| NXT Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The current NXT Championship belt with default side plates (2024–present) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brand | NXT | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | July 1, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion | Ricky Saints | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | September 27, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
TheNXT Championship is a men'sprofessional wrestling championship created and promoted by the AmericanpromotionWWE, defended as the top men's championship ofNXT, the promotion'sdevelopmental brand. It is one of two top men's titles on WWE's developmental system, along with theWWE Evolve Championship on theEvolve brand. The current champion isRicky Saints, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating previous championOba Femi atNo Mercy on September 27, 2025.
Introduced on July 1, 2012, it was the first championship established for NXT, and the inaugural champion wasSeth Rollins. In September 2019, WWE began promoting NXT as its "third brand" when theNXT television program was moved to theUSA Network. The NXT Championship was referred to as aworld championship during this time; however, this recognition was dropped when NXT reverted to its original function as WWE's developmental brand in September 2021. In September 2022, theNXT United Kingdom Championship wasunified into the NXT Championship.
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From 2010 to 2012, the Americanprofessional wrestling promotionWWE hosted a competition reality television series calledNXT. In June 2012, WWE restructured the show and established theNXT brand as theirdevelopmental territory, replacingFlorida Championship Wrestling (FCW). On August 1, the brand's first championship, the NXT Championship, was introduced as the top men's championship. NXT CommissionerDusty Rhodes announced an eight-mansingle-eliminationtournament, dubbed the "Gold Rush" tournament, involving four wrestlers from NXT and four wrestlers from WWE's main roster competing to be crowned the first NXT Champion. On the July 26 tapings ofNXT (aired August 29),Seth Rollins defeatedJinder Mahal in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion.[1][2] On November 19, 2016, atTakeOver: Toronto,Samoa Joe became the first performer to hold the championship on more than one occasion.[3] The title was defended for the first time on the main roster on the June 4, 2015, episode ofSmackDown, whereKevin Owens retained the title againstZack Ryder.[4]
In September 2019, the NXT brand became WWE's third major brand when theNXT program was moved to theUSA Network.[5][6] AfterDrew McIntyre won the NXT Championship in 2017, the match description for his win in the official title history referred to it as aworld championship.[7] In 2021, it was revealed that the NXT Championship was an option for the men's Royal Rumble match winner to challenge for atWrestleMania 37, along with theWWE Championship andWWE Universal Championship.[8][9][10][11][12] However, WWE revamped NXT in September 2021 and returned the brand to its original function as a developmental territory, with it no longer referred to as a world championship and no longer an option for Royal Rumble match winners.[13]
In August 2022, WWE announced that theNXT UK brand would go on hiatus and would relaunch as NXT Europe at a later time.[14] As such, NXT UK's championship's wereunified into their respective NXT championship counterparts. On September 4, 2022, atWorlds Collide, reigning NXT ChampionBron Breakker defeatedNXT United Kingdom ChampionTyler Bate to unify the NXT United Kingdom Championship into the NXT Championship. Bate was recognized as the final NXT UK Champion, while Breakker went forward as the unified NXT Champion.[15]
| Quarterfinals NXT July 12, 2012 (Aired: August 1–8) | Semifinals NXT July 12, 2012 (Aired: August 15) | Final NXT July 26, 2012 (Aired: August 29) | ||||||||||||
| Richie Steamboat | Pinfall | |||||||||||||
| Leo Kruger | 7:54 | |||||||||||||
| Richie Steamboat | 4:43 | |||||||||||||
| Jinder Mahal | Submission | |||||||||||||
| Bo Dallas | 10:25 | |||||||||||||
| Jinder Mahal | Submission | |||||||||||||
| Jinder Mahal | 15:21 | |||||||||||||
| Seth Rollins | Pinfall | |||||||||||||
| Seth Rollins | Pinfall | |||||||||||||
| Drew McIntyre | 11:34 | |||||||||||||
| Seth Rollins | Pinfall | |||||||||||||
| Michael McGillicutty | 8:30 | |||||||||||||
| Justin Gabriel | 10:25 | |||||||||||||
| Michael McGillicutty | Pinfall | |||||||||||||
