Implemented on April 5, 2013, to give NXT a women’s title, the NXT Women’s Championship has since been the subject of contention in memorable matches and held by WWE’s main bets to make the leap to the main roster. With Paige as the first holder, the belt was held by Asuka for 510 days. Shayna Baszler and Charlotte Flair were the only ones to win two reigns. Paige was the youngest to win the title (20 years and 307 days), while Shayna Baszler was the oldest (37 years and 81 days).
In September 2022, at Worlds Collide, the NXT UK Women’s Championship was unified into the NXT Women’s Championship . It is therefore worth remembering the ten best matches ever for the NXT Women’s Championship, in chronological order.
NXT TakeOver (May 29, 2014)
NXT Women’s Championship: Charlotte vs. Natalya
On April 24, 2014, Paige was stripped of the NXT Women’s Championship by NXT Commissioner John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL), as she was unable to defend that title and the WWE Divas Championship, thus ending a 308-day reign.
However, a tournament was announced to crown the new champion. On the way to the finals, Charlotte eliminated Emma and Alexa Bliss, while Natalya eliminated Layla and Sasha Banks. In the title match, Charlotte was accompanied by her father, Ric Flair, while Natalya was accompanied by her uncle, Bret Hart .
NXT TakeOver: Rival (February 11, 2015)
NXT Women’s Championship: Charlotte (c) vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch vs. bayley
On the January 21, 2015 episode of NXT , Charlotte successfully defended the NXT Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks, as she had done before on TakeOver: R Evolution and on the December 25 episode. However, after this last defense she was attacked by Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch , who formed a faction, Team BAE (Best at Everything).
Bayley , who had been away from the ring since November due to an injury caused by Sasha and Becky , returned to save Charlotte , but then ended up attacking the champion, albeit reluctantly.
Faced with the confusion generated, William Regal appeared on the scene to set up a fatal-four way match between the four for the title for NXT TakeOver: Rival . However, the alliance between Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch was undone, as Sasha caused Becky ‘s defeat in a match against Bayley on the February 4 episode, the last one before the title match.
NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable (May 20, 2015)
NXT Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Becky Lynch
In October 2014, Becky Lynch allied with Sasha Banks, forming Team BAE (Best at Everything), but the alliance lasted a few months, since in February of the following year Banks caused Becky’s defeat in a fight against Bayley .
At NXT TakeOver: Rival, Sasha Banks won the NXT Women’s Championship in a fatal 4-way match that also featured Becky Lynch, former champion Charlotte and Bayley .
Later in April, Becky defeated Bayley and Charlotte in a triple threat match to become the top contender for the NXT Women’s Championship .
NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn (August 22, 2015)
NXT Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bayley
The culmination of a rivalry that had begun two years earlier, when Bayley and Sasha Banks entered the tournament to crown the first NXT Women’s Champion and were eliminated in the first round.
Since then, they’ve always been on opposite sides of the barricade: Sasha Banks was allied with Summer Rae and Charlotte Flair (formed as The BFFs) and later Becky Lynch , while Bayley was by Charlotte ‘s side until she joined The BFFs, Natalya and Becky Lynch is even allying with Sasha.
However, Sasha Banks won the NXT Women’s Championship by beating the then champion Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Bayley in a fatal-four way match at NXT TakeOver: Rival , having defended it in the following months against Charlotte , Alexa Bliss and Becky Lynch .
At the same time, Bayley defeated Emma at the culmination of the rivalry between the two, on the July 22 episode of NXT , and announced that she had the aspiration to win the title. First, he challenged and beat Charlotte two weeks later to prove he was worthy to fight for the belt. Afterwards, he received the opportunity to fight for the title by defeating Becky Lynch on the August 12 episode, having decided then that he would face the champion Sasha Banks at TakeOver: Brooklyn .
NXT TakeOver: Respect (October 7, 2015)
30-minute Iron Man match for the NXT Women’s Championship:
Bayley (c) vs. Sasha Banks
At TakeOver: Brooklyn, Bayley defeated Sasha Banks to capture the NXT Women’s Championship . After the match, Becky Lynch and Charlotte came to the ring and partied with Bayley. Sasha Banks, who had just lost the title, also embraced Bayley .
