List of NXT Champions

The NXT Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, defended as the top championship of their NXT brand division. The championship was first introduced on the July 1, 2012, episode of NXT when NXT Commissioner Dusty 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 defeating Jinder Mahal in the tournament finals on July 26, 2012 (aired August 29).^[1][2]

Two-time and current champion Trick Williams

As of December 21, 2024, there have been 32 reigns among 24 different champions and three 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 at 396 days (403 days as recognized by WWE due to tape delay), while Karrion 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]

Trick Williams is the current champion in his second reign. He defeated Ethan Page with CM Punk as the special guest referee during NXT's debut on The CW on October 1, 2024, in Rosemont, Illinois.

Title history

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	NXT	Winter Park, FL	1	133	133	Title was established on July 1, 2012, for WWE's developmental brand NXT. Rollins defeated Jinder 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 on tape delay.	[4][5]
2	Big E Langston	December 6, 2012	NXT	Winter Park, FL	1	168	153	This was a no disqualification match. WWE recognizes Big E's reign as beginning on January 9, 2013, when the match aired on tape delay.	[6]
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 on tape delay.	[7]
4	Adrian Neville	February 27, 2014	Arrival	Winter Park, FL	1	287	286	This was a ladder match.	[8]
5	Sami Zayn	December 11, 2014	TakeOver: R Evolution	Winter Park, FL	1	62	62	This was a title vs. career match where if Zayn had lost, he would have voluntarily quit NXT.	[9]
6	Kevin Owens	February 11, 2015	TakeOver: Rival	Winter Park, FL	1	143	142	Owens won when the referee decided that Sami Zayn was unable to continue.	[10]
7	Finn Bálor	July 4, 2015	The Beast in the East	Tokyo, Japan	1	292	292		[11]
8	Samoa Joe	April 21, 2016	NXT Live	Lowell, MA	1	121	121		[12][13]
9	Shinsuke Nakamura	August 20, 2016	TakeOver: Brooklyn II	Brooklyn, NY	1	91	91		[14]
10	Samoa Joe	November 19, 2016	TakeOver: Toronto	Toronto, ON, Canada	2	14	13		[15]
11	Shinsuke Nakamura	December 3, 2016	NXT	Osaka, Japan	2	56	56		[16][17]
12	Bobby Roode	January 28, 2017	TakeOver: San Antonio	San Antonio, TX	1	203	202		[18]
13	Drew McIntyre	August 19, 2017	TakeOver: Brooklyn III	Brooklyn, NY	1	91	91		[19]
14	Andrade "Cien" Almas	November 18, 2017	TakeOver: WarGames	Houston, TX	1	140	139		[20]
15	Aleister Black	April 7, 2018	TakeOver: New Orleans	New Orleans, LA	1	102	108		[21]
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 on tape delay.	[22][23]
—	Vacated	March 13, 2019	NXT	Winter Park, FL	—	—	—	The title was vacated due to Tommaso Ciampa requiring neck surgery. Aired on tape delay on March 20, 2019.	[24]
17	Johnny Gargano	April 5, 2019	TakeOver: New York	Brooklyn, NY	1	57	56	Defeated Adam Cole in a two out of three falls match to win the vacant title.	[25]
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 on tape delay.	[26]
19	Keith Lee	July 1, 2020	NXT: The Great American Bash Night 2	Winter Park, FL	1	52	44	This was a Winner Takes All match, in which Lee also defended the NXT North American Championship. WWE recognizes Lee's reign as beginning on July 8, 2020, when the match aired on tape delay.	[27]
20	Karrion Kross	August 22, 2020	TakeOver XXX	Winter Park, FL	1	4	3		[28]
—	Vacated	August 26, 2020	NXT	Winter Park, FL	—	—	—	Karrion Kross relinquished the title due to suffering a separated shoulder during his match at TakeOver XXX.	[29]
21	Finn Bálor	September 8, 2020	NXT: Super Tuesday II	Winter Park, FL	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.	[30]
22	Karrion Kross	April 8, 2021	TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 2	Orlando, FL	2	136	136		[31]
23	Samoa Joe	August 22, 2021	TakeOver 36	Orlando, FL	3	21	20		[32]
—	Vacated	September 12, 2021	–	–	—	—	—	Samoa Joe relinquished the title due to what WWE reported as an unspecified injury; Joe later clarified that the vacancy happened due to him testing positive for COVID-19 as well as the overall directional change of NXT, which saw NXT rebranded as NXT 2.0.	[33][34][35]
24	Tommaso Ciampa	September 14, 2021	NXT 2.0	Orlando, FL	2	112	111	This was a fatal four-way match for the vacant championship, also involving LA Knight, Pete Dunne, and Von Wagner.	[36]
25	Bron Breakker	January 4, 2022	NXT 2.0: New Year's Evil	Orlando, FL	1	63	63		[37]
26	Dolph Ziggler	March 8, 2022	NXT 2.0: Roadblock	Orlando, FL	1	27	26	This was a triple threat match, also involving Tommaso Ciampa, who Ziggler pinned.	[38]
27	Bron Breakker	April 4, 2022	Raw	Dallas, TX	2	362	361	On September 4, 2022 at Worlds Collide, Breakker defeated Tyler Bate to unify the NXT United Kingdom Championship into the NXT Championship. The NXT United Kingdom Championship was retired with Breakker going forward as the unified NXT Champion.	[39][40]
28	Carmelo Hayes	April 1, 2023	Stand & Deliver	Los Angeles, CA	1	182	182		[41]
29	Ilja Dragunov	September 30, 2023	No Mercy	Bakersfield, CA	1	206	205		[42]
30	Trick Williams	April 23, 2024	NXT: Spring Breakin' Night 1	Orlando, FL	1	75	74	Had Williams lost, he would have had to leave NXT.	[43]
31	Ethan Page	July 7, 2024	Heatwave	Toronto, ON, Canada	1	86	86	This was a fatal four-way match also involving Shawn Spears and Je'Von Evans, who Page pinned.	[44]
32	Trick Williams	October 1, 2024	NXT's debut on The CW	Rosemont, IL	2	81+	81+	CM Punk was the special guest referee.	[45]