The original NXT Championship belt's design was simple: a large gold center plate shaped as the letter "X", with smaller letters "N" and "T" to the left and right of the center. The belt contained six total side plates on a large black strap, three sitting on either side of the center plate; each side plate only featured the WWE logo. When first introduced, the side plates had the WWE scratch logo but in August 2014, all of WWE's pre-existing championships at the time received a minor update, changing the scratch logo to WWE's current logo that was originally used for theWWE Network that launched earlier that year in February.[16]
During WrestleMania Weekend 2017, all existing NXT title belts at the time were redesigned. The new title belts were unveiled atTakeOver: Orlando that same night and given to the winners of their respective matches. Like the previous design, the plates were gold and on a black leather strap. The letter "X" again dominated the center plate with smaller letters "N" and "T" sitting on the left and right sides, respectively. On this new design, however, the letters were on an octagonal shaped plate. Above the "X" was the WWE logo, while below the "X" was a banner that read "Champion". Simple ornamentation with some silver filled in the rest of the plate. Coming in line with WWE's other championships, the new design included side plates with a removable center section that could be customized with the champion's logo; the default plates featured the WWE logo.[17]
On the April 5, 2022, episode ofNXT, reigning championBron Breakker debuted a new belt design; it was largely similar to the previous version (2017–2022), but the silver behind the logo was replaced by multi-colored paint (matching the NXT 2.0 colorscheme) and the letters "N" and "T" on the center plate were updated to the font style of the NXT 2.0 logo. The default side plates were also updated, replacing the WWE logo with the NXT 2.0 logo. The new title retained the black leather strap.[18] When "NXT 2.0" went back to being called "NXT" in September, the default side plates were updated with the new NXT logo.
WithNXT's move toThe CW on October 1, 2024, the show got a new logo. As a result, both the men's and women's NXT championship belts received an update that same episode. They mostly have the same design as their respective previous version, but with The CW era NXT logo on the center plate and side plates, with more of a globe visible behind the logo on the center plate. The multi-colored paint from the NXT 2.0 version (2022–2024) was also removed, and the plates are now primarily silver with gold accents.[19]
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As of November 23, 2025, there have been 34 reigns among 26 different champions and three vacancies. The inaugural champion was Seth Rollins. Samoa Joe has the most reigns at three.Adam Cole's reign is the longest singular reign at396 days (recognized as403 days by WWE due totape delay), whileKarrion Kross' first reign is the shortest at 4 days (recognized as 3 days by WWE) as he had to relinquish the title due to a legitimate injury he suffered in winning it.Finn Bálor has the longest combined reign at 504 days.Bo Dallas holds the record as the youngest champion, winning the title two days before his 23rd birthday (although WWE recognizes it was 18 days after his 23rd birthday due to tape delay), while Samoa Joe is the oldest champion, winning the title at 42.
Ricky Saints is the current champion in his first reign. He defeatedOba Femi atNo Mercy on September 27, 2025, inFort Lauderdale, Florida.[20]
Fulfilling a prophecy first laid out by WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon years earlier, Drew McIntyre captured a world championship in a WWE ring when he defeated Bobby Roode to claim the NXT Title at TakeOver: Brooklyn III.
In the wake of his Herculean effort,The Rated-R Superstar traveled first toRaw to informWWE ChampionDrew McIntyre that whomever he decided to face, he would be walking out ofThe Show of Shows with the World Title. He then ventured toNXT and put both NXT ChampionFinn Bálor andPete Dunne on notice as well.
Edge noted he will be watching theTakeover [NXT Championship] match and may challenge the winner of that match if he hasn't decided who he will challenge by then.
...if Karrion Kross hadn't gotten injured, we wouldn't have Finn Bálor and his Opponent Of The Month actively trying to bludgeon each other in a ring for a world title.
For the first time ever, the NXT Championship is officially among the top titles the men's Royal Rumble winner can choose to contend for at WrestleMania.
In the wake of his Herculean effort, The Rated-R Superstar [Edge] traveled to Raw, NXT and SmackDown to scope out the World Champions before declaring that he would not announce which World Champion he would challenge until after WWE Elimination Chamber [2021].
Media related toWrestlers as the NXT champion at Wikimedia Commons