Results
- Myles Borne def. Saquon Shugars (NXT North American Championship) (11:05)
- Sean Legacy & EK Prosper def. Stacks & Uriah Connors (9:14)
- Lizzy Rain def. Nikkita Lyons (4:19)
- Kelani Jordan def. Wren Sinclair (10:56)
- Shiloh Hill def. Ricky Saints (12:05)
DarkState gets in the way of DarkState once again
This week’s episode of NXT, live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, opened with a recap of the two-week “Revenge” special that took place earlier this month. The special included a series of write-offs for main roster call-ups: We said goodbye to ex-champs Sol Ruca, Ethan Page, and Jacy Jayne.
We then saw a clip from backstage, where NXT General Manager Robert Stone, aware that numerous big names have left the brand recently, asked Shawn Michaels and Matt Bloom for help, possibly calling up some names from LFG or EVOLVE. Michaels suggested that Stone could recruit a few more names, or “throw a stick of dynamite in the fricken’ locker room and see who the hell runs out.”
A title match kicked things off in the ring this week, as DarkState’s Saquon Shugars took on NXT North American Champion Myles Borne. Last week, Shugars accidentally caused teammate Dion Lennox to lose a match against Borne. To make things worse, when Shugars tried to get another title opportunity for the faction, GM Stone decided he’d give the shot to Shugars instead of Lennox. There’s been tension between those two for weeks, was it finally going to boil over here?
Some quick trivia: This was the first-ever televised match for Shugars on proper NXT TV (he worked a match on NXT Level Up in 2024). The underdog in this one, Shugars, was on a roll early on, standing over a hurt Borne as the show went into its first break. The broadcast played up that a move Borne took onto an exposed part of a turnbuckle caused him to take a significant injury.
Bourne countered a top-rope belly-to-back suplex from Shugars mid-air, kicking off a comeback run he put together. These two had an entertaining sequence of pin attempts, some fun grappling between these two. Shugars climbed to the top rope but was dropkicked back down to the mat by Bourne.
A series of moves ended with a suplex from Bourne he bridged into a pin attempt, but it only got him a two. This was some enjoyable wrestling, but we knew how it was going to end, with DarkState costing Shugars the match. That happened at the 10-minute mark with a sequence at ringside.
With Borne outside of the ring, Lennox tried to do a sneak attack on him with a steel chair (Cutler James and Osiris Griffin were distracting the referee). Shugars stopped Lennox from doing the chair attack, saying “What are you doing?”
Borne capitalized on this back-and-forth between the two DarkState members, shoving Shugars into Lennox, then giving his opponent a back body drop to the floor. Back in the ring, Borne gave Shugars the Borne Again for the pinfall win in 11 minutes. As expected, problems within DarkState was the story here. Very predictable finish, but these two were putting on a fun one before then.
Two new names were debuted after the match: EVOLVE talent Tristan Angels appeared in the crowd and cut a promo on Borne, putting NXT on notice. This promo distracted Borne, who was attacked from behind by LFG competitor Kam Hendrix.
A backstage back and forth between Kelani Jordan and Wren Sinclair set up a match for later tonight.
Former NJPW wrestler EVIL, ex-U.K. indie talent Will Kroos make NXT debuts
The next segment saw NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo come to the ring for a promo. Heading into this episode we didn’t know what was next for him. His next angle was teased last week, when he was given a mysterious box with a message declaring “War.”
D’Angelo was quick to put his focus on the box. While there are people from all around WWE going after him, he could only think about whoever sent that object his way. The lights suddenly went out as D’Angelo was speaking and a theme we’ve never heard before started to play.
Who came out from the stage? Long-time NJPW talent EVIL! He wasn’t referred to by name here and there wasn’t any name on the titantron, so it’s unclear whether he’s going by a new name or still using his NJPW stage name.
EVIL handed D’Angelo another object with writing on it before leaving the ring. With EVIL out of the ring, suddenly Tavion Heights came from the crowd and attacked the champ! Then, after Heights left, former PROGRESS talent Will Kroos made his debut, attacking D’Angelo as well! The huge Kroos came off the top rope with a gigantic moonsault. Like EVIL, he wasn’t referred to by name either. Old and new names are all after D’Angelo.
