Tag: nxt news

WWE NXT live results: Tony D’Angelo vs. Kam Hendrix title match

Posted on by Joseph Collins

Kam Hendrix, one of the newest additions to the NXT roster, is looking to achieve the biggest win of his young career.

The NXT Championship will be on the line when Hendrix challenges Tony D’Angelo tonight. He already owns a victory over D’Angelo in tag team action, though D’Angelo did not take the fall in that match. Instead, Hendrix pinned Myles Borne after pushing his own tag partner Mason Rook out of the way, which led to issues between the two NXT newcomers.

Borne, the NXT North American Champion, has another tag match tonight, teaming with Tavion Heights against DarkState.

We’ll hear from NXT Women’s Champion Lola Vice, who promises that she’ll have a lot to say after defeating Izzi Dame last week. Also in the women’s division, Zaria clashes with Lizzy Rain.

Plus, the men’s Speed Championship is set to be defended with Lexis King vs. Romeo Moreno.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

Live! From Orlando, Florida. 

Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. 

The competitors in tonight’s main event were shown walking into the building to hype the Tony D’Angelo NXT title defense against Kam Hendrix. 

Zaria v. Lizzy Rain 

Zaria blocked a tornado DDT and knocked Rain to the mat with a pump kick. Zaria whipped Rain around the ring, targeting her injured back. The Women’s North American Champion Tatum Paxley came out to join the commentators in an attempt to distract Zaria. She was unfazed though, knocking Rain to the floor with a solid forearm shot. 

Back from a commercial, Rain took Zaria to the mat with a super hurricanrana. But Zaria sprang right back up and cut Rain in half with a spear. Both women exchanged forearms, and Rain ducked a charge and hit Zaria with a clothesline. Rain hit a tornado DDT off the ropes for a near fall. 

Zaria came back with a pop-up headbutt. Rain got a near fall with a victory roll. Zaria caught Rain with a knee out of the corner and a rolling lariat for another near fall. Rain fired up and caught Zaria with a cutter and then a modified DVD for a near fall. Zaria came back with a German suplex and a spear. Zaria finished off Rain with an F5. 

Match Result: Zaria pinned Rain (10:32). 

After the match, Zaria tried to beat up Rain some more, but Paxley stopped her by offering up a title match for next week. 

— Saquon Shugars attacked Dark State as they were on their way to the ring. After the break, Vic Joseph announced that the Dark State match would occur later tonight. He also hyped up Booker T as “Mr. Great American Bash” and… really? 

OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price) v. The Culling (Shawn Spears & Nico Banks) (w/ Izzy Dame)

Nima and Price attacked Spears and Banks before the bell. Price and Banks had an awkward exchange that I think was supposed to end in Banks flipping over Price, but he didn’t clear him and basically planted his groin in Price’s face. They figured it out and then redid the spot. They went to the floor and Banks threw Price into the ring barricade. 

After a break, Nima suplexed Spears. Price got the tag, then dropped to the floor to suplex Banks on the apron. Price took both Spears and Price down at once. Price press-slammed Banks onto Spears. Price floored Banks with a knee for a year fall. Banks put down Price with a sharp elbow. Price shoved Spears into Banks. Nima and Price hit their finisher on Spears (kind of like a double-team Angle Slam) and got the pinfall. 

Match Result: OTM beat The Culling when Nima pinned Spears (9:27). 

This was moves with no real flow. 

— EK Prosper, Tate Wilder and Kam Hendrix chat in the locker room about their upcoming matches tonight. Well not EK Prosper, who doesn’t have a match. But he’ll get to tell his grandkids he was in the building when Kam Hendrix won the NXT Championship!  

Jackson Drake (w/ The Vanity Project) v. Tate Wilder 

Wilder took down Drake with a sling blade, and he dropped to the floor to regroup. So Wilder took all of them out at once with a cannonball off the stairs. 

CW paid a lot of bills with a long commercial break during this match. When they finally got back to it, Wilder hit Drake with a flying forearm. They fought on the ring apron. Wilder caught Drake with a gamengiri, but Drake came back with a spear to the floor. Back in the ring, Wilder avoided a 450, then hit Drake with a TKO (the move, he didn’t ask him to take a 50% pay cut) for a near fall. 

