Bliss (25)
Alexa Bliss simply doesn't get enough credit for the contributions she has made in the Women's Evolution. Bliss has a knack for making history as she became the first two-time SmackDown Women's Champion.
Nevertheless, The Goddess defeated Becky Lynch for the SmackDown Women's Title in a Tables match at TLC 2016 for her first piece of silverware. Bliss was only 25 years of age when she captured the championship for the first time.
14 WWE Champion: Brock Lesnar (25)
It became abundantly clear that Brock Lesnar was on the rise to superstardom early on in his WWE career. The Next Big Thing decimated The Rock with ease to become the youngest WWE Champion at the age of 25 at SummerSlam 2002.
Lesnar certainly lived up to the hype, and he managed to beat Undertaker cleanly in a competitive Hell in a Cell match to retain the WWE Championship at No Mercy 2002. 19 years later and it remains to be seen if his record as the youngest WWE Champion will get broken or not.
13 NXT Women's Tag Team Champion: Indi Hartwell (24)
The Way comprised of Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae captured the NXT Women's Tag Team Titles from Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart in a Street Fight on the May 4, 2021 edition of NXT.
Hartwell currently holds two records as she is the youngest champion at the tender age of 24 and holding the title for 63 days is the longest. Her record of being the longest-reigning champion will likely be broken by their successors Io Shirai and Zoey Stark who at the time of writing are 57 days strong into their reign as champions.
12 SmackDown Tag Team Champion: Dominik Mysterio (24)
History was made at WrestleMania Backlash when Dominik Mysterio and his father Rey became the first father-son duo to win a Tag Team Championship in WWE. Their SmackDown Tag Team title reign was entertaining with Dominik becoming the youngest champion at 24.
Nonetheless, it was a proud moment for The Mysterios to team up together and they captivated audiences with their fast-paced style of wrestling. Ultimately, The Usos brought their reign to a halt on the kick-off show at Money in the Bank 2021.
11 Raw Women's Champion: Sasha Banks (24)
Sasha Banks doesn't have the best track record when it comes down to having memorable title reigns. However, The Boss defeated Charlotte Flair for her first Raw Women's Title reign on the July 25, 2016 edition of Raw.
Fans salivated at Banks' victory but she only held the gold for 27 days until Charlotte reclaimed the title at SummerSlam. Banks and Charlotte traded the title throughout the year but to this day, Banks remains as the youngest titleholder of the Raw Women's Championship.
10 NXT Cruiserweight Champion: Lio Rush (24)
Lio Rush always had tons of potential and despite his diminutive stature he held his own in the ring and he was exceptional on the mic. Rush finally captured the NXT Cruiserweight Championship and in doing so he became the youngest champion at 24 years of age.
Rush did a superb job as champion, but he lost the title to Angel Garza on an episode of NXT just 63 days later. It's a shame that Rush is no longer with WWE as he could have dominated the Cruiserweight Division.
9 Intercontinental Champion: Jeff Hardy (23)
Jeff Hardy is one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions in WWE history with five reigns to his name. However, one of his most famous Intercontinental Title wins came on the April 12, 2001 edition of SmackDown when he upset Triple H for the title.
Hardy was never going to have a long reign with the workhorse title as The Game recaptured the gold on the following episode of Raw. Ultimately, Jeff's two-decade-long record as the youngest Intercontinental Champion at 23 remains intact.
8 NXT North American Champion: Velveteen Dream (23)
Velveteen Dream had to wait a long time for his chance to become NXT North American Champion, but he finally took the opportunity with both hands when he got another chance to hold the championship. Dream ended Johnny Gargano's reign and thus he became the youngest NXT North American Champion at 23.
Dream did an exceptional job as champion and his matches were tons of fun to watch. Nevertheless, Roderick Strong added some more gold to The Undisputed Era when he dethroned Dream which saw his successful run as champion clock up to 209 days.
7 NXT Champion: Bo Dallas (22)
Not every NXT Champion managed to translate their success on the black-and-gold brand onto the main roster. Bo Dallas is certainly in that category despite capturing the Raw Tag Team Titles with Curtis Axel once.
Nevertheless, Dallas brought Big E Langston's reign as NXT Champion to a halt on the June 12, 2013, edition of NXT. He is the youngest NXT Champion at 22 years of age and he certainly thrived in his role as NXT Champion. Dallas held the championship for a whopping 260 days until Adrian Neville beat him at NXT ArRIVAL.
6 NXT Tag Team Champion: Tyler Bate (21)
Tyler Bate is best familiar to fans during his time on the UK version of NXT. Bate along with Trent Severn as the Moustache Mountain defeated The Undisputed Era's Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reilly for the NXT Tag Team Championship in London, England.
Whilst Bate made history as the youngest NXT Tag Team Champion at the age of 21, they have an unwanted record as the shortest-reigning NXT Tag Team Champions. The Moustache Mountain dropped the straps just two days later back to The Undisputed Era.
5 NXT UK Women's Champion: Rhea Ripley (21)
It feels like Rhea Ripley has been around for years with her exploits on the main roster as a former Raw Women's Champion. However, before any of that could happen, The Nightmare was an integral part of the success of NXT UK.
Ripley is the youngest and inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion as she overcame Toni Storm on the August 26, 2018 edition of NXT UK in Birmingham, England. Ripley was 21 years of age when she captured the title and this was a catalyst for bigger things to come as she became a two-time NXT Women's Champion.
4 United States Champion: David Flair (20)
Before the United States Championship became WWE's property in 2001 and revived once again on a full-time basis in 2003, it had a rich lineage in WCW. One of the greatest United States Champions is Ric Flair, and he awarded his son David the title on the July 5, 1999, edition of WCW Nitro.
Flair wasn't even born when his father captured the title for the first time in 1977. Nevertheless, David is the youngest United States Champion at the age of 20 and he was champion for five weeks until Chris Benoit beat him for his maiden run with the title.
3 NXT Women's Champion: Paige (20)
Paige has the honor of becoming the first NXT Women's Champion when she defeated Emma in a tournament final on July 24, 2013. Paige's in-ring skills are outstanding and, eight years later, her record as the youngest NXT Women's Champion at 20 is in safe hands.
She is one of the all-time great competitors of her generation and she was unstoppable as NXT Women's Champion. Nevertheless, Paige goes down as an unbeaten NXT Women's Champion as she captured the Divas Title from AJ Lee on the Raw after WrestleMania XXX. She had to relinquish the NXT Women's Title to focus on her duties as Divas Champion.
2 NXT UK Champion: Tyler Bate (19)
Tyler Bate features once more as he isn't just the youngest NXT Tag Team Champion, he is also the youngest and first-ever NXT UK Champion. Bate defeated Pete Dunne for the title on January 15, 2017, in Blackpool, England and he was champion at the age of 19.
Bate was a fighting champion and he did a decent job as champion. Nevertheless, despite the title being based in the UK, the championship did change hands in the USA when Dunne got the better of Bate at TakeOver: Chicago.
1 Raw Tag Team Champion: Nicholas (10)
Arguably one of the most farcical tag team titles changes occurred at WrestleMania 34. Braun Strowman picked Nicholas who was a 10-year child from the crowd to be his tag team partner and they defeated The Bar for the Raw Tag Team Titles.
The Bar certainly deserved a lot better as they brought prestige to the Raw Tag Team Championship. Nicholas' record as the youngest champion in WWE history is likely set in stone, and something like this should never happen again.