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WWE Speed Championship

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from WWE Speed Champion)

WWE Speed Championship
The WWE Speed Championship belt with default side plates
Details
PromotionWWE
BrandNXT
Date establishedMarch 27, 2024
Date retiredSeptember 1, 2026
Statistics
First championRicochet
Final championLexis King
Longest reignEl Grande Americano
(190 days)[i]
Shortest reignElio LeFleur
(35 days)[ii]
Oldest championEl Grande Americano[iii]
(39 years, 58 days)
Youngest championElio LeFleur
(27 years, 5 days)
Heaviest championJasper Troy
(340 lb (150 kg))
Lightest championDragon Lee
(165 lb (75 kg))

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.

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

[edit]
Inaugural champion Ricochet

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

[edit]

Summary

[edit]

  Won title by defeating the reigning champion
  Won vacant title
  Failed to win title

No. Tournament winnerNo. Championship match
OpponentEventFilming dateBroadcast date
1 Ricochet1 Johnny GarganoSpeedApril 26, 2024May 3, 2024
2 Tyler Bate1 Ricochet (c)May 20, 2024May 24, 2024
3 Andrade1 June 7, 2024June 14, 2024
4 Xavier Woods1 Andrade (c)June 28, 2024July 5, 2024
5 Baron Corbin1 July 19, 2024July 24, 2024
6 Pete Dunne1 August 23, 2024August 30, 2024
7 Dragon Lee1 November 15, 2024November 20, 2024
8 Chad Gable1 Dragon Lee (c)January 31, 2025February 1, 2025
9 Ivar1 March 7, 2025March 19, 2025
10 El Grande Americano[iv]2 May 5, 2025May 7, 2025
11 Berto1 El Grande Americano (c)[iv]June 17, 2025June 18, 2025
12 Jasper Troy1 El Grande Americano (c)[v]NXTNovember 11, 2025
13 Tavion Heights1 Jasper Troy (c)January 13, 2026
14 Elio Lefleur[vi]1 February 24, 2026
Eli Knight[vi]1
15 Lexis King1 EK ProsperNXT: Revenge
Week 2		April 21, 2026
16 Romeo Moreno1 Lexis King (c)NXTJune 2, 2026
(c) – denotes the defending champion

Inaugural tournament

[edit]

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]

WWE Speed Championship Tournament (2026)

[edit]

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]

No. 1 contender's tournaments

[edit]
Tournament brackets

Reigns

[edit]
Final champion Lexis King

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.

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
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign DaysDays recog.
WWE: Raw, SmackDown, and NXT
1 Ricochet April 26, 2024 Speed Cincinnati, OH 1 4242 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 161159 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 171167 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 190188 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 105105 [43]
6 Elio LeFleur February 24, 2026 NXT Orlando, FL 1 3534 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 133133 Defeated EK Prosper in a tournament final to win the vacant title. [46]
— Deactivated September 1, 2026 NXT Orlando, FL — —— Following the retirement of the WWE Women's Speed Championship at Heatwave on August 30, 2026, NXT General Manager Robert Stone had Lexis King relinquish the WWE Speed Championship and subsequently retired it. [14]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ WWE officially recognizes 34 days.
  3. ↑ As portrayed by Chad Gable.
  4. 1 2 El Grande Americano was portrayed by Chad Gable at the time, who previously won the tournament as himself.
  5. ↑ El Grande Americano was portrayed by Ludwig Kaiser, who replaced Chad Gable in the role on June 30 due to injury.
  6. 1 2 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.
  7. ↑ Apollo Crews replaced the injured Ivar.
  8. ↑ El Grande Americano was portrayed by Chad Gable at the time.
  9. ↑ El Grande Americano was portrayed by Chad Gable at the time
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ El Grande Americano was portrayed by Ludwig Kaiser, who replaced Chad Gable in the role on June 30 due to injury.

