# NXT Heritage Cup

The NXT Heritage Cup is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is a specialized championship for NXT, the promotion's developmental brand, defended exclusively under British Rounds Rules. The current champion is Lexis King, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating previous champion Charlie Dempsey by 1–0 due to disqualification during the NXT tapings on December 17, 2024 (aired December 24). As of February 4, 2025, King defends the title in one-fall matches instead of under British Rounds Rules.
Unveiled on September 10, 2020, as the NXT UK Heritage Cup, it was originally established as a secondary championship for NXT UK, which was a sister brand of NXT based in the United Kingdom. The inaugural champion was A-Kid. At Worlds Collide on September 4, 2022, all other NXT UK championships were unified into their respective NXT championship counterparts due to the closure of NXT UK. The Heritage Cup, however, was the only championship from either brand that was not contested at the event. The title then saw months of inactivity until April 4, 2023, when it was transferred to NXT.

## History

On September 10, 2020, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE announced the relaunch of the United Kingdom-based NXT UK brand, following a production hiatus since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with the relaunch, the promotion announced the NXT UK Heritage Cup tournament to crown the inaugural NXT UK Heritage Cup Champion. The announcement also revealed that the Heritage Cup would be defended just like any other championship, but all matches would be contested under British Rounds Rules.
Only seven of the eight competitors for the tournament were revealed during the initial announcement: "Flash" Morgan Webster, Noam Dar, Alexander Wolfe, A-Kid, Dave Mastiff, Trent Seven, and Joseph Conners. The eighth competitor was determined on the October 1 episode of NXT UK in a triple threat match in which Kenny Williams defeated Ashton Smith and Amir Jordan to win the final spot. The tournament itself also began on October 1 and took place across episodes of NXT UK. The final aired on tape delay on November 26 where A-Kid defeated Seven to become the inaugural champion (the date the episode was taped is unknown).
In August 2022, WWE announced that NXT UK would go on hiatus after the Worlds Collide event on September 4, and the brand would relaunch as NXT Europe at a later time. At Worlds Collide, all other NXT UK championships were retired after they were unified into their respective American-based NXT championship counterparts. The Heritage Cup was the only title from either brand to not be contested at the event. The last match for the title occurred during the July 7, 2022, taping of NXT UK, which aired on tape delay on August 25, where Noam Dar became a two-time Heritage Cup Champion. Following this, the title saw months of inactivity until the April 4, 2023, episode of NXT when Dar, with the Heritage Cup, made his NXT debut and stated he would defend the title whenever he wanted. The title was subsequently transferred to NXT and renamed NXT Heritage Cup, with the first NXT defense of the championship coming at NXT Battleground on May 28, which was also the first time the title was defended in the United States.
After Charlie Dempsey won the Heritage Cup in February 2024, his stable, No Quarter Catch Crew, announced the "Catch Clause", where any member of the stable—Dempsey, Drew Gulak, Damon Kemp, and Myles Borne—could defend the Cup, but only Dempsey was officially recognized as champion. The Catch Clause was first invoked on the March 19 episode of NXT, with Gulak defeating Chase University's Riley Osborne by 2–1. On the December 24 episode of NXT (taped December 17), Dempsey lost the Heritage Cup to Lexis King by disqualification, the first instance of the Heritage Cup changing hands by disqualification. However, according to NXT general manager Ava, there was a grey area in British Rounds Rules regarding disqualification of the reigning champion, and announced that Dempsey and King would compete for the Heritage Cup in a sudden death one-fall match at NXT: New Year's Evil on January 7, 2025, the first instance of the Heritage Cup not being contested under British Rounds Rules. King won to solidify his win of the Heritage Cup. Subsequently on the February 4 episode of NXT, King announced that his Heritage Cup defenses going forward would be one-fall matches instead of British Round Rules.

### British Rounds Rules

* Matches consist of six three-minute rounds with 20-second breaks between each round.
* Matches are 2-out-of-3 falls.
* Falls can be won by pinfall, submission, or knockout (countout).
* Once a fall occurs, the round ends.
* The match ends once a wrestler has won two falls.
* In the event of a disqualification or knockout, the match instantly ends without the need for two falls.
* If all six rounds are completed, whoever is ahead on falls wins the match. If tied, the champion retains.

