NXT Championship

The NXT Championship is a professional wrestling championship in the WWE. The title is an NXT-only championship.

NXT Championship
Johnny Gargano with the second title design (2017–2022)
Details
Promotion	WWE
Brand	NXT
Date established	July 1, 2012
Current champion(s)	Oba Femi
Date won	January 7, 2025
Statistics First champion(s) Seth Rollins Most reigns Samoa Joe (3 reigns) Longest reign Adam Cole (396 days) Shortest reign Karrion Kross (4 days) Oldest winner Samoa Joe (42 years, 158 days) Youngest winner Bo Dallas (22 years, 363 days) Heaviest champion Keith Lee (340 Ib (145 kg)) Lightest champion Finn Bálor (190 lb (86 kg))

History

The title was introduced by NXT Commissioner Dusty Rhodes. Rhodes said that there would be a "Gold Rush" tournament that would feature 4 developmental roster NXT Superstars and 4 main roster WWE Superstars and that they would compete to be crowned as the first NXT Champion. Seth Rollins became the first champion after he defeated Jinder Mahal in the final round.^[1] At NXT TakeOver: Toronto in November 2016, Samoa Joe became the first wrestler to win the championship twice.^[2]

Title history

Bo Dallas was the youngest champion, winning the title 2 days before his 23rd birthday. Samoa Joe was the oldest champion, winning it at 42 years old.

Right now the champion is Oba Femi, who is in his first reign. He defeated previous champion Trick Williams and Eddy Thorpe in a Triple Threat match at NXT: New Year's Evil on January 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, California.^[3]

