Trick Williams' First Defence Of TNA World Title Revealed

Trick Williams could end up having an extremely short reign with the TNA World Championship as he will defend the title for the first time on next week's episode of WWE NXT.

Williams defeated Joe Hendry for the TNA World Title at Sunday's NXT Battleground event and Trick appeared on Tuesday's post-Battleground episode of NXT. Trick was quickly interrupted by Mike Santana, however, and the former AEW talent insulted Williams, calling him a pretender. Santana then challenged Williams to a title match on next week's NXT and the contest was made official by TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella, who appeared via video.

Williams' TNA World Title win is just the latest sign of positive relations between WWE and TNA Wrestling. The two companies informally began working together on a full-time basis in May 2024 and the working relationship was formalised with a three-year agreement at the beginning of 2025. The relationship has allowed talents to cross over between TNA and WWE NXT on a regular basis, with Joe Hendry even performing at WrestleMania 41 as Randy Orton's mystery opponent.

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