Wilder went to the top, but Drake hit the ropes and crotched Wilder. Drake went to the top, but Wilder powerbombed him out of the corner. Wilder hit a twisting splash off the top for a near fall. The members of the Vanity Project jumped on the apron, but Wilder knocked them down. He tried to take out Myka Lockwood with a rana, but she blocked it, powerbombed Wilder into the ringpost and then onto the ring apron. Back in the ring, Drake finished off Wilder with a 450 splash. 

Match Result: Drake pinned WIlder (8:35). 

— Robert Stone was interviewed by Emily Agard about the upcoming Great American Bash. Someone comes in to start yelling at him, but Jasper Troy interrupted. They got in each other’s faces, and another member of Dark State attacked Troy and soon it was complete chaos in the back.

Lola Vice Sets Up Her Next Challenger

Lola Vice came out to the ring for a promo and talked up her recent victories in NXT and AAA. She wanted to know who her next challenger was going to be. This brought out Kelani Jordan. Jordan said that she’s proved herself by going to TNA and winning the Knockouts title, but she didn’t get the same praise that Lola Vice did for going out and winning the AAA Mixed Tag Team titles. Vice wasn’t impressed with Jordan’s TNA title right, because “if you blinked, you missed it.” 

Kendal Grey came out (with Wren Sinclair, hobbling behind her) to throw her name in the ring, too. She, after all, won the Iron Survivor and pinned both Jordan and Vice. Lola Vice got sick of all the complaining, and made the match between Grey and Jordan for next week, with the winner getting the title shot at the Great American Bash. On her way out, Jordan pulled at one of Vice’s title belts, causing her to spin into Grey and hit her with an elbow. 

— In the back, Zaria F5’d Tatum Paxley into a storage cage. 

— Mason Rook and Tony D’Angelo talked trash about each other until Robert Stone intervened and made a match for Rook and Naraku for next week. If Rook wins, he “cuts the line” and gets into title contention. (This was later made a #1 Contenders Match at the end of the show.)

Romeo Moreno (w/ Noam Dar) v. Lexis King (w/ Birthright) for the NXT Speed Championship  

Since this is a Speed Championship match, the time limit is five minutes. Moreno caught King with a sunset flip, then a dropkick. Moreno hit a German suplex and a dropkick off the middle ropes for a near fall. Moreno caught King with a cradle for a near fall. King came back and caught Moreno with a diving dropkick in the corner for a near fall. King repeatedly kept trying to cover Moreno, forcing him to kick out multiple times. 

King and Moreno exchanged a series of strikes. King went for a half-crab, but he didn’t lock it in. Moreno rolled King into a vertical suplex, then caught him with a superkick. Moreno tried for a crossface, but turned it into the Rings of Saturn. King escaped and dropped to the floor. Moreno took out the other members of Birthright with a dive off the top. 

Moreno tried for a dropkick off the top, but King stepped back and, if I can be serious for a minute, locked in a half-crab. Moreno escaped and caught King with a cradle. Moreno missed a move off the top, and King finished off Moreno with The Coronation, and modified swinging neckbreaker. 

Match Result: Kingpinned Moreno to retain the Speed Championship (4:34).

— Natalya and Jadia Parker exchanged words in the back. Natalya sees right through Parker’s act. Natalya knows that she’s soft. 

Dark State (Dion Lennox & Osiris Griffin) v. Tavion Heights & Miles Borne 

Cutler James was taken out of this match in the attack earlier by Saquon Shugars. 

There were a few instances of miscommunication between Borne and Heights in the early going. But they still combined to take Lennox out with a double dropkick. Borne clotheslined Griffin to the floor. Soon all four men were on the floor. Heights tossed Lennox over his head with a belly-to-belly. 

Dark State got the heat on Borne during the commercial. Lennox and Griffin worked over Borne in their corner. Borne backdropped Lennox out of his way to make the tag to Heights. Heights hit an amazing belly to belly on Lennox, then tossed Osiris around. Lennox tripped up Heights so Griffin could give him a headbutt. Dark State finished Heights off with the Doomsday Device. 

Match Result: Dark State won via pinfall (11:02). 

