NXT Women's Championship

The NXT Women's Championship was introduced on the first episode of NXT, and was decided in a fatal four way between Bayley, Sasha Banks, Paige and Emma, which Bayley won.

## History

The NXT Women's Championship is a NXT-exclusive title that was first won by Bayley, who won a fatal four way match on the first episode of NXT. Her reign was short-lived, as she lost the belt to Paige just 3 weeks later. The Anti-Diva went on a record-settting run with the belt, holding the title for over 100 days and becoming the longest reigning champion in Universe Mode. Paige's championship run finally came to an end when Bayley began her second title reign at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable.

Bayley's second title reign was also short-lived, as she lost the belt just over a month later to Emma on an episode of NXT. Emma would lose the title back to Bayley in a fatal four way at NXT Takeover: London. Bayley, a 3-time champion, was also the final champion, as the belt would be retired at the start of Season 2.

At the start of Season 3, along with the return of NXT, the NXT Women's Championship was brought back vacant. Natalya and Carmella were the two signings made by GM William Regal from the main roster, and would face off on the April 19th edition of NXT, with the Queen of Harts getting the win. Natalya would then pick up wins over Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, before demanding to be crowned champion. Regal offered her a match at the show, as she would face the debuting Ember Moon. Moon would make a huge first impression at Takeover: Chicago, taking out Natalya with the Eclipse to win the championship on her debut. On the special championship edition of NXT, Natalya won the belt for the first time, defeating Ember by submission. At Takeover: Brooklyn, Nikki Cross would become the new champion, pinning Ember Moon in a triple threat match with Natalya. A few weeks later, Cross successfully defended her title against Natalya in the Queen of Harts' rematch clause, before being attacked by the Iconic Duo. This lead to Peyton Royce getting a title shot against Cross at Takeover: Toronto , where the champion was victorious. At Takeover: San Antonio , Carmella surprisingly defeated Cross to capture her first women's title, before winning the rematch between the two in March.

Following that second match, Cross would be out injured indefinitely and was not seen again on NXT. In the meantime, a new number one contender needed to be crowned, so GM Triple H organized the first ever Mae Young Classic . Toni Storm would defeat Rhea Ripley in the finals, then ran through the Princess of Staten Island at Takeover: Chicago to become the new champion. Toni was a fighting champion, and put on a great match with Bianca Belair on an episode of NXT to retain her title. After that match, Rhea Ripley attacked Storm and injured Bianca, which would eventually set up a rematch between Toni and Rhea. At Takeover: Brooklyn , Storm was yet again victorious, leaving Ripley without any excuses. Toni would face another tough test on NXT, defeating the vicious Sonya Deville. A new challenger emerged in the Genius of the Sky Io Shirai, and she was ready to do what no other woman could. In her homeland of Japan at Takeover: Tokyo , Shirai handed Storm her first defeat with her picture perfect moonsault.

Losing her first match and losing grasp of her title proved devastating for Storm, who's stock began to slide, eventually falling in a number one contender's match to Bianca Belair. The young Belair was more than ready for her chance, talking plenty of trash in the lead up to the match and referring to herself as the "EST of NXT". No doubt about it, Belair is an incredible talent, and dazzled at Takeover: Philadelphia, but it was the older and wiser Shirai who pulled off the win to retain her title. Toni Storm was in the crowd for that match, and left with a renewed desire to get back to the top. Her winning ways returned, and she would make it all the way back for another title shot. In an absolute war at Takeover: New Orleans, Storm became the first woman to kick out of Shirai's moonsault, but it was all for naught as Io still left as champion. It was time for a new challenge, as a mini-tournament was held to crown a new number one contender. In the end, it was the leader of "Team Kick" Dakota Kai who pulled off an upset over Belair to get the title match, though she came up short at Takeover: Blackpool. Shirai was beginning to develop a bit of an ego at this point, and it showed in her next feud. This time, she would be facing Rhea Ripley, another young phenom just starting to come into her own. Shirai showed no fear and no respect for her challenger, and it came back to bite her at Takeover: Seattle, when Ripley countered the moonsault with a powerbomb, before delivering the Riptide to end Shirai's mammoth title reign in a shocker.

At the same show where Ripley was crowned champion, Candice LeRea defeated Sonya Deville to become the number one contender. With pressure on her to live up to the legacy of Io Shirai's incredible time spent as champion, Ripley went home to Australia, and got her first title defense against LeRea at Takeover: Sydney.