Dominik Mysterio is the new NXT North American Champion.
Mysterio pinned Wes Lee to win the championship for the first time in the main event of Tuesday’s NXT. The finish had Finn Balor distracting the referee as Damian Priest attempted to lay out Lee with the North American Championship. Lee dodged, but walked into Rhea Ripley who smashed Lee with the Women’s World Championship. Mysterio then pinned Lee, ending the show standing tall with his Judgment Day friends.
A match between Wes Lee and Mustafa Ali for the title was scheduled for the Great American Bash on June 30.
Lee had held the championship for 269 days, winning it back at Halloween Havoc on October 22 in a ladder match. The title had been vacant as Sikoa was forced to vacate the championship due to winning it in an unsanctioned match.
The match was set last week when Mysterio accepted an open challenge from Lee, who wasn’t holding an open challenge at the time. Lee said he’d get the match made for that night, but Mysterio retreated saying he would give Lee another week.
Oro Mensah has qualified for the NXT North American Championship ladder match at Halloween Havoc.
In his NXT debut under his new name, Mensah, formerly Oliver Carter, defeated Grayson Waller to advance to the ladder match at Halloween Havoc.
After Waller was distracted by Apollo Crews, Mensah hit Waller with a spinning kick to earn the pinfall victory and advance to the ladder match.
The North American title was vacated at the top of Tuesday’s NXT episode due to a technicality. NXT authority figure Shawn Michaels announced that Solo Sikoa had won the title in a match where he was not part of the fan vote to determine the challenger for then-champion Carmelo Hayes, and that the result would not stand. Michaels then announced the ladder match for Halloween Havoc on October 22, with Hayes named the first competitor.
As Carter, Mensah previously held the NXT UK Tag Team Championship, and has now earned a shot at the North American title.
Halloween Havoc will air as a premium live event on Peacock in the United States, and on WWE Network in the rest of the world.
Here is the announced lineup so far:
NXT Halloween Havoc, Saturday, October 22, 8 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock & WWE Network —
NXT Championship: Bron Breakker (c) vs. JD McDonagh
NXT North American Championship ladder match: Carmelo Hayes vs. Oro Mensah vs. TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD
Two title matches are scheduled for next week’s NXT.
The show will mark the one year anniversary of the relaunch of NXT into NXT 2.0. Pretty Deadly vs. The Creed Brothers for the NXT Tag Team titles will take place, while Carmelo Hayes will defend the North American title against whoever wins a fan vote via WWE’s social media accounts. Voting will also take place to determine the stipulation for the Tag Team title match.
In addition, Cameron Grimes will team with a mystery partner to face Tony D’Angelo and Stacks, Hank Walker will face Javier Bernal, Zoey Stark & Nikkita Lyons will face Kiana James & Arianna Grace, and Quincy Elliot will make his debut. Additionally, fans will also be able to vote on the NXT Superstar of the past year.
Earlier on Tuesday’s show, Grimes met with D’Angelo, who was backstage drinking a cappuccino with Stacks. D’Angelo asked if he’d like to join his family. Grimes declined. It eventually ended up in a brawl, with Grimes being laid out due to the 2-on-1 advantage.
Hank Walker, who has been shown as a security guard backstage on NXT in recent weeks, was confronted by Javier Bernal as he was waiting for Gallus to exit their locker room. Bernal made fun of Hank for being a security guard. Walker got in Bernal’s face, eventually setting up a match for Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Kiana James backstage ran into Arianna Grace. They agreed they wanted to take out Nikkita Lyons, setting the stage for next week’s tag match.
Carmelo Hayes has issued an open challenge for the North American Championship for this week’s WWE NXT episode.
In a social media post, Hayes announced that he would be celebrating his birthday this week by defending his title on Tuesday’s show in an open challenge.
Gonna continue to celebrate my birthday on NXT TV tomorrow the best way I know how, collecting another W.
In addition to the North American title, the NXT Tag Team Championships will be on the line on Tuesday, as The Creed Brothers defend against Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo. New NXT Women’s Tag Champions will also be crowned in a four-way match.
Here is this week’s lineup:
WWE NXT, Tuesday, August 2 —
NXT Tag Team Championship: Julius Creed & Brutus Creed (c) vs. Tony D’Angelo & Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo
NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship: Jacy Jayne & Gigi Dolin vs. Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley vs. Katana Chance & Kayden Carter vs. Yulisa Leon & Valentina Feroz
NXT North American Championship open challenge: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. TBA
NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose vs. Sarray in a non-title match
A North American Championship match has been announced for WWE NXT In Your House.
