TNA X Division Championship

The TNA X Division Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. It debuted on June 19, 2002, at the taping of TNA's second then-weekly pay-per-view event. The current champion is Leon Slater, who is in his first reign.
The championship is contested in TNA's X Division, which emphasizes fast-paced, acrobatic wrestling, traditionally featuring cruiserweight wrestlers. However, heavyweights including Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, and Abyss have also won the championship at various times in the division's history. There have been 111 reigns among 55 wrestlers.
Since 2012, the X-Division Championship has also allowed the current champion to vacate the title in exchange for a future match for the TNA World Championship, which is promoted as "Option C." This has occurred seven times in the championship's history, with three matches resulting in wins.

History

X Division

The TNA X Division was established on June 19, 2002 at Total Nonstop Action's first weekly PPV event with a Six Man Tag Team match resulting in Jimmy Yang, Jorge Estrada, and Sonny Siaki—collectively known as The Flying Elvises—defeating A.J. Styles, Jerry Lynn, and Low Ki. Later that day at the taping of the next weekly PPV event, TNA introduced the X Division Championship—then known as the X Championship—to showcase the division more prominently. The division is described as wrestling reinvented, as it takes traditional wrestling and mixes it with the fast-paced, high–risk style of wrestling incorporated in cruiserweight divisions and lucha libre. The division was until 2011 promoted under the motto "It is not about weight limits, it is about no limits" by commentator Mike Tenay. On the August 11, 2011, edition of TNA's primary television program, Impact Wrestling, TNA authority figure Eric Bischoff announced that from that point onwards the X Division would have a weight limit of. Following Hulk Hogan becoming the new on-screen General Manager in March 2012, the weight limit was ignored on June 10, 2012, at Slammiversary when the Samoa Joe was allowed to challenge for the belt. In October 2012, the weight limit was officially repealed when Rob Van Dam challenged for, and eventually won, the title at Bound for Glory. In March 2013, the X Division was given a new set of rules, which meant all matches were wrestled in Triple Threat format, and a new weight limit of 230 lbs. This proved to be extremely unpopular with fans, and the rules and weight limit were repealed once again in August of that year.

Specialty matches

The Total Nonstop Action X Division has multiple styles of match types used to showcase the talent within the division and to defend the TNA X Division Championship in more marketable matches. Three of the matches used in TNA are the Ultimate X match, The Steel Asylum, and the Xscape match.

The Ultimate X match was introduced in 2003. It involves multiple competitors racing to retrieve the X Division Championship or a giant red letter "X", which is suspended above the ring by two cables. The cables are attached to posts that stand behind the turnbuckles of the ring. These cables intertwine to form an "X" over the center of the ring. This match has become successful in TNA; it was featured in the 2008 DVD "TNA: Ultimate Matches", released by TNA Home Video.
The Steel Asylum made its debut in May 2008 at TNA's Sacrifice PPV event, under the name "The TerrorDome". It was used once again in October 2008 at their Bound for Glory IV PPV event, under the new and current moniker "The Steel Asylum". As of , this match has only been used to determine the number one contender to the TNA X Division Championship. The layout of the match involves the ring being surrounded by a giant red steel barred cage with a domed ceiling. The only way to achieve victory is to escape the cage through a hole in the center of the ceiling.
The Xscape match is the third specialty match primarily used in TNA. It is held annually at TNA's Lockdown PPV event in April—an all–steel cage format PPV event. The first two Xscape matches were held to determine the number one contender to the TNA X Division Championship, while, since 2007, it has been contested for the X Division Championship. The contest involves four to six participants. To win this match, two or more participants—depending on how many are involved in the encounter—must be eliminated by pinfall or submission leaving only two participants. These two men then race to see who escapes the cage first to claim victory.
Creation

The championship was created and debuted before the main event at the taping of TNA's second weekly PPV event on June 19, 2002; the event aired on June 26, 2002. Later, A.J. Styles defeated Low Ki, Jerry Lynn, and Psicosis in a Four Way Double Elimination match to be crowned the inaugural champion; this match was announced as being for the NWA X Championship on the onscreen graphic while the ring announcer stated it was for the "NWA–TNA X Championship". Afterwards, the title was renamed the NWA–TNA X Division Championship and then shortened to just the TNA X Division Championship. It is the oldest currently active title in TNA.

