# 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).
As of March 12, 2025, there have been 33 reigns among 25 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.
Oba Femi is the current champion 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.

## 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 | Championship change | Championship change | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. |
| No. | Champion | Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Days recog. | Notes | Ref. |
| | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | 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 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 4 | Adrian Neville | February 27, 2014 | Arrival | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 287 | 286 | This was a ladder match. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 7 | Finn Bálor | July 4, 2015 | The Beast in the East | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 292 | 292 | | |
| 8 | Samoa Joe | April 21, 2016 | NXT Live | Lowell, MA | 1 | 121 | 121 | | |
| 9 | Shinsuke Nakamura | August 20, 2016 | TakeOver: Brooklyn II | Brooklyn, NY | 1 | 91 | 91 | | |
| 10 | Samoa Joe | November 19, 2016 | TakeOver: Toronto | Toronto, ON, Canada | 2 | 14 | 13 | | |
| 11 | Shinsuke Nakamura | December 3, 2016 | NXT | Osaka, Japan | 2 | 56 | 56 | | |
| 12 | Bobby Roode | January 28, 2017 | TakeOver: San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | 1 | 203 | 202 | | |
| 13 | Drew McIntyre | August 19, 2017 | TakeOver: Brooklyn III | Brooklyn, NY | 1 | 91 | 91 | | |
| 14 | Andrade "Cien" Almas | November 18, 2017 | TakeOver: WarGames | Houston, TX | 1 | 140 | 139 | | |
| 15 | Aleister Black | April 7, 2018 | TakeOver: New Orleans | New Orleans, LA | 1 | 102 | 108 | | |
| 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. | |
| — | 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 20 | Karrion Kross | August 22, 2020 | TakeOver XXX | Winter Park, FL | 1 | 4 | 3 | | |
| — | 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 22 | Karrion Kross | April 8, 2021 | TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 2 | Orlando, FL | 2 | 136 | 136 | | |
| 23 | Samoa Joe | August 22, 2021 | TakeOver 36 | Orlando, FL | 3 | 21 | 20 | | |
| — | 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 25 | Bron Breakker | January 4, 2022 | NXT 2.0: New Year's Evil | Orlando, FL | 1 | 63 | 63 | | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 28 | Carmelo Hayes | April 1, 2023 | Stand & Deliver | Los Angeles, CA | 1 | 182 | 182 | | |
| 29 | Ilja Dragunov | September 30, 2023 | No Mercy | Bakersfield, CA | 1 | 206 | 205 | | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 32 | Trick Williams | October 1, 2024 | NXT's debut on The CW | Rosemont, IL | 2 | 98 | 98 | CM Punk was the special guest referee. | |
| 33 | Oba Femi | January 7, 2025 | NXT: New Year's Evil | Los Angeles, CA | 1 | 64+ | 64+ | This was a triple threat match also involving Eddy Thorpe. | |

## Combined reigns

As of March 12, 2025.
| † | Indicates the current champion |
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined days | Combined days rec. by WWE |
| 1 | Finn Bálor | 2 | 504 | 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 | 182 |
| 10 | Trick Williams | 2 | 173 | 172 |
| 11 | Big E Langston | 1 | 168 | 153 |
| 12 | Samoa Joe | 3 | 156 | 154 |
| 13 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 2 | 147 | 147 |
| 14 | Kevin Owens | 1 | 143 | 142 |
| 15 | Karrion Kross | 2 | 140 | 139 |
| 15 | Andrade "Cien" Almas | 1 | 140 | 139 |
| 17 | Seth Rollins | 1 | 133 | 133 |
| 18 | Aleister Black | 1 | 102 | 108 |
| 19 | Drew McIntyre | 1 | 91 | 91 |
| 20 | Ethan Page | 1 | 86 | 86 |
| 21 | Oba Femi † | 1 | 64+ | 64+ |
| 22 | Sami Zayn | 1 | 62 | 62 |
| 23 | Johnny Gargano | 1 | 57 | 56 |
| 24 | Keith Lee | 1 | 52 | 44 |
| 25 | Dolph Ziggler | 1 | 27 | 26 |