By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida, at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live May 12, 2026, on The CW Network
[Hour One] Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer. Blake Howard and Emily Agard were the backstage interviewers…
The show started with entrances for the opening match…
1. Tatum Paxley and Lizzy Rain vs. Zaria and Nikita Lyons. Rain and Zaria started the match. Zaria dominated the early collar and elbow exchange. Zaria then dominated a Test of Strength. Both women stuck out their tongues and traded headbutts. Rain landed a huracanrana, but Zaria came back with a short-arm clothesline. Tatum tagged in and caught Zaria with a knee to the face. Lyons tagged herself in, which Zaria didn’t like.
Nikkita worked on Tatum with methodical offense. Rain tagged in. The face team dumped the heels to ringside. Rain and Tatum gave their opponents wrecking ball kicks heading into the break.[c]
Back from break, Lyons worked on Tatum with methodical offense to cut the ring in half on her. Lizzy Rain caught the hot tag and sent Nikkita into the corner to hit her with rapid chops. Rain caught Zaria with a cutter. Rain hit Lyons with a running headbutt. Nikkita caught Rain with a right hand. Rain tagged in Tatum, who gave Nikkita a superkick. Lyons reversed Tatum’s finisher with a switch spin kick.
Zaria dropped off the apron when Nikkita went for the tag. Tatum knocked down Lyons. Rain tagged in and hit Lyons with Thunderstruck (Modified Scorpio Rising) for the victory.
Lizzy Rain and Tatum Paxley defeated Nikkita Lyons and Zaria via pinfall in 9:24.
John’s Thoughts: I’m totally fine with the finish, as I sympathized with the Zaria character here. We’ve been waiting months and months for the Sol Ruca and Zaria tag team breakup, so we can get Zaria as a monster heel, only to have her first match after the breakup be a tag team match again? Zaria was totally justified here, in my opinion. Again, can we just start pushing her as a singles monster? Good showing for Lizzy Rain here as she continues to show a captivating and unorthodox character on screen. I’m also really liking Nikkita Lyons as a midcard heel (I also hope for more of her dorky promos as well. The Divine Feline! Nikkita Multi Media!).
Kendal Grey was chatting to an injured Wren Sinclair (you can tell she’s injured because she’s holding crutches). Wren said she hopes she’s not a distraction for Grey due to her being injured. Grey told Wren not to worry. Lola Vice showed up. Vice and Grey bickered a bit over weather Wrestling or MMA was better. Wren told Grey to worry more about Kelani Jordan later…
A Naraku hype package aired to hype his debut. The video included a sound byte of Vic noting that Naraku is a former IWGP World Champion…[c]
Vic Joseph plugged TripleMania…
Vic announced that Grayson Waller, Pentagon, and Bayley will be at NXT live events this weekend…
WWE Player Coach, Lince Dorado, made his entrance. Naraku made his highly produced entrance, which included pictures of Oni…
2. Naraku vs. Lince Dorado. Naraku dominated early on with elbows and a wristlock. Naraku followed up with a shoulder tackle. Naraku worked on Dorado with chops. Lince showed off his agility and hit Naraku with a crossbody for a one count. Naraku used paintbrush boots to prevent a Triangle. Naraku suplexed Dorado into the turnbuckle. Naraku hit Dorado with a flapjack and clothesline.
Naraku kept Lince on the mat with a double chop. Naraku gave Lince a body slam and overhead elbows. Naraku put Lince in a leg trap hammerlock into a chinlock. Dorado hit Naraku with an enzuigiri. Lince hit Naraku with a pop up dropkick. Lince hit Naraku with a Lethal Injection. Naraku came back with a few Yakuza Kicks. Naraku gave Lince a spinebuster and Fisherman’s Suplex. Naraku hit Lince with a Side Russian Legsweep for the victory.
Naraku defeated Lince Dorado via pinfall in 4:33.
