Professional wrestling history has been made on May 25, 2025 as the TNA World Championship has changed hands on a WWE NXT show, with Trick Williams defeating Joe Hendry to win the title at WWE Battleground 2025 from the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida.
This is Trick's third world title following his two NXT Championship runs, and his first championship of any kind for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
How We Got Here:
Ever since losing the NXT Championship to Oba Femi at WWE New Year's Evil on January 6, 2025, Trick Williams has been progressively losing his temper and becoming more and more desperate to get back on top of the division. Numerous attempts to earn a rematch to regain his title have failed him, and he maintained that he should get a one-on-one after losing two Triple Threats.
On the April 22 NXT, Joe Hendry interrupted another of Trick's promos about that to say that he should get a title match instead. This infuriated Trick, and they've been at odds with each other ever since, with Williams attacking Hendry at TNA Rebellion, then Hendry costing Williams a No. 1 contender's battle royal for a title opportunity. Two days ago, Hendry and Elijah defeated Williams and Frankie Kazarian in the tag team main event of TNA Under Siege.
Match Details:
The biggest thing to call attention to in this match was how it finished, wherein the TNA World Championship belt was brought into play.
After crashing through the commentary table with a Book End, Trick grabbed the belt and was going to use it, which forced the referee to insert himself. Among the confusion, Hendry ended up being slammed head-first into the belt, which the commentary team wrote off as something the referee wouldn't disqualify Williams for. This gave Trick the advantage to hit his Trick Shot and get the win.
Personal Reactions & What Happens Next?:
The big angle here is the title changing hands to begin with. Already, that's history, and pretty cool to see. This also gives Trick a third world title and something to keep himself busy while not having to overtake Oba Femi's title reign.
My guess is this is temporary, though, and the idea is for Hendry to win the title back at an upcoming TNA pay-per-view. Against All Odds is June 6th, but that's just a monthly special. The bigger target would be TNA Slammiversary on July 20th at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. Look out for that to be the main event and for Hendry to win the title back.
What do you think about Trick Williams becoming champion? Who should be his first feud? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!