Trick Williams Becomes First WWE-Contracted Talent To Win TNA World Title (WWE News)

Trick Williams defeated Joe Hendry to become TNA World Champion, making history as the first WWE-contracted talent to hold the Anthem-helmed promotion's top prize.

Williams took Hendry's belt at Sunday's NXT Battleground event. He cheated to take the victory, attempting to hit Joe with the strap until the referee intervened. Hendry rolled Trick up and Williams kicked out, thumbed Joe in the eye, then slammed him onto the belt, which was still in the ring. A Trick Shot followed, then the 1-2-3.

Hendry's reign as TNA World Champion ended at 126 days. The viral sensation defeated Nic Nemeth to win the gold at Genesis 2025 (19 January), mounting six successful defences against the likes of Matt Cardona, Ethan Page, and Frankie Kazarian before losing to Williams.

Trick, meanwhile, has his first taste of gold since his second NXT Championship reign ended on 7 January 2025. Mike Santana will likely be amongst his future opponents, as the former AEW star was shown watching the post-match celebrations during Battleground.

This move represents the biggest step forward in WWE and TNA's working partnership to date. The agreement, formalised in January, has seen numerous TNA and NXT wrestlers bounce back and forth between the two brands. Now, TNA has put its top title on a WWE wrestler for the first time in history.

The situation is somewhat reminiscent of Kenny Omega's reign as IMPACT World Champion while contracted to AEW. Omega held the gold from April to August 2021, eventually dropping it to former TNA mainstay Christian Cage, during a period of collaboration between AEW and IMPACT.