This didn’t feel like eleven minutes, probably because most of it was during the break. 

Next week’s show:

  • Kendal Grey v. Kelani Jordan to crown the #1 Contender for the NXT Women’s Championship
  • Mason Rook v. Naraku (later announced to be a #1 Contenders match for the NXT Championship)
  • Tatum Paxley v. Zaria for the NXT North American Women’s Title 
  • Shiloh Hill v. Tristan Angels in the Mr. NXT Pageant 

Tony D’Angelo v. Kam Hendrix for the NXT Championship

I’m not liking Hendrix’s chances here, since they’ve already set up another opponent for D’Angelo in Mason Rook. 

Hendrix hit the Showtime Kick out of nowhere for a near fall. Hangman’s neckbreaker got another near fall. After a DDT, Hendrix got a third near fall. Naraku was shown watching in the crowd. Hendrix started firing away with forearms on D’angleo. D’Angelo caught Hendrix and dumped him like a sack of potatoes. Hendix dropped to the floor to regroup. 

When Hendrix got back in the ring, D’Angelo was all over him with clobbering forearms and clotheslines. D’Angelo tossed Hendrix with a FU. D’Angelo tossed Hendrix over his head with a belly to belly, then clotheslined Hendrix to the floor. Hendrix went to grab the title belt, but Naraku stood up and shook his head at Hendrix, who left the belt alone and headed back into the ring. 

After a commercial break, Hendrix got a near fall after a suplex while Naraku looked on. D’Angelo came back with a series of release German suplexes. D’Angelo hit a spinebuster. D’Angelo hit a modified fisherman’s suplex for a near fall. D’Angelo ran into a knee and Hendrix went for a cradle with his feet on the ropes, but the ref caught him. 

D’Angelo tossed Hendrix down with a suplex. Hendrix hit a Showtime Kick, then followed up with a sit-out powerbomb for a near fall. Hendrix and D’Angelo started exchanging strikes, but Hendrix leapt into a powerbomb from D’Angelo for a near fall. 

Hendrix snapped D’Angelo’s neck against the top rope, then crawled to the floor to get a steel chair. Mason Rook cut him off. D’Angleo backdropped Hendrix onto the announcer’s table. Back in the ring, D’Angelo hit a variation on the Sky High to get the pinfall. 

Match Result: D’Angelo pinned Hendrix to retain (10:48). 

Naraku handed D’Angelo his title belt and offered him a bow after his match. It was made official that Rook and Naraku’s match next week will crown the #1 Contenders for the NXT title. 

Marie Malenko reacts to signing with WWE

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Signing with WWE was a lifelong goal for Marie Malenko.

The daughter of former WWE/WCW/ECW wrestler Dean Malenko, Marie’s signing was officially announced this week when WWE unveiled its new class of Performance Center recruits. She was identified under the ring name Lacey Simon in the four-person class, which also includes Mason Rook (indie wrestler Will Kroos), Nicole Martinez (Nikki Blackheart), and bodybuilder Marcus Brown.

Marie made an Instagram post today sharing just how long she’s waited for this moment. She included pictures of herself as a child at WWE events with Beth Phoenix, Naomi, CM Punk, and The Bellas.

“Since birth babyyyyyy. knew what I wanted and got it,” she wrote. “Let’s get to work. Gods plan. #wwe #wwenxt #wwesuperstar #nepobaby #3rdgeneration”

She also thanked her coaches Jay Lethal, Vincent Marseglia of The Righteous, and Aleister Black’s Dark Arts Gym.

Before signing, Marie participated in a WWE tryout this February. She also picked up experience in Japan working matches for Pro Wrestling NOAH and Marigold this year.

Marie’s father Dean Malenko is part of the behind-the-scenes staff at AEW and previously worked backstage for WWE.

Of this class of recruits, Kroos is the farthest along, already having debuted on NXT by targeting the brand’s champion Tony D’Angelo. Martinez, who has impressed those in WWE, worked a dark match at NXT this Tuesday.

Dean Malenko’s daughter part of new group of WWE NXT signees

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Marie Malenko, the daughter of Four Horsemen member Dean Malenko, has officially joined the WWE Performance Center.

