WWE Speed Championship
Former men's professional wrestling championship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The WWE Speed Championship was a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. Established on March 27, 2024, it was a specialized championship in which matches had a five-minute time limit. The inaugural champion was Ricochet. The title was retired on the September 1, 2026, episode of NXT in conjunction with the retirement of the WWE Women's Speed Championship two days prior. The final champion was Lexis King.
| WWE Speed Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The WWE Speed Championship belt with default side plates | |||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brand | NXT | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | March 27, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date retired | September 1, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||
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When the title was originally introduced, it was regarded as an internet championship and it was open to wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brands as the title was exclusively defended on the online program Speed. Following the cancellation of Speed, the title was officially moved to the NXT brand on August 24, 2025, but still open to challengers from Raw and SmackDown, as well as the Evolve brand and WWE ID program, and wrestlers from partner promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Mexican sister promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. Contendership for the championship was determined by single-elimination tournaments, the matches of which had a three-minute time limit. Title matches were typically contested as singles matches.
History
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On February 9, 2024, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE announced a partnership with X to introduce Speed, a weekly video series to stream exclusively on the social media platform where wrestlers would perform in matches with a five-minute time limit.[1] The following month on March 27, WWE commentator Corey Graves announced that Speed would premiere on April 3, 2024, but regular matches would instead be three minutes in length. An eight-man tournament was also announced to crown the inaugural WWE Speed Champion that would take place over the first few episodes of the program. It was also revealed that male wrestlers from WWE's Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brands were eligible to challenge for the title.[2]
The inaugural Speed Championship tournament final, which was taped in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 26, 2024, and aired on tape delay on May 3, saw Ricochet defeat Johnny Gargano to become the inaugural champion.[3][4] This tournament final also confirmed that the championship matches would have a duration of five minutes instead of Speed's regular three-minute length.[5] On the July 17 episode, Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes fought to Speed's first time-limit draw in their semifinal match. It was decided that both men were eliminated from the tournament with the winner of the other semifinal, Baron Corbin, receiving a bye to the tournament final to face Andrade for the title.[6]
Following the July 9, 2025, episode, the future of Speed came into question as the series stopped uploading new episodes without explanation. Various news outlets began reporting that the program had been quietly cancelled, but neither WWE or X made any statements on the show's status.[7] Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer further clarified that WWE had not taped any episodes after July 9 and his WWE contacts had no knowledge on the program's future.[8] Around the same time, reigning Women's Speed Champion Sol Ruca began appearing on NXT with the title. In an interview on August 19, Ruca said that the Speed Championships previously only appeared on Speed as it was "a separate universe being on X". She was then given permission by WWE to carry the title on NXT programming.[9] A few days later at Heatwave, NXT general manager Ava announced that the men's and women's Speed Championships would be defended on the NXT brand going forward, with qualifying tournaments open to wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and Evolve brands as well as wrestlers from WWE's partner promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and Mexican subsidiary Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), starting from the September 2 episode of NXT.[10] On the October 14 episode of NXT, Ava announced the men's tournament would restart on the October 21 episode. Axiom (SmackDown), Sean Legacy (listed as Evolve), Zachary Wentz (TNA), and Jasper Troy (NXT) would contest for #1 Contendership against El Grande Americano (listed as AAA).[11]
The title was contested for the first time in a triple threat match on the February 24, 2026, episode of NXT. After a draw between Eli Knight and Elio LeFleur in their number one contender's tournament final the prior week, reigning champion Jasper Troy decided that he would defend the Speed Championship against both in a triple threat match. Interim NXT General Manager Robert Stone also increased the time limit to seven minutes for the occasion.[12] LeFleur subsequently defeated Troy and Knight to win the title.[13]
The championship was retired on September 1, 2026.[14] After the Women's Speed Championship was retired in a unification match on August 30 at Heatwave,[15] NXT General Manager Robert Stone announced on NXT that the men's Speed Championship was also retired and had reigning champion Lexis King relinquish the title.[14] According to a report, both titles were not retired sooner as WWE had hoped that another deal with X could have been made to relaunch the Speed program.[16]
Tournaments
Summary
Won title by defeating the reigning champion
Won vacant title
Failed to win title
| No. | Tournament winner | No. | Championship match | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Event | Filming date | Broadcast date | |||
| 1 | Ricochet | 1 | Johnny Gargano | Speed | April 26, 2024 | May 3, 2024 |
| 2 | Tyler Bate | 1 | Ricochet (c) | May 20, 2024 | May 24, 2024 | |
| 3 | Andrade | 1 | June 7, 2024 | June 14, 2024 | ||
| 4 | Xavier Woods | 1 | Andrade (c) | June 28, 2024 | July 5, 2024 | |
| 5 | Baron Corbin | 1 | July 19, 2024 | July 24, 2024 | ||
| 6 | Pete Dunne | 1 | August 23, 2024 | August 30, 2024 | ||
| 7 | Dragon Lee | 1 | November 15, 2024 | November 20, 2024 | ||
| 8 | Chad Gable | 1 | Dragon Lee (c) | January 31, 2025 | February 1, 2025 | |
| 9 | Ivar | 1 | March 7, 2025 | March 19, 2025 | ||
| 10 | El Grande Americano[iv] | 2 | May 5, 2025 | May 7, 2025 | ||
| 11 | Berto | 1 | El Grande Americano (c)[iv] | June 17, 2025 | June 18, 2025 | |
| 12 | Jasper Troy | 1 | El Grande Americano (c)[v] | NXT | November 11, 2025 | |
| 13 | Tavion Heights | 1 | Jasper Troy (c) | January 13, 2026 | ||
| 14 | Elio Lefleur[vi] | 1 | February 24, 2026 | |||
| Eli Knight[vi] | 1 | |||||
| 15 | Lexis King | 1 | EK Prosper | NXT: Revenge Week 2 | April 21, 2026 | |
| 16 | Romeo Moreno | 1 | Lexis King (c) | NXT | June 2, 2026 | |
| (c) – denotes the defending champion | ||||||
Inaugural tournament
The WWE Speed Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown the first-ever WWE Speed Champion, the flagship championship of WWE Speed. It concluded on April 26, 2024, with Ricochet defeating Johnny Gargano.[17]
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WWE Speed Championship Tournament (2026)
This tournament was held to crown the new WWE Speed Champion after champion Elio LeFleur had to vacate the title due to a shoulder injury. The tournament began on the April 7, 2026, episode of NXT.[23]
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No. 1 contender's tournaments
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Reigns
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Over the title's two-year history, there were seven reigns between seven champions (eight when counting two wrestlers portraying the same character) and one vacancy. The inaugural champion was Ricochet. El Grande Americano was recognized for having the longest reign at 190 days (188 days as recognized by WWE due to tape delay); Americano was originally portrayed by Chad Gable until June 30, 2025, when Ludwig Kaiser took over due to Gable's injury, with Gable holding the title for 56 days (54 days as recognized by WWE) and Kaiser holding it for 134 days. Elio LeFleur had the shortest reign at 35 days (34 days as recognized by WWE). Gable, as Americano, was also the oldest champion at 39, while Jasper Troy was the youngest at 25–26. Lexis King was the final champion.
