TheNXT Championship is aprofessional wrestling championship created and promoted by theAmericanprofessional wrestling promotionWWE, defended as the top championship of theirNXTbrand division. The championship was first introduced on the July 1, 2012, episode ofNXT when NXT CommissionerDusty Rhodes announced a Gold Rush tournament, involving four developmental roster wrestlers and four main roster wrestlers competing to be crowned as the inaugural NXT Champion in a single elimination tournament.Seth Rollins became the inaugural NXT Champion by defeatingJinder Mahal in the tournament finals on July 26, 2012 (aired August 29).[1][2]

As of February 11, 2026, there have been 36 reigns among 27 different champions and four vacancies.Samoa Joe has the most reigns at three.Finn Bálor has the longest combined reign at 504 days.Adam Cole's reign is the longest singular reign at396 days (403 days as recognized by WWE due totape delay), whileKarrion Kross' first reign is the shortest at 4 days (3 days as recognized by WWE) as he had to relinquish the title due to a legitimate injury he suffered in winning it.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.[3]
Joe Hendry is the current champion in his first reign. He won thevacant title by defeatingRicky Saints,Dion Lennox,Sean Legacy,Jackson Drake,Shiloh Hill, andKeanu Carver in a seven-manladder match on the February 3, 2026, episode ofNXT inOrlando, Florida; previous championOba Femi voluntarily relinquished the title to go to the main roster.[4]
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Days recog. | Number of days held recognized by the promotion |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Days recog. | ||||||
| WWE:NXT | |||||||||||
| 1 | Seth Rollins | July 26, 2012 | NXT | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 133 | 133 | Title was established on July 1, 2012, for WWE's developmental brandNXT. Rollins defeatedJinder Mahal in the eight-man NXT Championship tournament finals to become the inaugural champion. WWE recognizes his reign as beginning on August 29, 2012, when the match aired ontape delay. | [5][6] | ||
| 2 | Big E Langston | December 6, 2012 | NXT | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 168 | 153 | This was ano disqualification match. WWE recognizes Big E's reign as beginning on January 9, 2013, when the match aired ontape delay. | [7] | ||
| 3 | Bo Dallas | May 23, 2013 | NXT | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 280 | 260 | WWE recognizes Dallas' reign as beginning on June 12, 2013, when the match aired ontape delay. | [8] | ||
| 4 | Adrian Neville | February 27, 2014 | Arrival | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 287 | 286 | This was aladder match. | [9] | ||
| 5 | Sami Zayn | December 11, 2014 | TakeOver: R Evolution | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 62 | 62 | This was atitle vs. career match where if Zayn had lost, he would have voluntarily quit NXT. | [10] | ||
| 6 | Kevin Owens | February 11, 2015 | TakeOver: Rival | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 143 | 142 | Owens won when the referee decided thatSami Zayn was unable to continue. | [11] | ||
| 7 | Finn Bálor | July 4, 2015 | The Beast in the East | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 292 | 292 | [12] | |||
| 8 | Samoa Joe | April 21, 2016 | NXT Live | Lowell, MA | 1 | 121 | 121 | [13][14] | |||