WWE unveiled its latest round of Performance Center recruits today. It’s a four-person class consisting of Mason Rook, Nicole Martinez, Marie Malenko, and Marcus Brown. In the announcement tweet, WWE identified Malenko under the ring name “Lacey Simon.”

Malenko attended a WWE tryout earlier this year and, in her young career, has already gotten experience in Japan for Pro Wrestling NOAH. Her father Dean holds a behind-the-scenes job in AEW.

The announcement of Rook’s signing was just a formality, given that he’s already made his mark on NXT and is coming off a successful TV in-ring debut where he teamed with Kam Hendrix to defeat NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo & North American Champion Myles Borne. Rook then laid out his tag partner following the match after Hendrix stole the pin on Borne.

A heavyweight from the United Kingdom who also has competed for NOAH, Rook can count John Cena among his supporters. Cena has sent out multiple tweets reacting to Rook’s segments on NXT.

Nicole Martinez is indie wrestler Nikki Blackheart, who worked a dark match at last night’s NXT. She is said to have been heavily on WWE’s radar prior to her tryout and subsequent signing.

Brown is entering pro wrestling after having been a bodybuilder. He had a WWE tryout in 2025.

WWE NXT does record-low ratings on The CW

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Tuesday night’s WWE NXT episode averaged 498,000 viewers on The CW, down 22.3 percent from last week. This marks the lowest audience total the show has ever done on The CW and is the lowest overall number for NXT since July 30, 2024, when it was moved from the USA Network (the show’s home at the time) to SyFy.

In the 18-49 demo, NXT drew a 0.06 rating. That’s down 45.5 percent from last week and is the lowest rating the show has ever done in that category regardless of network.

The episode went head-to-head with an NBA playoff game on NBC as well as an NHL playoff game on ESPN which topped the network and cable charts respectively. Among the major English-language broadcast networks, NXT finished last in both overall viewers and 18-49.

As compared to the same week in 2025, NXT’s overall viewership was down 25 percent while the 18-49 rating was down 60 percent.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership numbers and 18-49 demo ratings for NXT, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was down 14.8 percent in viewers and 33.3 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE NXT ratings —

DateNXT 18-49NXT total viewers
3/3/20260.09604,000
3/10/20260.08541,000
3/17/20260.07588,000
3/24/20260.08581,000
3/31/20260.08572,000
4/7/20260.08605,000
4/14/20260.09584,000
4/21/20260.1591,000
4/28/20260.07541,000
5/5/20260.11641,000
5/12/20260.06498,000
*10 wk avg0.09584,800
*not including current week

Trish Stratus ‘blown away’ by WWE NXT star Sol Ruca

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus is impressed by what she’s seen from NXT’s Sol Ruca.

During WrestleMania weekend, SiriusXM spoke with Stratus and asked which current star makes her want to return for one more match. Stratus named Ruca as an opponent she’d be interested in facing, though any return for Stratus would be storyline-dependent.

“When I went to John Cena’s final match, I got to see Sol Ruca up close and personal — and I was blown away,” Stratus said. “A lot of great talent. It’s not just the talent, it’s the storyline, it’s the characters, so I need to think on that one a little bit.”

Ruca, Oba Femi, and Je’Von Evans were the NXT talent that WWE chose to spotlight on the undercard of Cena’s final match last December. At the show, Ruca picked up a win against Bayley.

On the post-WrestleMania 42 edition of Raw this Monday, Ruca was in action ahead of a potential full-fledged call-up to the main roster. Ruca then faced Zaria in a Last Woman Standing match on NXT, which ended with Ruca taking a scary looking fall as her head smashed off a table that did not break.

Stratus competed for WWE three times in 2025 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her debut. She remains open to a return if WWE has the right idea that would be interesting to the fans and help elevate her opponent.

SiriusXM also asked Lita and Kaitlyn who they’d want to face if they returned for one more match, with Lita naming IYO SKY and Kaitlyn naming AJ Lee.

WWE NXT wrestler Elio LeFleur undergoes surgery

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NXT wrestler Elio LeFleur has undergone surgery for the injury that forced him to vacate the men’s Speed Championship.

