By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida, at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live June 2, 2026, on The CW Network
[Hour One] Arrival shots were shown of Tony D’Angelo and Kam Hendrix were shown…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer. Emily Agard was the backstage interviewer…
Entrances for the opening match took place…
1. Zaria vs. Lizzy Rain. Zaria immediately tackled Lizzy to the corner. Zaria dumped Lizzy to ringside. Lizzy caught Zaria with a front kick on the apron. Lizzy landed a Huracanrana on Zaria. Lizzy gave Zaria to the beat of the crowd chanting her name. Zaria reversed a Tornado DDT with a Yakuza Kick. Zaria followed up with methodical offense. Tatum Paxley appeared with her title belt to join the commentary team.[c]
Zaria dominated the match throughout the break. Lizzy turned things around with headbutts on the top rope. Lizzy hit Zaria with a Frankensteiner. Zaria no sold it and hit Lizzy with a Spear. Lizzy and Zaria traded fatigued strikes. Lizzy got the rally with clotheslines and a springboard back elbow. Lizzy hit Zaria with a Tornado DDT for a nearfall. Zaria came back with a pop up headbutt.
Lizzy reversed an F5 into a rollup for a two count. Zaria hit Lizzy with a flying knee and discus lariat for a nearfall. A “make it rain” chant ensued. Rain fired up and hit Zaria with a Neckbreaker and TKO for a nearfall. Zaria reversed a springboard into a German Suplex. Zaria hit Lizzy with a Spear and F5 for the victory.
Zaria defeated Lizzy Rain via pinfall in 10:32.
Zaria went for another F5, but Tatum stopped her and said that Zaria can have a title match next week if she wants the title so bad. Vic hyped Tatum vs. Zaria for next week…
John’s Thoughts: While I was hoping we’d see Zaria get a few dominant wins, I was okay with this being competitive as NXT has done a good job making Lizzy Rain feel like she belongs in the upper mix despite eating back to back losses. Lizzy had a good energy and plucky spirit too her which fits in with the whole metal thing. Interesting that they’re going with Tatum vs. Zaria next week, as I thought that would be a good match to add to the Great American Bash PLE (Where I wouldn’t mind if they put the belt on Zaria to give her a good start to a dominant reign).
Myles Borne and Tavion Heights were chatting with Dorian Van Dux and Sean Legacy. The camera panned over to The Culling discussing things. Izzi Dame recommended that they just move past last week. Izzi said The Culling need to take care of OTM. Niko said they have no other choice. While walking away, Shawn Spears had a conflicted look on his face…
DarkState made their entrance through the crowd. During the entrance, Saquon Shugars showed up and attacked Cutler James with a bat. Shugars headed to the back while the other two checked on Cutler…[c]
Vic Joseph hyped up AAA TripleMania in September. Vic also hyped up NXT Great American Bash as the first NXT PLE on Network TV…
Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in on commentary and announced that the DarkState match will be postponed for now due to the Saquon Shugars attack…
OTM, Lucien Price and Bronco Nima, made their entrance. Vic noted that this upcoming match was supposed to happen last week but was canceled due to Shawn Spears jumping OTM before the bell with a chair. The Culling made their entrance. OTM jumped the Culling before the bell. The bell rang once Nima and Spears got in the ring and were ready…
2. “Out The Mud” Bronco Nima and Lucien Price vs. “The Culling” Shawn Spears and Niko Vance (w/Izzi Dame). Nima caught Spears with a Judas Effect. Vic noted that Bronco’s brother, who we met a few weeks ago, was in attendance. Price tagged in and Spears caught him with a low dropkick. Niko tagged in and rallied with strikes. Price came back with a strong clothesline on Niko. Niko and Price brawled at ringside.
Niko kicked Price off the apron and then tossed him into the ringpost.[c]
Spears worked on Nima with Muay Thai clinch knees. Nima reversed the clinch with a backdrop. Price ran through Spears at ringside and slammed him into the apron. Price hit Spears and Vance with a double move. Price worked on both opponents with Stinger Splashes. Price Press Slammed Spears on Vance. Price hit Vance with a knee for a two count. Niko came back with a throat slice.
Spears and Vance hit Price with a High Low power slam. Spears got a two count. Spears was bleeding from the face at this point. Price dumped Niko from ringside. Price hit Spears with a Uranage. OTM hit Spears with a Double Samoan Drop and picked up the pinfall win.
Out The Mud defeated The Culling via pinfall in 9:29.
John’s Thoughts: A good momentum-building win for OTM who are finally getting a chance to build momentum after multiple years plagued by injuries. I’m happy that OTM survived multiple years of roster cuts as I’ve been a fan of their potential since early NXT 2.0. It seems like WWE is very high on them as well as both men have a good look and can talk when given the mic (Again, whenever TNA World Champion Mike Santana decides to make the jump to WWE, I see him being a perfect singles leader for OTM given Santana’s real life “out the mud” story). It seems like there is some momentum into finally dissolving The Culling, which I’m happy about because that was a bit of a dud of a group. While dissolving, it can help to let them put over other wrestlers while in the process of reinventing themselves.
