The Great Eight: The Top 8 NXT Black and Gold Era Women’s Wrestlers

I intended to make this one list, but then I ended up with a list of over 30 wrestlers. So, I decided it would be better to split this up between men and women. The years we will be showcasing are 2014-2021. The launch of the Network and the rise of NXT were an absolute joy to watch. It gave us fans access to not only all the PPVS and archived footage, but for the first time, we had access to see the up-and-coming wrestlers.

Going back to the OVW days, unless you lived in the area where the developmental company ran, you didn’t really get to see wrestlers until they debuted on the main roster. From that first Arrival NXT set itself apart from the main roster; it was a bunch of young and hungry wrestlers looking to make their mark. And while there was a varied amount of main roster success, those of us watching got to see a lot of special talent giving it their all.

And one thing that NXT provided was a showcase for the women. Through the prodding of women like Paige, Emma, and others, Triple H allowed them a chance to show they were just as, if not more, talented as the men. These women, along with the rise of women in sports everywhere, pushed Vince McMahon to finally give women a bigger chance on the main roster.

We wouldn’t have the women’s roster we have today if it weren’t for NXT’s Black and Gold era talent blazing the trail.

Fun Facts:

Ranking Explanation:

The years we will be showcasing are 2014-2021. This covers the era between NXT Arrival through the NXT 2.0 rebrand.

Plugs

I don’t use social media, but you can follow me on Spotify, where you’ll find playlists covering every decade from the 1950s to the 2000s. As well as several genre-specific playlists.

Disclaimer:

This is my list; if you don’t like it or have a different list, awesome! Please share your own list and opinions in the comments section. I welcome open discourse about this wacky art we all love. It is an art form, so it is subjective; we all have our opinions on it, and all of them are valid. So, if you want to share your thoughts and opinions, don’t insult others for their opinion. There is already enough negativity in the world; let’s not add to it. And with that, on to the list!

The List

Honorable Mentions:

Emma, Nikki Cross, Ember Moon, Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, and Rhea Ripley

8: Shayna Baszler

She holds the record of longest combined days as NXT Women’s Champion, at 549 days. This is also the longest combined days for any singles championship in NXT. Baszler came into NXT with something to prove. Like Asuka before her, she left a trail of bodies on her way to winning the NXT Women’s Championship. She would win her first Championship at Takeover: New Orleans, beating Ember Moon by technical submission.

Her feud with Cross and Sane would provide some brutal matches. She would lose the title to Sane at Takeover: Brooklyn 4, but win it back at the first Evolution. From there, she would defend her title in some great matches. Including a Fatal Four-Way against Sane, Bianca Belair, and Io Shirai at Takeover: New York.

Her feuds with Shirai helped to establish her in NXT.  She would help lead her team to victory over Team Raw and SmackDown at Survivor Series 2019. She would lose the title to Rhea Ripley on a December episode of NXT. Making her the sixth-longest reigning Women’s Champion in WWE history, right behind Sensational Sherri’s reign of 441 days.

Baszler’s style was unlike anything else in NXT or the WWE at the time. She was everything the WWE wanted Rousey to be. An absolute killer with an MMA background to back it up. And who also understood how the wrestling business worked. She also provided some great LGBTQIA+ representation; being gay wasn’t part of her gimmick. She was a killer in the ring who also just happened to be gay.

7: Bianca Belair

Belair has Mark Henry to thank for her career. Which means we all owe Henry thanks for Belair’s career. After a premature end to her CrossFit career, Belair entered her information in the WWE Prospects database. Two weeks later, Henry told her he would get her a tryout.

It took two tryouts, but on April 12th, 201,6 Belair signed with NXT. Even if it took a bit to find her name, she declared herself the EST of NXT from the start. She would never be NXT women’s Champion. But her story of overcoming eating disorders and body image issues to become one of the best women in the world is more than enough to put her in this list.

Her powerhouse style and signature braid helped to set her apart, and much like someone else higher up on this list, she provides inspiration and representation to a bunch of little girls who can see themselves in her.

6: Paige

Paige walked to the Four Horsewomen could run. The work she put in to get women more opportunities in NXT helped to showcase the future of the business. She didn’t want to be doing bikini contests or be a valet for the men. She wanted to go out and do what she had been doing all her life, be a wrestler.

Credit to Triple H for giving her, Emma, Summer Rae, and Sasha Banks the chances to go out there and do their thing. No longer being told to hold back so they didn’t outshine the men. They were allowed to give it their all and be on even footing. Paige led the way, becoming the first NXT Women’s Champion, after defeating Emma in the finals of the tournament. She would defend it against Emma, Rae, and Banks. She would be forced to vacate the title, at 301 days, after winning the WWE Divas’ Championship.

While her career would go on to be plagued by injuries and personal issues, without her, I wouldn’t be writing this article. She deserves all the credit and praise for the work she did and the physical sacrifices she made to make wrestling a better place for women.

