NXT UK Women's Championship

The NXT UK Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on their NXT UK brand, a sister brand of NXT based in the United Kingdom. Established on 18 June 2018, the inaugural champion was Rhea Ripley. The current champion is Kay Lee Ray, who is in her first reign and is the longest reigning champion.

NXT UK Women's Championship
The NXT UK Women's Championship belt with default side plates.
Details
PromotionWWE
BrandNXT UK
Date established18 June 2018
Current champion(s)Kay Lee Ray
Date won31 August 2019

WWE had originally announced plans for a United Kingdom-based brand in December 2016, however, it was not until mid-2018 when NXT UK was formally established as that brand. The NXT UK Women's Championship was then introduced during the first night of the 2018 United Kingdom Championship Tournament. Although it is one of four singles championships for women in WWE, it is viewed as a step below the promotion's three main brand titles, the WWE Raw Women's Championship, WWE SmackDown Women's Championship, and NXT Women's Championship.

History

In a press conference at The O2 Arena on 15 December 2016, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE announced plans to establish a United Kingdom-based brand on which professional wrestlers from the country would compete. A men's title, the WWE United Kingdom Championship, was established that same day,[1] however, it was not until mid-2018 when NXT UK was formally established as the United Kingdom-based brand, and sister brand of the American-based NXT. On 18 June during the first night of the 2018 United Kingdom Championship Tournament, the NXT UK Women's Championship, along with the NXT UK Tag Team Championship, was announced for the NXT UK brand.[2] Afterwards, a two-day eight-woman single-elimination tournament was scheduled to crown the inaugural champion during the first tapings of NXT UK.[3][4][5] During the 26 August tapings, Rhea Ripley defeated Toni Storm in the tournament final to become the inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion (aired 28 November).[6][7]

In January 2020, WWE briefly began referring to the women's championship as the "NXT UK Championship" to bring it on an equal level as the men's title,[8] though reverted back to calling it the NXT UK Women's Championship soon after; it remained as NXT UK Women's Championship on the official title history during this time.[9]

Inaugural tournament
Quarterfinals
NXT UK
25 August 2018
(aired 14 and 21 November 2018) 		Semifinals
NXT UK
26 August 2018
(aired 21 November 2018) 		Final
NXT UK
26 August 2018
(aired 28 November 2018)
         
Dakota Kai Pin
Nina Samuels
Dakota Kai
Rhea Ripley Pin
Rhea Ripley Pin
Xia Brookside
Rhea Ripley Pin
Toni Storm
Jinny Pin
Millie McKenzie
Jinny
Toni Storm Pin
Toni Storm Pin
Isla Dawn

Championship belt design
The championship's center plate is inspired by the United Kingdom's royal coat of arms

The championship belt was revealed during the 25 August tapings of NXT UK.[5] It is nearly identical to its male counterpart, the NXT United Kingdom Championship. Like the United Kingdom Championship, the center plate 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, while at the center of the plate features a shield with the NXT UK logo; atop the shield are the crown jewels.[5] Above the arms is a banner that reads "United Kingdom", directly below the shield is a banner that reads "Women's", and below that is a banner that reads "Champion". Gold divider bars separate the center plate from the belt's two side plates. In what has become a prominent feature for WWE's championship belts, the two side plates feature removable center sections that can be replaced with the current champion's logo; the default side plates feature the WWE logo on a red globe. Like the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championship belts, the strap is white and smaller than the men's.[10]

Reigns
Current and longest reigning champion Kay Lee Ray; she has held the title for 270+ days

As of 27 May 2020, there have been three reigns. Rhea Ripley was the inaugural champion. Kay Lee Ray is the longest reigning champion at 270+ days, while Rhea Ripley has the shortest reign at 139 days (44 days as recognized by WWE due to tape delay). Ripley is also the youngest champion when she won the title at the age of 21 while Ray is the oldest at 27.

The current champion is Kay Lee Ray. She defeated Toni Storm on 31 August 2019 at TakeOver: Cardiff in Cardiff, Wales.

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
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign DaysDays recog.
1 Rhea Ripley 26 August 2018 NXT UK Birmingham, England 1 13944 Defeated Toni Storm in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion.
WWE recognizes Ripley's reign as beginning on 28 November 2018, when the episode aired on tape delay.		 [6]
2 Toni Storm 12 January 2019 TakeOver: Blackpool Blackpool, England 1 231230 [11]
3 Kay Lee Ray 31 August 2019 TakeOver: Cardiff Cardiff, Wales 1 270+270+ [12]

See also

Notes
  1. WWE officially recognizes Rhea Ripley as having the shortest reign at 44 days due to tape delay.

References
  1. Keller, Wade (December 15, 2016). "WWE announces new UK-based brand, holding tournament to crown UK Champion, Nigel McGuinness on announce team". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  2. Pollock, John (June 18, 2018). "WWE announces NXT UK brand with two additional championships to be introduced". Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  3. "WWE NXT UK Women's Championship tournament results, Rhea Ripley first ever Australian woman to win a WWE title". www.foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  4. "The first NXT UK Women's Champion to be crowned at NXT UK tapings this weekend in Birmingham". WWE. August 21, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  5. Currier, Joseh (August 26, 2018). "WWE UNVEILS NXT UK WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE BELT". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  6. "Major news from Sunday night's NXT UK tapings (CAUTION: SPOILERS)". WWE. August 26, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  7. "The first NXT UK Women's Champion to be crowned at NXT UK tapings this weekend in Birmingham". WWE. August 21, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  8. "Mia Yim clashes with NXT UK Champion Kay Lee Ray during Worlds Collide Pre-Show". WWE. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  9. "NXT UK Women's Championship". WWE. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  10. Lowson, Thomas (August 26, 2018). "WWE News: NXT UK Women's Championship Title Revealed". Sportsskeeda. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  11. Powell, Jason. "1/12 Powell's NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool live review – Rhea Ripley vs. Toni Storm for the NXT UK Women's Championship, Pete Dunne vs. Joe Coffey for the WWE UK Championship, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate vs. Zack Gibson and James Drake to become the first NXT UK Tag Champions". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  12. Powell, Jason. "8/31 Powell's NXT UK Takeover: Cardiff live review – Walter vs. Tyler Bate for the WWE UK Championship, Toni Storm vs. Kay Lee Ray for the NXT UK Women's Championship, Zack Gibson and James Drake vs. Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster vs. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang for the NXT UK Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
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