Several NXT stars are currently dealing with injuries.
Bryan Alvarez reported on Wednesday that Indi Hartwell was legitimately hurt during the NXT Women’s Championship main event at Spring Breakin on Tuesday. After Tiffany Stratton hit a tope off the turnbuckle and to the floor, Indi Hartwell injured her ankle upon landing. Hartwell was taken to the back while Stratton and Roxanne Perez worked the rest of the match, until Hartwell returned to the ring for the finish.
“They actually changed the finish to Tiffany winning after Indi got hurt, but then Indi managed to make it back out to do the planned finish,” Alvarez wrote on Twitter.
Grayson Waller was also injured during his match against Carmelo Hayes at Spring Breakin. According to Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live, the match went immediately to the finish once Waller became hurt while doing his rolling cutter finish.
Sol Ruca is also legitimately injured. On Wednesday, NXT Anonymous posted a video of Ruca being attacked outside the Performance Center. An ongoing storyline in NXT has a mystery assailant attacking the women’s roster outside of the Performance Center, with Nikkita Lyons and Wendy Choo being recent victims.
*Updates on CM Punk, AEW’s new television deal, issues a Saturday show has to deal with and plusses of a Saturday show
*Lots of news on WWE & AEW major shows the next few months, including All In, SummerSlam, Double or Nothing and Backlash.
*Nick Khan talks the WWE/UFC merer and what it means, upcoming negotiations, how Endeavor can help WWE grow, WWE budget cuts and more
*Full coverage of AAA TripleMania, the good, the bad, the angles and more
*Full coverage of New Japan’s U.S. tour in Washington, DC and Philadelphia
*Ted DiBiase Jr. indicted on 13 counts in welfare fraud cause, and updates on it
*Full coverage of Saturday’s UFC show
*The most detailed look at the TV ratings from the past week, including where wrestling ranks with sports an with entertainment programing, competition, segment by segment, comparisons with last year and more
*Continuation of the CMLL champion of champions tournament
*Mercedes Mone in Japan, negotiation updates, her comments on Japan and more
*Details of the biggest women’s show in Japan in decades this weekend at the Yokohama Arena
*Ticket sale update on the show
*Cinderella tournament finals
*Champion Carnival update
*Notes on major NOAH show
*Will Ospreay talks future
*John Morrison’s boxing debut and comments form that
*Lots of notes on he death of Butch Miller
*Bill Goldberg and a retirement tour
*Abdullah the Butcher and financial issues
*NCAA looking at changes to wrestling rules and scoring and why
*Concert/wrestling joint promotions
*Major European show this weekend loaded with top international stars
*Impact major show rundown
*Lots of fallout to C.M. Punk returning to AEW
*Great lesson for AEW wen getting a big sports lead-in going forward
*Lots of injury updates
*Advanced ticket sales for WWE & AEW upcoming show
*Streaming numbers for WWE & AEW
*International TV ratings
*What milestone did Raw achieve this past week
*What milestone did AEW achieve this past week
*Lots of new UFC major fights
*What were the most in-demand sports tickets so far in 2023
*Former UFC fighter arrested in a $200,000 burglary
*More details on the new WWE Twitch deal
*WWE performer goes into another major sports competition next week and attempts to make the 2024 Olympic team
*Notes on two WWE signees that a betting site already has odds that one of them will be world champion by 2027
*Notes on all the WWE live events on the road over the past week
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Tuesday Update
WWE
NXT Anonymous posted a video on Twitter Wednesday morning showing Sol Ruca being attacked by a mystery assailant at the WWE Performance Center.
Shane McMahon is back in the gym after tearing his quad at WrestleMania 39.
Joe Gacy and Cora Jade worked Monday’s WWE Main Event tapings prior to Raw.
Vikingo vs. Komander vs. Gringo Loco has been added to GCW’s Lifestyle event on May 26 in Las Vegas.
Lince Dorado shared pictures of the Black Tiger inspired mask he made for Mercedes Mone that she wore to the ring at this past weekend’s Stardom pay-per-view.
A new match announcement has been made for tonight’s episode of NXT.
Tiffany Stratton vs. Sol Ruca will take place on NXT tonight. While announcing the match, WWE noted that it was the result of a confrontation between Stratton and Ruca that took place over the weekend.
At Stand & Deliver earlier this month, Stratton was part of a ladder match for the NXT Women’s Championship. Indi Hartwell was crowned the new NXT Women’s Champion by winning the match.
