Vacant WWE NXT Championship Plans

On the January 6 New Year’s Evil special of WWE NXT, Oba Femi defeated Leon Slater to retain the NXT Championship.

Post match, Femi vacated the NXT Championship by leaving the title belt in the middle of the ring.

After Oba relinquished the gold, NXT GM Ava stated that she will be making a decision about the title on the January 13 episode and should see a way to crown a new champion announced.

Here are six potential vacant WWE NXT Championship plans.

6. Tournament To Determine New Champion

The simplest way for WWE NXT to crown a new men’s champion should be a tournament involving talent on the roster and beyond.

With no one having a valid claim to the gold, the title should be held up and a tournament begin to crown the new titleholder.

While there is plenty of talent on the roster, this tournament should be open to stars from TNA Wrestling, Lucha Libre AAA and the WWE main roster.

From the likes of Ricky Saints and Ethan Page on the NXT roster to TNA’s Leon Slater and AAA’s El Hijo del Vikingo, there should be a mixture of names involved in this one to make things even more interesting.

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5. Former Champions Vie For The Gold

A tournament feels like the easiest way to crown a new champion, but there could be a match announced to determine who will hold the gold next.

Looking at the current NXT roster, there are a number of male stars who have held gold in the past who could be placed in a multi-man match to battle for the gold.

Ricky Saints last held the NXT Championship before losing the title to Oba Femi at Deadline 2025, while Ethan Page is not only a former NXT Champion, but he is the current North American Champion.

Meanwhile, there are the likes of former TNA World Champion Joe Hendry and former NXT North American Champion Tony D’Angelo who could also be included to crown a new NXT Champion.

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4. A Mix Of Established & New Stars Battle For The Title

While some of the names that have been mentioned are established stars, there could be some newer talent who could battle for the championship as well.

At the end of the New Year’s Evil special, NXT GM Ava could be seen talking to a group of stars from WWE Evolve and LFG that could be called up to the brand.

Having a mix of established and new talent battling for the gold will make the NXT Championship feel desired by the entire roster.

Including such stars as Jackson Drake, Sean Legacy and Kam Hendrix, this feels like a way to highlight some newer names while elevating the top prize on the NXT brand all at once.

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3. Ava Hands Ricky Saints The Title Back

Back in 2002, Eric Bischoff brought back the World Heavyweight Championship to Monday Night Raw to counteract Stephanie McMahon taking the WWE Title to SmackDown.

To get heat for the brand’s top heel at the time, Bischoff handed the newly christened title to Triple H.

WWE NXT could follow this pattern and get some heat for not only their current authority figure, but also the new top heel on the brand.

Ava handing the NXT Championship back to former champion Ricky Saints would be an interesting direction to go with both characters, creating a new powerful duo at the top for some babyfaces to be built up in the weeks and months to come.

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2. Iron Survivor Challenge

The WWE NXT Deadline premium live event is most known for the Iron Survivor Challenge.

The stipulation has become a hallmark of the show and the NXT brand over the past few years, pitting five stars against one another in a battle of will and endurance across 25 minutes.

Going against the grain and wanting to see who the best really is now that Oba Femi has been called up, Ava could reintroduce the Iron Survivor to crown a new NXT Champion.

Choosing five stars from the roster to do battle in the Iron Survivor could be a great way to deliver an exciting match, one that proves who is the most deserving of taking the mantle left behind by Femi in a major way.

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1. Ladder Match To Crown A New Champion

One thing that WWE NXT loves to do is run a ladder match to crown a champion after the title has been vacated.

Whether it be crowning the first ever NXT North American Champion or the six-way match to crown a new Women’s North American Champion, the ladder has been used on multiple occasions to have a new titleholder official.

Looking at the NXT roster, Ava could find six competitors to do battle in a Ladder Match at the upcoming NXT Vengeance Day PLE.

Over the next few weeks, NXT could run some qualifying matches before the Ladder Match determines who will lead the brand moving forward.

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