Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including Go Shiozaki and Edris Enofe departures, Jazmyn Nyx’s reason for leaving, King of Pro Wrestling New Japan line-ups, Arena Mexico, UFC, Zuffa Boxing, the RAW report, mailbag and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps: Start: Go Shiozaki gone from NOAH, Edris Enofe asks for WWE release, more on Jazmyn Nyx rejecting NXT deal 7:33: NJPW King of Pro Wrestling, the rest of this week’s lineups 19:56: More on the WWE SmackDown main event 24:02: Dana White on ‘60 Minutes’ 33:35: WWE Raw recap 51:26: Mailbag Q&A
The U.S. Navy veteran posted a video to social media on Monday revealing the news, saying it’s a decision he has considered for a long time.
Our own Bryan Alvarez reports that Enofe requested his release from WWE.
Enofe said:
“As of today, I will officially be leaving the WWE. This is a decision that I thought about for a very long time and I’m going to trust my gut on this.”
“With that being said, for the past four years I had the chance and the opportunity to meet and work with incredible people, from the wrestlers to the referees, to the creative team, to the medical staff, and of course, to all the coaches who put in so much time and effort into making me better. And for that, I will always, always appreciate y’all.“
“And of course, to all the fans who have supported me and stuck by my side through all these years, thank you.”
Enofe first signed with the company in 2021 after attending a tryout in Las Vegas during SummerSlam weekend. His last match for WWE took place at an NXT house show on July 25, where he lost a singles match to Lince Dorado. He’d also been wrestling on episodes of WWE Evolve of late, with his final match being a loss to Dante Chen. Prior to that, he was 5-0 in singles matches on the show.
Enofe’s tag team partner, Malik Blade, has been out of action since October 2024 after undergoing surgery for a torn ACL and meniscus.
On Wednesday’s WWE Evolve, Vanity Project’s Jackson Drake won the title in a four-way elimination match, outlasting Sean Legacy, Keanu Carver, and Edris Enofe. Drake picked up the win via a jumping knee and then a running knee on Legacy, just a night after they both appeared on WWE NXT on opposite ends of an eight-man tag team match.
Drake earned his opportunity through a play-in match in late-April, defeating Lince Dorado and Jordan Oasis.
Je’Von Evans presented Drake with the title as Drake was flanked by Vanity Project’s Brad Baylor, Ricky Smokes, Zayda Steel and Bryce Donovan. As both opponents and partners, Evans and Drake go back to the North Carolina indies dating back to 2018.
On last Wednesday’s show, Armstrong won the title, defeating Wendy Choo, Kylie Rae and Kendal Grey in a four-way elimination bout.
A new match has been announced for Tuesday’s edition of WWE NXT.
The Authors of Pain vs. Malik Blade & Edris Enofe is now scheduled for the show.
Akam and Rezar along with Karrion Kross and Scarlett made a surprise appearance on last week’s episode and attacked new tag team champions Axiom and Nathan Frazer. The segment ended with AOP holding up the NXT Tag Team titles.
After their shocking arrival last week, AOP will go head-to-head with @MalikBladeWWE & @Edris_Enofe THIS TUESDAY on #WWENXT!
AOP are coming off a loss at WrestleMania 40. They teamed with Kross and dropped a six-man tag to Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits. Enofe & Blade’s last televised match was on Main Event two weeks ago when they lost to Hank Walker & Tank Ledger.
Six matches and one segment are now confirmed for Tuesday’s show.
The announced lineup for the Tuesday, April 16 WWE NXT:
Steel cage match: Carmelo Hayes vs. Trick Williams
Ridge Holland vs. Joaquin Wilde
Lola Vice vs. Sol Ruca
Dijak vs. Noam Dar
Thea Hail vs. Tatum Paxley
AOP (Akam & Rezar) vs. Malik Blade & Edris Enofe
Tony D’Angelo returns to NXT following Stand & Deliver loss
WWE NXT wrestlers Edris Enofe and Nikkita Lyons are both dealing with injuries.
The injuries were reported by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Meltzer noted that Enofe suffered his injury while teaming with Malik Blade against Axiom & Nathan Frazer on the February 6 episode of NXT.
Despite his injury, Enofe appeared in a backstage segment on NXT this week. Meltzer wrote that Enofe “won’t be wrestling for a period of time.”
Edris Enofe suffered a serious injury on the 2/6 show when he and Malik Blade lost to Axiom & Nathan Frazer. He was on TV this week doing a promo but won’t be wrestling for a period of time.
Nikkita Lyons is injured again, just coming back from [an] injury.
The specific injuries that Enofe and Lyons are dealing with were not reported.
