The NXT Champion has a new title-holder as seven Superstars battled it out on tonight's episode of WWE NXT (February 3, 2026) in a ladder match to crown the new champion. Standing tall with the belt as the new top dog in the men's division is Joe Hendry, capturing the title to win his first WWE championship seven months after losing the TNA World Championship.
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:
While there was a hiccup for a bit with Oba Femi dropping the NXT Championship temporarily to Ricky Saints before winning it back at NXT Deadline in December, The Ruler of NXT vacated the title on January 6th after successfully defending it against TNA Wrestling's Leon Slater. This was ahead of him moving up to the main roster, which he's still in transition to do, not having been assigned quite yet to a brand between Raw and SmackDown, though he did have an impressive Royal Rumble performance and squashed The War Raiders on Monday night.
To fill the void, NXT General Manager Ava (who is no longer in charge after leaving WWE for real) set up a six-man ladder match with some qualifiers, giving Ricky Saints a bye into it. Shiloh Hill defeated Josh Briggs, Sean Legacy defeated Eli Knight, Dion Lennox beat Myles Borne, and Keanu Carver defeated Andre Chase to earn their spots. Jackson Drake was given a default position after his opponent, Joe Hendry, was attacked (seemingly by Drake's faction The Vanity Project), but Hendry was also given a spot once medically cleared.
Match Details:
It was a hotly contested match that saw many Superstars have their time to shine. Keanu Carver in particular was made to look strong, with everyone ganging up on him to try to incapacitate him for a while by stacking ladders on top of him. Shiloh Hill showed off some ingenuity and Sean Legacy had a big pop for a 450 splash he did to Jackson Drake while the EVOLVE champion was laying on a propped-up ladder.
The finishing sequence of events was a simple case of ego getting in the way of success as Ricky Saints was alone in the ring and ready to win the title, but decided to take some time to pose. That was enough of a delay for Hendry to climb up the ladder on the opposite side and knock him down by hitting him with the belt.
Personal Reactions & What Happens Next?:
Hendry is a great choice to be the next champion. He's one of the most popular guys on the brand (if not the most popular, especially as he's more over than a lot of the main roster) and he's been on the road to success for quite some time.
There are a lot of heels who could be the next in line, with some of them being in this match. Saints, Carver, Drake, and of course some other players like the faction of Lexis King, Stacks, and company could all be in the running. I don't think that will happen any time particularly soon, but for now, every time someone says the name of the NXT champion, he's likely to appear, so who knows who challenges him first?
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!