Option C

Option C is a concept in which the current X Division Champion may voluntarily vacate the championship in exchange for a World Heavyweight Championship match. It began in June 2012 when then-champion Austin Aries said that he was not satisfied with being just the X Division Champion, which led to then-General Manager Hulk Hogan offering him a match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but only if he first vacated the X Division Championship. Aries agreed to Hogan's terms, on the condition that future X Division Champions be given the same opportunity.

Cash-in matches

No.	Recipient	Date	Location	Event	Results
	Austin Aries	July 8, 2012	Orlando, FL	Destination X	Aries defeated Bobby Roode for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.
	Chris Sabin	July 18, 2013	Louisville, KY	Destination X	Sabin defeated Bully Ray for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.
	Austin Aries	June 26, 2014 July 31, 2014	New York, NY	Destination X	Lashley defeated Aries to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.
	Rockstar Spud	May 17, 2015 June 10, 2015	Orlando, FL	Destination X	Kurt Angle defeated Spud to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.
	Brian Cage	January 6, 2019	Nashville, TN	Homecoming	Johnny Impact defeated Cage to retain the Impact World Championship.
	Josh Alexander	October 23, 2021	Sunrise Manor, NV	Bound for Glory	Alexander defeated Christian Cage for the Impact World Championship.
	Frankie Kazarian	November 18, 2022	Louisville, KY	Over Drive	Josh Alexander defeated Kazarian to retain the Impact World Championship.

Championship Tournaments

TNA X Division Championship Tournament (2009)

The tournament was the result of a match for the TNA X Division Championship at Final Resolution between Eric Young and Sheik Abdul Bashir ending in a controversial fashion, with Young winning the championship thanks to the referee's help. Management Director Jim Cornette stripped Young of the belt and announced the tournament to crown the new champion. The tournament final took place at Genesis.

TNA X Division Championship Tournament (2012)

On the June 28, 2012, episode of Impact Wrestling, TNA announced a tournament for the TNA X Division Championship, which would take place at Destination X, where Austin Aries would vacate the title for a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. The tournament was preceded by four qualifying matches featuring wrestlers from the independent circuit. TNA contracted wrestlers Douglas Williams, Kid Kash and Zema Ion were given automatic spots in the first round of the tournament. The eighth and final spot in the tournament would be filled by the winner of a four-way between the losers of the qualifying matches. At Destination X the eight wrestlers will face each other in four singles matches, with the winners advancing to an Ultimate X match for the X Division Championship.

TNA X Division Championship Tournament (2013)

On the Destination X edition of Impact! TNA started a tournament to determine a new TNA X Division Champion, since the title was vacated after Chris Sabin traded it in for a shot at the World Championship. The tournament consisted of three single semifinal matches, taking place on the July 18 edition of Impact!, with the finals, a three-way match, taking place on July 25, 2013.

TNA X Division Championship Tournament (2014)

On the Destination X edition of Impact! TNA started a tournament to determine a new TNA X Division Champion, since the title was vacated after Austin Aries traded it in for a shot at the World Championship. The tournament consisted of three three–way semifinal matches, taking place on the July 31 edition of Impact!, with the finals, another three-way match, taking place on August 7, 2014.

TNA X Division Championship Tournament (2015)

On the Destination X 2015 edition of Impact! TNA started a tournament to determine a new TNA X Division Champion, since the title was vacated after Rockstar Spud traded it in for a shot at the World Championship. The tournament consisted of three single semifinal matches, taking place on the June 10th edition of Impact!, with the finals, a three-way match, taking place on June 27, 2015.