Report: NXT changing naming convention of women’s title
PW Insider’s Mike Johnson reported Wednesday that WWE has decided to rename the WWE NXT Women’s Championship which will be known as the NXT Championship going forward, removing any gender specificity.
There was no reason given for the change and why it’s being made now. This also adds speculation as to whether the WWE versions of the Raw and SmackDown women’s titles and women’s tag team titles will also undergo the same change.
Johnson referenced Becky Lynch’s appearance on this week’s Backstage where the Raw women’s champion gave her viewpoint as to why WWE should drop referring to the women’s division as such:
The NXT Women’s Championship was created in 2013 when Paige defeated Emma in the finals of a tournament to decide the first champion. Rhea Ripley became NXT’s tenth and current champion when she defeated Shayna Baszler in mid-December.
Lynch is the current Raw champion while Bayley holds the SmackDown version. The women’s tag team titles, created in 2018, are currently held by Asuka and Kairi Sane.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.