NXT – 09.22.26

Words about graps: Evolve | Main Event | Smackdown | AAA | Raw

Last week on NXT: Mason Rook became the number one contender for Grayson Waller’s NXT Men’s Championship.

The road to Halloween Havoc continues on, with a brief stop planned in Chicago this weekend for the Worlds Collide show. NXT returns to the CW airwaves from The Performance Center in Orlando, FL for a night of professional wrestling. The announcers who will bring us the action include Vic Joseph and Booker T on match calls and analysis, Mike Rome on ring introductions, and Emily Agard on interviews and news. The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic for 2026 kicks off this evening so let’s watch some wrestling!

THE NXT UNIVERSE is fired up. Don’t chant the name of the company when you go to shows, you hear me? You save your chants for the talent. Cody Raheem Rhodes narrates a piece on the history of tag team wrestling and his father’s legacy in that regard. Cody will be presenting the winning team with the Cup when it has been captured!

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno vs Los Americanos (Rayo and Bravo)

Rayo and Moreno grapple to a standoff, and Bravo tags in. Dar thinks about it, and sends Moreno back in. Moreno drops Bravo with a dropkick and runs into a Bravo atomic drop. Rayo tags in and Bravo sends Moreno into a right hand. Bravo hits a senton on Moreno. Bravo runs into a fired up Moreno’s low kick followed by Dar blasting him in the chest with a second kick. Dar stomps away before trying to work Rayo’s elbow. They start slugging it out and Dar trips Rayo up and gets two. They slug it out some more and Dar slaps on a guillotine. Moreno prevents Bravo briefly, but Bravo powers him up and slams him on the legal pile to break up the submission hold. Dar and Moreno end up on the floor, and Bravo nails them both with a tope. We go to commercials.

Moreno crawls for a tag and Rayo stomps him down to prevent it when the show returns. Moreno fights his way out of the Americano corner and tags in Dar. Dar runs wild and plants Bravo with a release German. Dar slaps on an ankle lock on Bravo, but he rolls through to break it. Dar mounts Bravo and Moreno nails him with a double stomp that gets two. Dar tags in and Moreno holds Bravo. Bravo breaks out and hoists Moreno up before piling Dar on top. Bravo does an airplane spin and drops them both with a Samoan drop. Bravo and Rayo hit stereo flying headbutts and Bravo covers Moreno for two. Rayo tags in and he and Bravo work over Dar before Rayo holds him prone. As Bravo hits his springboard Moreno leaps up and blasts Bravo with a superkick. Dar hooks Rayo’s ankle but he turns Dar inside out for a Bitter End that gets two as Moreno breaks up the cover. Rayo and Bravo clubber away on Dar and Moreno tries to help. Everyone hits big moves and Bravo tries a Tiger Driver that turns into a Dar roll up for two. Dar slaps on a grapevined ankle lock and Bravo rises to drop Dar with a German. Moreno tries a top rope springboard and dives into a big Rayo right hand. Rayo hits a rana and a big splash on Dar for a long two. Moreno tags in and Rayo does some SMALL JOINT MANIPULATION on Moreno and then Dar. Bravo tags in and Dar blasts Rayo with a back elbow. Moreno leaps up and plants Bravo with a top rope Fisherman’s suplex. Dar tags in and he and Moreno combine on the high-low on Bravo, and that ends the match!

This was fun as hell, quite frankly. There was good back and forth, some decent psychology, and for the most part, everyone sold at least long enough to let the thing breathe a bit. I did not expect Dar and Moreno to win here but that’s why I’m not the booker, friends. Terrific start to the show and the tournament. 3.75*

Winners – Dar/Moreno (High-Low on Bravo)

Here’s a look back at Mason Rook winning the big three-way number one contender’s match.

Kali Armstrong makes her entrance as we go to a break.

Here’s Kendal Grey at therapy, and she talks about her physical issues, but the doc presses her about how she’s feeling. Grey feels lost and restless, but she’s dealt with a Lisfranc issue when in college and sitting out then was slightly easier because she could see her injury and understand it’s progress. Grey says this time feels different because she knew what the plan was during her foot injury, but this situation is different because it’s only rest that will cure things. Grey is worried about being the same when she comes back. The doc tasks her to think about who Kendal Grey is if she’s not competing. (This was well done. Kendal is a natural at this stuff.)

Jimmie Allen is in the crowd tonight, and he was the national anthem singer on Night Two of Wrestlemania.

