Tag: Channing Lorenzo

Match for vacant Heritage Cup Championship announced for WWE NXT

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

The next Heritage Cup champion will be determined on this Tuesday’s WWE NXT as a rivalry will continued in the process.

With the weekend news that Noam Dar is injured to the point he needed to vacate the Cup, it was announced Sunday that Tony D’Angelo (pictured above) and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo will do battle this Tuesday to determine the new champion.

The news was revealed by Luca Crusifino who is currently D’Angelo’s storyline “consigliere” as well as the former partner of Lorenzo before he turned on D’Angelo and left the group. A recent storyline has D’Angelo doubting Crusifino’s loyalty which this match will undoubtedly lean into.

D’Angelo held the Cup for over three months from May through August 2024, both defeating and losing it to Charlie Dempsey. Lorenzo has yet to hold a singles title in NXT.

Dar was in his fourth reign as champion.

WWE NXT lineup for Tuesday, June 24:

  • Vacant Heritage Cup Championship: Tony D’Angelo vs. Channing Lorenzo
  • TNA Champion Trick Williams defends against Josh Briggs
  • Evolution eliminator fatal four-way: Izzi Dame vs. Jaida Parker vs. Lash Legend vs. Jordynne Grace

WWE NXT wrestlers Arianna Grace, Channing ‘Stacks’ Lorenzo get engaged

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Another WWE couple is celebrating the holiday season with an engagement.

NXT wrestlers Arianna Grace (Bianca Carelli) and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo (Mitchell Lavalley) are now engaged to be married. The couple shared the news on social media Friday morning after Lorenzo proposed to Grace at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Grace called this the proposal of her dreams and said she’s blessed to have Lorenzo as her future husband.

“Yes to forever,” Grace wrote. “Last night was so perfect, and I am so in love. Excited to share… we are engaged!!!!!!!! Woooohoooo!!!!!”

Grace is the daughter of former WWE wrestler/current TNA Wrestling authority figure Santino Marella. She’s been a comedic character in the NXT women’s division since signing with WWE in 2022.

Lorenzo, a former NXT Tag Team Champion, is a member of Tony D’Angelo’s The Family faction.

The NXT roster has had an end-of-the-year break with its Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve episodes being taped in advance. The show will be back live on January 7 with its annual New Year’s Evil episode.

Earlier this week, Maxxine Dupri and NXT prospect Anthony Luke also announced their engagement.

Hank Walker to debut on WWE NXT Level Up

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A former college football player is set to have his first televised match on this week’s edition of NXT Level Up.

WWE has announced that Hank Walker (real name Joe Sculthorpe) will debut on NXT Level Up this Friday, facing Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo. Walker signed with WWE as part of the class of recruits that reported to the Performance Center this March.

Walker is a former offensive lineman for NC State University. After going undrafted, he spent time with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons in 2021 but didn’t make the team’s roster.

WWE.com wrote about Walker when he signed with the company: “A 6-for-2, 305-pound force, Joseph Sculthorpe was an NCAA All-Conference Offensive Lineman at NC State before signing with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent. Originally from Hampstead, N.C., Sculthorpe was a high school state heavyweight wrestling champion.”

WWE filed a trademark for the name “Hank Walker” on June 8. Walker had his first match at an NXT house show earlier this month.

Lorenzo is regularly featured on NXT television as part of Tony D’Angelo’s “family.” After Lorenzo’s tag team partner Troy “Two Dimes” Donovan was released by WWE, it was said on NXT this week that Donovan is now “sleeping with the fishes” after making a move against D’Angelo.

NXT Level Up airs on Peacock/WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Fridays. Here’s the full lineup for this week’s episode:

  • Javier Bernal vs. Duke Hudson
  • Hank Walker vs. Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo
  • Amari Miller vs. Sloane Jacobs

NXT Level Up results: Channing Lorenzo & Troy Donovan in action

Posted on by Chick Fritts

Tatum Paxley and Ivy Nile defeated Erica Yan and Sarray

I enjoyed this; it was simple and focused — precisely what it needed to be.

Nile took control of the match immediately following the opening bell. After being handed the Yan & Sarray gained control after Paxley was tagged in.

Nile tagged back in and caught Sarray with a quick kick to retake momentum. Nile then took her time delivering power moves, leaving Sarray desperate before tagging back into Paxley.

Paxley took the match to the mat for a while, buying Sarray enough time for a hot tag. Yan’s rally was cut short as Nile stealthfully tagged back in. Nile hit Yan with a superman punch and locked in a dragon sleeper to bring this match to a close.

Salone Jacobs defeated Thea Hail

These women are green (both are under 20), and it showed. The match was far from memorable, which is probably a good thing.

The match opened with standard back and forth wrestling, arm drags, and strikes. Jacobs eventually worked Jacobs into the corner, gaining control with some boots, which she followed with a scoop slam. After scoring a near fall, Jacobs took things to the mat for quite some time.

Once in a standing position, Hail began to rally but was cut short after Jacobs caught a stray kick and hit Hail with some kind of fireman’s carry drop. Jacobs then pinned Hail to win the match.

Channing Lorenzo and Troy Donovan defeated Javier Bernal and Dante Chen

This mafia gimmick is terrible, and this match was boring.

Both teams traded momentum early, mainly utilizing headlocks. After a fumble, Lorenzo tagged into the match and started putting the boots to Bernal. Donovan and Lorenzo then traded tags, working to isolate Bernal.

Bernal eventually hit a lariat and enziguri to tag out to Chen. Chen ran through his opponents but couldn’t connect with his finish. After a blindside boot from Lorenzo, the mafia guys hit Bernal with a double boot and pinned him to win the match.

Tony D’Angelo introduces new associates on WWE NXT

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Tony D’Angelo has introduced a pair of new associates in his battle against Santos Escobar and Legado Del Fantasma.

In a backstage interview on this week’s NXT 2.0 episode, D’Angelo introduced Troy “Two Dimes” Donovan and “Stacks” Channing Lorenzo as his new allies. 

While not explicitly stated, it appears as though Donovan and Lorenzo were the figures that attacked Escobar on last week’s NXT show. 

Donovan and Lorenzo began appearing on the NXT Level Up show earlier this month, with Lorenzo working under the name Channing Lauren. The two tagged in a loss against Andre Chase and Bodhi Hayward on the April 8 episode, then Lorenzo accompanied Donovan to the ring in a loss against Damon Kemp the following week. 

Donovan signed with WWE in February after a run on the indies and a handful of AEW enhancement matches as Cole Karter. Lorenzo was Jake Tucker on the independent scene, and also worked as enhancement talent on AEW Dark in 2021.

A sit-down meeting between Escobar and D’Angelo has been announced for next week’s Spring Breakin’ episode of WWE NXT.