Malik Blade is back after missing more than a year.
Blade has been out of action since suffering a torn ACL in November 2024. He returned at an NXT live event on Friday night in Bartow, Florida. He lost a singles match to Aigle Blanc on the show. It was his first match since an episode of NXT Level Up taped on October 15, 2024.
Blade posted to social media to celebrate his return, writing, “We are so back !” in response to an article about his match last night.
The full results from NXT’s house show on Friday night are available below (courtesy of Cagematch.net):
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
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
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.”
The first two teams have booked their spots in the men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic semifinals.
The Creed Brothers (Julius & Brutus Creed) and Malik Blade & Edris Enofe booked their spots in the semifinals with first-round wins on tonight’s NXT. The Creed Brothers defeated Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen, while Blade & Enofe defeated Legado del Fantasma’s Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde.
A distraction led to Blade & Enofe getting the upset win over Legado del Fantasma. After Santos Escobar interfered, NXT Champion Bron Breakker made his way down to ringside and laid Escobar out. Blade then rolled up Mendoza as he was distracted by what was going on with Breakker an Escobar.
The Creed Brothers will face either The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) or Andre Chase & Bodhi Hayward in the semifinals. Blade & Enofe will face either MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) or Jacket Time (Kushida & Ikemen Jiro).
The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Chase & Hayward and MSK vs. Jacket Time are both taking place on NXT next week.
The team that wins the men’s Dusty Classic will get a title shot against NXT Tag Team Champions Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner).
The women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is also returning for this year. That tournament will begin next month.
WWE.com wrote about Blade when he signed with the company: “Twenty-three-year-old Joshua Dawkins of DeBary, Fla., is the latest trainee of WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley to be signed to the WWE Performance Center. The 6-foot-1 recruit is also the nephew of NBA legend Darryl Dawkins.”
Boa vs. Blade is one of three matches that is set for this Friday’s episode of 205 Live. Trey Baxter vs. Andre Chase and Valentina Feroz vs. Amari Miller will also air on the episode. The show was taped at the WWE Performance Center before Tuesday’s launch of “NXT 2.0” went on the air.
205 Live streams on Peacock/WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Fridays.