EK Prosper dapped up with Tate Wilder backstage. EK told Tate to slow down, which Tate was apprehensive to do. Kam Hendrix showed up and bragged about beating two champions while Tate keeps eating losses. Kam noted that he’s way far ahead despite starting in NXT the same time as Tate. Tate left for his match. Kam then said everyone will witness history when he becomes the new NXT Champion…
Vanity Project made their entrance…
3. Jackson Drake (w/Myka Lockwood, Ricky Smokes, Brad Baylor) vs. Tate Wilder. Both men started with standing switches. Tate dragged down Drake with a wristlock. Drake escaped and did a hip swivel. Both men traded shoves. Tate hit Drake with a Sling Blade. Drake ran to ringside for a time out. Tate hit all of Vanity Project with a flip dive from the steps.[c]
Drake and Tate traded hands on the apron. Drake hit Tate with an impressive corkscrew kick. Tate avoided a 450 and hit Drake with a TKO for a nearfall. Drake crotched Wilder on the top rope. Tate escaped a Gutwrench and hit Drake with a Sunset Bomb. Tate hit Drake with a twisting splash for a great nearfall. Tate knocked Smokes and Baylor off the apron.
Wilder dumped Drake to ringside. Lockwood shoved Drake out of the way and caught Tate out the air and slammed him into the ringpost. Jackson Drake hit Tate with a 450 Splash for the victory.
Jackson Drake defeated Tate Wilder via pinfall in 8:37.
John’s Thoughts: I was afraid for Jackson Drake initially when they called him up because he ate a handful of losses since he started on the NXT main roster. I understand why. He makes his opponents look like a million bucks, and he even did so here against the rookie Tate Wilder. Thankfully NXT did the right job of soft-rebooting him by adding Myka Lockwood to his act to be his “X Factor”. I’m loving this reincarnation of DX and Chyna with Vanity Project. Lockwood was good in cleanly slamming Tate during her called for spot. Meanwhile they have Tate Wilder positioned well for some character development with his whole “overzealous” gimmick going on.
Emily Agard interviewed NXT GM Robert Stone about the Great American Bash. Stone bragged about it being the first PLE on Network TV. Osiris Griffin barged in and argued about Saquon Shugars jumping them earlier. Jasper Troy showed up for a meeting with Stone. Someone ran in and hit Troy with a steel chair. The camera fell and broke. Stone and Agard ran out of the office. The attacker was Dion Lennox. Lennox and Griffin left Troy buried under a bookshelf…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Seriously, is that not video game YouTuber Mighty Keef? Jasper Troy looks and sounds like the video game YouTuber Mighty Keef! Are they twins? (I’m semi kidding, but with Troy talking calmly here he really does look like Keef’s doppelganger)
NXT Women’s Champion Lola Vice made her entrance. Vic advertised Lola also appearing on the AAA show later in the week. Lola took the mic and bragged about beating Izzi Dame. Lola said she’s the complete package in NXT and AAA. She said it doesn’t matter, the doubters, she proves them all wrong. She said she didn’t win the title out of luck, but she spent the last few years sleeping and visualizing her name plates on the women’s title.
Vice said she told her every day that she will get there. She said she doesn’t make excuses and will not accepts other’s excuses. She asked “who’s next”. She said she loves that because that’s what the women’s title is all about. She said whoever steps up will be left knocked out. Kelani Jordan made her entrance wearing something that looked like a Sailor suit. She congratulated Vice for going to AAA, coming back to NXT, and becoming champion.
Kelani said she has a similar story as Lola. Kelani talked about how she became TNA Knockouts Champion to prove herself. She brought up how she was supposed to be praised like Lola, but instead everyone criticized her and kicked her out of the locker room. Vice said all she needs is a chance to beat Lola. Lola said it was “blink and you miss it” in terms of Kelani’s short title reign. Kendal Grey and Wren Sinclair made their entrance.
Wren Sinclair was limping on a crutch. Grey talked about how she deserves to be in the title picture. She noted that to become Iron Survivor, she pinned both Kelani and Lola. Grey said before she goes after the title, she has a written receipt for Kelani. Kelani said it’s Grey’s fault Wren is injured. Kelani said Grey has also showed many times that she can’t win the big one. Lola said this is redundant.
Vice said Grey and Kelani can face each other and the winner will face her at The Great American bash. While they were leaving, Vice tried to hit Kelani with a backfist. Kelani ducked and Vice accidentally hit Kendal Grey. Vice apologized saying it was an accident to end the segment…
A cheesy montage was shown of Tristan Angels and Shiloh Hill at a department store trying out outfits in preparation for their Mr. NXT pageant…
The show cut to Shiloh Hill hanging out with Tatum Paxley. Paxley said she’s sure Hill will beat Angels. Hill left, saying he has to take care of his racoons. After hill left, Zaria showed up and gave Tatum an F5 on a production crate. Hill ran back and yelled at Zaria to go away. Hill called for a medic…
Vic hyped upcoming segments…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A good setup for Vice’s next opponent. I like Vice accidentally clocking Grey to add some heat between them as potential opponents. I really liked Kelani Jordan bringing up the parallelism between her going to TNA and Lola going to AAA as it restates her strong villain origin story.
Wellll so much for Jasper Troy joining DarkState.