| 9 | Shinsuke Nakamura | August 20, 2016 | TakeOver: Brooklyn II | Brooklyn, NY | 1 | 91 | 91 | [15] | |||
| 10 | Samoa Joe | November 19, 2016 | TakeOver: Toronto | Toronto, ON, Canada | 2 | 14 | 13 | [16] | |||
| 11 | Shinsuke Nakamura | December 3, 2016 | NXT | Osaka, Japan | 2 | 56 | 56 | [17][18] | |||
| 12 | Bobby Roode | January 28, 2017 | TakeOver: San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | 1 | 203 | 202 | [19] | |||
| 13 | Drew McIntyre | August 19, 2017 | TakeOver: Brooklyn III | Brooklyn, NY | 1 | 91 | 91 | [20] | |||
| 14 | Andrade "Cien" Almas | November 18, 2017 | TakeOver: WarGames | Houston, TX | 1 | 140 | 139 | [21] | |||
| 15 | Aleister Black | April 7, 2018 | TakeOver: New Orleans | New Orleans, LA | 1 | 102 | 108 | [22] | |||
| 16 | Tommaso Ciampa | July 18, 2018 | NXT | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 238 | 237 | WWE recognizes Ciampa's reign as beginning on July 25, 2018 and ending on March 20, 2019 due to both episodes airing ontape delay. | [23][24] | ||
| — | Vacated | March 13, 2019 | NXT | Winter Park, FL | — | — | — | The title was vacated due toTommaso Ciampa requiring neck surgery. Aired ontape delay on March 20, 2019. | [25] | ||
| 17 | Johnny Gargano | April 5, 2019 | TakeOver: New York | Brooklyn, NY | 1 | 57 | 56 | DefeatedAdam Cole in atwo out of three falls match to win the vacant title. | [26] | ||
| 18 | Adam Cole | June 1, 2019 | TakeOver: XXV | Bridgeport, CT | 1 | 396 | 403 | WWE recognizes Cole's reign as ending on July 8, 2020, when the following match aired ontape delay. | [27] | ||
| 19 | Keith Lee | July 1, 2020 | NXT: The Great American Bash Night 2 | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 52 | 44 | This was aWinner Takes All match, in which Lee also defended theNXT North American Championship. WWE recognizes Lee's reign as beginning on July 8, 2020, when the match aired ontape delay. | [28] | ||
| 20 | Karrion Kross | August 22, 2020 | TakeOver XXX | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 4 | 3 | [29] | |||
| — | Vacated | August 26, 2020 | NXT | Winter Park, FL | — | — | — | Karrion Kross relinquished the title due to suffering aseparated shoulder during his match atTakeOver XXX. | [30] | ||
| 21 | Finn Bálor | September 8, 2020 | NXT: Super Tuesday II | Winter Park, FL | 2 | 212 | 212 | A 60-minutefatal four-wayiron man match for the vacant championship took place on the September 1 episode ofNXT Super Tuesday between Finn Bálor,Adam Cole,Tommaso Ciampa, andJohnny Gargano, but the match ended in a tie between Bálor and Cole. NXT General ManagerWilliam Regal then scheduled a match between the two for the following week, in which Bálor defeated Cole to win the vacant title. | [31] | ||
| 22 | Karrion Kross | April 8, 2021 | TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 2 | Orlando, FL | 2 | 136 | 136 | [32] | |||
| 23 | Samoa Joe | August 22, 2021 | TakeOver 36 | Orlando, FL | 3 | 21 | 20 | [33] | |||
| — | Vacated | September 12, 2021 | – | – | — | — | — | Samoa Joe relinquished the title due to whatWWE reported as an unspecified injury; Joe later clarified that the vacancy happened due to him testing positive forCOVID-19 as well as the overall directional change ofNXT, which saw NXT rebranded as NXT 2.0. | [34][35][36] | ||
| 24 | Tommaso Ciampa | September 14, 2021 | NXT 2.0 | Orlando, FL | 2 | 112 | 111 | This was afatal four-way match for the vacant championship, also involvingLA Knight,Pete Dunne, andVon Wagner. | [37] | ||
