He won the title by defeating previous champion Trick Williams and Eddy Thorpe in a triple threat match at NXT: New Year's Evil on January 7, 2025.

Introduced on July 1, 2012, it was the first championship established for NXT, and the inaugural champion was Seth Rollins.

From 2010 to 2012, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE hosted a competition reality television series called NXT.

In June 2012, WWE restructured the show and established the NXT brand as their developmental territory, replacing Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).

On the July 26 tapings of NXT (aired August 29), Seth Rollins defeated Jinder Mahal in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion.

[1][2] On November 19, 2016, at TakeOver: Toronto, Samoa Joe became the first performer to hold the championship on more than one occasion.

As a result, both the men's and women's NXT championship belts received an update that same episode.

The multi-colored paint from the NXT 2.0 version (2022–2024) was also removed, and the plates are now primarily silver with gold accents.

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.

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.