At the age of just 24, Tiffany Stratton defeated Lyra Valkyria to win an ongoing tournament on NXT and thereby the vacant NXT Women’s Championship. In a strong outing, the self-proclaimed “Tiffy-era” began via a clean pin-fall win.
Stratton landed her signature “Prettiest Moonsault Ever” finisher to secure her maiden championship win in her WWE career. It’s worth noting that the title win came in only just the 26th televised match of her young NXT career.
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s TIFFY TIME!@tiffstrattonwwe is the new #WWENXT Women’s Champion!#NXTBattleground pic.twitter.com/sB2DWlSI55
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) May 29, 2023
On her way to the championship win, Stratton defeated former NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez, and former Toxic Attraction member and former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion Gigi Dolin to uplift her status.
Valkyria, on the flip side, defeated Cora Jade and Kiana James in order to earn her spot in the final match. Both for Valkyria and Stratton, this match marked their first one-on-one opportunity for a championship.
Prior to NXT Battleground 2023, Stratton had previously wrestled in only one championship match at NXT Stand and Deliver in a six-way ladder match. Indi Hartwell won the title that night from Roxanne Perez.
Eventually, Hartwell ruptured her knee during a title defense due to which the NXT Women’s Championship was vacated. Following her main roster call-up, the tournament to crown a new champion was announced to wrap up at Battleground 2023.
Stratton is expected to defend her newly won title at the next NXT premium live event, The Great American Bash in Cedar Park, Texas on July 30. She starts her reign as the 17th overall NXT Women’s Champion, this Tuesday night on NXT.
In more news coming out of NXT Battleground 2023 PLE, Wes Lee retained his NXT North American Championship against Schism’s Joe Gacy and Tyler Bate in a Triple Threat Match to set a new record.
Lee’s win marked the most successful North American Championship defenses by a single champion in NXT history. For the record, Lee has successfully defended the title on ten separate occasions during his ongoing reign.
The Kardiak Kid does it again!@WesLee_WWE retains his title and sets the record for most successful North American Championship defenses!#NXTBattleground pic.twitter.com/WOAtrPG0db
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) May 29, 2023
Lee has been the NXT North American Champion since October 22, 2022 event Halloween Havoc. On that night, he defeated the former champion Champion Carmelo Hayes, Nathan Frazer, Oro Mensah, and Von Wagner in a Five-Way Ladder match.
Prior to Battleground 2023, his last title defense came against Drew Gulak on the May 2 episode of WWE NXT. Before that Lee had successful defenses against Dragon Lee, Ilja Dragunov, JD McDonagh, Charlie Dempsey, Nathan Frazer, Dijak, Tony D’Angelo, and Axiom.