| 25 | Bron Breakker | January 4, 2022 | NXT 2.0: New Year's Evil | Orlando, FL | 1 | 63 | 63 | [38] | |||
| 26 | Dolph Ziggler | March 8, 2022 | NXT 2.0: Roadblock | Orlando, FL | 1 | 27 | 26 | This was atriple threat match, also involvingTommaso Ciampa, who Ziggler pinned. | [39] | ||
| 27 | Bron Breakker | April 4, 2022 | Raw | Dallas, TX | 2 | 362 | 361 | On September 4, 2022 atWorlds Collide, Breakker defeatedTyler Bate tounify theNXT United Kingdom Championship into the NXT Championship. The NXT United Kingdom Championship was retired with Breakker going forward as the unified NXT Champion. | [40][41] | ||
| 28 | Carmelo Hayes | April 1, 2023 | Stand & Deliver | Los Angeles, CA | 1 | 182 | 182 | [42] | |||
| 29 | Ilja Dragunov | September 30, 2023 | No Mercy | Bakersfield, CA | 1 | 206 | 205 | [43] | |||
| 30 | Trick Williams | April 23, 2024 | NXT: Spring Breakin' Night 1 | Orlando, FL | 1 | 75 | 74 | Had Williams lost,he would have had to leaveNXT. | [44] | ||
| 31 | Ethan Page | July 7, 2024 | Heatwave | Toronto, ON, Canada | 1 | 86 | 86 | This was afatal four-way match also involvingShawn Spears andJe'Von Evans, who Page pinned. | [45] | ||
| 32 | Trick Williams | October 1, 2024 | NXT's debut onThe CW | Rosemont, IL | 2 | 98 | 98 | CM Punk was thespecial guest referee. | [46] | ||
| 33 | Oba Femi | January 7, 2025 | NXT: New Year's Evil | Los Angeles, CA | 1 | 263 | 262 | This was atriple threat match also involvingEddy Thorpe. | [47] | ||
| 34 | Ricky Saints | September 27, 2025 | No Mercy | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 1 | 70 | 69 | [48] | |||
| 35 | Oba Femi | December 6, 2025 | Deadline | San Antonio, TX | 2 | 31 | 31 | [49] | |||
| — | Vacated | January 6, 2026 | NXT: New Year's Evil | Orlando, FL | — | — | — | After successfully defending the title againstLeon Slater,Oba Femi left the NXT Championship belt in the ring, voluntarily relinquishing the title. | [50] | ||
| 36 | Joe Hendry | February 3, 2026 | NXT | Orlando, FL | 1 | 8+ | 8+ | DefeatedRicky Saints,Dion Lennox,Sean Legacy,Jackson Drake,Shiloh Hill, andKeanu Carver in a seven-manladder match to win thevacant title. | [4] | ||
As of February 11, 2026.
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined days | Combined days rec. by WWE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finn Bálor | 2 | 504 | |
| 2 | Bron Breakker | 2 | 425 | 424 |
| 3 | Adam Cole | 1 | 396 | 403 |
| 4 | Tommaso Ciampa | 2 | 350 | 348 |
| 5 | Oba Femi | 2 | 294 | 293 |
| 6 | Adrian Neville | 1 | 287 | 286 |
| 7 | Bo Dallas | 1 | 280 | 260 |
| 8 | Ilja Dragunov | 1 | 206 | 205 |
| 9 | Bobby Roode | 1 | 203 | 202 |
| 10 | Carmelo Hayes | 1 | 182 | |
| 11 | Trick Williams | 2 | 173 | 172 |
| 12 | Big E Langston | 1 | 168 | 153 |
| 13 | Samoa Joe | 3 | 156 | 154 |
| 14 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 2 | 147 | |
| 15 | Kevin Owens | 1 | 143 | 142 |
| 16 | Andrade "Cien" Almas | 1 | 140 | |
| Karrion Kross | 2 | 140 | 139 | |
| 18 | Seth Rollins | 1 | 133 | |
| 19 | Aleister Black | 1 | 102 | 108 |
| 20 | Drew McIntyre | 1 | 91 | |
| 21 | Ethan Page | 1 | 86 | |
| 22 | Ricky Saints | 1 | 70 | |
| 23 | Sami Zayn | 1 | 62 | |
| 24 | Johnny Gargano | 1 | 57 | 56 |
| 25 | Keith Lee | 1 | 52 | 44 |
| 26 | Dolph Ziggler | 1 | 27 | 26 |
| 27 | Joe Hendry † | 1 | 8+ | |