Last week, it was revealed that LeFleur would be out of action for six months due to torn labrum ligaments in his shoulder. The injury stems from an NXT house show that took place on March 20. After an injury angle was done, LeFleur appeared with his arm in a sling on NXT last Tuesday and announced that he was vacating the Speed Championship.

LeFleur then made a tweet today revealing that he will be starting the recovery process after undergoing successful surgery.

Formerly known as Aigle Blanc on the indies, LeFleur signed with WWE in 2025 and had his first televised match for the company in Lucha Libre AAA. He then officially joined the NXT TV roster this year. LeFleur became Speed Champion by defeating Jasper Troy and Eli Knight in a triple threat match this February.

WWE will be holding a tournament to crown the new men’s Speed Champion. It kicks off tonight on the Stand & Deliver fallout edition of NXT.

WWE files for ‘NXT Revenge’ trademark

Posted on by Joseph Currier

This week, WWE made a trademark filing that looks to be for a new NXT event the company is planning.

WWE applied to trademark the term “NXT Revenge” on April 6, using the standard language it always does when trademarking event names. The goods and services section of the application lists that the trademark is for “the production and exhibition of professional wrestling events.”

  • Entertainment services, namely, a show about professional wrestling; entertainment services, namely, the production and exhibition of professional wrestling events rendered through broadcast media including television and distributed via various platforms across multiple forms of transmission media; providing wrestling news and information through broadcast media including television and distributed via various platforms across multiple forms of transmission media; providing information in the fields of sports and entertainment through broadcast media including television and distributed via various platforms across multiple forms of transmission media; providing a website in the field of sports entertainment information

There has been no official announcement of the Revenge event yet, and there’s no word on whether it would be a TV special or PLE. NXT just presented its annual Stand & Deliver PLE this past weekend. Instead of taking place during WrestleMania weekend, WWE broke tradition this year by moving up Stand & Deliver and having it be held in St. Louis instead of Las Vegas.

NXT will present its Stand & Deliver fallout episode tonight, so an announcement of the brand’s next PLE could be coming soon. Battleground has typically followed Stand & Deliver on the NXT calendar.

Former Gallus member completes WWE NXT guest-coaching stint

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Former Gallus member Mark Coffey was back at the WWE Performance Center this week for a guest-coaching stint.

In an Instagram post, Coffey shared that he had a “fantastic” time returning to NXT as a guest coach. He’s now flown back home to Scotland to compete for Insane Championship Wrestling in a match against Saxon Huxley this Sunday.

“Fantastic time coaching this week at The WWE PC for @wwenxt,” Coffey wrote while sharing photos of himself with NXT coach Johnny Moss and other personnel.

Coffey, his brother Joe Coffey, and Wolfgang spent several years with WWE before being released in May 2025. They competed on NXT and NXT UK during their time with the company, with Mark holding the NXT UK Tag Team titles and Heritage Cup Championship. Behind the scenes, all three members of Gallus helped work with The Rock as he trained for his in-ring return at WrestleMania 40.

It was recently announced that the Coffey brothers and Wolfgang have signed with MLW, where they will now be using “GBOT” (Gallus Boys on Top) as their faction name.

The WWE Performance Center also had another visitor this week with Ricky Morton, a tag team legend as one-half of The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, guest coaching.

This weekend, much of the NXT roster is on the road for a house show loop in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas that began last night.

New participant added to WWE NXT gauntlet match

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A new participant has been confirmed for tonight’s number one contender’s gauntlet eliminator match on WWE NXT.

Myles Borne’s NXT North American Championship challenger for NXT Stand & Deliver will be determined by a gauntlet match on tonight’s show. Jackson Drake, Dion Lennox, and Shiloh Hill had already been confirmed for the match. WWE has now announced that Charlie Dempsey will be competing in the bout as well.

In his video announcing the news, interim NXT general manager Robert Stone teased that a fifth competitor for the gauntlet match has also been finalized. Stone teased that viewers will need to tune into tonight’s show to see who that is.

Dempsey — the son of William Regal — is a new addition to NXT’s Birth Right faction, which also includes Lexis King, Arianna Grace, Stacks, and Uriah Connors. A pair of Heritage Cup Championship reigns are the only gold Dempsey has held in his WWE career so far.

