Tag: saquon shugars

WWE NXT notes: Mr. NXT pageant announced, Saquon Shugars, Marie Malenko

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Notes from Tuesday’s WWE NXT.

Over the last couple of weeks, Shiloh Hill has been passing a petition around in an effort to name himself Mr. NXT over Tristian Angels, who has grown infuriated over Hill’s actions and behavior. After Hill managed to defeat Charlie Dempsey on Tuesday, Angels came out and informed Hill they have both been entered into the Mr. NXT pageant that will take place in two weeks time on June 9. 

Saquon Shugars appears, Marie Malenko wrestles in dark match

Meanwhile, DarkState continued to run roughshod after taking out Shugars from the group on last week’s show, targeting Myles Borne and Tavion Heights. The closing moments of the show saw the trio walk out of the Performance Center, happy with what they had accomplished. But what they didn’t see was Shugars watching them from afar on top of a production truck, seemingly plotting revenge against his former stablemates.

Marie Malenko, the daughter of current AEW producer and former WWE & WCW star Dean Malenko, had her first WWE match on Tuesday, wrestling Zena Sterling. Marie had wrestled for Marigold and Pro Wrestling NOAH before joining the company, who officially announced her signing last week.

DarkState kick out Saquon Shugars on WWE NXT

Posted on by Bryan Rose

DarkState are now a trio.

The end of this week’s NXT saw Saquon Shugars & Dion Lennox fall to Vanity Project in a match for the NXT Tag Team titles. As the group grappled with their loss, Osiris Griffin and Cutler James turned their attention to a recovering Shugars and went in on the attack, with Lennox eventually joining in. Shugars briefly fought back but was cut off again as he was taken to the outside and powerbombed through the announce table. The closing moments of the show saw the remainder of DarkState standing tall over their former stablemate.

Later, WWE on social media shared footage of Shugars being helped to the back.

Shugars questioned Lennox’s motivations

DarkState had been teasing dissension for weeks, with Shugars upset that Lennox had seemingly prioritized opportunities for himself rather than the group as a whole. On last week’s show, Griffin and James told the two that they needed to be on the same page as they got the group a Tag Team title match, but they would be the two to challenge Ricky Smokes & Brad Baylor.

The group made their debut as a quartet in February of 2025 and have held the NXT Tag Team titles twice, including defeating the Hardy Boyz at Halloween Havoc last year. Lennox and Griffin were originally the champions, but in December Lennox relinquished his half to Shugars in order to focus on singles gold.

New group featuring Dion Lennox debuts at WWE NXT Vengeance Day

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A new group is making their mark on NXT.

The yet to be named group attacked Nathan Frazer and Axiom following their Tag Team title defense at Vengeance Day. They were later identified as Dion Lennox, Saquon Shugars, Cutler James, and Osiris Griffin. Wearing face masks, the four took out both Frazer and Axiom then left the ring.

Later in the night, Oba Femi successfully defended the NXT Championship against Austin Theory and Grayson Waller. The group emerged again and this time came through the crowd before jumping the NXT Champion. Two of the four managed to lift Femi and threw him to the other two, who laid out Femi with an assisted powerbomb.

On social media, Lennox shared a picture of the masks the four wore.

Lennox is the only person of the group that has been a regular on NXT, usually appearing backstage reading a book and wearing glasses. Back in January, Lennox congratulated Femi backstage after winning the NXT Championship and told him that one day he would challenge for the title.