Naraku got up in the camera and talked about how he’s “pure evil”…
John’s Thoughts: A well-worked match, but I think it went a little too long with it being a bit too competitive. They’re bringing in the former Evil as a contender to the top title, so he should look like a main eventer, not having a competitive match with a gatekeeper. I like Lince and think he can have top-quality matches, but they haven’t built him on NXT (I don’t think he’s even wrestled on NXT for years, has he?). For a positive, I like the name change as I thought “Evil” was generic as hell. I’m also willing to give him a fresh start, as he never really stood out when he was one of the background guys in Los Ingonables (Even his COVID-era world title run didn’t seem too impactful, and was kinda just there and felt transitional).
Shawn Legacy, EK Prosper, and Tate Wilder were chatting backstage. Wilder talked about how he picked his spot a few weeks ago and is about to bring his wild side. Dorian Van Dux showed up to dap it up with everyone. He said he’s one week away from being fully recovered…
BirthRight made their entrance. Arianna Grance no longer has the TNA Knockouts championship as she lost the title to Lei Ying Lee (Xia Li) last week on Impact…[c]
Nattie Neidhart was being filmed backstage, to talk about LFG. She tried to promote LFG, but Jaida Parker showed up to interrupt. Production guys got in between both women to prevent a fight…
Entrances for the next match took place…
3. EK Prosper, Shawn Legacy, and Tate Wilder vs. “BirthRight” Uriah Connors, Charlie Dempsey, and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo (w/Arianna Grace, Lexis King). Stacks and Tate started the match. Tate hit Stacks with a rolling toss and dropkick for a nearfall. Dempsey and Legacy tagged in. Dempsey rallied with uppercuts. Legacy tripped up Dempsey and hit him with a double stomp and dropkick for a nearfall. Prosper tagged in and hit Dempsey with a double stomp to the shoulder.
Prosper flipped out of the corner and hit Dempsey with a dropkick. Prosper hit Dempsey with a cool kickoff Moonsault for a nearfall. Dempsey hit EK with a kick and tagged in Uriah. Uriah and EK ran the ropes with Connors landing a dropkick. Connors hit EK with a slingshot senton. EK came back with a huracanrana and dropkick.[c]
BirthRight used quick tags to cut the ring in half on Legacy. Tate Wilder caught the hot tag and cleaned house. Wilder hit Stacks with a neckbreaker to cause Stacks to DDT Uriah. Tate slammed Dempsey for a nearfall. The wrestlers took turns trading signature moves. Tate hit Stacks with a Sling Blade. Connors rallied on Tate with Uppercuts. Tate hit Dempsey with a suplex. Connors and Dempsey staggered Tate on the top rope. Demsey hit Tate with an Underhook Superplex. EK broke up Charlie’s pin.
Uriah hit Prosper with an Attitude Adjustment on the apron. Wilder hit Uriah with a TKO. Stacks broke up Wilder’s pin. Wilder hit Stacks and Uriah with a flip dive. Legacy looked like he wanted the pin. Wilder planted Dempsey with a slam. Wilder refused to tag. Wilder hit Dempsey with a frog splash for a two count. Tate continued to refuse to tag in. Dempsey dodged a moonsault from Tate. Stacks and Connors hit Wilder with a double jump kick in the center of the ring for the victory.
“BirthRight” Uriah Connors, Charlie Dempsey, and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo defeated Tate Wilder, EK Prosper, and Sean Legacy via pinfall in 12:57.
John’s Thoughts: I was about to write this match off due to BirthRight being in it. They’ve just been a dud of a faction upon conception. That said, the action was good, and I liked the unique story that developed with Tate Wilder refusing to tag in. We have no clue who he is, and he looks like a WWE video game create-a-wrestler, but his being a bit overzealous and selfish could be a good launchpad to some interesting character development.
Tatum Paxley and Lizzy Rain were excited about their win. Tatum said she wants to award Lizzy with a title shot. Shiloh Hill showed up and congratulated Lizzy and Paxley. He said he’s also researched Tristan Angels. Rain said he can’t stand him back in England. Hill talked about how he found out that Tristan was a sheep herder who does beauty pageants. “Mr. England” Tristan Angels pulled out and told Hill he was missing a tooth.