Borne became North American Champion last month when he ended Ethan Page’s reign with the belt.

NXT Stand & Deliver 2026 is being held in St. Louis on April 4. Tonight’s NXT is the second-to-last episode before the PLE.

Here is the updated card for tonight:

WWE NXT (Tuesday, March 24) —

  • Ricky Saints (w/ Ethan Page) vs. Tony D’Angelo
  • Number one contender’s gauntlet eliminator match: Jackson Drake vs. Dion Lennox vs. Shiloh Hill vs. Charlie Dempsey vs. TBD (winner challenges North American ChampionMyles Borne at Stand & Deliver)
  • Sol Ruca and Zaria meet face-to-face
  • Tag team number one contender’s tournament match: Eli Knight & Elio LeFluer vs. The Culling (Shawn Spears & Niko Vance)
  • Thea Hail vs. Kelani Jordan
  • Fatal Influence (Lainey Reid & Fallon Henley) vs. Wren Sinclair & Kendal Grey

Charlie Dempsey match set for Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XV

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE NXT wrestler Charlie Dempsey is stepping back into the Bloodsport ring during WrestleMania week.

It was revealed today that Dempsey vs. Timothy Thatcher will be part of the card for Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XV in Las Vegas on Friday, April 17. Both are Bloodsport regulars, with Dempsey having competed in five Bloodsport matches so far and Thatcher’s history with the event dating back to 2018.

Dempsey and Thatcher faced off on WWE Evolve near the start of 2026 with Dempsey getting the victory. Thatcher is now the on-screen general manager of Evolve and helps train WWE ID wrestlers.

In NXT, Dempsey — the son of William Regal — is part of the newly formed Birth Right faction with Lexis King, Arianna Grace, Stacks, and Uriah Connors.

Bloodsport is being promoted by Game Changer Wrestling and will be held at Horseshoe Las Vegas. The show will be broadcast live on Triller TV+. So far, Dempsey vs. Thatcher and Pete Dunne vs. Masashi Takeda have been announced. Here are all of the confirmed participants:

Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XV —

  • Josh Barnett
  • Nattie
  • Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Yuji Nagata
  • Ulka Sasaki
  • Timothy Thatcher
  • Charlie Dempsey
  • Pete Dunne
  • Shayna Baszler
  • Erick Stevens
  • Fuminori Abe
  • Ray Jaz
  • Angel Verduzco
  • Joe Dashou
  • Masashi Takeda
  • Matt Mako
  • Royce Isaacs
  • Miyu Yamashita

Oba Femi details learning from Shawn Michaels in WWE NXT

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Coming up in WWE NXT, Oba Femi was able to learn a lot from Shawn Michaels.

Femi reflected on his tenure in developmental while appearing on this week’s edition of Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast. When he was in NXT, Femi would come up with elaborate finishes for his matches. It initially bothered him when Michaels would reject those ideas, but Femi learned an important lesson in the process. Everyone is part of the show and all of those elements have to fit together to form a complete picture.

“You can, but I don’t think that’s going to work. You will be very frustrated,” he responded when asked if it’s possible to be a perfectionist in wrestling. “And I think I learned that lesson quickly. So here in NXT when I was in developmental, I’ll come up with these matches and come up with these elaborate finishes and stuff like that. And Shawn would always change it. Shawn Michaels would always change it. And I’m just like — and it used to like eat at me at first. But I’m like, he knows where we’re going after this. I don’t know where we’re going after this. So you kind of have to just lend yourself as a tool to make the art come to life and be okay with where it goes.”

Femi was more than happy to have Michaels tell him what to do given all that Michaels has accomplished in wrestling.

“And at the end of the day, I’m like, okay, whatever I have in mind, I have to put that to the side. It’s what Shawn wants, to give him what he wants. And I will give him what he wants,” Femi said. “So I learned quickly, that’s part of being a student of the game. Like, sometimes I would ask him what he’s looking for and then go draft something. And then he still doesn’t like it — and that’s fine too. But at least that’s part of the learning process, seeing where his mind is at, what direction he’s trying to go on, and learning from him.

