Cook’s WWE NXT Review 10.6.26

Hey kids! Steve Cook here with you for the latest edition of WWE NXT on the CW! We’ve got more Dusty Rhodes Classic First Round matches, a battle royal to decide Kelani Jordan’s next opponent, and a whole lot more on a busy wrestling night! It should be a good time for everybody!

If you already subscribe to the 411MANIA Wrestling Newsletter, earlier today you received some of my thoughts on El Hijo Del Vikingo’s future, Keanu Carver’s lack of a future & Enzo Amore getting heat for something he said in 2025. If you don’t already subscribe, do so right now! Yes, before we get to the show because if you’re like me you won’t remember to do this a minute from now.

Cook’s WWE NXT Review 10.6.26

We have a new opening theme! The video looks cool, but the music isn’t my bag. He ain’t like me! We’re in Orlando and we see a video hyping up the No. 1 Contender’s Battle Royal for the Women’s Championship. Six brands, y’all!

Vic Joseph & Booker T are our hosts.

Arianna Grace says she’ll win the battle royal tonight, and Lexis King says he’ll take care of their Zilla Fatu problem. Zilla says he isn’t worried about his last name, after he whips Lexis’s ass you’ll call him the main one.

Zilla Fatu vs. Lexis King (w/BirthRight): Zilla attacks right away and sends Lexis into the apron. A hello chop across the chest of King. Dempsey, Stacks & Connors stare Zilla down. They get in the ring and the bell rings. Zilla hits one corner move, misses the other. Lexis gets thrown off a bulldog attempt and a drop toe hold doesn’t work. Spinning heel kick by Zilla. Big chop in the corner by Zilla. King with one of his own, he gets knocked down. Zilla runs into a boot in the corner and clotheslines King. Hello chop, then some headbutts in the corner. BirthRight pulls Lexis outside, so he dives onto all four men! Dempsey & Stacks pull Zilla out, then Grace gets on the apron for the distraction. Lexis takes advantage and dropkicks Fatu to the floor.

Non-Stop NXT sees King whip Fatu into the barricade and roll back into the ring. King goes back outside and Zilla fights back briefly before being sent into the apron. King back suplexes Fatu on the apron and rolls him in the ring. Elbowdrop by King, then a kick to the spine of Fatu. Lexis chokes Zilla on the middle rope, then talks some junk. Zilla rams Lexis into the corner, but runs into a boot and then gets dropkicked. King with a chop and a bulldog for two. Rear chinlock by King. Zilla tries to fight out and rams him into the turnbuckle.

We go back full screen, King drops Fatu neck first on the top rope and hits a blockbuster for two. Another chinlock by King. Zilla breaks it in the corner, but King goes back to it. Zilla snap mares him over and hits some punches. Zilla misses a sitdown splash and gets kicked. Lexis misses a kick and gets Samoan dropped. Clotheslines by Zilla, King with a kick but he gets clotheslined again. Chop to King’s back, then a diving headbutt to the shoulder. Stacks & Connors get somewhat of a beating, Dempsey off the apron, King with a superkick that gets no-sold. Full nelson face drop by Zilla, then the running Samoan Spike ends it in favor of Zilla.

Winner: Zilla Fatu (9:18 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **1/2
I haven’t been the biggest fan of BirthRight getting a ton of TV time, but King did a pretty good job here putting Zilla over. Zilla might not be NXT Championship ready yet but I feel like he’ll get there.

BirthRight attacks Zilla after the bell. Dempsey gets a chair and whacks Zilla across the back! He gets rolled in front of the announce desk and then sent into the steps. Zilla’s hand is then smashed in the steps and Dempsey stands on it. Trying to break the Spike hand, I figure.

Emily Agard is with Kelani Jordan to talk about the battle royal. 20 women desperate to get her attention. Reina Volcan did, but it’s one thing to attack from behind and another thing to beat her. Chantel Monroe & Layla Diggs both interrupt Kelani to state their intentions. Kelani says she’ll make the moment at Halloween Havoc and wishes them luck. I can’t say I’d be opposed to either Chantel or Layla winning based off what I’ve seen from them.

Tonight’s NXT Focus has Dion Lennox talking to Cruz Montana about how he spoke from the heart. Cruz pumped his body full of toxins, maybe the ones his mom sold. Dion is a machine that never runs out of gas. He wasn’t dealt a better hand, he chose to live a better life. His parents gave him the tools to succeed. Making the right decisions and living up to expectations is hard. If he failed, he would have disappointed his family & community. There was times he wanted to go out and party, but he saw the bigger picture. The sacrifice led to him living two dreams. Cruz is patted on the back for finally deciding to live his dream. It took Dion two years to make NXT TV, it took Cruz twenty. Dion hopes Cruz’s past is his superpower. He might have beat his addiction, but he’ll never beat Dion. He’s going to send Cruz back to that black hole.

