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NXT TV RESULTS
MAY 12, 2026
WINTER PARK, FLA. AT THE CAPITOL WRESTLING CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON CW NETWORK
REPORT BY KELLY WELLS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
NXT Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Backstage Correspondent(s): Blake Howard
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR POST-SHOW PODCAST
-Vic said that after weeks of chaos, tonight will change this brand forever. That high claim doesn’t seem possible given what’s promoted thus far, but it might be a “hey, trust me, a big moment is planned” dog whistle.
(1) TATUM PAXLEY & LIZZY RAIN vs. ZARIA & NIKKITA LYONS
Booker was way into Lizzy Rain and tried to galvanize Vic to “rock on.” Lyons was now wearing a catwoman mask as part of her entrance, which has been tweaked and added to about a thousand times over her five years in the company. Zaria, fresh off her win to end her feud with Sol Ruca, entered last to a decent heel reaction. It doesn’t make sense that she’d be in a tag match after the Ruca feud, but at least they acknowledged this last week by having Zaria say she wanted no part of it.
Zaria powered Rain to the mat to open. Zaria powered Rain to the mat for a leverage cover for one. Headbutt by Zaria, but Rain returned the favor. Headscissor takedown by Rain. Zaria fought off a sunset flip attempt and clubbed Rain to the mat. Lyons wanted a tag from Zaria, who wasn’t interested in offering one. Paxley tagged in and Zaria ran the ropes, allowing Lyons to tag herself in. Step-up enzuigiri by Paxley. Crucifix got two. Lyons hit a body slam, then surfed on Paxley, but missed with her splits drop. Zaria and Lyons argued, and the faces hit them with running shots. Lyons forgot to take a bump so she had to set up another one. I swear, this woman. Both heels got dumped to the ramp as the match went to split-screen. [c]
Lyons hit a sit-out slam on Paxley for two. Vic promoted Jordan-Grey as the main event, and while it’ll be a good match, it’s a suspect choice to main event unless a huge angle is planned. Both women tagged and Rain dominated with the hot tag, hitting a nice Samoan Drop, then lighting up Lyons in the corner with a long series of chops. Cutter for the interfering Zaria. Rain charged Lyons face-first, but then got caught with a ring. Paxley tagged in and nailed a superkick. Lyons countered Cemetery Drive with a big roundhouse kick. Both women sold on the mat. Lyons jumped for a tag to Zaria, but Zaria hopped off the apron. Paxley hit an overhead kick on Lyons, and she tagged Rain in so she could hit Thunderstruck and finish Lyons. After suffering the loss, Lyons looked preoccupied with a broken nail. Character or performer? Who knows?
WINNERS: Lizzy Rain & Tatum Paxley at 9:22.
(Wells’s Analysis: Lyons is finally a fine enough talent in the ring, but not going down during a spot where both faces were taking out both heels stood out like a sore thumb. If I’m going to turn over a new leaf about her, which is kind of happening, I have to acknowledge the misses. Rain is a lot of fun and it’ll be interesting to see what she’s able to do in a long-form singles match. While Zaria and Paxley are clearly on a collision course, Lyons would rightfully have beef with Zaria also, so we might have a Lyons face turn on our hands if this is meant to keep Lyons relevant)
-Kendal Grey and Wren Sinclair talked in the locker room. Sinclair had crutches. She said she didn’t want to be out there for Grey later because she doesn’t want to be a distraction. Lola Vice said hola to the two of them and they said “Hola Lola,” synchronously. Grey got all bothered by Vice and talked tough about taking her championship, and Sinclair calmed her down and told her to focus on the match with Kelani tonight.
-Naraku is up next. [c]
(2) LINCE DORADO vs. NARAKU
Those of you surprised to see Dorado may be even more surprised to know that Dorado is a regular on Evolve. I didn’t actually think we’d ever see him up in NXT, though if you need a guy who isn’t figured in to be a bump machine for a debuting monster, he’s a good choice.