Stratton attempted to confront Hartwell on NXT last Tuesday, but the returning Cora Jade ambushed Hartwell and laid her out. Jade and Stratton then talked trash to each other over who would be the next NXT Women’s Champion.
WWE will follow up on Jade’s return with her appearing on NXT tonight. Here’s the updated lineup for the episode:
Four-way match to determine the number one contender to Carmelo Hayes’ NXT Championship: Dragon Lee vs. JD McDonagh vs. TBA vs. TBA
NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn defend against Fallon Henley & Kiana James
Ilja Dragunov vs. Von Wagner (if Wagner loses, Mr. Stone will walk away from him)
Zoey Stark will be in action on NXT tonight, taking on Sol Ruca. The two also faced off one-on-one on NXT this past November with Stark picking up the win.
WWE.com wrote:
Incredible in-ring action is coming to NXT when the electric Sol Ruca takes on the infallible Zoey Stark in what is sure to be a memorable affair.
Stark has claimed to be the best competitor NXT and has backed it up by accumulating wins in dominant fashion. Ruca, meanwhile, is quickly garnering attention for her unorthodox offense combined with her cool, laid-back persona.
Which Superstar will steal the show and earn a crucial win? Tune in to NXT at 8/7 C on Tuesday on USA to find out!
Last Tuesday, Stark was mentioned among the potential suspects for Nikkita Lyons’ mystery attacker. There was an angle two weeks ago where it was revealed that Lyons had been laid out in the NXT parking lot. The angle was a cover for Lyons needing to undergo surgery for a torn ACL and torn meniscus.
Stark and Lyons are former tag team partners.
WWE star Bayley will make an appearance on NXT tonight as she hosts a “Ding Dong, Hello!” segment with Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne, who both came up short when they challenged Roxanne Perez for the NXT Women’s Championship in a triple threat match at Vengeance Day. Lyra Valkyria vs. Valentina Feroz is also set for the episode.
After betraying Nikkita Lyons following their loss to NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Katana Chance & Kayden Carter two weeks ago, Stark addressed her actions in a promo on NXT last Tuesday. Stark said she carried Lyons when they were partners, but Stark couldn’t contribute to their team. Stark said NXT is no longer about the future — it’s about Zoey Stark.
Stark declared herself to be “The Hunter” and said every other female in NXT is the prey.
The matchup between Stark and Ruca was set up by a TikTok video that Ruca posted. Ruca took exception to Stark talking trash about the new athletes in the women’s locker room. Ruca said the locker room doesn’t need Stark’s negative energy — and she has no problem telling that to Stark in the middle of the ring.
The updated lineup for tonight’s NXT is listed below:
NXT North American Champion Wes Lee defends against Carmelo Hayes
Sol Ruca will make her WWE NXT in-ring debut on the September 27 episode, plus four more matches have been announced for the show.
After weeks of vignettes, Ruca is set to make her debut in the ring on the September 27 show. Ruca has previously wrestled on NXT house shows, and has made four in-ring appearances on the NXT Lvl Up show.
Also announced for next week, Cameron Grimes will face Joe Gacy one-on-one. Gacy has attempted to recruit Grimes for his Schism faction in recent weeks, but Gacy has rebuffed him.
In a Pub Rules match next week, Gallus will take on Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen in tag team action. The Pub Rules were not specified on this week’s show.
Damon Kemp will be in singles action next week against Diamond Mine’s Brutus Creed in a battle of former stablemates.
Also announced for the September 27 show, Nikkita Lyons will take on Kayden Carter.
Here is the announced card for next week’s episode, which was taped on September 14:
A new member of the NXT women’s division is set to make her debut on Level Up,
Sol Ruca (real name Calyx Hampton) will have her first televised match for WWE on NXT Level Up this Friday night, facing Kiana James. Ruca was a former member of the Acrobatics & Tumbling team for the University of Oregon.
Calyx Hampton is a 22-year-old former athlete from the University of Oregon having competed on the school’s Acrobatics & Tumbling team, earning NCATA Individual Event National Championship honors.
WWE filed a trademark for the name “Sol Ruca” this May. She had her first match at an NXT house show in Florida last month.
NXT Level Up airs on Peacock/WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Fridays. The full card for this week’s episode is listed below:
Chase U (Andre Chase & Bodhi Hayward) vs. Javier Bernal & Myles Borne