Enofe responded to the report by confirming he’s injured but stating that he’s going to be ok: “Aye how tf yall know about this?? Who snitched? Lmao ima be aight”
Lyons was out of action from January 2023 to December 2023 due to a torn ACL and meniscus. She hasn’t wrestled since losing to Blair Davenport on NXT last month. That match took place on the January 9 NXT episode.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio before Monday’s episode of Raw.
It was a tepid episode this week due to some mediocre in-ring work, but the work rate was good. The main positive is that the show doesn’t feel as stagnant as it has in the past because every week we’re provided with fresh faces.
Natalya defeated Elektra Lopez (5:44)
This was fine, but nothing special. Natalya is always excellent in these spots on Main Event.
This was the second appearance in as many weeks for Lopez, who worked against Gigi Dolin on last week’s episode. Natalya returned to the show here for the first time since August, to give her a much-needed win in what has been a lean year for her.
Just as her previous bouts have been on Main Event, this one was a hunt for the Sharpshooter for Natalya. It seems to be the thing that most of her matches are built around these days and, by the end, it was locked in on the fourth attempt.
Lopez was pretty wily here and she foiled most of Nattie’s attempts, but she locked in a long chin lock partway through which slowed things down and was probably the reason why the match ran at over five minutes.
After the third sharpshooter attempt, Lopez used a roll-up for a near fall which could well have been it had they wanted to send this one in a different direction.
After she missed a charge to the corner, Natalya finally got the submission hold locked in and got the victory to end a basic enough opener.
Von Wagner defeated Edris Enofe (5:47)
This was a little bit sloppy and not that entertaining all told, but they both certainly worked hard.
Edris Enofe made his first singles appearance on Main Event here, having only worked the show twice before in tag action with Malik Blade. He looks to be in supreme shape.
Von Wagner controlled the opening minutes, putting pressure on Enofe’s left arm. Enofe then worked his way out and nailed him with a dropkick to send him to the outside. He then ran the ropes and did a beautiful flip dive to the outside as we went to an early commercial break.
Enofe locked in a side headlock after the ads, but Von Wagner fought his way out. Enofe used a pretty horrible-looking fame-asser, where neither wrestler was at fault, before going up top.
Von Wagner had the move scouted and moved out of the way and, after Enofe tried to fight him, hit him with a powerbomb to get his hand raised.
It’s not clear what they plan to do with Von Wagner as Saxton was pushing his free agency throughout the match, but he probably needs a few more of these under his belt before he works the main roster regularly.
Two tag team partners are set to face each other on the June 13 episode of NXT.
WWE has confirmed that Edris Enofe vs. Malik Blade is now scheduled for the show.
A match between the two has been teased in recent weeks. During a backstage segment on the May 30 episode, Enofe and Blade witnessed Tank Ledger and Hank Walker bragging about how they have gotten on the same page since wrestling each other. This led to Enofe and Blade wondering if it would do the same for them.
This will be the second singles match between the two. Enofe defeated Blade on the November 16, 2021 episode of 205 Live.
Both Blade and Enofe wrestled on this Friday’s NXT house show in Dade City, Florida. Enofe defeated Javier Bernal and Blade lost to Dijak.
WWE NXT 6/13 lineup:
Heritage Cup: Noam Dar defends against Nathan Frazer
Baron Corbin vs. Ilja Dragunov
Tyler Bate, Wes Lee, and Mustafa Ali vs. Joe Gacy & The Dyad
Three matches have been added to the lineup for NXT.
WWE announced on Sunday that NXT Tag Team Champions Gallus will face Edris Enofe & Malik Blade in non-title action. Chase U (Andre Chase & Duke Hudson) vs. The Dyad (Jagger Reid & Rip Fowler) and Ivy Nile vs. Alba Fyre are also now scheduled for Tuesday.
👊 @MalikBladeWWE & @Edris_Enofe take on the NXT Tag Team Champs #Gallus in a non-title match 💎 @ivynile_wwe goes one-on-one with @wwe_alba 🙌 #ChaseU will battle #TheDyad
NXT star Edris Enofe went viral after showing a new WWE tattoo on his chest.
On Tuesday, Enofe posted a video on Twitter of himself getting the tattoo, which was in an unfinished state. Later, Enofe teased showing the finished product, but instead plugged NXT.
“I will eventually be the face of this brand and I felt this was the best way to represent it,” he said. “WWE has changed my life, and this is my way of saying thank you — by becoming an ambassador for the rest of my life.”
When it was pointed out that he later wrote a tweet saying “ngl, i kinda regret it now”, Enofe said he regretted not getting the tattoo sooner.
“I also plan on getting an NXT tattoo on my neck for my birthday,” he added.
Asked about a scenario in which he didn’t make it to the main roster, Enofe said he had never thought about not making it as a WWE wrestler.