It was long rumored that EVIL was going to join the WWE roster, and it seemed increasingly likely per reports that he was going to debut tonight. So, him showing up here was a surprise. However, I was shocked to see Kroos, who has impressed on the independents and had a big showing on NOAH’s January 1 card earlier this year. That’s an awesome pickup for NXT’s developmental system. It felt like Heights got sort of overshadowed here compared to the two fresher faces.
We saw a video package of Tatum Paxley and Shiloh Hill chatting next to a gravestone they made for Tatum Paxley, this being the symbolic way of writing her off NXT TV as she joins Smackdown, I guess. Paxley and Hill have been an awesome on-screen combo.
Sean Legacy returns, picks up tag win
Tag action was up next, with Birthright’s Stacks and Uriah Connors taking on Dorian Van Dux and EK Prosper…. At least that’s what we expected. Lexis King showed us footage of the group attacking Van Dux backstage, leaving Prosper without a partner for his tag match tonight. I wonder if Van Dux was being written off here due to an injury of some sort, or this was just done for storyline reasons?
A fired-up Prosper hit the ring to fight with Birthright. He was outnumbered, but received assistance from the returning Sean Legacy, who has been away for a few weeks due to injury. After a quick dust-up, it was official: Legacy & Prosper would take on Connors and Stacks in a tag match.
Birthright were in the lead before a break after scoring a pair of dives to the outside. It looked like Stacks had a rough landing on his. Legacy had a scary dive during commercials as well, nearly flying over Connors and onto the commentary desk.
Prosper got a hot tag late in the match and earned a near fall with a Michinoku Driver, but had a pin attempt interrupted by a superkick from Connors. Birthright put together a double-team combo on Prosper ending with a top-rope Swanton Bomb from Connors, but a follow-up pin attempt was stopped by Legacy.
Prosper gave Stacks a huge top-rope moonsault, then Legacy got back into the match and hit his Shambles finisher for the pinfall win in nine minutes. Welcome back, Legacy.
The rest of Birthright attacked Prosper and Legacy after the match. In for the save was EVOLVE’s Tate Wilder, who joined the long list of NXT newcomers tonight by clearing the ring.
Former EVOLVE Women’s Champion Kali Armstrong got in the face of Jaida Parker backstage to prove a point. The segment ended with them getting pulled apart.
The broadcast mentioned the news from earlier today, when they confirmed that NXT Premium Live Events (PLEs) will air on CW going forward.
Lola Vice calls on some help from AAA to take out The Culling
NXT Women’s Champion Lola Vice hit the ring for a promo in the next segment. Bothered by how Izzi Dame attacked her last week, the champ called out The Culling’s member for a fight. “No excuses, just a straight-up fight,” she said.
Vice initially didn’t get Dame, but instead a video package from Dame ally Shawn Spears on the titantron. Spears warned that The Culling is always one step ahead, and that as champ she needs to be, too. Vice turned around and saw Dame alongside Niko Vance in the ring.
“Oh, it looks like you got me again… Or did you?” Vice said. Vice’s AAA mixed tag partner, Mr. Iguana, appeared from under the ring and caused the heels to retreat after a quick fight.
Backstage, Dion Lennox and Saquon Shugars were seen arguing over the result of the title match from earlier tonight. Fed up with how the two were bickering, Osiris Griffin and Cutler James cut them off.
“You two need to get your head out your asses,” Griffin said.
James and Griffin said that, in order to help get the group’s momentum back, they’re going to go after the tag titles. They stormed off as the segment came to a close.
‘Heavy metal’ Lizzy Rain wins NXT debut
The next segment saw Lizzy Rain (formerly Rayne Leverkusen), made her NXT debut in the next segment. Rain, who is bringing a heavy metal gimmick to NXT, caught some attention in music publications last week due to her relation to Iron Maiden’s Clive Burr.
Rain had an energetic entrance before her debut match against Nikkita Lyons started. Lyons went on a bit of a run early to help build to Rain’s eventual comeback. Rain did chops in the corner in sync with the crowd chanting “Liz-Zy Rain!”
A splash out of the corner was dodged by Rain, who dropped Lyons with an uppercut. She then scored her “Thunderstruck” head kick finisher for the win in four minutes. This wasn’t the best match, but Rain is a fun character and wrestler and should be a name to watch in the coming months.