Kali Armstrong vs Skylar Raye

Raye cuts an inset promo about getting her presence felt in THIS DIVISION. Armstrong takes the immediate advantage and drives a shoulder in repeatedly. Armstrong misses a charge and Raye hits some armdrags and a rana. Raye dropkicks Armstrong to the floor and Armstrong briefly checks under the ring for some reason. Armstrong comes back in and drops Raye with a lariat. Armstrong fires off some jabs before dropping Raye with a right cross. Armstrong mashes Raye with a front face slam and then walks into a Raye sunset flip that gets two. Raye gets another roll up for two, then hits a high cross-body for two. Raye blasts Armstrong with a kick and Armstrong responds with a running powerslam that gets two. It’s time to sell some products.

Raye hits a backstabber when the show returns. Raye and Armstrong rise and start slugging it out. Raye trucks Armstrong a couple of times and smashes her with a double sledge. Raye hits a running elbow and drops Armstrong with a satellite DDT. Raye hits a huge frog splash and gets a long two. Armstrong fires up with a Blue Thunder Bomb and blasts Raye with a spinebuster that gets a long two. Armstrong gets caught in a roll up for two but she catches Raye coming off the second rope with a rolling powerslam. Armstrong lines up the Kali Connection but Raye slips it and Armstrong flattens referee Dallas Irvin. Here’s Reina Volcan in to hit Raye and Armstrong with powerslams. Volcan puts Raye in the Torture Rack, and drops her arm-first over Armstrong. A recovered Irvin comes in and counts three for Raye.

Hey, Reina is back! It’s good to see her, and she looked like she was ready to blast some fools, which she very much did. It was a fairly clever bit of agenting to get her in there, and Raye still gets her revenge win over Kali. I don’t have too many issues with this, Raye still feels fairly green but she’s plowing right ahead and gave this one a full go. 2.5*

Winner – Skylar Raye (Pins Armstrong after Reina Volcan interference)

Here’s NXT GM Robert Stone with Shiloh Hill and Saquon Shugars in his office. Stone: “Talking raccoons? That’s CRAZY!” Shugars wants Stone to do something about Tristan Angels and Hill pipes in to say he knows all about Angels. Hill offers up some red mist and Stone fires up about them discussing trying to blind someone with red mist right in front of him. Shugars says he might just see about Angels in the parking lot, and Stone says let’s NOT do that and he’ll work on getting them matches with NARAKU and Angels respectively. Shugars wants to know more about the orange mist experience and the talking raccoons, so he and Hill exit. We go to commercials.

EARLIER TODAY Wren Sinclair was in a merch truck when someone dimed her out. Robert Stone, along with his Security goobers, tossed her out of the parking lot. WRENDAL FOR LIFE, SON.

AAA Reina de Reinas Champion La Catalina and Thea Hail vs NXT Women’s Champion Kelani Jordan and NXT Women’s North American Champion Zaria

Hail charges at the bell and Zaria dumps her off as Jordan tags herself in. There’s some standing switches and Hail ends up trucking Jordan down. There’s some acrobatics and Jordan blasts Hail with a dropkick. Hail trips Jordan up and tags in Catalina. Catalina hits a Hip Attack and Zaria charges over to get dumped. Catalina hits a tope on Zaria and Jordan with Hail holding the ropes for her, and they celebrate as we go to commercials.

Hail ends up on top of Zaria with a kind-of sleeper hold when the show returns. Zaria dumps her off and Jordan grabs a tag. Jordan and Zaria combine to drop Hail before Jordan’s springboard moonsault gets two. Jordan drives in a knee and puts Hail in an abdominal stretch. Hail twists her way out of it and puts the hold on Jordan. Jordan misses a charge and Hail drives in a shoulder. Jordan prevents a tag and hits a wheelbarrow suplex before Zaria spears Hail for two. Jordan tags back in and her and Zaria get dropped by a desperate Hail. Hail kicks Jordan away and Zaria tags in before missing a charge. Catalina tags in and goes up for a missile dropkick on Zaria. Catalina hits a headscissors take down before grabbing a roll up on Zaria for two. Catalina hits Hip Attacks on Zaria and Jordan but turns right into a Zaria headbutt. Zaria F5’s Catalina onto Jordan taking them both out. Zaria hoists Hail up, but she rolls through and grabs some tights as the referee counts three.

In case you missed the memo, it’s “we’re trying again with Thea Hail” season. I like Thea’s goofball energy, and I’m happy to see her getting some time, but she’s got to realize that these chances start running out at some point and really go the extra mile if she wants this as a career. Catalina didn’t have to do much here, and the stuff she did was fine. Zaria and Jordan didn’t mesh well in the end as teammates and so I’m sure they will have beef down the line at some point. 3*

Winners – Hail/Catalina (Hail rolls up Zaria)

Here’s Zilla Fatu and Sean Legacy in the locker room and Legacy mentions that Dorian van Dux suffered a punctured lung last week and is not cleared. Fatu wants to know what they’re going to do, and here’s Dorian van Dux in to say he can go and the hole in his lung is MINISCULE. Legacy insists that van Dux is not doing this, and he needs him to heal up for the Dusty Classic. Fatu wants to know what the deal is, and here’s EK Prosper in to say he’s in. Legacy and van Dux have some final words and Legacy again stresses he needs DvD to get cleared.