“I haven’t thought about if it doesn’t work out with WWE,” he said. “Much like the same way I didn’t think about ‘if pro wrestling doesn’t work out.’ I never had a Plan B in my life — except from Walgreens. I had a vision and I knew if I worked hard, stayed focused, and treated everyone right, I would eventually get to where I want to be.”
Enofe regularly teams with Malik Blade on NXT. Next week, he, Blade, and Odyssey Jones will team up to take on The Schism.
Edris Enofe and Mailk Blade are the new number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team titles.
On Tuesday’s NXT, Enofe and Blade defeated Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen and The Dyad (Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid) in a three-way match to determine the next challengers for NXT Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly. The finish came when Cameron Grimes attacked Joe Gacy and Rip Fowler on the outside, allowing Blade to roll up Reid for the victory.
It was not said when Enofe and Blade will get their NXT Tag Team Championship match.
After the match, Blade and Enofe confronted Pretty Deadly, who were in the crow’s nest inside the WWE Performance Center watching the match.
A three-way to determine the next contenders for the NXT Tag Team titles was made on last week’s program. During a state of the Commonwealth address, all three teams came to confront Pretty Deadly, setting the stage for Tuesday’s match.
The next challengers for Pretty Deadly’s NXT Tag Team titles will be determined tonight.
WWE has announced that a triple threat number one contender’s tag team match will take place on tonight’s NXT. Malik Blade & Edris Enofe, Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen, and The Dyad (Rip Fowler & Jagger Reid) are the three teams that will face off for the next shot at Pretty Deadly’s titles.
Last week’s NXT ended with Pretty Deadly being confronted by Blade & Enofe and Briggs & Jensen. Pretty Deadly retained their titles against The Brawling Brutes (Ridge Holland & Butch) in the main event of the episode after interference by Imperium.
At NXT Worlds Collide last month, Pretty Deadly won a four-way match where the NXT Tag Team titles and NXT UK Tag Team titles were unified.
WWE hasn’t announced when the winner of Blade & Enofe vs. Briggs & Jensen vs. The Dyad will get their title shot.
The build to Halloween Havoc continues on tonight’s NXT episode. Halloween Havoc is taking place on Saturday, October 22.
The updated lineup for tonight’s NXT is listed below:
Best-of-three series finale, Halloween Havoc North American Championship qualifying match: Nathan Frazer vs. Axiom
Triple threat NXT Tag Team title number one contender’s match: Malik Blade & Edris Enofe vs. Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen vs. The Dyad
Alba Fyre vs. Jacy Jayne
Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo vs. Wes Lee
Non-title match: NXT Champion Bron Breakker vs. Javier Bernal (will kick off the episode)
These two had a fine match. It opened with a playful headlock takedown back and forth. Dante Chen transitioned from a headlock into a suplex that left him in a strong position for some time. Javier Bernal turned the match around with a roll-up attempt, catching Chen off guard, and leading to an extended sequence on his end.
Bernal’s offense ended abruptly as Chen reversed a monkey flip into a pin, bringing the match to a close.
Tiffany Stratton defeated Erica Yan
Again, this match was fine.
The fact that Tiffany Stratton’s character isn’t a 20-year-old act still blows my mind. It would feel dated in 2005, but here we are.
Erica Yan outplayed Stratton early, scoring a takedown before dragging her in circles by her ankle. Stratton fought back by slamming Yan into the middle turnbuckle and sitting on her. Stratton lost a lock of hair at some point, which she used to smack Yan.
Yan finally escaped a hammerlock and turned things in her favor. Yan tried for a suplex, but Stratton blocked it. Stratton followed up by tossing Yan to the mat and hitting a standing moonsault. To finish the match, Stratton hit a good looking spinning splash.
Legado del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde) defeated Malik Blade & Edris Enofe
This was a cute little match to close the show. I enjoyed the thematic leg work and its overall simplicity.
These two teams also faced off in this year’s men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, with Malik Blade & Edris Enofe upsetting Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde in the first round.
Blade and Enofe gained an early lead by isolating Mendoza. The duo maintained their advantage as Wilde entered the fray. This lasted until Mendoza threatened Blade, providing Wilde with an opportunity to turn things around. Mendoza and Wilde took full advantage, connecting with ample double-team offense while working to sequester Blade.
Blade had his leg targeted for quite some time. When the hot tag finally came, Enofe ran through Legado del Fantasma. After scoring a near fall on Mendoza, Enofe locked in a single-leg Boston crab, delivering some just desserts. Enofe then climbed to the top, but he was distracted by Elektra Lopez before he could close the match. An enzuigiri brought Enofe back to the mat. Legado del Fantasma then hit Enofe with their held-in-place kick finish to bring this match to an end.
A Dusty Classic rematch will headline this week’s episode of NXT Level Up.