Backstage, Myles Borne was confused by Tavion Heights blindside attacking Tony D’Angelo: “That’s not you.” Heights strongly disagreed with Borne’s assessment, saying he was trying to create an opportunity for himself, and thought Borne was trying to take the spotlight away from him. Keanu Carver approached Borne after and said that he’s after his title.
In a separate backstage segment, Jasper Troy called out Jackson Drake for a singles match next week.
Knee injury costs Wren Sinclair win against Kelani Jordan
A matchup that was booked earlier in the night following a backstage confrontation between Kelani Jordan and Wren Sinclair was next.
Sinclair came off the apron and to the floor with a dropkick just before the show went to a break. A gimmicked knee injury Sinclair sustained from the high-risk dropkick would become the theme for the rest of the match, as she tried to fight through the pain the moment caused her.
Trying to overcome the injury, Sinclair was gaining some steam with a series of clotheslines. She got a two-count from a double-underhook suplex. Jordan took out Sinclair’s hurt knee with a kick then scored a springboard cutter.
Jordan came off the top with a five-star frogsplash, but Sinclair put up her knees to counter the move. Sinclair tried for the Final Wrench submission, but the way it bent her injured knee in the process forced her to let the move go. Jordan capitalized on this, scoring an Angle Slam then a split-legged moonsault for the pinfall win in just under 11 minutes. I thought this was a fun match focused on Sinclair selling a body part. I’m big on these two and would like to see them in a more meaningful spot than this soon.
In what was either the most over-produced video package ever or one that was full of AI-generated content (I’m going to bet the latter), Zaria said that she’s going to “squash everything in my way” now that she is done with Sol Ruca.
Here’s what NXT announced for next week’s show:
- Mr. Iguana & Lola Vice vs. Izzi Dame & Niko Vance
- Kali Armstrong vs. Jaida Parker
- Jasper Troy vs. Jackson Drake
Smackdown-bound Ricky Saints loses to Shiloh Hill
The main event of the night saw Shiloh Hill go one-on-one against Ricky Saints. This rivalry started after Hill dragged Saints away from a title match between Ethan Page and Tony D’Angelo two weeks ago. Saints didn’t like how Hill got involved in that match, and responded by attacking him on last week’s show. To settle things, these two were matched up tonight. This was the last send-off match for the latest wave of main roster call-ups, as Saints is joining the Smackdown brand soon.
Hill climbed under the ring early in the match, disappearing briefly. Saints pulled on a pair of boots sticking out from under the ring, thinking it was Hill. Instead, he pulled out a decoy doll that Hill planted under the ring. This allowed Hill to emerge from another part of the ring and blindside attack Saints.
Saints got a near fall at the eight-minute mark after catching Hill with a spear. A back and forth striking exchange between these two ended with Hill dropping Saints with a huge forearm. Hill scored his standing senton, but it wasn’t enough for the win.
Hill climbed to the top rope, but was knocked off-balance after Saints pushed the referee into the ropes. Saints joined Hill at the top and connected with a superplex, but it still wasn’t enough to end the match.
Saints tried to walk the top rope for a Last Ride, but was knocked off by Hill. The match went to ringside, where Saints ran Hill into the steel steps then scored his Roshambo to the floor.
Saints grabbed a steel chair and brought it into the ring. The referee tried to take the chair from Saints, and this distraction allowed Hill to wobble Saints with a right hand, then trip him into the chair. Hill connected with his Whisper To The Beast neckbreaker for the pinfall win in 12 minutes. This was mainly an enjoyable match, but, wow, that steel chair finish was lazy and made Saints look dumb. Not a fan.
The show ended with NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo approaching Shawn Michaels and the rest of NXT management. He said that he feels the sharks circling him and loves it.
“You’re the NXT Champion, now it’s time for you to prove it,” Michaels said in response.
“Let’s f****** go!” D’Angelo said.
Final thoughts
This was a newsworthy NXT, with countless names debuting. Some on NXT for the first time, some on WWE for the first time! While there were some big angles, this wasn’t a show that I would reccommend for its matches. Not much about the in-ring action stuck out this week, although I did enjoy that match between Wren Sinclair and Kelani Jordan.
