By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida, at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live September 29, 2026, on The CW Network
[Hour One] A memorial graphic was shown for Benjamin Satterley (Pac) along with his WWE/NXT name of “Neville”… Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary…
Footage aired of NXT General Manager Robert Stone informing Grayson Waller that his scheduled challenger Mason Rook is out “for the foreseeable future.” Stone said Waller will defend the NXT Championship in an open challenge available to anyone on the NXT roster…
Entrances took place for the NXT Women’s North American Championship match…
1. Zaria vs. Thea Hail for the NXT Women’s North American Championship. Ring announcer Mike Rome delivered in-ring introductions for the championship match.
Hail went for a suicide dive, but Zaria caught her with a forearm strike from the floor. When Hail stood up, Zaria put her back down with a discus lariat before a picture-in-picture commercial break. [C]
Hail went for her finisher, but Zaria caught her with a nice suplex. Zaria went for a spear, but Hail countered into a Kimura. Zaria eventually powered out and set up for an F5, but Hail countered into a pin for a near fall. Zaria kicked out aggressively, and it caused Hail to hit the middle rope hard. Zaria speared Hail and then hit an F5 for the win…
Zaria defeated Thea Hail in 9:20 for the NXT Women’s North American Championship.
Powell’s POV: A very nice opening match. The live crowd got behind Hail and bought into the possibility of her forcing Zaria to tap out. By the way, I’m filling in for John Moore tonight. John is celebrating his birthday this week and will be back for next week’s NXT show.
Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno were shown hanging out on a couch with AAA Tag Team Champions El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. and Galeno. Nathan Frazer and Axiom showed up. Frazer said once he and Axiom get past DarkState, they will beat Dar and Moreno in the next round. Axiom told Frazer not to make enemies out of their friends.
NXT Tag Team Champions Ricky Smokes and Brad Baylor showed up with their Vanity Project stablemates Jackson Drake and Myka Lockwood. Drake played up the idea that Smokes and Baylor would face Wagner Jr. and Galeno in the finals. Galeno said something about pendejos after the Vanity Project walked away…
Myles Borne was shown smiling as he looked at his reflection in a mirror. Joseph said Borne would have a lot of explaining to do for his recent actions… [C]
Vic Joseph hyped the WWE Worlds Collide special that was taped on Saturday in Chicago and will air Wednesday on the WWE YouTube page at 6CT/7ET…
Myles Borne made his entrance. He was booed loudly once he was in the ring. Borne said he was never going to be played for a sucker by Taveon Heights, but he had set himself up in a position for that to happen. Borne said the only reason the fans liked him was that they felt sorry for him because he’s deaf.
Borne said the fans would come to his meet-and-greets and tell him that he’s an inspiration, but it was really just about the fans using him to feel better about themselves and because of their social justice warrior crap. Borne said the fans shouldn’t feel sorry for him. He said he feels bad for the fans because he’s the deaf one, and yet they are all watching him.
Borne said the fans can crack jokes about the way he talks and say they can’t understand him. He said they should turn on the closed captioning. He said he’s done being the bigger person. Borne said the fans aren’t deaf, so they can hear him when he says “go to hell”…
Powell’s POV: For a character framed as wanting to be known for more than being a deaf wrestler, Borne sure does talk about being a deaf wrestler a lot. It was an issue when he was a babyface. Now that he’s turned, I think it would be fun if he leaned into playing the deaf card in a heelish manner. Anyway, do fans actually joke about the way he speaks? He sounds fine to me. I wouldn’t have any clue that he’s deaf had no one ever mentioned it.
Lizzy Hail spoke with Robert Stone in his office and said she’s ready to go. He cut her off and said he thinks she would like what he has to say later tonight. Mini Vikingo and Chaz “Starboy” Hall entered the room. Stone said he and Rey Mysterio wanted a team that represented Evolve and AAA when they put the tournament together. Stone said Viking and Hall are that team. They exchanged kind words and headed out for their match… [C]
Emily Agard interviewed NXT Champion Grayson Waller on a backstage set and asked how he prepares for an unknown opponent. Waller said he lit a fire under the roster, but no one can step up and beat him for his title. He said tonight is their chance…
Mini Vikingo and Chaz “Starboy” Hall were in the ring. The entire BirthRight Faction made their entrance…
2. Channing Lorenzo and Uriah Connors (w/Arianna Grace, Charlie Dempsey, Lexis King) vs. Mini Vikingo and Chaz “Starboy” Hall in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament first-round match. Dempsey wore a neck brace at ringside. Lorenzo and Connors sent their opponents into the ring posts before an early break. [C]
Late in the match, Vikingo made a blind tag before Hall went for a moonsault off the middle rope on Lorenzo, who caught him. Hall countered into a tornado DDT. Vikingo hit a 630 senton on Lorenzo before pinning him. Joseph said brackets were busted.
Mini Vikingo and Chaz “Starboy” Hall defeated Channing Lorenzo and Uriah Connors in 12:10 to advance in Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
Powell’s POV: This didn’t feel like an upset to me, but I get what they were going for, especially given how small Vikingo and Hall are.
Afterward, the four male members of BirthRight attacked Vikingo and Hall. Zilla Fatu ran out and cleared the heels from the ring. Zilla got a mic and said he was finished with the numbers game. He said he would take them out one-by-one. He said he took out “Willy Wonka Charles” (Dempsey), and he’s not done yet. Fatu said he wasn’t done yet. He said he was entering the open challenge for the NXT Championship and would bring home the title…
An NXT Chronicles video aired. Cruz Montana sat down and said that before he answers the open challenge, there were a few things he needed to get off his chest. Montana said he was taught not to accept disrespect. He said Dion Lennox should be happy that he got two in on him. Montana said he watched his daughter go to school recently and was happy that she didn’t have to go through the things he did.