WWE has announced that Malik Blade & Edris Enofe vs. Legado del Fantasma’s Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde will air on NXT Level Up this Friday. This will be the third episode of the show since it replaced 205 Live.
In the opening round of this year’s men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, Blade & Enofe got an upset win against Mendoza & Wilde. Blade & Enofe went on to lose to MSK in the semifinals of the tournament.
Dante Chen vs. Javier Bernal and Erica Yan vs. Tiffany Stratton will also take place on Level Up this week.
Chen has recently been feuding with Duke Hudson on NXT. Hudson defeated him on NXT last week.
On this Tuesday’s NXT, Stratton was involved in a segment with Sarray. She called Sarray’s necklace “a little tacky.”
Bernal made his WWE debut on an episode of 205 Live in January, while Yan debuted on the show last November.
NXT Level Up airs on Peacock/WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Fridays. The show features some of NXT’s “brightest young talent as they look to make a name for themselves and begin their climb to the top of NXT 2.0.”
Harland started the first NXT Level Up match in dominant fashion. After being slammed into the mat a dozen times, Bernal tried to rally. Unfortunately for Bernal, Harland withstood the attempt at offence before closing the match with a slam, reminiscent of John Cena’s old Protoplex.
Even with Bernal’s mid-match spark up, this was a total squash.
Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley defeated Fallon Henley and Kayla Inlay
This was an enjoyable match. Nile is very over with this crowd, and for good reason; she is constantly a standout performer on all of the cards I’ve seen her on.
Nile opened the match with a quick takedown, but stood things back up immediately. While standing, Inlay was able to force Nile into the corner, prompting a tag and double dropkick, leaving Henley in control. Henley, in her offence, allowed Nile to be too close to Paxley, allowing Nile to stealthfully tag in and take control. What followed was a fun sequence, punctuated with a suplex into a standing corkscrew to the leg of Henley.
Nile landed a suplex before locking in head scissors. Henley tagged out after escaping, leading to an intense sequence from Inlay. Inlay landed a slam, prompting Paxley to hit the ring; this distraction bought Nile enough time to lock in a dragon sleeper to score the submission victory.
Edris Enofe defeated Kushida
This wasn’t anything spectacular, but it had its moments. The finish was a shock, at least to me, and the contents were entertaining.
This match opened with back and forth wrestling. Once Kushida found his footing, he continued with the grappling, taking control when on the mat and keeping Enofe there. Enofe eventually rolled through Kushida’s ground control, gaining control of the leg. Enofe tried to capitalize by climbing to the top, but Kushida caught him on the way down with a dropkick. Kushida followed up with a flurry of kicks and a DDT. Kushida locked in an armbar for a convincing finish tease.
Enofe caught Kushida again with a dropkick mid handspring. Enofe then climbed to the top again before connecting with a beautiful dive. Enofe then hooked the leg and pinned Kushida for an upset victory to close the debut edition of NXT Level Up.
Closing Thoughts
While structurally identical to 205 Live, this show had a different atmosphere that added to the final product. The matches were not incredible; in fact, they were pretty on par with 205 Live standards, but the crowd was hot. Also, the show’s name is no longer a lie, so that’s nice, I guess. Overall, this was a slight but still noticeable improvement.
WWE has officially revealed the lineup for the premiere episode of NXT Level Up.
NXT Level Up debuts on Peacock/WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern time this Friday, replacing 205 Live. The show, which was taped before NXT earlier this week, will feature some of WWE’s “brightest young talent as they look to make a name for themselves and begin their climb to the top of NXT 2.0.”
In the main event of the episode, Kushida will take on Edris Enofe. Harland vs. Javier Bernal is also set for the show, along with a tag team match with Ivy Nile and the debuting Tatum Paxley facing Fallon Henley & Kayla Inlay.
Kushida and Enofe were both recently involved in the 2022 men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. MSK defeated Kushida & Ikemen Jiro in the first round, then defeated Enofe & Malik Blade in the semifinals.
Bernal made his WWE debut on 205 Live last month, losing to Draco Anthony.
Inlay debuted for WWE in a loss to Sarray on NXT two weeks ago.
Paxley (real name Natalie Holland) is having her first match for WWE on NXT Level Up. She’s a powerlifter who signed with WWE after taking part in last August’s tryouts in Las Vegas.
“With an eye on Dusty Cup glory, Malcolm Bivens and Nile have recruited Tatum Paxley,” WWE.com wrote. “If Paxley proves half as focused and deadly as Nile, the newly formed duo could emerge as tournament favorites. Nile and Paxley will look to kick off their partnership with a victory against the intriguing duo of Henley and Inlay.”
This year’s women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic begins on NXT next Tuesday.
