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).
As of June 29, 2026, there have been 38 reigns among 29 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 at days ( 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.
Grayson Waller is the current champion in his first reign. He won the title by defeating previous champion Tony D'Angelo, Cruz Montana, and Zilla Fatu in a fatal four-way match at Heatwave on August 30, 2026, in Edinburg, Texas.
Title history
Combined reigns
As of September 26, 2026. †Indicates the current champion RankWrestler No. ofreigns Combineddays Combined days by WWE1 2 5042 2 425 4243 1 396 4034 2 350 3485 2 294 2936 1 287 2867 1 280 2608 1 206 2059 1 203 20210 1 18211 2 173 17212 1 168 15313 3 156 15414 1 14815 2 14716 1 143 14217 1 140 Karrion Kross 2 140 13919 1 13320 1 102 10821 1 9122 1 8623 1 70 24 1 6225 1 6026 1 57 5627 1 52 4428 † 1 +29 1 27 26
References
External links Official NXT Championship title history