Tag: Brad Baylor

New Tag Team Champions crowned on WWE NXT

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Vanity Project are the new NXT Tag Team Champions.

Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes won the titles in a surprise on Tuesday thanks to outside interference from Tony D’Angelo. The finish had Jackson Drake and other DarkState members being escorted out of the ringside area. D’Angelo suddenly entered ringside and took out Saquon Shugars with a chokeslam. He threw both Shugars and Brad Baylor into the ring, with Baylor covering Shugars for the shock win.

Baylor & Smokes won a number one contender’s match last week to earn the title match on this week’s show. They originally weren’t in the four-way match, but were added after defeating Hank & Tank two weeks ago.

D’Angelo recently spoke for the first time since making his return to NXT television, accusing DarkState of taking everything away from him. He promised in his promo that he would do the same to them, making it clear the group would be his main targets moving forward.

DarkState had held the titles since October 25, defeating The Hardy Boyz at Halloween Havoc.

Vanity Project, Eli Knight, Keanu Carver officially join WWE NXT brand

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New faces have arrived on NXT.

It was announced early in the show that Keanu Carver was one of the newest members of the NXT roster. After Ava revealed her plans for the NXT Championship, a brawl broke out amongst the talent surrounding the ring. But after laying out people left and right, only Carver was left standing. Later in the night when an interviewer tried to get a word with Carver, he shoved the cameraperson to end the segment.

Carver originally made his debut in NXT back in late 2023, losing to Riley Osborne in the opening round of that year’s Breakout Tournament. Since then, he has been competing on EVOLVE and NXT house shows.

Right before Carver was seen backstage, Vanity Project (Ricky Smokes, Brad Baylor, and Jackson Drake) revealed in a backstage interview that they have signed their NXT contracts. Drake, the men’s EVOLVE Champion, said as champion he should be part of upcoming qualifying matches for the ladder match that will crown a new NXT Champion on February 3.

Interestingly, it was only reported last week by Bryan Alvarez that none of the three Vanity Project members were under TKO deals but rather under WWE ID contracts.

On social media, it was also announced that Eli Knight had been called up. He has also competed in EVOLVE and recently wrestled on NXT television, losing to Tavion Heights in a men’s Speed title qualifying match.

WWE contract note on The Vanity Project

Posted on by Josh Nason

While they have lost two members in 2025, The Vanity Project made it clear on this past Tuesday’s WWE NXT New Year’s Evil that they plan on being around more in 2026.

However, our Bryan Alvarez had an interesting note on the trios’ contract status, reporting Wednesday night that Jackson Drake, Ricky Smokes and Brad Baylor are not under TKO contracts. Rather, they are still on WWE ID deals. It’s unknown if WWE is working toward changing that.

According to previous reports, the WWD ID deals give WWE the right of first refusal to match offers to ID talent if another organization is to offer them contracts. With TNA under their own WWE partnership, that would leave AEW as the only other organization that could realistically offer any of them full-time deals.

The inaugural WWE Evolve Champion, Drake has held the gold for over 250 days, but has not wrestled since last November. Smokes and Baylor as Swipe Right appeared in a losing effort on last month’s NXT year-end awards show episode. Both men wrestle frequently for Massachussetts’ Wrestling Open promotion.

Former Vanity Project members Zayda Steel and Bryce Donovan were also WWE ID prospects, but both exited the program in 2025.

Three more wrestlers revealed as WWE ID prospects

Posted on by Josh Nason

Thursday night saw three more wrestlers get the WWE ID tag with more to come this weekend.

During a Wrestling Open show in Worcester, Massachussetts, Aaron Rourke got the designation which genuinely seemed to take him by surprise as seen below.

For the last six years, the 28-year-old has been a regular on the Northeast U.S. indie circuit and is a product of the Create-A-Pro Wrestling Academy owned by Pat Buck and Brian Myers.

Later in the night, another talent on the Wrestling Open show got the news in Brad Baylor. A two-year pro, Baylor was trained by former WWE and WCW wrestler Paul Roma. He is also a Northeast U.S. regular, teaming frequently with Ricky Smokes.

Jackson Drake was also given the designation Thursday during a Fire Star Pro Wrestling event in North Carolina of which he’s the champion. He’s been a pro for seven years, taught by Cam Carter and LaBron Kozone.

Here’s where more WWE ID prospects will be announced this weekend:

  • Friday at Chaotic Wrestling in Andover, Massachussetts
  • Sunday at Northern Crown’s Show IV in Toronto, Canada
  • Sunday for Memphis Wrestling in Memphis, Tennessee