Combined reigns

Inaugural champion Seth Rollins

Record three-time champion Samoa Joe

Longest reigning champion Adam Cole

The longest combined reign champion Finn Bálor

As of December 21, 2024.

†	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
7	Ilja Dragunov	1	206	205
8	Bobby Roode	1	203	202
9	Carmelo Hayes	1	182
10	Big E Langston	1	168	153
11	Trick Williams †	2	156+	155+
12	Samoa Joe	3	156	154
13	Shinsuke Nakamura	2	147
14	Kevin Owens	1	143	142
15	Karrion Kross	2	140	139
	Andrade "Cien" Almas	1	140	139
17	Seth Rollins	1	133
18	Aleister Black	1	102	108
19	Drew McIntyre	1	91
20	Ethan Page	1	86
21	Sami Zayn	1	62
22	Johnny Gargano	1	57	56
23	Keith Lee	1	52	44
24	Dolph Ziggler	1	27	26

References

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16. Martin, Adam (December 3, 2016). "Shinsuke Nakamura becomes the new NXT Champion capturing the title in Osaka, Japan at NXT live event". WrestleView. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
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19. Zimmerman, Zack. "8/19 Zim's NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III live review – Bobby Roode vs. Drew McIntyre for the NXT Title, Asuka vs. Ember Moon for the NXT Women's Title, Authors of Pain vs. Sanity for the NXT Tag Titles, homecoming". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 19, 2017.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
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22. "Major news from Wednesday night's NXT tapings (CAUTION: SPOILERS)". WWE. July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
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24. Rose, Bryan (March 13, 2019). "New NXT Champion to be crowned at TakeOver: New York". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on March 29, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
25. Powell, Jason (April 5, 2019). "4/5 Powell's NXT Takeover: New York live review – Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole in a best of three falls match for the vacant NXT Championship, Pete Dunne vs. Walter for the WWE UK Championship, Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle for the NXT North American Title, NXT Women's Title four-way, NXT Tag Title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
26. Powell, Jason (June 1, 2019). "6/1 Powell's NXT Takeover: XXV live review – Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole for the NXT Championship, Shayna Baszler vs. Io Shirai for the NXT Women's Championship, Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Breeze for the NXT North American Title, four-way ladder match for the vacant NXT Tag Titles, Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
27. Moore, John (July 8, 2020). "7/8 NXT TV results: Moore's review of the Great American Bash night two with NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. NXT North American Champion Keith Lee for both titles, Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae in a Street Fight, Legado Del Fantasma vs. Drake Maverick, Tyler Breeze, and Fandango, Johnny Gargano vs. Isaiah Scott". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
28. Moore, John (August 22, 2020). "NXT Takeover: XXX results – Moore's live review of Keith Lee vs. Karrion Kross for the NXT Championship, Adam Cole vs. Pat McAfee, Io Shirai vs. Dakota Kai for the NXT Women's Championship, a ladder match for the vacant NXT North American Title, Finn Balor vs. Timothy Thatcher". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
29. Moore, John (August 26, 2020). "8/26 NXT TV results: Moore's review of new NXT Champion Karrion Kross and Scarlett, Tommaso Ciampa returns, Santos Escobar vs. Isaiah "Swerve" Scott for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel vs. Tyler Breeze and Fandango for the NXT Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 27, 2020. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
30. Moore, John (September 8, 2020). "9/8 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Super Tuesday II featuring Finn Balor vs. Adam Cole for the vacant NXT Championship, Rhea Ripley vs. Mercedes Martinez in a cage match, Bronson Reed vs. Austin Theory, Killian Dain vs. Roderick Strong". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on September 15, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
31. Moore, John (April 8, 2021). "NXT Takeover Stand & Deliver results: Moore's live review of night two with Finn Balor vs. Karrion Kross for the NXT Championship, Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly in an unsanctioned match, Santos Escobar vs. Jordan Devlin in a ladder match to unify the NXT Cruiserweight Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