Montana said he didn’t get to be a kid. He said he had to help his teenage mother raise four other siblings. Montana conceded that his mother was a drug dealer, but she was never proud of what she was doing. Montana said she did what she had to do to make sure she provided for her family. Montana said he is damn proud of her mother, who was never addicted, nor did she spend a day in jail. Montana said his mother has survived unimaginable things. He said he’s proud of her because today she’s the greatest version of herself.
Montana turned his attention to his late father. He got emotional as he told the story of his father being told by a doctor at 12 years old that he would be completely blind by the time he was 25. Montana said he was born when his father was 17. He said his father never complained. Montana said his father drowned himself in his demons, but he struggled with the idea that he couldn’t be the father that he wanted to be. Montana said he got to tell his father that his presence was the greatest present that he ever gave him.
Montana said little did he know that he would have his own struggles years later. He spoke of sitting his daughter down and telling her that her father was a drug addict and an alcoholic. Montana said he checked himself into rehab, and he began to climb once he got out. He said he’s proud that he can show his daughter a living example of using the bottom to climb to the top. Montana said if Lennox wanted to start things, he’s the finisher…
Powell’s POV: Outstanding. It’s great that Montana got to tell his story. I’ve heard a lot of it before, but he’s such a good talker and his story is so compelling that it doesn’t get old.
NXT Women’s Champion Kelani Jordan was shown walking backstage… [C]
[Hour Two] Joseph touted WWE’s new partnership with Bleacher Report…
Zaria entered the women’s locker room, where Izzi Dame mockingly congratulated her. Some of the other women were snickering. Zaria fought an outfit and photos from when she performed Wicked in a school play. Zaria told them that she’s no longer that person…
Powell’s POV: It’s ridiculous to think that Zaria would be so embarrassed about playing a part in a school play several years later.
NXT Women’s Champion Kelani Jordan cut a braggadocious in-ring promo. Robert Stone came out and announced that Jordan will defend her title against the winner of a 20-woman battle royal next week for a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship at Halloween Havoc. Stone said the battle royal will include wrestlers from NXT, Raw, Smackdown, AAA, Evolve, and TNA.
In the ring, Reina Volcan attacked Jordan from behind. Volcan looked into a camera and said she would be in the battle royal… [C]
Backstage, Naraku spoke with Robert Stone and talked about accepting the open challenge. Saquon Shugars showed up and talked about accepting the challenge. Shugars brought up the match he was supposed to have with Tristan Angels. Stone said he could have the match in two weeks. Shugars wasn’t happy, but Stone explained that next week’s show is loaded. He also said Naraku will face Shiloh Hill…
3. “Fraxiom” Nathan Frazer and Axiom vs. “DarkState” Osiris Griffin and Cutler James in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament first-round match. Both entrances were televised. A few minutes in, Griffin tossed Frazer to the floor before James put Axiom down with a backbreaker. [C]
Frazer and Axiom both went up top and hit a double missile dropkick on Griffin. Moments later, Frazer went for a suicide dive on James, but stuffed it and sent him crashing into the ring post. In the ring, Griffin put Axiom down with a neckbreaker for a near fall.
In the end, Axiom hit a top rope Spanish Fly on James. Axiom got up and hit Griffin with a suicide dive. Legal man Frazer hit a Phoenix Splash on James and then pinned him…
“Fraxiom” Nathan Frazer and Axiom defeated “DarkState” Osiris Griffin and Cutler James in roughly 7:00 to advance in Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
The updated bracket was shown…
Powell’s POV: The match was fine, but not the high end of most Fraxiom matches.
Footage aired from Kendal Grey’s therapy session with a sports psychologist. The therapist said Grey’s work ethic is commendable, but he wondered if her lack of balance could be breaking her. Grey said she never thought about it like that. She said her answer is always to keep going, and she doesn’t know how to stop. The therapist asked what happens when working harder isn’t enough. Grey said that’s a good question…
Powell’s POV: Why can we see Grey’s therapy sessions? Better yet, why in the hell did they send Grey’s character to therapy?
NXT Champion Grayson Waller was shown walking backstage while Joseph hyped the open challenge… [C] Joseph was recapping when the screen went black for a few seconds…
Robert Stone informed Izzi Dame that she and Zaria will both be in the battle royal next week…
The following matches were advertised for next week’s show: A 20-woman battle royal for a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship at Halloween Havoc, Sean Legacy and Dorian Van Dux vs. The Tokyo Bad Boys in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament first-round match, Hank Walker and Tank Ledger vs. Shido Ash and Viktor Zanov in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament first-round match, and Shiloh Hill vs. Naraku…
Powell’s POV: It’s not a bad lineup, but I’m surprised they aren’t loading up the show even more considering that AEW Dynamite will run head-to-head with NXT next Tuesday. They displayed a graphic of the battle royal entrants. The TNA entrants included Knockouts Champion Xia Brookside and Indi Hartwell, and I believe they also showed Knockouts TV Champion M by Elegance.
NXT Champion Grayson Waller made his entrance. Waller spoke for a bit before they cut to a shot inside the dressing room. Numerous wrestlers ran out and then fought near the entrance. Zilla Fatu almost made it to the ring, but Cruz Montana stopped him. Eventually, EK Prosper snuck inside the ring and waved at Waller…
4. Grayson Waller vs. EK Prosper for the NXT Championship. Prosper picked up a near fall during the opening minute. [C]