Title holder Cameron Grimes will defend against former Champion Carmelo Hayes. No date has been announced for the In Your House special.
Grimes announced the match during an in-ring promo segment with Solo Sikoa on this week’s NXT episode. Sikoa declared himself the North American title’s top contender, and Grimes agreed to defend the belt against him next, if he gets by Hayes.
Hayes and Trick Williams then attacked Grimes, but Sikoa made the save. A tag team match with Grimes and Sikoa teaming against Hayes and Williams was later announced for next week’s NXT show.
Grimes retained the North American title in a triple threat match against Hayes and Sikoa on the May 3 Spring Breakin’ episode of NXT.
Grimes captured the North American title on WrestleMania weekend at NXT Stand & Deliver, defeating Hayes, Sikoa, Grayson Waller, and Santos Escobar in a five-way ladder match.
WWE NXT 2.0 Spring Breakin’ is officially in the books. Join on-camera personality Denise Salcedo on her weekly NXT 2.0 post-show. There’s a lot of topics to touch on including the recent NXT releases, pros of NXT 2.0, and so much more.
This show featured a lot of skits, a hot opener for the NXT North American Championship, and an NXT Championship match.
This is the best way to stay-up-to-date with the new NXT.
Two title matches are set for the Tuesday, May 3 Spring Breakin’ episode of WWE NXT.
Bron Breakker will defend the NXT Championship against Joe Gacy at Spring Breakin’ in a match made official on this week’s episode.
Following up on an angle from the April 5 NXT where Gacy and Harland captured Breakker’s father, WWE Hall of Famer Rick Steiner and stole his Hall of Fame ring, Gacy taunted Breakker and dared him to find him in the arena on this week’s show. Gacy evaded Breakker until the show-closing angle, where he offered Breakker Steiner’s ring in exchange for a title match. Breakker agreed, then was shoved off a platform by Gacy. Once he hit the floor, Breakker was then seemingly attacked by hooded figures working at Gacy’s behest.
Also set for Spring Breakin’, Cameron Grimes will defend the NXT North American Championship against former champ Carmelo Hayes and Solo Sikoa in a triple threat match.
The three were involved in a promo segment on this week’s show following a Hayes win over Santos Escobar to set up the Spring Breakin’ match.
The lineup for Spring Breakin’:
WWE NXT Spring Breakin’, Tuesday, May 3 —
NXT Championship: Bron Breakker (c) vs. Joe Gacy
NXT North American Championship: Cameron Grimes (c) vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Solo Sikoa
Solo Sikoa and Grayson Waller advanced to the North American Championship ladder match at TakeOver on tonight’s NXT.
The show opened with Sikoa pinning Roderick Strong following a splash off the top rope. Later in the program, Waller advanced after pinning A-Kid with a rolling cutter.
Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams then announced after the Waller/A-Kid match that a three-way match featuring people who lost their qualifying matches (A-Kid, Roderick Strong, and Cameron Grimes) will take place next week, determining the final participant in the match. After some insults, A-Kid laid out Williams and Hayes to close out the segment.
Already qualifying for the North American title match is Santos Escobar, who defeated Grimes on last week’s show.
Here is the current card for NXT Stand & Deliver, which will take place April 2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas:
Dolph Ziggler vs. Bron Breakker for the NXT Championship
Imperium vs. The Creed Brothers vs. MSK for the NXT Tag Team Championship
Mandy Rose vs. Cora Jade for the NXT Women’s Championship
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Tony D’Angelo
LA Knight vs. Gunther
Carmelo Hayes vs. Santos Escobar vs. Grayson Waller vs. Solo Sikoa vs. TBA in a ladder match for the NXT North American Championship
A ladder match for the NXT North American Championship has been announced for NXT Stand & Deliver.
After defending the title on tonight’s WWE NXT 2.0 episode, North American Champion Carmelo Hayes announced that his next defense will come on WrestleMania weekend in Dallas at Stand & Deliver in a ladder match, the same match type that decided the inaugural North American Champion on WrestleMania weekend in 2018.
Hayes defeated Pete Dunne to retain the title on tonight’s show, then declared his intention to defend the title on April 2.
It was unclear from Hayes’ promo whether the ladder match would be a singles bout, or a multi-person match. The 2018 match that Hayes referenced was a six-way, with Adam Cole defeating EC3, Killian Dain, Lars Sullivan, Velveteen Dream, and Ricochet to be crowned the first North American Champion.
Hayes has held the North American title since defeating the since-released Isaiah “Swerve” Scott in October 2021.
