History
On September 10, 2020, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE announced the relaunch of the United Kingdom-based NXT UK brand, following a production hiatus since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] Along with the relaunch, the promotion announced the NXT UK Heritage Cup tournament to crown the inaugural NXT UK Heritage Cup Champion. The announcement also revealed that the Heritage Cup would be defended just like any other championship, but all matches would be contested under British Rounds Rules.[2][3][4]
Only seven of the eight competitors for the tournament were revealed during the initial announcement: "Flash" Morgan Webster, Noam Dar, Alexander Wolfe, A-Kid, Dave Mastiff, Trent Seven, and Joseph Conners.[2][5] The eighth competitor was determined on the October 1 episode of NXT UK in a triple threat match in which Kenny Williams defeated Ashton Smith and Amir Jordan to win the final spot.[6] The tournament itself also began on October 1 and took place across episodes of NXT UK.[2] The final aired on tape delay on November 26 where A-Kid defeated Seven to become the inaugural champion (the date the episode was taped is unknown).[7]
In August 2022, WWE announced that NXT UK would go on hiatus after the Worlds Collide event on September 4, and the brand would relaunch as NXT Europe at a later time.[8] At Worlds Collide, all other NXT UK championships were retired after they were unified into their respective American-based NXT championship counterparts. The Heritage Cup was the only title from either brand to not be contested at the event.[9] The last match for the title occurred during the July 7, 2022, taping of NXT UK, which aired on tape delay on August 25, where Noam Dar became a two-time Heritage Cup Champion.[10] Following this, the title saw months of inactivity until the April 4, 2023, episode of NXT when Dar, with the Heritage Cup, made his NXT debut and stated he would defend the title whenever he wanted.[11] The title was subsequently transferred to NXT and renamed NXT Heritage Cup, with the first NXT defense of the championship coming at NXT Battleground on May 28, which was also the first time the title was defended in the United States.[12]
After Charlie Dempsey won the Heritage Cup in February 2024, his stable, No Quarter Catch Crew, announced the "Catch Clause", where any member of the stable—Dempsey, Drew Gulak, Damon Kemp, and Myles Borne—could defend the Cup, but only Dempsey was officially recognized as champion.[13] The Catch Clause was invoked for the first and only time on the March 19 episode of NXT, with Gulak defeating Chase University's Riley Osborne by 2–1.[14] On the December 24 episode of NXT (taped December 17), Dempsey lost the Heritage Cup to Lexis King by disqualification, the first instance of the Heritage Cup changing hands by disqualification.[15] However, according to NXT general manager Ava, there was a grey area in British Rounds Rules regarding disqualification of the reigning champion, and announced that Dempsey and King would compete for the Heritage Cup in a sudden death one-fall match at NXT: New Year's Evil on January 7, 2025, the first instance of the Heritage Cup not being contested under British Rounds Rules.[16] King won to solidify his win of the Heritage Cup.[17]
During reigning champion Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo's feud with Tony D'Angelo in mid-2025, the latter stole and tossed the NXT Heritage Cup off a bridge during The Great American Bash on July 12, 2025. Since this incident, Lorenzo has not appeared with the Cup nor has he been referred to as champion on-screen; however, he is still officially recognized as champion on WWE's website.[20]
British Rounds Rules
- Matches consist of six three-minute rounds with 20-second breaks between each round.
- Matches are 2-out-of-3 falls.
- Falls can be won by pinfall, submission, or knockout (countout).
- Once a fall occurs, the round ends.
- The match ends once a wrestler has won two falls.
- In the event of a disqualification or knockout, the match instantly ends without the need for two falls.
- If all six rounds are completed, whoever is ahead on falls wins the match. If tied, the champion retains.[2]