However, the feud continued, with NXT General Manager William Regal announcing that Bayley would defend the title against Sasha in a 30-minute Iron Man match at TakeOver: Respect .
NXT Takeover: Orlando (April 1, 2017)
NXT Women’s Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Ember Moon
Champion since April 1, 2016, when she beat Bayley at TakeOver: Dallas , Asuka defended the title against Nia Jax, Mickie James, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce and Nikki Cross in the months that followed, remaining undefeated. Who also remained undefeated was Ember Moon, who had debuted in NXT in August 2016. Naturally, she became the main candidate for the NXT Women’s Championship.
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III (August 19, 2017)
NXT Women’s Championship : Asuka (c) vs. Ember Moon
Asuka successfully defended the NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: Orlando, but began to show villainous behavior at that event, pushing the referee against Ember Moon to avoid her opponent’s finisher (The Eclipse ) .
Weeks later, Asuka attacked Ember Moon, Nikki Cross and Ruby Riott, the final entrants in a battle royal to determine the top contender for the title at NXT TakeOver: Chicago . This attitude led to a fatal four way match between Asuka, Moon, Nikki and Ruby for the title, but Ember Moon missed the match due to injury.
At TakeOver: Chicago, Asuka beat Nikki Cross and Ruby Riott to retain the NXT Women’s Championship . The following month, in June, Asuka successfully defended the title in a Last Woman Standing match against Nikki Cross. However, Ember Moon returned to action and was scheduled to face Asuka for the title at TakeOver: Brooklyn III .
NXT TakeOver: In Your House (June 7, 2020)
NXT Women’s Championship:
Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai
After winning the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble match , Charlotte Flair said on the February 3 episode of Raw that she had previously defeated Raw ( Becky Lynch ) and SmackDown ( Bayley ) champions and had held those belts multiple times. Having said that, NXT Champion Rhea Ripley interrupted her and said that Charlotte should challenge her, not least because Charlotte had never beaten Ripley.
After Ripley defended the NXT Women’s Championship against Bianca Belair at TakeOver: Portland, on February 16th , she was attacked by Charlotte , who accepted the challenge from the Australian to a match at WrestleMania , thus making it official the first occasion in which a winner (a) of the Royal Rumble singles fight for an NXT title and also the first time an NXT belt was defended at the biggest event of the year.
At WrestleMania 36, Charlotte won the NXT Women’s Championship for the second time in her career by beating Ripley via submission, via a Figure-Eight Leglock . On the following episode of NXT , Io Shirai won a six-woman ladder match to earn the opportunity to face Charlotte for the title.
On the May 6 episode of the NXT Women’s Championship match , Shirai defeated Charlotte via disqualification. After the duel, Ripley returned to the television shows after a few weeks of absence and saved Shirai.
Two weeks later, a match between Shirai and Ripley ended in a no-contest after Charlotte attacked both of them, which led to a triple threat match between the three for the title at NXT TakeOver: In Your House .
NXT Halloween Havoc 2020
Tables, Ladders and Scares match for the NXT Women’s Championship:
Io Shirai (c) vs. Candice LeRae
On the September 23 episode of NXT , Candice LeRae won a battle royal to become the top contender for Io Shirai’s NXT Women’s Championship at NXT TakeOver 31 . In that event, Io Shirai took advantage of the confusion caused by Johnny Gargano, LeRae’s husband who tried to replace the referee when he was the target of an involuntary aggression by his wife, to apply Spanish Flag and a Diving Moonsault to ensure the triumph .
On the October 14 episode of NXT , Candice LeRae beat Shotzi Blackheart to earn yet another opportunity to challenge Io Shirai for the title.
NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver – Night 1 (April 7, 2021)
NXT Women’s Championship: Io Shirai (c) vs. Raquel Gonzalez
On the March 10 episode of NXT, General Manager William Regal announced Raquel González and Dakota Kai as the first NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions. That same night, they lost the belts to Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon.
Following the match, Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez were furious about losing the title. NXT Champion Io Shirai appeared near them and told Raquel González that she wanted her to be her next challenger for the title. González told her to be careful what she wishes for.
However, the match between the two was made official for TakeOver: Stand & Deliver .