“Because I don’t know how to book wrestling. I’m not a booker, but it’s an important skill to learn. I feel like a lot of guys, they’re just like, ‘Make me champion.’ You know, ‘Do this for me, do that for me.’ But they don’t even understand the patterns and the way in which the booking works. The ‘why.’ So I just lent myself to Shawn and I let him take me where I needed to be.”

Matt Bloom, Ivar, and Terry Taylor are some of the other people Femi was able to learn from in NXT. He and Taylor would often disagree about things, but Taylor helped Femi understand the minutiae and nuance of pro wrestling.

Outside of the ring, Femi learned a lot about respect from his father and a lot about love from his mother. He learned to dream big through public figures like Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, and former Navy SEAL David Goggins.

Femi was called up to the WWE main roster near the start of 2026 and is now set for a WrestleMania 42 clash against Brock Lesnar.

Ricky Saints says Undertaker has given him ‘so many gems’ of WWE advice

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Getting advice from his favorite wrestler of all time has been a wild experience for Ricky Saints.

In an interview with KRON 4 News, Saints named The Undertaker, The Rock, and Mankind as his three favorite wrestlers. Undertaker takes the top spot on that list, and it’s still surreal for Saints to be in the same company as Undertaker and receiving advice from him.

“I met The Undertaker several times. He’s awesome, given me so many gems of advice and knowledge that he’s dropped on me,” Saints said. “It’s wild. It’s wild to see every time I see him at the [Performance Center] or at some of these shows that we go up and greet each other and, you know, catch up a little bit. But, yeah, it’s insane, like watching as a kid and now being on the same show, being a part of the same company with him, is wild.”

Saints and Undertaker actually first met in a gym while Undertaker was training for his WrestleMania 32 match against Shane McMahon, and Saints later helped Undertaker’s wife Michelle McCool prepare for a Royal Rumble appearance.

Undertaker’s behind-the-scenes influence has grown over the past year with him becoming an important voice in Lucha Libre AAA’s creative after the promotion was acquired by WWE.

At NXT Vengeance Day earlier this month, Saints came up short in his attempt to win the NXT Championship from Joe Hendry. A match between Saints and Tony D’Angelo is set to take place on NXT next week.

WWE NXT roster facing travel delays ahead of this week’s TV

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The WWE NXT roster is facing some travel difficulties as they attempt to get to Houston, Texas for this week’s television episode.

On the road to Stand & Deliver, NXT is scheduled to take place live from 713 Music Hall in Houston this Tuesday night. Our Bryan Alvarez notes that delays at the Orlando airport have left the talent stuck as they attempt to fly out.

“NXT talent apparently stuck at the Orlando airport which is currently at a ground stoppage with flights delayed so far above four hours,” Alvarez writes. “NXT is in Houston tomorrow and WWE is monitoring the situation in case they can’t get out of Orlando.”

There have been thunderstorms in the Orlando area today, which has impacted flights with delays and cancellations.

NXT has three more TV episodes before Stand & Deliver 2026 takes place in St. Louis on April 4. Here is the announced lineup for this week’s show:

WWE NXT (Tuesday, March 17) —

  • Booker T Appreciation Night
  • Triple threat match: NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne defends against Sol Ruca and Zaria
  • Steel cage match: Women’s North American Champion Tatum Paxley defends against Izzi Dame
  • NXT Tag Team title number one contender’s tournament: Hank & Tank vs. Birthright
  • Women’s WWE Speed Champion Fallon Henley defends against Wren Sinclair
  • Vanity Project vs. Los Americanos

Sol Ruca shares hardest WWE lesson she’s had to learn

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Character work has been the hardest thing for Sol Ruca since transitioning to pro wrestling from a college career in athletics.

Ruca joined the WWE Performance Center in 2022 after competing in acrobatics and tumbling for the University of Oregon. She’s done well as one of the top prospects in NXT, but she’s still figuring out how to be a pro wrestling character.

“Just being a character,” Ruca responded on “What’s Your Story?” when asked what’s been the hardest WWE lesson to learn. “Just being able to be less, like, stoic and serious in the ring. I feel like that was really hard to figure out, just with sports having to be so serious all the time. Yeah, being able to show emotion and to be silly at times. I still, I really struggle with that, especially if I have to do a promo where I’m, like, angry, I don’t know how to do that yet…

“Yeah, being a character was really, really hard for me.”

