Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo has won the vacated NXT Heritage Cup championship—relinquished by Noam Dar—by beating his former friend, stablemate, and boss, Tony D'Angelo on the June 24, 2025 episode of WWE NXT.
How did this go down tonight, what led to this, and what could be on the horizon? Let's break it all down!
How We Got Here:
Noam Dar is the absolute king of this championship. He was the third to hold it (after A-Kid and Tyler Bate), eventually going on to have four reigns so far with the trophy for the record for both reigns and time. For context, the next in line beneath him is Charlie Dempsey at 2 reigns for 209 days, while Dar has a recognized 799 combined days as champion (258 days, 292 days, 189 days and most recently 60 days).
Dar was out of action with an injury since May 2024, returning nearly a year later on April 22, 2025 to beat Lexis King for this fourth reign. The next episode of NXT, his group Meta-Four split up, and Dar wasn't seen for a few weeks. Out of nowhere, Dar was announced last week to be defending this title against Stacks, only for Ava to then put out a tweet that Dar was injured again and would have to vacate the championship.
Tony D'Angelo was named his replacement to face Stacks, brought about by Luca Crusifino.
Match Details:
This match was contested under British Rounds Rules, meaning there was a rest period between decisions and a steel bucket in their corners. This bucket came into play for the finish, wherein Stacks and Crusifino wrestled over possession of it, and Crusifino accidentally hit D'Angelo, giving Stacks an opportunity and an edge to score the 2-1 pinfall to win.
After the match, as Crusifino was apologizing to The Don, D'Angelo laid him out with a punch, saying that he doesn't trust him.
Personal Reactions & What Happens Next?:
Curious by her absence in all this is Adriana Rizzo, as well as how WWE keeps stretching this story out by not just having Crusifino either prove himself to Tony D or to officially ally himself with Stacks. This was an opportunity to do something with that and push the story further, but they decided instead to just hit the same beats that they've been hitting every week, only with Stacks now holding a trophy. Hopefully, next week, this actually advances and something actually happens, instead of repeating the same story.
Tell us what you think about this title change by leaving a comment below! Who do you think will be the next in line to challenge for the title, or possibly even win the belt next? Keep the discussion going!