The NXT Championship will also be on the line at Stand & Deliver. Bron Breakker currently holds that title, but must get through a triple threat match against Dolph Ziggler and Tommaso Ciampa on next week’s Roadblock episode of NXT 2.0.
The card for Stand & Deliver to this point:
NXT Stand & Deliver, Saturday, April 2 —
NXT North American Championship ladder match: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. TBD
Two championship matches are set for next week’s “Title Tuesday” edition of NXT.
WWE has announced that NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida will defend his title against Roderick Strong on NXT next Tuesday. An NXT Tag Team title match is also set for the show, with MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) putting their titles on the line against Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner).
Kushida has been NXT Cruiserweight Champion since winning the title from Santos Escobar this April. WWE has been building to a Kushida vs. Strong title match since Strong returned to NXT as part of Diamond Mine this June. Strong attacked Kushida when the group made its debut.
MSK won the NXT Tag Team titles at April’s TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. A video from Imperium cut off an interview with MSK on NXT three weeks ago. Barthel & Aichner called MSK two immature champions with a meaningless title reign.
Next Tuesday’s NXT is also the go-home show for TakeOver 36. The episode will feature a face-to-face segment with NXT Champion Karrion Kross and Samoa Joe ahead of their title match at TakeOver.
Here’s the full list of what’s been announced for next week’s NXT:
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida defends against Roderick Strong
NXT Tag Team Champions MSK defend against Imperium
NXT Breakout Tournament semifinal match: Duke Hudson vs. Carmelo Hayes
Face-to-face segment with NXT Champion Karrion Kross and Samoa Joe
Velveteen Dream won the NXT North American championship by defeating Johnny Gargano in the main event on episode #493 of NXT. Even though the match was taped several weeks ago, the exact outcome was unclear until the show debuted Wednesday night on WWE Network.
Two finishes being filmed during the last set of television tapings let to speculation about which person would leave as champion. The version of the finish with a title change is what ultimately aired on the episode. Therefore, Dream became the fourth person to win the title.
This show aired days after several NXT wrestlers were called up to the main roster. All four of those that debuted a few days ago on Raw were also featured on this previously recorded episode. Those four also appeared on Smackdown a day before this installment of NXT would premiere.
A voiceover by Nigel McGuinness on this show laid overtop of b-roll footage recapped the debuts on the main roster. The only aspect still unexplained was Johnny Gargano teaming with Tommaso Ciampa despite them being rivals on NXT. Granted, they were teasing a reunion for weeks on NXT before teaming up on Raw and SmackDown. Likewise, they were on the same team for Halftime Heat.
There nonetheless was very little explanation for them suddenly teaming together after Gargano had steadfastly remained hesitant on NXT television. Storyline motives and other reasoning may become clearer after the new set of tapings. The episode that aired tonight was the last from the prior tapings.
The show was loaded in many ways — and much like other stellar NXT episodes — had a lot of wrestling. Three matches all got plenty of time to play out. The show also featured an announcement about the return of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The tournament begins on TV in two weeks.
The show opened with a match set up by an attack that closed the previous episode.
Aleister Black defeated Roderick Strong
Black pinned Strong after delivering Black Mass out of nowhere. The match began with grappling until Black fired up with flurry of kicks. A German suplex netted Black an early near fall. Strong shifted the momentum with a wrecking ball dropkick to the floor.
A release backbreaker led to Black crashing on the steps. From there, Strong began working the back. Strong threw a chop that could have made Johnny Valentine blush. He kept working over Black.
Black blocked a superplex and teased doing a powerbomb — but his back gave out. Strong capitalized with a backbreaker to further exploit the injury. Black began a comeback as Gargano missed a charge into a corner.
Black peppered Strong with kicks before they both exchanged strikes. Strong was spiked on a brainbuster for a near fall. Strong fought back to execute a pop-up gutbuster. They fought on apron before Black took a crazy bump into the turnbuckles.
Strong continued the onslaught — but Black kept kicking out. For the finish, Strong momentarily let his guard down when he walked into Black Mass. Black then covered Strong for the pinfall.
Undisputed Era ran down to attack Black after the match. Ricochet ran in to make the save. He and Black cleaned house and cleared the ring. This appears to build towards a tag team match.
A skit showed the Horsewomen arguing with others on the women’s roster. There was a lot of shouting along with some pushing and shoving.
Bianca Belair in a vignette said she still considered herself “un-de-feat-ed” despite losing to Shayna Baszler at TakeOver. Belair blamed the referee in the match. Belair also cut a promo on Io Shirai — so that is apparently a future direction.
