Being NXT UK Women's Champion Is The Path To Success

How many brands currently operate in WWE ultimately depends on the kind of fan you are. In reality, there are five. However, very casual fans might only know of two: WWE's flagships Raw and SmackDown. Slightly more dedicated fans will know of NXT, especially since it moved to the USA Network. Even more invested fans with WWE Network subscriptions will know NXT has a UK branch, and may even be aware that 205 Live still exists, even if recent releases have left the purple brand's roster looking incredibly thin.

If you have been sleeping on NXT UK because its name, stars, and air time are catered to British fans, then you have been missing out. The still-short history of the NXT UK Women's Title alone should be evidence of that. There was a time in WWE when titles like the Intercontinental Championship were springboards to bigger and better things. WWE might not have secondary women's championship, but the NXT UK Women's Title appears to be exactly that.

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There have only been four NXT UK Women's Champions so far, including current champion Meiko Satamura. All three former champions are at various stages of the bigger and better things mentioned above, as we will highlight below. Evidence that if you hold that title, WWE is giving you the chance to prove why you should be destined for the big time.

Rhea Ripley

Rhea Ripley has changed so much in such a short space of time. When Ripley debuted in WWE as part of the Mae Young Classic, she was labeled as the next Charlotte Flair. That clearly struck a chord with Ripley, and not in the way you might think. The Nightmare didn't want to be the next anyone and went about changing her look and her style, resulting in a success story that is only just beginning.

Ripley failed to make it past the quarter-finals of the Mae Young Classic despite competing in both tournaments. The third tournament she competed in was the one to crown the first-ever NXT UK Women's Champion, and she won. A surprise to some as the slot appeared to be reserved for Toni Storm.

Ripley only held the title for a little more than a month, but the stage was set. Ripley moved on up to NXT, holding the Women's Title there for twice as long. She even defended it against the woman she was once destined to become a clone of at WrestleMania. One year after that she faced and beat Asuka for the Raw Women's Title on the grandest stage of them all. All of that in well under three years. What a trajectory.

Toni Storm

Since Ripley was only NXT UK Champion for 40 days, the title didn't have its first truly established champion until it was won by Storm. As mentioned above, the Aussie was pegged by many to beat Ripley in the final to become the first champion. It didn't take Storm long to avenge that upset and hold onto the championship for 230 days.

Storm felt ready for something more for a while. However, it seems she stuck around NXT UK to help further establish the brand. That may well have been confirmed by how short a stay Storm had in NXT-proper once she finally arrived full time. It was a very stop-start run which didn't include any time with the title.

A lot of things may have contributed to that. Not just Storm's extended stay in NXT UK, but possibly the pandemic changing plans and higher-ups on the main roster catching her eye. Storm is now a SmackDown Superstar and if her career to date is anything to go by, she has everything at her disposal to be just as big a star as Ripley, if not bigger.

Kay Lee Ray

The former NXT UK Champion fans might know the least about is Kay Lee Ray. The first NXT UK Champion who is actually from the UK. Ray can also boast the longest reign in the title's history so far, even though it will forever have an asterisk since NXT UK stopped running for a while during the pandemic.

We will never know if Ray would have been champion for 649 days or not had it not been for the pandemic. It is something she will forever be able to boast about and gives her the perfect platform to follow in Ripley and Storm's footsteps. Since Ray is a few years older than Ripley and Storm, some fans might have not expected her to move to another brand after her reign. Anyone who thought that was proved wrong at TakeOver 36.

After beating Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez's moment was ruined by a debuting Ray. Not a word was said, but it would appear Gonzalez's next challenger has emerged. Gonzalez has everything Vince McMahon is looking for in a main roster star, which might mean Ray is NXT Women's Champion before you know it.

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