### Inaugural tournament

| Quarterfinals NXT UK Aired: October 1–22, 2020 | Quarterfinals NXT UK Aired: October 1–22, 2020 | Quarterfinals NXT UK Aired: October 1–22, 2020 | Semifinals NXT UK Aired: November 5–12, 2020 | Semifinals NXT UK Aired: November 5–12, 2020 | Semifinals NXT UK Aired: November 5–12, 2020 | Final NXT UK Aired: November 26, 2020 | Final NXT UK Aired: November 26, 2020 | Final NXT UK Aired: November 26, 2020 |
| Alexander Wolfe | Alexander Wolfe | 1 | | | | | | |
| Noam Dar | Noam Dar | 2 | | | | | | |
| Noam Dar | Noam Dar | 2 | Noam Dar | Noam Dar | 1 | | | |
| | | | A-Kid | A-Kid | 2 | | | |
| A-Kid | A-Kid | 2 | A-Kid | A-Kid | 2 | | | |
| Flash Morgan Webster | Flash Morgan Webster | 1 | | | | | | |
| Flash Morgan Webster | Flash Morgan Webster | 1 | | | | A-Kid | A-Kid | 2 |
| | | | | | | Trent Seven | Trent Seven | 1 |
| Dave Mastiff | Dave Mastiff | KO | | | | | | | Trent Seven | Trent Seven | 1 |
| Joseph Conners | Joseph Conners | — | | | | | | |
| Joseph Conners | Joseph Conners | — | Dave Mastiff | Dave Mastiff | 1 | | | |
| | | | Trent Seven | Trent Seven | 2 | | | |
| Trent Seven | Trent Seven | 2 | Trent Seven | Trent Seven | 2 | | | |
| Kenny Williams | Kenny Williams | 1 | | | | | | |
* ↑ Pete Dunne was the special guest referee

### 2021 Contender tournament

| First round NXT UK August 12, 2021 – September 9, 2021 | First round NXT UK August 12, 2021 – September 9, 2021 | First round NXT UK August 12, 2021 – September 9, 2021 | Semifinals NXT UK September 16, 2021 – September 23, 2021 | Semifinals NXT UK September 16, 2021 – September 23, 2021 | Semifinals NXT UK September 16, 2021 – September 23, 2021 | Final NXT UK October 7, 2021 | Final NXT UK October 7, 2021 | Final NXT UK October 7, 2021 |
| Mark Andrews | Mark Andrews | 1 | | | | | | |
| Noam Dar | Noam Dar | 2 | | | | | | |
| Noam Dar | Noam Dar | 2 | Noam Dar | Noam Dar | 2 | | | |
| | | | Kenny Williams | Kenny Williams | 1 | | | |
| Oliver Carter | Oliver Carter | 1 | Kenny Williams | Kenny Williams | 1 | | | |
| Kenny Williams | Kenny Williams | 2 | | | | | | |
| Kenny Williams | Kenny Williams | 2 | | | | Noam Dar | Noam Dar | 2 |
| | | | | | | Wolfgang | Wolfgang | 1 |
| Wolfgang | Wolfgang | 2 | | | | | | | Wolfgang | Wolfgang | 1 |
| Sam Gradwell | Sam Gradwell | 1 | | | | | | |
| Sam Gradwell | Sam Gradwell | 1 | Wolfgang | Wolfgang | 2 | | | |
| | | | Teoman | Teoman | 1 | | | |
| Nathan Frazer | Nathan Frazer | 1 | Teoman | Teoman | 1 | | | |
| Teoman | Teoman | 2 | | | | | | |

## Heritage Cup trophy design

Unlike other professional wrestling championships, the Heritage Cup is represented by a trophy instead of a title belt. The trophy itself is a silver cup, the front of which has a gold shield-shaped plaque that has a vertical NXT logo and below it the text "Heritage Cup". Below the cup is a physical representation of what was formerly the NXT UK logo, which is modeled after the United Kingdom's royal coat of arms, featuring a lion and a horse (instead of the traditional unicorn) on either side of the arms in gold, with a red shield at the center which has a gold vertical NXT logo. A small WWE logo is affixed at the center of the X in both NXT logos. A gold banner below this also says "Heritage Cup". This all sits atop a wooden base that is circled in gold name plaques which notate the current and previous champions.

