"World Champion of what?” - Noah Lyles reacts to Trick Williams’ title while showing off his gold medals

Noah Lyles has once again made his 'World Champion of what' remark; however, this time, it isn't a part of the controversy and is a light-hearted banter between him and the WWE wrestler, Trick Williams.

Ahead of the WWE NXT vs. TNA showdown on October 7, Lyles was seen with the TNA World Champion, Williams. WWENXT shared a video on Instagram, where the latter was seen showing off his World Champion title until Lyles entered the frame with his bunch of gold medals, making his infamous controversial remark, which he once made in 2023.

"World champion of What?" said Noah Lyles.

However, this time, the statement was intended in a humorous manner, as they immediately hugged each other, and Williams asked the American to show him all the gold medals he was wearing. Lyles flaunted his gold medals from the recently concluded World Championships and the Olympic Games. The post's caption read:

"That's a lot of gold @trickwilliams_wwe and @nojo18 are carrying around ahead of #NXTShowdown!"

Here is the video:

The 2025 World Athletics Championships recently concluded on September 21 in Tokyo, where Lyles won three medals, including two golds in the 200m and 4x100m relay and a bronze medal in the 100m. The American has bagged a total of six world titles in his career so far.

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When Noah Lyles made a controversial 'World Champion of What' remark for the NBA players

In 2023, Noah Lyles landed in a controversy during the World Championships after drawing the ire of many American NBA players and fans with his criticism toward the league for using the term 'world champions' despite competing in a national league. He said: (0:01 onwards)

"You know the thing that hurts me the most is that I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have "world champion" on their head," Lyles said. "World champion of what? The United States? Don't get me wrong. I love the U.S., at times, but that ain't the world. That is not the world," said Noah Lyles.

Calling track athletes 'the world,' he said that they have been competing with every country.

"We are the world. We have almost every country out here fighting, thriving, putting on their flag to show that they are represented. There ain't no flags in the NBA."

Following this controversy, multiple NBA players, including Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, and more, shared their thoughts on the statement made by Noah Lyles. Currently, the American is in his off-season after the World Championships campaign and recently opened up about how he plans to end his professional track journey.

Edited by Tushhita Barua