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Defelice, Robert (February 8, 2024). "WWE Speed To Air On X (Twitter) Beginning In Spring 2024". Fightful. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  2. ↑ Rose, Bryan (March 27, 2024). "WWE Speed premiere date revealed, tournament will crown champion". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Lambert, Jeremy (April 26, 2024). "Spoiler: First-Ever WWE Speed Champion Crowned". Fightful. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  4. 1 2 Lee, Joseph (May 3, 2024). "Ricochet Becomes First-Ever WWE Speed Champion, Special Friday Episode Airs". 411Mania. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  5. ↑ Lowson, Thomas (May 3, 2024). "Ricochet Celebrates WWE Speed Title Win After Becoming First-Ever Champion". SE Scoops. Archived from the original on May 3, 2024. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  6. ↑ Powell, Jason (July 17, 2024). "WWE Speed - Ilja Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  7. ↑ Gomez, M. (July 30, 2025). "WWE Speed abruptly halts with no explanation". Cageside Seats. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  8. ↑ Ucchino, Rick (August 1, 2025). "New Report Indicates That WWE Speed Has Been Cancelled". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  9. ↑ Wannan, Jack (August 19, 2025). "Sol Ruca unsure of WWE Speed's status: I don't have an answer". POST Wrestling. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
  10. 1 2 Lambert, Jeremy (August 24, 2025). "WWE Speed Titles To Be Defended On NXT Moving Forward". Fightful. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
  11. ↑ Wannan, Jack (October 14, 2025). "WWE NXT results: Tatum Paxley earns women's title shot, Lainey Reid joins Fatal Influence". POST Wrestling. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  12. ↑ Murai, Animesh (February 17, 2026). "First-Time Ever Stipulation For WWE Title Announced". ITR Wrestling. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
  13. ↑ Rose, Bryan (February 24, 2026). "Elio LeFleur wins men's Speed title on WWE NXT". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 Thompson, Andrew (September 1, 2026). "NXT GM Robert Stone Announces WWE Men's & Women's Speed Titles Are Now Defunct". Fightful. Retrieved September 2, 2026.
  15. ↑ Thompson, Andrew (August 30, 2026). "ZARIA Unifies NXT Women's North American & WWE Women's Speed Titles At Heatwave PLE". Fightful. Retrieved August 30, 2026.
  16. ↑ Ali, Kaif (August 24, 2026). "WWE Is Retiring Two Championships". ITR Wrestling. Retrieved August 31, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Ricochet becomes inaugural WWE Speed Champion". POST Wrestling Forum. May 3, 2024. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  18. 1 2 Nason, Josh (April 3, 2024). "Ricochet, Bronson Reed advance in WWE Speed title tournament on debut episode". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  19. ↑ Currier, Joseph (April 24, 2024). "Ricochet advances to WWE Speed title tournament finals". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  20. ↑ Currier, Joseph (April 10, 2024). "JD McDonagh advances in WWE Speed title tournament". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  21. ↑ Tessier, Colin (May 1, 2024). "Johnny Gargano Advances To WWE Speed Title Tournament Finals, To Face Ricochet On 5/3 WWE Speed". Fightful. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  22. ↑ Tessier, Colin (April 17, 2024). "Johnny Gargano Beats Angel To Advance In WWE Speed Title Tournament, Semi-Final Match Set For 4/24". Fightful. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  23. ↑ Thompson, Andrew (March 31, 2026). "Tournament Begins To Crown New WWE Men's Speed Champion, Triple Threat Match Set For 4/7 NXT". Fightful. Archived from the original on April 1, 2026. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  24. ↑ Hall, Thomas (April 8, 2026). "Hall's WWE NXT Review 4.7.26". 411Mania. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
  25. ↑ Hall, Thomas (April 22, 2026). "Hall's WWE NXT Review 4.21.26". 411Mania. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
  26. ↑ Hall, Thomas (April 15, 2026). "Hall's WWE NXT Review 4.14.26". 411Mania. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
  27. ↑ Carey, Ian (May 8, 2024). "Ivar advances in WWE Speed number one contender's tournament". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
  28. ↑ Currier, Joseph (April 22, 2024). "Tyler Bate challenging Ricochet for WWE Speed Championship". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  29. ↑ Carey, Ian (May 15, 2024). "Tyler Bate advances in WWE Speed number one contender's tournament". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  30. ↑ Currier, Joseph (June 19, 2024). "Xavier Woods advances in WWE Speed contender's tournament". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  31. ↑ Moore, John (February 24, 2026). "NXT TV results (2/24): Moore's review of Jacy Jayne vs. Sol Ruca for the NXT Women's Championship, DarkState vs. Vanity Project for the NXT Tag Team Titles, Keanu Carver vs. Sean Legacy". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 25, 2026.
  32. 1 2 3 Moore, John (May 26, 2026). "NXT TV results (5/26): Moore's review of Lola Vice vs. Izzi Dame for the NXT Women's Championship, Kelani Jordan vs. Wren Sinclair, Charlie Dempsey vs. Shiloh Hill". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  33. ↑ Moore, John (June 2, 2026). "NXT TV results (6/2): Moore's review of Tony D'Angelo vs. Kam Hendrix for the NXT Championship, Jackson Drake vs. Tate Wilder, Zaria vs. Lizzy Rain, DarkState vs. Myles Borne and Tavion Heights". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
  34. ↑ Tessier, Colin (May 3, 2024). "Ricochet Beats Johnny Gargano To Win WWE Speed Championship On 5/3 WWE Speed". Fightful. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  35. ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (June 7, 2024). "Spoiler: New WWE Speed Champion Crowned". Fightful. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  36. ↑ Powell, Jason (June 14, 2024). "WWE Speed – Ricochet vs. Andrade for the WWE Speed Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  37. ↑ Martínez, Sebastián (November 15, 2024). "Spoilers WWE Speed 15 de noviembre de 2024". Solowrestling. Archived from the original on November 27, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  38. ↑ Powell, Jason (November 20, 2024). "WWE Speed – Andrade vs. Dragon Lee for the WWE Speed Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  39. ↑ Thomas, Jeremy (May 5, 2025). "Spoiler From WWE Speed Taping". 411Mania. Retrieved May 6, 2025.
  40. ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (May 7, 2025). "El Grande Americano Wins WWE Speed Championship". Fightful. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  41. ↑ "Chad Gable Dealing With Undisclosed Injury". Fightful. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  42. ↑ "WWE Speed Championship". WWE.com. Retrieved March 21, 2026.
  43. ↑ Conners, Shawn (November 12, 2025). "WWE Speed Title Changes Hands On NXT". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  44. ↑ Thompson, Andrew (February 24, 2026). "Elio LeFleur Captures WWE Men's Speed Championship On 2/24 NXT". Fightful. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  45. ↑ Thompson, Andrew (March 31, 2026). "NXT's Elio LeFleur Relinquishing WWE Men's Speed Title Due To Shoulder Injury, Will Be Out For Six Months". Fightful. Archived from the original on April 1, 2026. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  46. ↑ Thompson, Andrew (April 21, 2026). "Lexis King Captures WWE Men's Speed Championship At NXT Revenge Week Two". Fightful. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
[edit]
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