Cruz & Lizzy Rain talk about her big opportunity tonight. Cruz tells Lizzy to show the world what she’s made of. Xia Brookside comes up and asks Cruz if that’s who he’s hanging out with now. He’s really changed!

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round Match: Hank & Tank vs. Shido Ash & Viktor Zanov: Ash & Zanov are Judo Olympians and spent years trying to break each other. Now they fight together. Ash & Hank start things. Ash goes for a guillotine, then a judo toss! Zanov & Tank tag in. Zanov powers Tank into the corner, then whips him. Boot by Tank, then a headlock. Backfist by Tank, then a back elbow. Zanov powers Tank over, then sling blades Hank.

Non-Stop NXT sees another judo takedown on Tank, then Tank gets up and crucifixes Zanov. Some double teaming from Hank & Tank. Hank has tagged in, throws some punches before Ash pulls him outside and kicks away. Hank gets taken over for a two count by Ash. Zanov back in, Hank tries to fire up but Zanov with some gut punches and a throw. Bodyslam by Zanov, tag to Ash, he stomps Hank down.

Tank is knocked off the apron while Hank gets powered over for a two count by Ash. Hank gets an inside cradle, he goes to his corner and there’s no one to tag. Hank is suplexed for two. Tank breaks it up and is sent back outside. Hank takes both men down, makes Zanov miss in the corner and tags Tank. Cartwheel into a clothesline, then a back suplex by Tank. Overhead suplex on Ash, then a cannonball onto Zanov. Hank runs over and sends Ash over the announce table. Tank up top, swanton bomb on Zanov. Hank tags in, the shirts come off but their finisher is blocked! Ash throws Tank on the floor. Hank & Tank hit a battering ram on Zanov. Twisting side slam to Ash. Clothesline to Ash, then the belly smash followed by the elbow strike followed by a powerslam gets three!

Winners: Hank & Tank (9:14 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
OK, I’m sold on this EVOLVE tag team. Ash & Zanov looked pretty damn good here with their judo throws and teamwork. They look like a legit threat and I was hoping they’d face the Creeds in the next round. I’ve never seen these guys before and I’d like to see more.

Grayson Waller is WALKING! We cut away from that shot to see BirthRight leaving Sean Legacy & Dorian Van Dux laying! That might put a crimp in their plans to have a Dusty Classic First Round Match later!

Grayson Waller’s music hits! The NXT Champion makes his way to the ring. Last week was exactly what he wanted & what he needed. The old him would have broke down & ran & hid, but he took care of business. Rob Stone thought he would freak out, but that’s why he came back, to fight whoever wanted it most, who was EK Prosper. EK crushed it in his first main event match. He shouldn’t feel too bad, he got the Grayson Waller Rub. EK will have the title one day, but right now there isn’t a man in the locker room that can take it from him. He wanted to restore the prestige of the NXT Championship to the days when every title match mattered. Who will step up next?

Myles Borne’s music hits! Myles enters the ring and Grayson hands him a microphone. Myles is done doing what’s expected, he’s doing what’s best for him. He deserves to be a champion, and now that he doesn’t have Tavion holding him down he’s going after the one title he doesn’t have yet. When he stops worrying about all of them and only worries about him he’s unstoppable. He did what Grayson did! Grayson is happy to see that someone’s listening and paying attention to what he’s saying.

Tony D’Angelo says Myles can test out his new attitude on someone else, he’s got some unfinished business. Tony says Grayson would have complained if he tried last week. Tony cuts Myles off and talks about his championship. Grayson reminds Tony of when he told Cruz & Grayson to figure it out, so next week Myles & Tony can figure out who wants the Grayson Waller Rub. Myles stares down Grayson, then decks Tony! Vic alleges that Myles’ fist was loaded, but I saw nothing of the sort.

Shiloh Hill is WALKING! Naraku is WALKING! They’ll face each other next!

William Regal walks up to EK Prosper and asks why he’s so down on himself. EK says he screwed up last week against Grayson and fumbled his chance. Regal tell EK that he didn’t fumble, he fought with fighting spirit and put heart into it. He’s going to be on Raw or SmackDown. He’s got world championship material and shouldn’t look down on himself. They shake hands and Robert Stone walks by. Stone is worried about Legacy & DVD getting hurt. Regal suggests putting Dempsey & Lexis King in since they didn’t have a chance before. Stone doesn’t want to reward bad behavior by BirthRight, but sometimes as GM you have to. Stone finally agrees, and Regal says he knew that Stone was the right man for the job.

