10 NXT Superstars who won titles in their first year on the main roster

10 NXT Superstars who won championships in their first year on the main roster

Modified Mar 01, 2021 16:22 GMT

#5. Carmella had better luck on Smackdown than NXT

Carmella cashed her Money in the Bank briefcase to win her first title in WWE

Carmella joined NXT in 2013 and spent three years in the black and yellow brand. Nevertheless, her only shot at championship gold came right before her promotion to the main roster.

The Princess of Staten Island won a Battle Royal to earn a shot at Bayley's NXT Women's Championship in January 2016. Carmella went head-to-head against the Champion on February 10 episode but suffered a defeat. She would not get another chance until her debut on SmackDown.

Carmella was drafted from NXT to SmackDown on July 19 and made her debut on the 26th.

This is no time for moonwalking... @CarmellaWWE is CASHING IN her #MITB contract! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/27YQnol6lv
— WWE (@WWE) April 11, 2018

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She made history becoming the first-ever Ms. Money in the Bank, but her first few attempts to cash in on the Champion Charlotte Flair failed.

On the April 10 episode of SmackDown, Carmella found her perfect opportunity when The IIconics, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, attacked Charlotte.

Ms. Money in the Bank rushed to the ring and cashed in her briefcase to take advantage of a weakened Charlotte. She hit The Queen with the Superkick to win her first-ever title, nine months following her main roster debut.

About the author

Ahmed Hamdy is an Egyptian journalist with a decade of experience in sports journalism, specializing in pro wrestling and football.

Hamdy kicked off his career as a sports reporter for Al-Ahram Weekly. He then became a producer/reporter for Mal Masr TV program on the Egyptian channel ON TV. In the following years, Hamdy worked as a reporter for several international news outlets, including Deutsche Welle (Germany), As-Safir (Lebanon), and Al-Monitor (U.S.A).

In 2014, Hamdy joined leading Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm, where he is now a Senior Sports Editor. In addition to all that, the Egyptian also worked as a sports editor for Sport360 and feature writer for Manshoor.com.

Hamdy has covered several sports events throughout the past few years, including WWE's tour in Egypt and the 2019 African Cup of Nations.

The experienced journalist joined Sportskeeda's pro wrestling feature writers team in early 2021. Since then, his work has managed to get millions of reads.

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Edited by James Sullivan