Unlikely WWE Star Moves One Step Closer To Championship Gold
One WWE star is one step closer to championship gold while a returning talent misses out.
WWE Speed was first announced in February 2024 in partnership with social media platform X to great fanfare. Two months later, the show debuted with a tournament to decide the first-ever Speed Champion.
The show ended up being shelved, leaving the future of the titles up in the air. However, at Heatwave, it was revealed that the Speed titles will be moving to NXT, with a tournament being announced to find the new number one contender for Ruca’s title.
Candice LeRae Moves Closer To WWE Gold
NXT General Manager Ava revealed that SmackDown star Candice LeRae would take on TNA’s Xia Brookside in one semi-final, while AAA’s Faby Apache will clash with NXT’s Laney Reid in the other. The winner of the four-woman tournament will challenge Sol Ruca for the women’s WWE Speed Title at No Mercy.
On the September 2nd edition of NXT, the first of those matches took place as Xia Brookside competed in her first WWE match in three years. Her match with LeRae had a three-minute time limit, as is normal for Speed matches and with just 24 seconds left, LeRae managed to pick up the win after hitting Brookside with a Lionsault.
What a finish! 😮💨@CandiceLeRae moves on the in the Women's Speed Championship Tournament!! pic.twitter.com/9RSIoRF9C8
— WWE (@WWE) September 3, 2025
NXT also saw Hank & Tank join forces with Oba Femi and Ricky Saints to defeat DarkState. That was in spite of Femi and Saints brawling with each other ahead of their clash for the NXT Championship.
Also read: A new update sheds light on AJ Lee’s potential return to WWE.