Shiloh Hill vs. Naraku: Tieups go nowhere. Naraku with a knee, he tosses Shiloh over the top rope and Shiloh skins the cat before slamming Naraku a couple of times and going to a headlock. Naraku gets out with a headscissors, but Shiloh goes back to the headlock. Running shoulderblock by Hill, but Naraku answers with a back suplex. Swinging neckbreaker by Naraku gets two. Some punchers on the mat and a headlock by Naraku. Naraku yanks Shiloh down by the hair. Big punch sends Hill tumbling outside. Shiloh hits a rebound punch on the floor and rolls Naraku into the ring. Hill runs into a boot, Naraku with a rolling elbow, Hill with one too. Double headbutt, double clothesline.

Non-Stop NXT sees them exchange some chops. Hill is sent hard into the ropes and ends up outside. Naraku chokes Hill on the ropes. Hill blocks a move, so Naraku works a front chancery. Hill rolls Naraku up for two and Naraku goes back to the hold. Hill drives him into the corner, but Naraku still holds on. Naraku rakes Hill’s face on the top rope. Hill sends Naraku over with an overhead suplex. Shoulderbreaker by Hill gets two.

Hill goes up top, Naraku cuts him off but gets knocked off the middle rope. Flying clothesline by Hill gets two. Naraku with a stun gun, then a face drop with some headbutts. Big chops send Hill down, a senton by Naraku gets two. Crossface by Naraku. Naraku hits the decapitator on Hill, then lifts him over his shoulders for a slam that gets two. Hill avoids the senton. Hill with some punches, then a big boot. Hill sends Naraku down and punches away. Senton by Hill gets two. Naraku goes for the mist, Hill blocks it! After some turning around, the referee gets the blue mist!

Winner: Shiloh Hill (10:58 via disqualification)
Match Rating: **1/2
I didn’t hear an official decision, but one assumes that Naraku misting the referee would lead to a disqualification in most instances. Decent enough action while it was going, I rated it a little higher because the referee getting misted instead is a nice twist on things.

Hill & Naraku continue fighting as officials try to break them up.

Kendal Grey talks with her doctor about how she should be in the battle royal tonight, and the only person she can blame for her injury is herself. She got injured in the Underground, she agreed to face Kelani too soon, and she exposed the turnbuckle that she got sent into. She admits that she only thinks about the times going wrong. People don’t see her analyzing every mistake. She told herself that if she was hard on herself, she’d never worry about not being good enough. She already told herself she was making mistakes before anybody else did. She stopped celebrating and being proud of herself. She’s always been her biggest opponent. She’ll have to fix that, and it won’t happen overnight. The therapy sessions aren’t so bad. The doctor says this is a good point for them to stop, his door is always open. This was a good way for Kendal to get some more practice expressing herself verbally.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round Match: Charlie Dempsey & Lexis King (w/BirthRight) vs. Tokyo Bad Boys (Kento & Takuma): The Bad Boys can’t be stopped now, bad boys for life. Where have I heard that before? Kento & Dempsey start. Kento hits a twisting crossbody off the middle rope, then Dempsey works his arm and hits a suplex. Kento with a headscissors. Dempsey gets out and gets a bow & arrow hold. Kento with an arm drag, another one and a dropkick. Takuma tags in and they hit a double dropkick. Double backdrop on Dempsey. King tags in, gets chopped by Takuma. Takuma with some flips, then a rana. Kento with a crossbody for two. Kento dives onto Dempsey, Takkuma dives onto King! Dempsey blocks whatever double team they were going to do and sends them to the floor. The Wagner Brothers are watching from backstage. Dempsey with some strikes to Kento, then a suplex gets two. Dragonscrew by Kento, tag to Takuma, King knocked off the apron, Dempsey gets Spanish Flied. Springboard 450 gets two thanks to Lexis breaking it up. Takuma knocks King off the apron and goes back up top, Kento spears King to the floor! Dempsey chops Takuma, hits a double underhook suplex off the top! Takuma sent into the ringpost, then hits a Regalplex for three!

Winners: Charlie Dempsey & Lexis King (4:42 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **1/4
The Bad Boys got to do some cool stuff, but they didn’t have much of a chance here because BirthRight’s getting a push right now. I’m still not really sold on the group, but King has been improving his game lately. Whatever AJ Styles has been telling him seems to be working.

Dempsey grabs Vic’s headset and tells everyone that you don’t step up to BirthRight.

Myles Borne says he’ll take out the man who was a pillar of NXT for five years (Tony D’Angelo), then he’ll see Grayson at Halloween Havoc for the NXT Championship. It turns out that Myles used a roll of quarters to deck Tony earlier, apparently I was mistaken.

Next Tuesday: Tony vs. Myles! Dusty Second Round Matches! Saquon vs. Tristian!

