-Did I call it or what? Last week. Right here in this column I said that Vanity Project against Rey Fenix, Chad Gable, and Dragon Lee would be a banger and it was. You’re welcome. What a fun match. Vanity Project acted like pinballs bouncing off sides of the machine as they bumped all over the ring. All six guys brought high energy and the audience invested fully. The babyfaces went over because they are main roster guys, but make no mistake about it — the ceiling is high for Vanity Project in WWE and it’s because of the type of work they do in matches like this one.
Shiloh???!
-Shiloh Hill got some screen time with CM Punk. That right there tells you what NXT brass thinks of Hill. They could’ve sent him packing after the match he had against Naraku at Halloween Havoc over the weekend. Instead? Time on national television with one of the top WWE stars.
-Paige was the special surprise opponent for Kelani Jordan and the NXT Women’s Championship this week. She’s not the best in-ring opponent WWE could’ve found for Jordan, but she certainly was a novelty surprise that has deep roots in NXT. It made for a moment and I think WWE likes those? Sarcasm.
-Sol Ruca returned to NXT this week and didn’t have any kind of angle with Zaria? Has Shawn Michaels lost his mind?! Seeing as Zaria is essentially a babyface now, it made sense to not remind fans of the blistering hatred that the two women have for one another. Instead we got an awkward exchange between Ruca and Izzi Dame. An awkward exchange involving Dame? I. Can’t. Be-lieve. It. At this point, the only hope is that Dame is so incredibly talented that this awkwardness is all a put-on. Part of the character? I certainly doubt it.
-Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno are the 2026 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winners! Good for them. The tournament ended up being about their cinderella run and they completed that run by beating Hank and Tank in the tournament final. The match was good, but Dar and Moreno would’ve had a hotter match had they been up against a real heel team like Vanity Project or even The Creed Brothers. Next week, Dar and Moreno get a tag title match against Vanity Project. Does the clock strike midnight on their run? Let’s hope so. The tag division in NXT needs the best team at the top.
Was Cody Rhodes actually on NXT?
-Cody Rhodes presented Dar and Moreno with the Dusty Rhodes tournament trophy. If you decided to watch NXT instead of AEW because Rhodes was appearing, you were likely unhappy. He did almost nothing. WWE dropping big main roster stars down to NXT to boost numbers will only continue having impact if the audience is conditioned to know those stars do something of value when they appear. Rhodes didn’t clear that low bar.
-Cruz Montana and Dion Lennox went from the best feud in NXT to a total and epic disaster in just one week. Montana turned heel and joined 946 on the main roster. Good for him. Bad for NXT and this show. In NXT, he was a likable, fighting babyface. Those two character versions for him didn’t mesh well. The crowd didn’t know how to react to Montana when he started pounding on Lennox to start the match. You wanted to cheer because that was what the NXT story demanded. However, he’s linked up with Royce Keys in the hated 946 opposite The Bloodline and Roman Reigns. Not a good combination. Lennox got booed and the dastardly heel 946 was cheered when they got involved in the match on behalf of Montana. Honestly, the show, Montana, 946, and the 946 vs. Bloodline feud would all have been better off had this match been canceled.
-Zilla Fatu in the John Cena Classic is a smart play. He’s a main roster guy sooner than later and being connected to this thing — as undefined as it may be — will be a nice rub for him.
Waller with the win
-In the CM Punk vs. Grayson Waller NXT Championship main event, you knew that there would be some sort of shenanigans involving Kevin Owens. That was inevitable. The question was whether or not that would actually lead to a win for Waller or disqualification for the match. Thankfully Waller got the win. Sure, Punk was protected, but because of where Waller is right now, even this little boost helps him. The match was fine, but not a big step forward for Waller. He needs to get the in-ring portion of his game closer to the quality of the character and mic work he does.
What was your favorite part of this week’s NXT? Let us know in the comments!
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The six-man tag, the Dusty finals and the main event carried this episode. The extra star power helps. Cena and Zilla sharing the ring was surprisingly deep by tying it back to his history with Umaga. Cruz closing the book on his time in NXT was a little hasty and the place needs to work on building a top babyface and FAST.
NXTLC gotta figure it out.