| 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 |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Days recog. | |||||
| WWE: Raw, SmackDown, and NXT | ||||||||||
| 1 | Ricochet | April 26, 2024 | Speed | Cincinnati, OH | 1 | 42 | 42 | Defeated Johnny Gargano in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion. WWE recognizes Ricochet's reign as beginning on May 3, 2024, and ending on June 14, 2024, when the episodes aired on tape delay. |
[3] [34] | |
| 2 | Andrade | June 7, 2024 | Speed | Louisville, KY | 1 | 161 | 159 | WWE recognizes Andrade's reign as beginning on June 14, 2024, and ending on November 20, 2024, when the episodes aired on tape delay. | [35] [36] | |
| 3 | Dragon Lee | November 15, 2024 | Speed | Milwaukee, WI | 1 | 171 | 167 | WWE recognizes Lee's reign as beginning on November 20, 2024, and ending on May 7, 2025, when the episodes aired on tape delay. | [37] [38] | |
| 4 | El Grande Americano (Chad Gable/Ludwig Kaiser) |
May 5, 2025 | Speed | Omaha, NE | 1 | 190 | 188 | WWE recognizes Americano's reign as beginning on May 7, 2025, when the episode aired on tape delay. Chad Gable portrayed the Americano character when he won the title, but after he suffered a legitmate shoulder injury, Ludwig Kaiser took over the character on June 30, 2025. On August 24, 2025, at Heatwave, NXT general manager Ava announced that the championship would be defended on the NXT brand going forward, but still open to challengers from WWE's other brands, including Evolve and WWE ID, as well as wrestlers from partner promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and sister promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. |
[39] [40] [41] [10] [42] | |
| WWE: NXT | ||||||||||
| 5 | Jasper Troy | November 11, 2025 | NXT | Orlando, FL | 1 | 105 | 105 | [43] | ||
| 6 | Elio LeFleur | February 24, 2026 | NXT | Orlando, FL | 1 | 35 | 34 | This was a triple threat match with a seven-minute time limit that also involved Eli Knight. | [44] | |
| — | Vacated | March 31, 2026 | NXT | New York, NY | — | — | — | Elio LeFleur vacated the title due to a shoulder injury. | [45] | |
| 7 | Lexis King | April 21, 2026 | NXT: Revenge Week 2 |
Orlando, FL | 1 | 133 | 133 | Defeated EK Prosper in a tournament final to win the vacant title. | [46] | |
| — | Deactivated | September 1, 2026 | NXT | Orlando, FL | — | — | — | After Zaria retired the WWE Women's Speed Championship, NXT General Manager Robert Stone had Lexis King relinquish the men's title and subsequently retired it. | [14] | |
See also
Notes
- WWE officially recognizes 188 days due to tape delay. The character was originally portrayed by Chad Gable until June 30, 2025, when Ludwig Kaiser took over due to Gable's injury, with Gable holding the title for 56 days (54 days as recognized by WWE) and Kaiser holding it for 134 days.
- WWE officially recognizes 34 days.
- As portrayed by Chad Gable.
- El Grande Americano was portrayed by Chad Gable at the time, who previously won the tournament as himself.
- El Grande Americano was portrayed by Ludwig Kaiser, who replaced Chad Gable in the role on June 30 due to injury.
- The tournament final between Elio Lefleur and Eli Knight ended in a time limit draw, making them the co-winners. Interim NXT General Manager Robert Stone announced a triple threat match among defending champion Jasper Troy and the co-winners of the tournament for the WWE Speed Championship.
- Apollo Crews replaced the injured Ivar.
- El Grande Americano was portrayed by Chad Gable at the time.
- El Grande Americano was portrayed by Chad Gable at the time
- Joaquin Wilde originally faced Lexis King in the first round at the June 2, 2025, taping of Speed, but the match was stopped after Wilde was concussed. King would instead face Noam Dar in the first round.
- El Grande Americano was portrayed by Ludwig Kaiser, who replaced Chad Gable in the role on June 30 due to injury.