Some of the advice Ruca got was to be a version of herself with the volume dialed up. That didn’t come naturally, though Ruca is starting to get the hang of it.

“It doesn’t make sense to me. Because I am myself, like, this is how I would react,” she said. “If I’m this but up, then I’m not myself, you know? So, yeah, I feel like that was really hard. But I feel like I kind of have been understanding it more and more.”

Stephanie McMahon noted that being yourself with the volume turned up is a good way to start, but Ruca could go in the opposite direction and play a character that is totally different from her real self. Personally, McMahon hates being a babyface and thinks playing a heel is both easier and more fun.

“You get to try all different kinds of stuff. And you can’t really do anything wrong, because if they hate it, good. You’re supposed to hate me,” McMahon said. “So it is much easier to be a heel. But for the same reason, it’s hard to be sort of yourself as a babyface and then when people don’t like you or it’s not working, it’s like, ‘What’s the matter with me? Why don’t they like me?’ But they never really liked me from the jump. So it’s okay, I just played into it.”

Ruca is a babyface in NXT and feuding with Zaria at the moment after Zaria betrayed her. They’re both set to challenge for the NXT Women’s Championship in a triple threat match next Tuesday.

Sol Ruca opens up about having ADHD: ‘It sucks, but it’s also pretty cool’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

For Sol Ruca, having ADHD comes with both its struggles and benefits.

Ruca, appearing on a new episode of Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast, opened up about being diagnosed with ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) as an adult. It was initially suspected that she had the disorder when she was younger, but her mother brushed off the concerns due to the stigma that was associated with it. Ruca was not diagnosed until she started attending college.

“I had a bit of a tricky diagnosis process because I was taken to get evaluated for dyslexia because my mom’s dyslexic, and the guy was like, ‘She does show signs of ADHD.’ And my mom was like, ‘She doesn’t have ADHD,’ just because the stigma was like people are bouncing off the walls and they’re super loud and interrupt people and stuff,” Ruca said. “But I had, you know, being in gymnastics and being in sports and just being a woman, you’re just told that you can’t do that, so you mask it.

“So I went up like pretty much my whole life until I think I was in college about, where when I started studying psychology, I was like, ‘Actually, I think I have this.’ Even my roommate was like, ‘Yeah, you definitely do.’ I was like, ‘Okay, well, maybe I’ll go get checked out then.’ And so then I got checked out and got put on the non-stimulants and stuff, which ended up not really doing anything. But, yeah, it definitely was like later in life, I guess.”

Ruca said one of the biggest struggles she faces with ADHD is how much rejection affects her. When she perceives any kind of rejection, she feels physical pain and starts to feel really hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable. ADHD also plays a big role in her always wanting to be a people pleaser.

After competing in acrobatics and tumbling at the University of Oregon, Ruca (real name Calyx Hampton) joined the WWE Performance Center in 2022 and has become one of the promotion’s top young stars, currently competing in NXT before an eventual main roster call-up.

Ruca believes ADHD helped her succeed in athletics and get her to WWE. Her brain is constantly craving dopamine, and she’s used sports as an outlet for that.

“That’s where I got my dopamine from, was from sports and from competing and from doing well and from improving and learning new skills,” she said. “And I definitely think that’s kind of what helped me push me to where I am today.”

ADHD has also caused Ruca to fixate on things and bounce from hobby to hobby. Because of that, she felt a bit of “imposter syndrome” when she first arrived in WWE since pro wrestling hasn’t always been her dream job. She now wishes she found out about wrestling earlier in life.

“I think when I first got here, I felt somewhat of like imposter syndrome because a lot of people in this business, this is what they wanted to do their entire lives. Like, grew up watching it and all that stuff,” Ruca said.

“And for me, I had like a million different things that I wanted to do. And I never had like, ‘This is my dream job.’ Like, I did for little bursts of time. But I also think it’s kind of cool that I’ve been able to pick up things and kind of like excel at stuff and then move on and excel at this and then try this thing.

“So, yeah, I think ADHD, it sucks, but it’s also pretty cool.”

Next week on NXT, Ruca and her former friend Zaria will challenge Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Championship in a triple threat match.