Mia Yim defeated Xia Li
Yim pinned Li after executing her finisher. They started the match with chain wrestling. Li eventually had Yim reeling and backpedaling. Li also twice countered a knuckle lock. When Li leapt off the middle rope for a leap frog, Yim met her with a kick. She followed with cannonball on Li. Nevertheless, Li hit a kick for a near fall.
Li climbed the turnbuckles only to miss a splash off the top. Yim dropped her with a kick — and then Protect Your Neck led to Yim scoring a pinfall.
The Horsewomen attacked Yim much like they did to Aliyah & Vanessa Borne on the previous episode. Yim faired better than them but not for long. Others identified only as “NXT trainees” tried to make a save — to no avail. They were all beaten down.
Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir held Yim while Shayna Baszler punted her with a kick. A defiant Baszler held up her NXT Women’s Championship as she stood over Yim. This set up a match between Baszler and Yim that airs next week.
Candice LeRae was talking to her husband — Gargano — ahead of his title match. NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa interrupted to tell Gargano, “If you need me, I’m here.” Gargano dismissed Ciampa as he wanted no help from Ciampa. They apparently are only chummy on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Jeremy Borash conducted a sit-down interview with Matt Riddle. When asked about toning down his persona, Riddle said he would rather be told to tone it down and ramp it up. Riddle added he was glad he got rid of Kassius Ohno once and for all.
Riddle mentioned tapping out Drew Gulak on a previous episode. “That’s just the beginning,” Riddle said.
Riddle mentioned wanting a title shot at the NXT North American Championship and said, “Nothing is going to stop me…bro.”
Velveteen Dream defeated Johnny Gargano to win the NXT North American Championship
Dream pinned Gargano after delivering the Purple Rainmaker. The closing moments of the match were great. They started slow and built to a fever pitch. Ciampa was watching the match from a crow’s nest much like he was Sting on Monday Nitro — except Ciampa looked far more sinister.
They were having a technical match until Dream open hand slapped Gargano — who powdered outside to sell the slap. A second slap by Dream led to double ax handle off the top rope. When he went upstairs a second time, Gargano tripped him up and pulled him off the ropes.
Gargano circled his prey as he began working over Dream. Gargano got heat as Dream kept kicking out. Gargano tortured Dream with more punishment. Dream briefly fired up before he took a Harley Race bump over the ropes to the floor.
Gargano cupped his hand to his ear as the crowd jeered. That led to dueling chants.
Dream fought from underneath as he delivered a spinebuster. A comeback by Dream led to him clotheslining Gargano to the outside. Dream followed with a Randy Savage flying double ax handle to the floor.
They traded near falls. Dream used a famouser — and Gargano delivered a draping flatliner. Dream moments later blocked a slingshot DDT. Gargano also countered a DVD — and then he followed with a tope suicida.
Back in the ring, Dream cradled Gargano with an Oklahoma roll for a two count. A DDT from Dream got another two count. Dream then proceeded to miss the Purple Rainmaker for a close near fall.
Dream executed a super DVD off the top. Gargano not only somehow survived, he also miraculously got his shoulder up. Dream went back to the top — but Gargano rolled out of the ring. Dream jumped off to attempt another flying ax handle. Gargano cut him down with a superkick.
Gargano suplexed Dream on the metal ramp. Gargano dropped Dream with a slingshot DDT for the closest near fall of the match. Gargano tried to finish Dream with series of clotheslines. They each countered the other’s finisher.
Dream twice delivered a DVD. He then climbed the turnbuckles to deliver a Purple Rainmaker for the pinfall.
As Dream celebrated with the championship belt, Ciampa smirked as he left his perch high above the ring.
NXT introduced a new secondary singles title at tonight’s television tapings, with the inaugural champion set to be crowned during WrestleMania weekend.
William Regal announced that the first NXT North American Champion will be decided at TakeOver: New Orleans on April 7th. It was at that moment that EC3 came out, making his official NXT return. He said that it was nice that Regal was going to create a title just for him. Regal said that no one is handed anything in NXT, and he will instead square off against five other competitors in a ladder match to crown the first champion. Those five other competitors were later revealed to be Lars Sullivan, Velveteen Dream Killian Dain, Adam Cole and Ricochet.
EC3 made his return to WWE back in January at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia but did not appear at last month’s Center Stage tapings. He was part of both the original incarnation of NXT and the developmental territory as Derrick Bateman before he was released by WWE in 2013.