NXT Women’s Championship No. 1 Contender’s Battle Royal (Arianna Grace, Layla Diggs, Indi Hartwell, Xia Brookside, M by Elegance, Heather by Elegance, Ivy Nile, Kiana James, Adelicious, Lady Shani, Lizzy Rain, Thea Hail, Skylar Raye, Zaria, Izzi Dame, Kali Armstrong, Reina Volcan, Nikkita Lyons, Chantel Monroe, La Catalina) : Izzi gets the first entrance, followed by TNA’s Indi Hartwell! The fans welcome her back. After a commercial, Xia Brookside gets the next shown entrance. La Catalina is next! They’re champions, they deserve their own entrances for sure. Zaria is also a champion and she’s the last one in. Catalina is fighting off elimination and lands on the apron. Layla is the first one out, looked like she was trying to skin the cat and missed. Zaria wastes no time sending Izzi out of there, they’ve got some issues. Izzi tries to get back in and the referees hold her back! Izzi’s hitting them left and right before getting carried out of there. Reina lifts Skylar and places her on the top rope, Skylar gets back in and continues getting beat up. Lady Shani does a handstand into a sitout splash on Skylar. Adelicious tries to send Skylar over the top, they both end up on the apron and Reina sends them to the floor. We go to commercial!

During the break, Ivy Nile got an elimination on Chantel. Grace is sent out by the Elegance Brand, then there’s some miscommunication between them that allows Thea to eliminate both of them. Lizzy kicks Nikkita and makes it rain in the corner on her & Zaria. Lizzy suplexes Zaria. Lizzy gets punched on the top rope and hangs on to stay in the match. Reina shrugs a bunch of women off trying to eliminate her. Xia tries to eliminate Nikkita, doesn’t happen. Lizzy is sent up and over by Ivy, Lizzy punches her on the apron. They exchange kicks & strikes, and Ivy falls to the floor! Lizzy kicks Reina away, then a bunch of people team up to send Reina out! Shani gets powerslammed on the floor by Reina!

Non-Stop NXT shows Reina & Ivy walking away. Zaria slams Lizzy in the middle of the ring, but it’s Zaria ending up on the apron narrowly avoiding elimination from Lizzy. Zaria backbreaks Lizzy. Xia is placed on the apron, she gets superkicked, goes back & forth with Kiana who finally sends her out. Zaria is now tossing people around.

Back full screen, Lizzy with a back elbow on Zaria. Zaria & Indi size each other up, everybody intervenes. Catalina tries to eliminate Indi. Zaria with a double spear, an F-5 to Catalina. Izzi runs back in, Zaria tosses her out again! Indi takes advantage and eliminates Zaria! Izzi & Zaria fight off to the back. Xia goes for a rana on Indi, but gets sent to the floor! Xia jumps on the apron and pulls Indi to the floor! They have some issues ongoing in TNA, so no surprise there. Thea is hanging on by a thread thanks to Kiana. Thea tries to German Kiana off the apron, but gets sent to the floor instead. Kiana, Catalina, Kali & Lizzy are our Final 4 as Kelani looks on from the raised podium. Kali spinebusts Lizzy. Catalina with a missile dropkick to Kali & Kiana. Some hip attacks, but Kali catches Catalina and drops her to the floor! Catalina may have slipped, still counts. Kiana eats a Headbanger elbow, she’s hanging on the rope while Kali powerslams Lizzy. Kali knocks Kiana off the apron and she’s out. Cutter by Lizzy on Kali. Lizzy clotheslines Kali over the tope and they both hang on and get on the apron. Strikes back and forth. Lizzy hangs on by one hand. Kali is sent into the ringpost, but Lizzy gets knocked off the apron and is eliminated! Kali thinks she’s won, but we all forgot about Lady Shani, who got slammed on the floor by Reina earlier! Shani eliminates Kali and is the new #1 contender!

Hold on, Lady Shani’s taking her mask off! It’s Wren Sinclair! I thought she was suspended, but now she’s the #1 contender!

Winner: Lady ShaniWren Sinclair (17:54 shown)
Match Rating: ***1/2
Listen, whenever somebody dresses up like a luchador to mess with the person they’re feuding with, it’s always good stuff. Wren follows in the footsteps of DDP/La Parka & Dean Malenko/Ciclope to get one over on Kelani and force her to defend the title against her. The action was pretty good throughout, it’s tough to stand out in a battle royal unless you’re eliminating multiple people and I didn’t notice much of that. Regardless, the women continue to run things here at NXT.

Wren celebrates as our event comes to an end. So long for now!

If you’d like to chime in with your own thoughts on tonight’s show, feel free to join your fellow 411 Maniacs down in the comment section! As the legendary Larry Csonka always said: Have fun and don’t be a dick. When I’m not here you can catch me on social media from time to time. To be honest, e-mail is a better option and you can reach me at [email protected]. I’ll be more likely to respond there.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

NXT definitely ended on a high note this week with a classic finish that always works. The Dusty Classic saw a new team from EVOLVE put in a great effort and hopefully turn some heads. We've got some things set up for Halloween Havoc as well, so overall this was a really solid edition of NXT.