Reigns

Key

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.
1	Seth Rollins	July 26, 2012	WWE NXT	Winter Park, Florida	1	133	133	The title was created on July 1, 2012. Seth Rollins defeated Jinder Mahal in the tournament final to become the first champion. WWE lists the start of Rollins' reign on August 29, 2012, and the end on January 9, 2013. Both episodes aired on tape delay.	[4]
2	Big E Langston	December 6, 2012	WWE NXT	Winter Park, Florida	1	168	153	This was a no disqualification match. WWE lists the start of Big E's reign on January 9, 2013 and the end on June 12, 2013. Both episodes aired on tape delay.	[5]
3	Bo Dallas	May 23, 2013	NXT	Winter Park, Florida	1	280	260	WWE lists the start of Dallas' reign on June 12, 2013, when the episode aired on tape delay.	[6]
4	Adrian Neville	February 27, 2014	NXT Arrival	Winter Park, Florida	1	287	286	This was a ladder match.	[7]
5	Sami Zayn	December 11, 2014	NXT TakeOver: R Evolution	Winter Park, Florida	1	62	62	This was a title vs. career match. Had Zayn lost, he would have to leave NXT.	[8]
6	Kevin Owens	February 11, 2015	NXT TakeOver: Rival	Winter Park, Florida	1	143	142	Owens won when the referee decided that Sami Zayn was unable to continue.	[9]
7	Finn Bálor	July 4, 2015	The Beast in the East	Tokyo, Japan	1	292	292		[10]
8	Samoa Joe	April 21, 2016	House show	Lowell, Massachusetts	1	121	121		[11][12]
9	Shinsuke Nakamura	August 20, 2016	NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II	Brooklyn, New York	1	91	91		[13]
10	Samoa Joe	November 19, 2016	NXT TakeOver: Toronto	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	2	14	13		[2]
11	Shinsuke Nakamura	December 3, 2016	NXT	Osaka, Japan	2	56	56	Aired on tape delay on December 28, 2016.	[14][15]
12	Bobby Roode	January 28, 2017	NXT TakeOver: San Antonio	San Antonio, Texas	1	203	202		[16]
13	Drew McIntyre	August 19, 2017	NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III	Brooklyn, New York	1	91	91		[17]
14	Andrade "Cien" Almas	November 18, 2017	NXT TakeOver: WarGames	Houston, Texas	1	140	139		[18]
15	Aleister Black	April 7, 2018	NXT TakeOver: New Orleans	New Orleans, Louisiana	1	102	108	WWE lists the end of Black's reign on July 25, 2018, when the following episode aired on tape delay.	[19]
16	Tommaso Ciampa	July 18, 2018	NXT	Winter Park, Florida	1	238	245	WWE lists the start of Ciampa's reign on July 25, 2018 and the end on March 20, 2019. Both episodes aired on tape delay.	[20][21]
—	Vacated	March 13, 2019	NXT	Winter Park, Florida	—	—	—	Vacated after Tommaso Ciampa got a neck injury.	[22]
17	Johnny Gargano	April 5, 2019	NXT TakeOver: New York	Brooklyn, New York	1	57	57	This was a two out of three falls match. Johnny Gargano beat Adam Cole 2–1 to win the vacant title.	[23]
18	Adam Cole	June 1, 2019	NXT TakeOver XXV	Bridgeport, Connecticut	1	396	403	In September 2019, NXT became WWE's third main brand, along with Raw and Smackdown. WWE lists the end of Cole's reign on July 8, 2020, when the following match aired on tape delay	[24]
19	Keith Lee	July 1, 2020	The Great American Bash Night 2	Winter Park, Florida	1	52	45	This was a Winner Takes All match, in which Keith Lee also defended the NXT North American Championship. WWE lists the start of Lee's reign on July 8, 2020, when the match aired on tape delay.	[25]
20	Karrion Kross	August 22, 2020	NXT TakeOver XXX	Winter Park, Florida	1	4	4		[26]
—	Vacated	August 26, 2020	NXT	Winter Park, Florida	—	—	—	Vacated after Karrion Kross got a shoulder injury.	[27]
21	Finn Bálor	September 8, 2020	Super Tuesday II	Winter Park, Florida	2	212	212	A 60-minute fatal four-way iron man match for the vacant championship took place on the September 1 episode of NXT Super Tuesday between Finn Bálor, Adam Cole, Tommaso Ciampa, and Johnny Gargano, but the match ended in a tie between Bálor and Cole. NXT General Manager William Regal then scheduled a match between the two for the following week, in which Bálor defeated Cole to win the vacant title.	[28]
22	Karrion Kross	April 8, 2021	NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 2	Orlando, Florida	2	136	136		[29]
23	Samoa Joe	August 22, 2021	NXT TakeOver 36	Orlando, Florida	3	21	20		[30]
—	Vacated	September 12, 2021	—	—	—	—	—	Vacated after Samoa Joe got positive for COVID-19.	[31][32][33]
24	Tommaso Ciampa	September 14, 2021	NXT 2.0	Orlando, Florida	2	112	111	This was a Fatal four-way match for the vacant championship, also involving LA Knight, Pete Dunne, and Von Wagner. Ciampa pinned Knight to win the vacant title.	[34]
25	Bron Breakker	January 4, 2022	New Year's Evil	Orlando, Florida	1	63	63		[35]
26	Dolph Ziggler	March 8, 2022	NXT Roadblock	Orlando, Florida	1	27	26	This was a Triple threat match also including Tommaso Ciampa. Ziggler pinned Ciampa to win the title.	[36]
27	Bron Breakker	April 4, 2022	Raw	Dallas, Texas	2	362	362	This was the first time the title changed hands on a main roster WWE TV show.	[37]
28	Carmelo Hayes	April 1, 2023	NXT Stand & Deliver	Los Angeles, California	1	182	182
29	Ilja Dragunov	September 30, 2023	NXT No Mercy	Bakersfield, California	1	206	206		[38]
30	Trick Williams	April 23, 2024	NXT: Spring Breakin' Night 1	Orlando, Florida	1	75	75	Had Williams lost, he would have had to leave NXT.	[39]
31	Ethan Page	July 7, 2024	Heatwave	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	1	86	86	This was a fatal four-way match also including Shawn Spears and Je'Von Evans, who Page pinned.	[40]
32	Trick Williams	October 1, 2024	NXT's debut on The CW	Rosemont, IL	2	98	98	CM Punk was the special guest referee.	[41]
33	Oba Femi	January 7, 2025	NXT: New Year's Evil	Los Angeles, CA	1	224+	224+	This was a Triple Threat match also involving Eddy Thorpe.	[3]

Combined reigns

Kevin Owens with the first belt design (2012–2017).

As of August 19, 2025.

†	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	Adrian Neville	1	287	286
6	Bo Dallas	1	280	260
13	Oba Femi †	1	224+
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	Karrion Kross	2	140	139
	Andrade "Cien" Almas	1	140	139
18	Seth Rollins	1	133
19	Aleister Black	1	102	108
20	Drew McIntyre	1	91
21	Ethan Page	1	86
22	Sami Zayn	1	62
23	Johnny Gargano	1	57	56
24	Keith Lee	1	52	44
25	Dolph Ziggler	1	27	26