NXT Heritage Cup

The NXT Heritage Cup is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is a specialized championship for NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The title is defended just like any other championship but has a special stipulation in which all matches are contested under British Rounds Rules. The current champion is Charlie Dempsey, who is in his second reign. He won the title by defeating previous champion Tony D'Angelo by 2–1 on the August 13, 2024, episode of ''NXT''.

Unveiled on September 10, 2020, as the NXT UK Heritage Cup, it was originally established as a secondary championship for NXT UK, which was a sister brand of NXT based in the United Kingdom. The inaugural champion was A-Kid. At Worlds Collide on September 4, 2022, all other NXT UK championships were unified into their respective NXT championship counterparts due to the closure of NXT UK. The Heritage Cup, however, was the only championship from either brand that was not contested at the event. The title then saw months of inactivity until April 4, 2023, when it was transferred to NXT.

History

On September 10, 2020, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE announced the relaunch of the United Kingdom-based NXT UK brand, following a production hiatus since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with the relaunch, the promotion announced the NXT UK Heritage Cup tournament to crown the inaugural NXT UK Heritage Cup Champion. The announcement also revealed that the Heritage Cup would be defended just like any other championship, but all matches would be contested under British Rounds Rules.

Only seven of the eight competitors for the tournament were revealed during the initial announcement: "Flash" Morgan Webster, Noam Dar, Alexander Wolfe, A-Kid, Dave Mastiff, Trent Seven, and Joseph Conners. The eighth competitor was determined on the October 1 episode of '' NXT UK'' in a triple threat match in which Kenny Williams defeated Ashton Smith and Amir Jordan to win the final spot. The tournament itself also began on October 1 and took place across episodes of ''NXT UK''. The final aired on tape delay on November 26 where A-Kid defeated Seven to become the inaugural champion (the date the episode was taped is unknown).

In August 2022, WWE announced that NXT UK would go on hiatus after the Worlds Collide event on September 4, and the brand would relaunch as NXT Europe at a later time. At Worlds Collide, all NXT UK championships were retired after they were unified into their respective American-based NXT championship counterparts. The Heritage Cup was the only title from either brand to not be contested at the event. The last match for the title occurred during the July 7, 2022, taping of ''NXT UK'', which aired on tape delay on August 25, where Noam Dar became a two-time Heritage Cup Champion. Following this, the title saw months of inactivity until the April 4, 2023, episode of ''NXT'' when Dar, with the Heritage Cup, made his NXT debut and stated he would defend the title whenever he wanted. The title was subsequently renamed to NXT Heritage Cup, with the first NXT defense of the championship coming at NXT Battleground on May 28, which was also the first time the title was defended in the United States.

After Charlie Dempsey won the Heritage Cup in February 2024, his stable, No Quarter Catch Crew, announced the " Catch Clause", where the stable as a whole called themselves the Heritage Cup Champions and that any member of the stable (Dempsey, Drew Gulak, Damon Kemp and Myles Borne) could defend the Cup, but WWE only recognized Dempsey as the official champion. The Catch Clause was first invoked on the March 19 episode of ''NXT'', with Gulak defeating Chase University's Riley Osborne by 2–1.

British Rounds Rules

*Matches consist of six three-minute rounds with 20-second breaks between each round.
*Matches are 2-out-of-3 falls.
*Falls can be won by pinfall, submission, or countout.
*Once a fall occurs, the round ends.
*The match ends once a wrestler has won two falls.
*In the event of a disqualification or knockout, the match instantly ends without the need for two falls.
*If all six rounds are completed, whoever is ahead on falls wins the match. If tied, the champion retains.

Inaugural tournament

2021 Contender tournament

Heritage Cup trophy design

Unlike other professional wrestling championships, the Heritage Cup is represented by a trophy instead of a title belt. The trophy itself is a silver cup, the front of which has a gold shield-shaped plaque that has a vertical NXT logo and below it the text "Heritage Cup". Below the cup is a physical representation of what was formerly the NXT UK logo, which is modeled after the United Kingdom's royal coat of arms, featuring a lion and a horse (instead of the traditional unicorn) on either side of the arms in gold, with a red shield at the center which has a gold vertical NXT logo. A small WWE logo is affixed at the center of the X in both NXT logos. A gold banner below this also says "Heritage Cup". This all sits atop a wooden base that is circled in gold name plaques which notate the current and previous champions.

Reigns

As of , , there have been ten reigns between seven different champions. A-Kid was the inaugural champion. Noam Dar has the most reigns at three and his second reign is the longest at 341 days; however, due to tape delay, WWE officially recognizes his second reign as lasting 292 days, but still the longest. Dar also has the longest combined reign at 790 days (739 days as recognized by WWE due to tape delay). Mark Coffey has the shortest reign at 14 days (42 days as recognized by WWE due to tape delay, but still the shortest). Coffey is also the oldest champion at 32 years old, while A-Kid is the youngest at 23.

Charlie Dempsey is he current champion, in his second reign. He defeated Tony D'Angelo by 2–1 on the August 13, 2024, episode of ''NXT'' in Orlando, Florida.

Combined reigns

As of , .

Notes

References

External links

Official NXT Heritage Cup title history

{{British wrestling titles

WWE NXT championships
National professional wrestling championships
Championship