WWE Women's Speed Championship

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WWE Women's Speed Championship
WWE Women's Speed Championship Belt.png
The WWE Women's Speed Championship belt with default side plates
Details
Promotion WWE
Brand NXT
Date establishedAugust 9, 2024
Current champion Sol Ruca
Date wonApril 11, 2025
(aired April 16, 2025)
Statistics
First champion Candice LeRae
Longest reign Candice LeRae
(189 days) [a]
Oldest champion Candice LeRae
(39 years, 5 days)
Youngest champion Sol Ruca
(25 years, 228 days)
Heaviest champion Sol Ruca
(139 lb (63 kg))
Lightest champion Candice LeRae
(110 lb (50 kg))

The WWE Women's Speed Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is a specialized championship for NXT, the promotion's developmental brand, in which matches have a five-minute time limit. The current champion is Sol Ruca, who defeated the inaugural and previous champion Candice LeRae during the Speed tapings on April 11, 2025 (aired April 16).

Contents

The title was unveiled on August 9, 2024, to be exclusively defended on Speed , which streamed exclusively on the social media platform X. It was originally regarded as an internet championship and was open to wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. The inaugural champion was Candice LeRae, who was a member of the SmackDown roster at the time of her reign. On August 24, 2025, following the cancellation of Speed, the title was officially moved to the NXT brand but still open to challengers from Raw and SmackDown, as well as WWE's partner promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Mexican subsidiary Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide.

History

Inaugural champion Candice LeRae SHIMMER Volumes 69 & 70 - Candice LeRae 03 (cropped).jpg
Inaugural champion Candice LeRae

On April 3, 2024, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE launched Speed , a weekly video series that streamed exclusively on the social media platform X. The program featured matches between wrestlers from WWE's Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brands and the matches had a three-minute time limit for regular episodes. Speed originally only featured matches with male wrestlers, with special episodes for the WWE Speed Championship having a five-minute time limit. The lighting and colors on the time display will change every minute: Green. Golden Orange and Red for preliminaries. [1] [2]

On May 1, 2024, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque confirmed that the program would also eventually feature women's matches. [3] This led to an official announcement on August 9, 2024, where it was revealed that a tournament for the inaugural WWE Women's Speed Championship would begin on September 4, 2024. [4] In the tournament final that occurred during the Speed tapings on October 4, 2024, SmackDown's Candice LeRae defeated Raw's Iyo Sky to become the inaugural champion. Her reign is recognized as having begun on October 9, 2024, when the match aired on tape delay. [5] [6] .

Following the July 9, 2025, episode, the future of Speed came into question as the series stopped uploading new episodes without explanation. Various news outlets began reporting that the program had been quietly cancelled, but neither WWE or X made any statements on the show's status. [7] Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer further clarified that WWE had not taped any episodes after July 9 and his WWE contacts had no knowledge on the program's future. [8] Around the same time, reigning Women's Speed Champion Sol Ruca began appearing on NXT with the title. In an interview on August 19, Ruca said that the Speed Championships previously only appeared on Speed as it was "a separate universe being on X". She was then given permission by WWE to carry the title on NXT programming. [9] A few days later at Heatwave, NXT general manager Ava announced that the men's and women's Speed Championships would be defended on the NXT brand going forward, with qualifying tournaments open to wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown, as well as wrestlers from WWE's partner promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and Mexican subsidiary Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), starting from the September 2 episode of NXT. [10]

Inaugural tournament

The participants for the inaugural WWE Women's Speed Championship Tournament were revealed on August 23, 2024. [11]

Quarterfinals
Speed
(aired September 4–25)
Semifinals
Speed
(aired October 2–5)
Final
Speed
(aired October 9)
      
Lyra Valkyria 2:18
Iyo Sky Pin [12]
Iyo Sky Pin [13]
Naomi 2:38
Blair Davenport 2:36
Naomi Sub [14]
Iyo Sky 3:48
Candice LeRae Pin [6]
Elektra Lopez 2:33
Kairi Sane Pin [15]
Kairi Sane 2:28
Candice LeRae Pin [16]
Candice LeRae Pin [17]
Piper Niven 2:37

Reigns

Current champion Sol Ruca, with the Women's Speed Championship in her left hand and the NXT Women's North American Championship in her right hand. Sol Ruca 042025 (cropped2).jpg
Current champion Sol Ruca, with the Women's Speed Championship in her left hand and the NXT Women's North American Championship in her right hand.