Angels said he’ll make his in-ring debut next week. He said he’ll show everyone, including Hill, that he’s in a class of his own. Angels said hi to Lizzy, who rolled her eyes…
Mason Rook’s contract signing was hyped for after the break…[c]
[Hour Two] The Culling were in their dark room backstage. Niko Vance and Izzi Dame congratulated each other on their win last week. Shawn Spears said the Culling is strong together. Vance talked about how Izzi has always been a step ahead, and nobody does it better than Izzi. Spears and Niko were about to leave, but Izzi told Niko to stay. Izzi said she’s going to be watching Lola Vice later on…
NXT GM Robert Stone was in the ring with an NXT contract. Stone talked about talent all over the world wanting to make NXT home. Stone introduced Mason Rook, who made his entrance to what sounded like generic royalty-free rock music. The crowd did Rook’s “big, bad, he’ll body slam your dad” catchphrase. Rook said he’s been all across Europe, Japan, and around the world. He said he turns heads wherever he goes. He said even John Cena sees Rook.
He said it’s hard not to notice a flying human tank. He said you may ask him, “Are you satisfied” about people talking about him in the pubs, going viral, and being the name on everyone’s mouth? He said he’s not satisfied, and he wants more. He said he’s not just the best super heavyweight, he’s the best “anyweight”. Rook said if you try to stop a tank, you’ll get crushed. NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo made his entrance, saying he’s here to talk.
D’Angelo said Rook has got his attention. He said he respects Rook starting at the top. Before D’Angelo could complete his promo, Kam Hendrix ran out to brawl with D’Angelo. Rook hit Kam and D’Angelo with a Triangle Moonsault. Rook entered the ring and signed his NXT contract…
John’s Thoughts: Look-wise, Rook has a bit of a baby-face, but that might work to his advantage if they continue to present him as dominant, which will crush visual expectations. I like them trying to make a star out of Rook out of the gate, as he has a unique look and agility for a super heavyweight. Having the random John Cena endorsement doesn’t hurt either. Putting him against Tony D’Angelo does risk him losing out of the gate, but I think that’s why Kam Hendrix is floating around, to eat the L so Rook doesn’t have to.
Noam Dar was shadowboxing in the locker room. Romeo Moreno was fanboying over Noam’s old matches. Noam said he doesn’t think he’s that man anymore. Romeo tried to inspire Noam while Noam wasn’t having any of it…[c]
Vic Joseph plugged the WWE LJN action figures…
New WWE interviewer Emily Agard was interviewing Bronco Nima and Lucien Price at the cookout. She sat down with them over some hot dogs. Bronco introduced Emily to his little brother JJ. Emily asked them about what Price knows about Bronco that will shock people. Price said Bronco lost his mother at a young age and has to be the father figure to JJ. Bronco said his mom taught him manhood was about responsibility. He said his little brother never had to worry because he had Bronco with him.
Bronco said responsibility meets opportunity. Emily thanked Bronco for sharing. Emily asked JJ what OTM means to him. JJ said that OTM means overcoming adversity, which builds character. Emily said Bronco raised JJ well. Emily asked Bronco about a fact about Price. Bronco said people don’t know that Price is very intelligent. He said Price is also an artist. Emily said OTM balances each other out well. They talked about how they’re coming after Vanity Project and the tag titles…
John’s Thoughts: Nice little bit of character development for OTM, but what stands out even more is NXT’s introduction of Emily Agard as their new backstage interviewer. Jason Powell has mentioned several times how it seems like WWE doesn’t want their interviewers to show character, but they are doing the opposite with Agard, who is showing a lot of character as an investigative journalist type (the last interviewer in NXT to show a lot of personality was McKenzie Mitchell). She has a good camera presence, and I like her on-site interviews. So far, I’m intrigued. Might they also cast her as a “field correspondent” based on her recent interviews being off-site?