5: Becky Lynch

The only one of the Four Horsewomen to not win the NXT Women’s Championship in her first run. Becky Lynch’s run was at times frustrating, debuting with her Irish Jig gimmick, before evolving into something of a punk rock meets Steampunk look.

Odd gimmicks aside, Lynch came into NXT after a long break from wrestling. A concussion had put her out of the business for six years. Returning in 2013 and signing on with NXT, she would work her arse off to show the world that she was relevant.

The Fatal Four-Way at Takeover: Rival was probably when the world really started taking notice of her. But it was her match with Banks at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable that really showed that she was one of the best (not quite yet the best) women’s wrestlers in the world.

Like the next three women, women’s wrestling owes a great debt to Becky Lynch and the work she did to establish women’s wrestling in the US. Without her, the division would not be the same.

While she was often overlooked in comparison to the other three. It was Lynch who would go on to win the first-ever Women’s Main Event at WrestleMania.

4: Bayley

Charlotte was the beauty and the athlete, Becky was the vet with something to prove, Banks was The Boss, and Bayley was the one we all related to. The lifelong fan living out her wildest dreams. I remember there was a series on the Network that covered the lives of some of the NXT roster. And Bayley was complaining about having to learn how to do makeup. She wasn’t there to do makeup; she was there to wrestle.

And through guts and determination, that’s what she did. The last of the Four Horsewomen to get called up, Bayley stayed in NXT to help anchor the division while it was rebuilt. After putting on one of the best matches in NXT history with Sasha Banks at Takeover Brooklyn, she would get her chance to lead the roster as champion.

Before she could fully take over, she would have to beat Banks again in the first-ever Ironwoman match at Takeover: Respect. She would then have good matches against Alexa Bliss and Carmella. Her run would end at NXT Takeover: Dallas, showing that she wasn’t ready for Asuka.

Bayley helped to show girls everywhere that if you work hard and keep fighting, you can achieve your dreams. Her infectious joy filled Fullsail every week, and like the other Four Horsewomen, without her contributions, we wouldn’t have women’s wrestling like we do today.

3: Charlotte

Charlotte was positioned as the face of the NXT Women’s Division from the moment Paige moved to the main roster. She would beat Natalya in the finals for the vacant Championship and never looked back. While she would eventually get a reputation for always winning and being overpushed. She was the most athletically gifted of the Four Horsewomen.

She is a large part of why the Women’s Revolution happened; her matches with Bayley, Lynch, Banks, Emma, Paige, and Natalya made huge waves within the fanbase. And having NXT on the Network allowed the whole world to see what was happening in the Black and Gold brand. Triple H trusted the women on his brand to go out and put on great matches. And Charlotte was a big reason why so many of them blew what the men were doing out of the water.

Anytime someone talks about how the NXT women’s roster is so much better than the men’s, a lot of that is due to the groundwork women like Charlotee did a decade ago.

2: Sasha Banks

Sasha Banks didn’t have an illustrious career in Japan; she wasn’t the child of a famous wrestler. She didn’t claw her career back from an injury, and she didn’t have the pure talent that others did. What she did have was a determination to put women in a better place in wrestling and the drive to get them there.

Banks, Bayley, Charlotte, and Lynch could all be easily shuffled around. These four women took the foundation that Paige, Emma, and Natalya laid down and then built a hell of a house on it. You could just look at all of them as 2 A, B, C, and D. Their positioning here is more of my personal feelings on what they did for NXT than anything else.

I put Banks at the top because she represented a segment of girls who didn’t get to see many women like themselves in positions of power. She also helped pave the way for Bianca Belair, Naomi, and Lash Legend to be taken seriously and given more chances.

Belair is also no slouch in the ring; her defenses against Charlotte, Alexa Bliss, and Becky Lynch were great. And the match against Bayley is one of the best NXT matches ever.

1: Asuka

510 days, not just the longest single reign as the NXT Women’s Champion, but of any singles champion in NXT history. No one was, is, or will be ready for Asuka. Asuka signed with NXT in September 2015. She was the first Japanese woman to be signed to the WWE since Bull Nakano in 1994. From her debut on October 7th to beating Bayley at NXT Takeover: Dallas for the NXT Women’s Championship. Asuka left a trail of bodies in her wake.

When she won the championship, she was already in the middle of her 914-day undefeated streak. She would never actually lose the title, having to vacate it due to a collarbone injury. Asuka’s matches with Bayley, Nikki Cross, Mickie James, and Ember Moon were things of beauty. She was the one wrestler Triple H begged Vince not to take to the main roster. As he needed her to be the brand’s anchor.

Asuka has continued her impressive career over the last decade on the main roster as well, winning multiple championships and continuing to be one of the best in the company.

Preview:

Tune in next week when we cover the Top 8 NXT Black & Gold Era Men’s Wrestlers!