As of September4, 2025, there have been two champions. The inaugural champion was Candice LeRae. The current champion is NXT's Sol Ruca, who defeated LeRae during the Speed tapings on April 11, 2025 (aired April 16). [18] [19]

Key
No.Overall reign number
ReignReign number for the specific champion
DaysNumber of days held
Days recog.Number of days held recognized by the promotion
+Current reign is changing daily
No.ChampionChampionship changeReign statisticsNotesRef.
DateEventLocationReignDaysDays recog.
WWE: Raw, SmackDown, and NXT
1 Candice LeRae October 4, 2024 Speed Nashville, TN 1189188Defeated Iyo Sky in a tournament final to become the inaugural champion.
WWE recognizes LeRae's reign as beginning on October 9, 2024 and ending on April 16, 2025, when the episodes aired on tape delay.
[20] [21]
2 Sol Ruca April 11, 2025 Speed Seattle, WA 1146+141+WWE recognizes Ruca's reign as beginning on April 16, 2025, when the episode aired on tape delay.
On August 24, 2025, at Heatwave, NXT general manager Ava announced that the championship would be defended on the NXT brand going forward.
[18] [19] [10]
WWE: NXT


Notes

  1. 188 days as recognized by WWE.

References

  1. Weprin, Alex (February 8, 2024). "WWE Inks Deal With X to Stream 'Speed' Matches". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on February 9, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  2. Rose, Bryan (March 27, 2024). "WWE Speed premiere date revealed, tournament will crown champion". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  3. Lambert, Jeremy (May 1, 2024). "Triple H Says Women Will Eventually Compete In WWE Speed Matches". Fightful. Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  4. Rose, Bryan (August 9, 2024). "WWE Speed Women's Championship tournament to begin next month". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Archived from the original on August 10, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  5. Thomas, Jeremy (October 4, 2024). "Spoiler On Inaugural WWE Women's Speed Champion". 411Mania . Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  6. 1 2 Tessier, Colin (October 9, 2024). "Candice LeRae Beats IYO SKY, Wins WWE Speed Women's Championship On WWE Speed". Fightful. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  7. Gomez, M. (July 30, 2025). "WWE Speed abruptly halts with no explanation". Cageside Seats. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  8. Ucchino, Rick (August 1, 2025). "New Report Indicates That WWE Speed Has Been Cancelled". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  9. Wannan, Jack (August 19, 2025). "Sol Ruca unsure of WWE Speed's status: I don't have an answer". POST Wrestling . Retrieved August 25, 2025.
  10. 1 2 Lambert, Jeremy (August 24, 2025). "WWE Speed Titles To Be Defended On NXT Moving Forward". Fightful. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
  11. Thomas, Jeremy (August 23, 2024). "Competitors Revealed For WWE Speed Women's Championship Tournament". 411Mania . Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  12. Tessier, Colin (September 4, 2024). "IYO SKY Beats Lyra Valkyria, Advances In WWE Speed Women's Title Tournament On 9/4 WWE Speed". Fightful. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  13. Tessier, Colin (October 2, 2024). "IYO SKY Beats Naomi, Advances To Finals Of WWE Speed Women's Championship Tournament On WWE Speed". Fightful. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  14. Tessier, Colin (September 11, 2024). "Naomi Beats Blair Davenport On WWE Speed, Advances In WWE Speed Women's Championship Tournament". Fightful. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  15. Tessier, Colin (September 18, 2024). "Kairi Sane Beats Elektra Lopez On WWE Speed, Advances In WWE Speed Women's Title Tournament". Fightful. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  16. Defelice, Robert (October 5, 2024). "Candice LeRae Beats Kairi Sane, Will Face IYO Sky In Finals Of WWE Speed Women's Championship Tournament". Fightful. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  17. Tessier, Colin (September 25, 2024). "Candice LeRae Beats Piper Niven, Advances In WWE Speed Women's Championship Tournament". Fightful. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  18. 1 2 Harris, Jeffrey (April 12, 2025). "WWE Speed Spoilers From Last Night's SmackDown". 411Mania. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
  19. 1 2 Brennan, Corey (April 16, 2025). "WWE Speed Women's Championship: Candice LeRae vs Sol Ruca Match Result". Fightful. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  20. Lambert, Jeremy (October 4, 2024). "Spoiler: Inaugural WWE Women's Speed Champion Crowned". Fightful. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  21. Currier, Joseph (October 9, 2024). "Candice LeRae crowned first WWE Speed Women's Champion". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved October 9, 2024.