Here’s Cruz Montana out through the NXT UNIVERSE as we go to commercials.

Montana has a mic and wants to know what’s good with the NXT UNIVERSE. Montana says he made his intentions clear from day one, but he hasn’t gotten the wins he’s wanted. Montana says his dad told him that they don’t take losses, they learn lessons. Montana says whomever is champ after Waller and Rook go toe to toe, and the lights go out. Here’s Dion Lennox in the crowd to put the badmouth on Montana, and Montana tells him to shut up. Montana says Lennox is real tough with his crew around, and offers to fight Lennox while Osiris Griffin and Cutler James get ready for the Dusty Classic. Lennox puts over Montana’s TNA career but wonders if Montana actually thinks he’s better than Lennox. Lennox says he never had anyone to clean up his mistakes, and couldn’t believe that Montana put over EK Prosper as the future of the brand. Montana thinks it’s funny that Lennox is in his feelings, and mentions the only one that cleaned up Montana’s mistakes was the guy in the mirror. Montana promises he’s paid his dues and has earned everything he’s been blessed with both inside and outside the ring. Montana says despite Lennox’s advantages, Montana would run circles around him in every aspect of pro wrestling (He ain’t wrong, friends.). Montana says Lennox is using pro wrestling as his last resort and Montana didn’t get an insta DM to invite him to a tryout. Montana says he carries his family and his culture on his back while people like Lennox walk in and think everything should be handed to him. Lennox decides to let the world know that Montana’s mother was a drug dealer, and Lennox promises he’s done everything the right way along the road. Lennox doesn’t understand why the crowd loves a drug addict like Montana and says Montana walks around like a hero for finally growing up. Lennox says he’s been somebody his whole life…and that’s enough to get the fists flying. They fight up the aisle and to the back. (I liked this, it went a little long, but good fire from both guys and I’m happy to watch them fight when they eventually do.)

Here’s Mason Rook in Robert Stone’s office, and Stone offers Rook an open mic for the main event segment. Here’s Hank & Tank in to offer up some advice about speaking from the belly. Rook exits and Hank & Tank are fired up about being in the Dusty Classic. Stone wishes them good luck and we go to a break.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: The Creed Brothers (Julius and Brutus Creed) vs Harley Riggins and Jax Presley

Riggins and Presley are regulars in Evolve, and our good friend Phred has coverage of that every week THAT YOU SHOULD BE READING AFTER WATCHING THE SHOW. Sorry for yelling but Phred is awesome and so is Evolve. The Creeds attack prior to the bell and Julius drives Riggins into a ring post as the bell finally sounds. The Creeds hoist Presley up but he slips down and mashes them both with clubbering lariats. Presley plants Brutus with a back body drop and then blasts him with a running lariat. Presley drops Julius when he enters before mashing Brutus with a lariat as they both tumble to the floor. Brutus drops Presley on the ring steps and runs him back in. Brutus clubbers away and Julius grabs a tag. Julius mashes Riggins off the apron before going back to the assault on Presley. Presley lifts a knee and Julius leaps off his back to mash Riggins with a forearm. Riggins gets a tag and runs wild with a double dropkick on both Creeds. Riggins hits a swanton and covers Julius for two. Brutus tries to break up the cover but Riggins sees it coming as Brutus crashes onto Julius. Riggins dumps Brutus and tags in Presley. Presley hoists Julius but Brutus recovers and smashes Riggins off the top turnbuckle to the floor. Julius dumps Presley with a German and Brutus tags in. The straps come down and the Creeds hit their double-sit out powerbomb on Presley to end things.

This was exactly what it should have been. The Evolve guys get a flurry or two, the ex-main roster guys bow up and run through them at the end. No issues with this one other than Presley, who’s just coming back from injury, looked rusty. Good to see him and Big Rig on the NXT brand, though. 2.5*

Winners – The Creed Brothers (double sit-out powerbomb on Presley)

THE NXT SPOTLIGHT PRESENTED BY PROGRESSIVE is about last week’s SHOCKING BETRAYAL by Myles Borne after seemingly patching things up with Tavion Heights. Borne went mega-heel at the end by Pillman-izing Height’s ankle.

