The championship was first introduced on the August 1, 2012 edition of NXT when NXT Commissioner Dusty Rhodes announced a "Gold Rush" tournament, featuring four developmental roster NXT Superstars and four main roster WWE Superstars competing to be crowned as the inaugural NXT Champion in a knockout system format, replacing the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship that was retired in the same month after merger of FCW. The first NXT Champion was crowned on July 26, 2012, with Seth Rollins defeating Jinder Mahal in the tournament finals.[1][2]
As of June 14, 2016, there have been seven title holders with one reign each. The inaugural champion was Seth Rollins. Adrian Neville's reign is the longest at 287 days. Sami Zayn's reign is the shortest at 62 days. Bo Dallas is the youngest champion. He won the title 2 days before his 23rd birthday, while Finn Bálor, who is the current champion, is also the oldest champion. He won the title three weeks before his 34th birthday. Bálor defeated Kevin Owens at The Beast in the East on July 4, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan, to gain the championship belt.