The short-form era of fast-paced wrestling has officially come to an end.
During the September 1 episode of NXT, WWE officially retired both the WWE Speed Championship and the WWE Women’s Speed Championship following a multi-title unification storyline.
Zaria Relinquishes Title; Lexis King Surrenders Men’s Championship
The decision unfolded during a backstage segment on Tuesday night.
Following her title unification victory at NXT Heatwave 2026, Zaria was tasked with choosing which title she would carry forward. She ultimately chose to retain the NXT Women’s North American Championship, officially abandoning the Women’s Speed title.
In response to Zaria’s choice, NXT General Manager Robert Stone declared that the Men’s Speed Championship would also be rendered defunct. Standing alongside the rest of Birthright, reigning champion Lexis King begrudgingly relinquished his championship belt and walked away, officially shuttering the division.
How The Titles Were Unified At Heatwave
The road to retiring the belts culminated over the weekend at NXT Heatwave 2026.
Zaria entered the event as the NXT Women’s North American Champion and faced off against then-Women’s Speed Champion Wren Sinclair and Kali Armstrong—who was added to the bout after pinning Zaria on television the previous week. Zaria emerged victorious in the Triple Threat match, capturing Sinclair’s belt to briefly hold both championships before choosing to retire the Speed lineage.
History Of The WWE Speed Division
Originally launched in April 2024, the Speed concept was designed around high-energy, fast-paced matches with strict time limits (typically 3 to 5 minutes).
- Original Platform: X (formerly Twitter) under an exclusive streaming partnership.
- Inaugural Champions: Ricochet (Men’s) and Candice LeRae (Women’s).
- Cancellation & Move to NXT: Following the cancellation of the exclusive X broadcast program in July 2025, WWE transitioned the championships to the NXT brand.
While NXT initially hosted tournaments to crown #1 contenders and champions, recent months saw a shift toward direct title matches without traditional tournament brackets before WWE decided to fully retire the specialized belts.
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