32. Moore, John (August 22, 2021). "NXT Takeover 36 results: Moore's live review of Karrion Kross vs. Samoa Joe for the NXT Championship, Raquel Gonzalez vs. Dakota Kai for the NXT Women's Title, Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly in a best of three falls match, Walter vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT UK Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
33. Samoa Joe [@SamoaJoe] (September 12, 2021). "Samoa Joe Relinquishes the NXT Championship" (Tweet). Retrieved September 13, 2021 – via Twitter.
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36. Moore, John (September 14, 2021). "9/14 NXT TV results: Moore's review of the NXT 2.0 premiere with Tommaso Ciampa vs. Kyle O'Reilly vs. LA Knight vs. Pete Dunne for the vacant NXT Championship, Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis wedding, Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro vs. Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne, B-Fab's in-ring debut". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on September 19, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
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38. Moore, John (March 8, 2022). "3/8 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of the Roadblock themed show featuring Bron Breakker vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT Title, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel vs. The Creed Brothers for the NXT Tag Titles, LA Knight vs. Grayson Waller in a Last Man Standing match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on March 9, 2022. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
39. Powell, Jason (April 4, 2022). "4/4 WWE Raw results: Powell's live review of the Raw After WrestleMania with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, the return of Cody Rhodes, new Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair appears, the 'debut' of Veer Mahaan". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
40. Moore, John (September 4, 2022). "NXT Worlds Collide results: Moore's live review of NXT Champion Bron Breakker vs. NXT UK Champion Tyler Bate in a unification match, NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose vs. NXT UK Women's Champion Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport in a unification match, Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricochet for the NXT North American Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
41. McGuire, Colin (April 1, 2023). "NXT Stand & Deliver results: McGuire's live review of Bron Breakker vs. Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Title, Roxanne Perez vs. Zoey Stark vs. Gigi Dolin vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Indi Hartwell in a ladder match for the NXT Women's Title, Wes Lee vs. Dragon Lee vs. JD McDonagh vs. Ilja Dragunov vs. Axiom for the NXT North American Title, Johnny Gargano vs. Grayson Waller". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
42. Moore, John (September 30, 2023). "NXT No Mercy results: Moore's live review of Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Title, Becky Lynch vs. Tiffany Stratton in an Extreme Rules match for the NXT Women's Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on October 8, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
43. Moore, John (April 23, 2024). "NXT TV results (4/23): Moore's review of Spring Breakin' Night One with Ilja Dragunov vs. Trick Williams for the NXT Championship, Roxanne Perez vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Tatum Paxley for the NXT Women's Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 24, 2024. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
44. Moore, John (July 7, 2024). "NXT Heatwave results: Moore's live review of Trick Williams vs. Ethan Page vs. Je'Von Evans vs. Shawn Spears for the NXT Championship, Roxanne Perez vs. Lola Vice for the NXT Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
45. Moore, John (October 1, 2024). "NXT TV results (10/1): Moore's review of The CW premiere featuring Ethan Page vs. Trick Williams for the NXT Championship with CM Punk as special referee, Roxanne Perez vs. Giulia for the NXT Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on October 2, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.

External links

• Official NXT Championship title history