The Vanity Project made its entrance. Noam Dar came out to the Meta Four theme. Vic noted that Noam Dar has been injured since 2024 when he was going after the NXT Title, and Ethan Page injured him…
4. Jackson Drake (w/Myka Lockwood, Brad Baylor, Ricky Smokes) vs. Noam Dar. Noam worked on Drake with footsie strikes. Drake escaped an Ankle Lock. Noam hit Drake with a backfist combo. Dar knocked Drake off the apron with a low roundhouse and a big boot.[c]
Back from break, Drake crotched Dar on the top rope. Drake hit Dar with a Superplex for a nearfall. Drake hit Dar with a Lethal Injection for a nearfall. Dar worked on Drake with boxing punches and a German Suplex. Kelani Jordan was shown stretching backstage. Dar rallied with strikes and a German. Dar hit Drake with a Northern Lights. Drake ducked a Judas Effect. Drake hit Dar with a Gutbuster for a nearfall.
Both men traded rapid pin variations. Dar suplexed Drake into a Juji Gatame. Drake escaped with a pin attempt. Both men traded forearms. Dar hit Drake with Kickboxing Kicks. Drake came back with a trip and a Superkick. Dar caught Drake with a leg lariat to the gut. Myka Lockwood got in Dar’s face to protect Drake. Dar shoved around Baylor and Smokes. Lockwood held Dar in place so Drake could hit him with a running knee. Drake hit Dar with a 450 Splash for the win.
Jackson Drake defeated Noam Dar via pinfall in 10:21.
The lights went out after the match. DarkState made their entrance from the crowd. Vic asked why DarkState was coming out?…[c]
John’s Thoughts: After losing a lot of matches since getting called up to NXT, they’ve found a bit of a groove with Jackson Drake. Adding Myka Lockwood to be the Chyna to his HBK was a good way to reset and refocus his character, giving him a fresh start and a string of wins with Myka as his X factor. Vanity Project’s whole gimmick makes cheap finishes work for them. Dar is protected, and it’s good to see him back after a long layoff. He’s one of the most talented wrestlers in all of WWE in terms of both in-ring and comedy. Only think that has slowed him down is being snakebitten by injuries.
Myles Borne and Tavion Heights chatted backstage. Borne said he got a tag team match against Rook and Hendrix. Heights was excited that they were teaming up. Borne said Stone actually booked him and Tony D as opposed to Heights. Height started to snap, saying that Borne was being selfish and giving up on his Day 1. Tavion walked out on Borne…
DarkState were in the ring while Vanity Project were at the ramp. Dion Lennox said DarkState is about to show everyone who’s in control. Saquon Shugars said he agrees, but no one can control Big Cutler and Osiris Griffin. Shugars said if Vanity Project doesn’t think DarkState will crush them, then they’d be trippin’. Smokes took the mic and said it was nothing to just beat Hank and Tank. Brad Baylor pointed out that they beat DarkState and took the titles from them in the first place.
Balor said they’ve also been stirring the pot between Dion and Saquon. Baylor said they don’t give handouts. Cutler James said they never got their rematch and will cash in. Cutler said before they cry to Momma Lockwood, Stone already approved the rematch. Cutler said they will bring the titles back to DarkState next week.
Cutler said it won’t be him and Osiris, but instead Dion and Saquon to try to mend fences. Osiris said they can’t control the brand unless they are united. Osiris told Dion and Saquon to figure things out or else DarkState needs some changes. Vanity Project tried to jump DarkState, but they saw it coming and dumped them to ringside. Lockwood cradled Drake to the back…
Robert Stone shook hands with Naraku and congratulated him for his win. Naraku did an evil laugh in Stone’s face, which freaked him out. Stone then walked into his office and informed Mason Rook and Kam Hendrix that their tag team match against Tony D and Myles is official. Tate Wilder showed up in the office acting very eager. Keanu Carver showed up asking for a match. Stone booked Tate and Keanu in a match next week. After Tate left, Keanu asked Stone if Tate had a death wish? Stone said “possibly”…
Kelani Jordan walked past The Culling backstage…[c]
The following matches were advertised for next week: Tony D’Angelo and Myles Borne vs. Kam Hendrix and Mason Rook, Tatum Paxley vs. Lizzy Rain for the Women’s North American Championship, and Vanity Project vs. DarkState for the NXT Tag Team Champions.
