NXT North American Championship

Not to be confused with WWF North American Heavyweight Championship.

The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended as the secondary men's championship of NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The championship is one of four secondary championships promoted under the WWE banner, alongside with the WWE Intercontinental Championship on Raw, the WWE United States Championship on SmackDown and the AAA Latin American Championship in Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. The current champion is Ricky Saints, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Shawn Spears on the April 1, 2025, episode of NXT.

NXT North American Championship
The NXT North American Championship belt with default side plates
Details
Promotion	WWE
Brand	NXT
Date established	March 7, 2018
Current champion	Ricky Saints
Date won	April 1, 2025
Statistics First champion Adam Cole Most reigns Johnny Gargano (3 reigns) Longest reign Oba Femi (273 days)[a] Shortest reign Trick Williams (3 days) Oldest champion Shawn Spears (44 years, 13 days) Youngest champion Velveteen Dream (23 years, 164 days) Heaviest champion Bronson Reed (330 lb (150 kg)) Lightest champion Leon Ruff (157 lb (71 kg))

The championship was introduced during the March 7, 2018, tapings of NXT (aired March 28) and the inaugural champion was Adam Cole. In September 2019, the company began promoting NXT as its "third brand" when the NXT television program was moved to the USA Network. Two years later, however, NXT reverted to its original function as WWE's developmental brand. In January 2022, the NXT Cruiserweight Championship was unified into the North American Championship.

The title is distinct from the WWF North American Heavyweight Championship, as it does not carry the lineage of the former title, which was contested from 1979 to 1981. At Stand & Deliver on April 6, 2024, a women's equivalent to the title was announced by NXT General Manager Ava.

History

Inaugural champion Adam Cole after winning the inaugural championship ladder match at TakeOver: New Orleans

In June 2012, WWE established NXT as their developmental territory, replacing Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). It was not until 2018, however, that a secondary championship was established for the brand. During the March 7, 2018, tapings of NXT (aired March 28), NXT General Manager William Regal announced a ladder match for TakeOver: New Orleans to determine the inaugural NXT North American Champion. Later that night, EC3, Killian Dain, Adam Cole, Ricochet, Lars Sullivan, and Velveteen Dream were announced as the participants in the match.^[1][2][3] At the event, Cole won the match to become the inaugural champion.^[4]

While NXT had originally been established as WWE's developmental territory, the NXT North American Championship was introduced in the midst of NXT establishing itself as WWE's third major brand. This became official when NXT was moved to the USA Network in September 2019, thus making the NXT North American Championship a third secondary title for WWE, along with the WWE Intercontinental Championship and WWE United States Championship.^[5] In September 2021, however, NXT reverted to being WWE's developmental brand.^[6]

In January 2022, the NXT Cruiserweight Championship was unified into the North American Championship. At the special New Year's Evil episode of NXT on January 4, 2022, reigning North American Champion Carmelo Hayes defeated Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong. The Cruiserweight Championship was retired with Hayes going forward as North American Champion.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Whenever the title is held by a main roster wrestler, it occasionally gets defended on main roster shows, such as when SmackDown wrestler Solo Sikoa defended it on SmackDown in September 2022.^[11] Raw wrestler "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio also defended it on Raw during his first reign in 2023.^[12][13][14]

Belt design

The championship belt was unveiled by WWE executive and NXT head Triple H on April 3, 2018. Featuring three gold plates on a thick brown leather strap, the rounded center plate features a globe that only shows the continent of North America. The banner above the globe reads "North American" and above the banner is the NXT logo. The lower banner at the bottom of the globe reads "Champion". In what has become a prominent feature of WWE's championship belts, the two side plates feature a removable center section which can be customized with the champion's logos; the default side plates feature a vertical NXT logo on a globe. This was WWE's first secondary title to feature customizable side plates. It was the only NXT championship to feature the NXT logo for the default side plates until the introduction of the NXT Women's North American Championship in 2024; the other NXT championships feature the WWE logo.^[15]

Reigns

Main article: List of NXT North American Champions

Current champion Ricky Saints

As of May 15, 2025, there have been 25 reigns between 21 champions and two vacancies. The inaugural champion was Adam Cole. Johnny Gargano has the most reigns at three. Oba Femi's reign is the longest at 273 days, while Trick Williams' reign is the shortest reign at 3 days. Carmelo Hayes has the longest combined reign at 273 days across his two reigns. Velveteen Dream is the youngest champion, winning the title at 23 years old, while Shawn Spears is the oldest, winning the title at 44.

Ricky Saints is the current champion in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Shawn Spears on the April 1, 2025, episode of NXT in Orlando, Florida.^[16]

See also

• NXT Women's North American Championship

Notes

1. 272 days as recognized by WWE.