WWE has retired the Men’s and Women’s Speed Championships, with NXT General Manager Robert Stone declaring both titles defunct during Tuesday’s episode of NXT on The CW.
The segment played out in Stone’s office. Zaria, who unified the NXT Women’s North American Championship and the WWE Women’s Speed Championship at NXT Heatwave on Sunday, was told to pick one belt to keep defending. She chose the Women’s North American Title and handed the Speed strap back.
BirthRight were in the room as well, and the ruling landed hardest on Lexis King. Stone informed the Men’s Speed Champion that Zaria retiring the women’s version meant his title was finished too. King gave up the belt and left.
King never lost the championship. He won it vacant over EK Prosper in a tournament final on the April 21 episode of NXT, then turned back Romeo Moreno in June and Lucien Price in August. His reign ends at 133 days.
How The Speed Titles Ended Up In NXT
WWE built the Speed Championship around its 2024 content partnership with X. The short-form show premiered on the platform in April 2024 with Ricochet as the first men’s champion, and Candice LeRae was crowned the inaugural women’s titleholder that autumn.
Speed ran 83 episodes before WWE quietly stopped uploading new ones in July 2025. Dave Meltzer reported at the time that the deal with the platform appeared to have lapsed. Then-NXT GM Ava absorbed both belts into the developmental brand that August, where challengers earned shots through contendership tournaments.
Wren Sinclair’s 166-day women’s reign ended at Heatwave, where Zaria pinned Kali Armstrong with an F5 in the opening match. The bout had been set up as a unification match back on the August 11 episode, with Armstrong added late after beating Zaria in a non-title bout.
The Edinburg, Texas show has drawn attention for other reasons since Sunday, with reports that much of the crowd left after the AAA Ola de Calor half of the doubleheader.