Kelani Jordan was already in the ring…
Blake Howard interviewed Kali Armstrong backstage. Armstrong talked about all the feuds in the women’s division. Kali said she’s about to run through the NXT women’s locker room, as she did in Evolve. Kendal Grey and Wren Sinclair walked by. Grey told Kali she didn’t run through everybody (Grey beat Kali to become WWE Evolve Women’s Champion)…
Kendal Grey and Wren Sinclair made their entrance, with Wren on crutches…
5. Kelani Jordan vs. Kendal Grey (w/Wren Sinclair). Grey worked on Kelani with a Standing Switch and Belly to Back Suplex. Kelani came back with methodical strikes. Lola Vice was shown watching the match backstage. Kelani reversed a takeover into a cartwheel and dropkick. Grey showed her elusiveness in the corner. Grey caught Kelani with a dropkick. Grey slipped a bit, but tripped Kelani with a sweep and slingshot double stomp for a nearfall.
Both women traded roll-through rollups. Kelani dumped Grey to ringside to block an Ankle Lock. Kelani hit Grey with an Asai Moonsault. Kelani then jawed with the injured Wren. Grey caught Kelani with a sweep from the apron. Grey hit Kelani with a Springboard Crossbody to ringside.[c]
Grey and Kelani took each other out by running into each other. Grey dumped Kelani to ringside. Grey rallied with axe handle strikes and a release Belly to Belly. Grey fired up after removing the straps. Grey hit Kelani with three Saito Suplexes. Grey got a two count off a Victory Roll. Jordan worked on Grey with short-arm strikes. Kelani hit Grey with a Springboard Forearm and Sitout Power Bomb for a nearfall.
Grey reversed a One of a Kind by grabbing Kelani’s ankle. Kelani tried to flip out, but Grey kept the ankle lock locked in. Kelani escaped the submission. Grey put Kelani in a Juji Gatame. Kelani used her knees to break the hold. Both women took each other out with clotheslines. Grey hit Kelani with an impressive Gutwrench Power Slam. A Picture-in-picture showed Izzi Dame attacking Lola Vice backstage.
Back in the ring, Kelani hit Grey with a Spanish Fly for a nearfall. Grey and Jordan brawled to the top rope. The Dame and Vice brawl spilled to ringside. Lola and Dame tripped the injured Wren. This distracted Kendal. Kelani tripped Kendal off the top rope and hit her with the One of a Kind for the victory.
Kelani Jordan defeated Kendal Grey via pinfall in 12:47.
Kendal Grey shoved Lola Vice at ringside for accidentally hitting her injured friend. Izzi Dame snuck from behind and laid out Vice with a Yakuza Kick. Grey went to check on Wren while Izzi posed with the women’s title to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: The match was good, and they could have gone a few more minutes if not for the hard network TV out. They did make it a bit obvious that Wren Sinclair being injured would play into the finish of the match because Wren walked out there as a walking liability rather than staying in the back (I think it could have been more effective if Izzi Dame or the Vice-Dame brawl hurt Wren backstage instead of making it obvious by having Wren at ringside). We do get a lot of distraction finishes in wrestling, but I understand that they had to protect Grey here while also keeping Kelani Jordan strong.
I still think TNA should have kept Kelani Jordan as Knockouts Champion instead of putting the belt on Arianna Grace, as Kelani could have been elevated with the title, while also elevating TNA’s weekly TV show with awesome matches (Arianna Grace was struggling to put on decent matches). That said, curious to see what they do with her next in NXT, as she’s done almost everything. I’m surprised she wasn’t called up. A middle-of-the-road NXT, but a harmless and productive NXT in terms of moving forward after the roster raid. NXT is still solid weekly TV, if anything, to see if these new talents can sink or swim.
Wellll…
Here comes Peter Griffin..I mean Mason Rook!