## Reigns

As of March 17, 2025, there have been 11 reigns between eight different champions. A-Kid was the inaugural champion. Noam Dar has the most reigns at three and his second reign is the longest at 341 days; however, due to tape delay, WWE officially recognizes his second reign as lasting 292 days, but still the longest. Dar also has the longest combined reign at 790 days (739 days as recognized by WWE due to tape delay). Mark Coffey has the shortest reign at 14 days (42 days as recognized by WWE due to tape delay, but still the shortest). Coffey is also the oldest champion at 32 years old, while A-Kid is the youngest at 23.
Lexis King is the current champion in his first reign. He defeated Charlie Dempsey by 1–0 due to disqualification during the December 17, 2024, tapings of NXT in Lowell, Massachusetts (aired December 24). As of February 4, 2025, King defends the title in one-fall matches instead of under British Rounds Rules.
| Name | Years |
| NXT UK Heritage Cup | September 10, 2020 – April 18, 2023 |
| NXT Heritage Cup | April 18, 2023 – present |
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 |
| N/A | Unknown information |
| † | Championship change is unrecognized 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 UK | WWE: NXT UK | WWE: NXT UK | WWE: NXT UK | WWE: NXT UK | WWE: NXT UK | WWE: NXT UK | WWE: NXT UK | WWE: NXT UK |
| 1 | A-Kid | November 26, 2020 (air date) | NXT UK | London, England | 1 | N/A | 174 | Defeated Trent Seven by 2–1 in a tournament final to become the inaugural champion. WWE recognizes this reign as beginning on November 26, 2020, and ending on May 20, 2021, when the matches aired on tape delay. The actual dates of when the matches took place are unknown. | |
| 2 | Tyler Bate | May 20, 2021 (air date) | NXT UK | London, England | 1 | N/A | 160 | Won 1–0. WWE recognizes this reign as beginning on May 20, 2021, and ending on October 28, 2021, when the matches aired on tape delay. The actual date of when the title change took place is unknown. | |
| 3 | Noam Dar | October 6, 2021 | NXT UK | London, England | 1 | 260 | 258 | Won 2–1 after Bate's partner, Trent Seven, who was ringside, accidentally threw in the towel. WWE recognizes Dar's reign as beginning on October 28, 2021, and ending on July 14, 2022, when the matches aired on tape delay. | |
| 4 | Mark Coffey | June 23, 2022 | NXT UK | London, England | 1 | 14 | 42 | Won 2–1. Sha Samuels was banned from ringside. WWE recognizes this reign as beginning on July 14, 2022, and ending on August 25, 2022, when the matches aired on tape delay. | |
| 5 | Noam Dar | July 7, 2022 | NXT UK | London, England | 2 | 341 | 292 | Won 2–1. WWE recognizes this reign as beginning on August 25, 2022, when the match aired on tape delay. Following Worlds Collide in September 2022, the Cup saw months of inactivity until it was brought back on the April 4, 2023, episode of NXT, thus transferring the Cup to NXT and was subsequently renamed to NXT Heritage Cup. | |
| | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT | WWE: NXT |
| 6 | Nathan Frazer | June 13, 2023 | NXT | Orlando, FL | 1 | 70 | 69 | Defeated Oro Mensah by 2–1, who defended the Heritage Cup on behalf of an injured Noam Dar. | |
| 7 | Noam Dar | August 22, 2023 | NXT: Heatwave | Orlando, FL | 3 | 189 | 189 | Won 2–1. | |
| 8 | Charlie Dempsey | February 27, 2024 | NXT | Orlando, FL | 1 | 77 | 76 | Won 2–1. At NXT: Roadblock, No Quarter Catch Crew (Dempsey, Drew Gulak, Myles Borne, and Damon Kemp) announced the "Catch Clause" where any member of the stable could defend the Heritage Cup, but only Dempsey was officially recognized as champion. The Catch Clause was invoked on the March 19 episode of NXT, where Gulak defeated Chase University's Riley Osborne by 2–1. | |
| 9 | Tony D'Angelo | May 14, 2024 | NXT | Orlando, FL | 1 | 91 | 90 | Won 2–1. | |
| 10 | Charlie Dempsey | August 13, 2024 | NXT | Orlando, FL | 2 | 126 | 133 | Won 2–1. WWE recognizes this reign as ending on December 24, 2024, when the match aired on tape delay. | |
| 11 | Lexis King | December 17, 2024 | NXT | Lowell, MA | 1 | 90+ | 83+ | Won 1–0 due to disqualification. WWE recognizes this reign as beginning on December 24, 2024, when the match aired on tape delay. Due to the grey area regarding disqualification of the defending champion in British Rounds Rules, King and Charlie Dempsey faced each other in a one-fall sudden death match at NXT: New Year's Evil on January 7, 2025, that King won to solidify his win of the Heritage Cup. After solidifying his win, King announced that all his Heritage Cup defenses would be one-fall matches instead of British Round Rules. | |

## Combined reigns

As of March 17, 2025.
| † | Indicates the current champion |
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined days | Combined days recognized by WWE |
| 1 | Noam Dar | 3 | 790 | 739 |
| 2 | Charlie Dempsey | 2 | 203 | 209 |
| 3 | A-Kid | 1 | N/A | 174 |
| 4 | Tyler Bate | 1 | N/A | 160 |
| 5 | Tony D'Angelo | 1 | 91 | 90 |
| 6 | Lexis King † | 1 | 90+ | 83+ |
| 7 | Nathan Frazer | 1 | 70 | 69 |
| 8 | Mark Coffey | 1 | 14 | 42 |