Zilla Fatu, Sean Legacy, and EK Prosper vs Birthright (Uriah Connors, Stacks Lorenzo, and Lexis King)

Legacy and Stacks start and Legacy grabs a quick slam and a standing moonsault for two. Connors tags in and Legacy fights him and Stacks off. Prosper gets a blind tag and after a bunch of rope running Prosper plants Connors with a dropkick. Connors fires up with some chops and King tags in. King mashes Prosper around and kicks him in the back. Prosper fires up with a one legged dropkick that gets one. Fatu tags in and drops King with some bodyslams. Fatu crushes Stacks and Connors with lariats. Fatu eats a King dropkick and Stacks tags in. Stacks and King get mashed by Fatu and King gets dumped. Stacks tags in Connors as Fatu dumps Stacks with a belly to belly. Fatu splashes Connors and tags in Prosper. Fatu lofts Prosper into a shotgun dropkick on Connors and Legacy tags in. Fatu whips Legacy into Stacks and Prosper hits a tope suicida on Connors. The babyfaces all hit tope con hilos on the heels and we go to commercials.

Stacks and Prosper are slugging it out when the show returns. Prosper snaps off a stunner and drops Stacks with a leaping rana. King flies in to break up Prosper’s cover at two. Fatu mashes King with a lariat and waffles King with a tope. Stacks and Connors combine on a backbreaker on Prosper that gets two. Connors pounds away before slapping on a sleeper. Prosper fights out of it and Connors drops him with a springboard cutter that gets two. Stacks tags in and Prosper fights out of the heel corner to tag in Fatu. Fatu runs wild and mashes King with a Bubba Bomb. Fatu hits the Yoko standing splash on Stacks before King superkicks Fatu in the head. Fatu no-sells it and King runs to tag in Connors. Fatu drops a charging Connors before yanking King into a Samoan Drop. Fatu nails Connors with a hip attack as Prosper grabs a tag. Arianna Grace jumps on to the apron to distract the ref and Prosper’s tag is disallowed. Legacy tries a 450 and meets Connors knees, and Connors subsequent jackknife cover gets three.

The pace of this one was too much for me. Like, I know these guys like to work at a hyper pace from time to time but it’s jarring after a couple of fairly normal tag matches. Now, the heels using distraction to win is fine with me as a finish and the agenting wasn’t too bad. Fatu looked like he REALLY needed to slow down though, as he was tossing guys around left and right and I’m not sure how safe he was being while doing it. We got there in the end, but they have to chat with Zilla about working more safely if they’re going to go that fast. 3*

Winners – Birthright (Connors rolls up Legacy)

Post-match sees King and Fatu square off and that doesn’t go well for King. There’s more verbals between the teams.

Here’s Emily Agard with Zaria, and Robert Stone has made Zaria and Thea Hail for next week for the title. Here’s Izzi Dame in to scare Zaria off, and she lets Agard know that no good deed goes unpunished. We go to commercials.

We’ll have two more Dusty Classic matches next week, and Myles Borne returns!

Here’s NXT Men’s Champion Grayson Waller out with a microphone. Waller’s hoodie reads “He’s big, he’s bad, I think he ate my dad”. HILARIOUS. Here’s Number One Contender Mason Rook out and Waller denies Rook a mic. Waller says he loves the pressure of the bright lights. Waller said he promised to defend the title against the best and right now, it’s Rook. Waller describes Rook as “hungry” to a HARF from the crowd, but promises that their similarities end with them both leaving their families to come to Orlando. Waller says could go on for 20 minutes and burn Rook to the ground, but instead he puts over Rook’s moves for being something special for a guy his size. Waller says Rook has quit in him, and calls him soft, lazy, complacent, and just happy to be here. Waller promises to drown Rook in the deep waters, and promises that he’ll be begging for air before quitting. Waller hands Rook the mic while mentioning to Rook that he shouldn’t eat the mic as it’s not a drumstick. Rook says he knows what Waller is trying to do and Rook says he’ll give it a go. Rook mentions a “Theory” as to why Waller is back in NXT and says he didn’t fit “The Vision” on the main roster. Rook says he knows Waller can’t play his game and wonders what Waller will do when the bell rings and he realizes he’s in the ring with a guy who lives wrestling and is the best big man in the game. Rook says Waller’s ability to run his mouth will not help him when Rook has his hands around his throat, and his ability on the stick won’t save him this time.

There’s more verbals off-mic, and these two will fight for the title NEXT WEEK. The credits roll and we are out of time.

I was fine with tonight’s show. The main event tag was a blur, but they got where they needed to get to. The Dusty Classic matches had one really solid back and forth outing, and the other had an ex-main roster team going over an Evolve team in fairly strong fashion as you would expect. The women’s tag match was fun and gave us a title match for next week, while Kali and Skylar’s thing was cleverly agented with the return of Reina Volcan. I enjoyed tonight, so I’m happy to hear your thoughts on things below.

Thanks for reading. Have a good Wednesday – it’s EVOLVE night and you should be watching to see who’s possibly joining NXT next!