Naraku, who has had exclusively fantastic music in his career, has a really cool, dark metal theme song. Vic nailed the pronunciation, which was great (though Mike Rome put the accent on the wrong syllable, and then Booker mispronounced it also). Naraku dominated with basic stuff early. Rope run and a block by Naraku. I’ve recapped enough of his matches that it’ll be real tough not to call him Evil. Chops by Naraku against the ropes. Dorado hit a springboard cross-body for two. Dorado tried an arm submission but Naraku booted him until he relented. Vic brought up the championships that Naraku has won in NJPW by name. There was a “Naraku” chant briefly. Wow.
Naraku launched Dorado and dropped him, then set him up for a huge lariat. Book even used the word “lariat,” which WWE rarely does, for the hard shot. Body slam by Naraku, who transitioned to a chinlock. Dorado tried to elbow out. He escaped and hit an enzuigiri, then a dropkick. Naraku charged into a boot, then got hit with a springboard stunner by Dorado. Dorado ran himself into a boot. Naraku charged Dorado to a corner, then hit him with a fisherman’s suplex, then a second. He then hit his finisher, and as he did so, Vic said “and now entering…the abyss.” He said “Enter the Abyss” right after the finish, so that appears to be the new name for his longtime finisher known as “Everything is Evil” in New Japan. Naraku talked into the camera about being evil afterward.
WINNER: Naraku at 4:32.
(Wells’s Analysis: In the last couple of years, EVIL was in a role where he cheated every second of every match and used as many outside interferences and weapons as he could get. Before that, he was just a big dude who could work a nice match. This was a look at the latter. He gave Dorado a lot here, which was iffy, but Dorado is much faster so I guess there’s no harm done. Wade Keller and I talked extensively about the man on the flagship, so when that drops, check it out for extended thoughts on a man I’ve seen work literally hundreds of times)
-Tate Wilder told Sean Legacy and EK Prosper he was going to take his opponent to the wild side tonight. Dorian Von Dux showed up and said he’d be back in there with all of them next week.
-Birthright was announced ahead of a six-man match. [c]
-Earlier today, Nattie was talking about her favorite part of LFG in a worked shoot, and Jaida Parker showed up and interrupted her, saying she has a big-ass mouth. Nattie told production to cut and start from scratch as security escorted Jaida out.
(3) SEAN LEGACY & TATE WILDER & EK PROSPER vs. BIRTHRIGHT (Stacks & Charlie Dempsey & Uriah Connors) (w/Lexis King & Arianna Grace)
Wilder & Stacks opened things. I saw Wilder in a few matches on Evolve, but Evolve has such a large number of people passing through and only one hour of content a week, so I can’t say I have a strong feeling about him. He dominated Stacks, and when Dempsey tagged in, he dominated him too and tagged Legacy. Legacy got in some shots but Dempsey hit a European uppercut, then a chop block. Legacy came back with a double stomp and a dropkick for two. Prosper tagged in and hit a double stomp on Dempsey as Legacy held him. Dempsey missed in a corner and Prosper hit a step-up dropkick and a springboard moonsault for two.
The ref got hung up with Connors, so Dempsey yanked the hair, took the advantage and made the tag to Connors. Connors took over on offense until Prosper hit a headscissor. Connors bailed and the heels regrouped while the babyfaces jawed out at them to head into commercial, this time with no split-screen. [c]
The heels were making quick tags to dominate face-in-peril Legacy. Double stomp by Stacks for two. Legacy managed a surprise standing Spanish fly to get an opening and tag Wilder, who got something of a teenybopper pop as he’s a conventionally good-looking young man. He hit a neckbreaker/DDT combo on the two illegal heels, then took down Dempsey for two. It went bonzo gonzo as everyone got involved and the ref mostly attempted to thwart it by doing nothing. The legal men ended up in there again and they fought up in a corner. Wilder hit a cutter on Stacks, but it was broken up. The heels got dumped and Legacy wanted a tag, but Wilder stayed in. He had Dempsey on the ropes. then gave Legacy a thumbs up. Wilder hit a frog splash and got two. Legacy continued begging for a tag and Wilder wouldn’t do it. Wilder missed a moonsault and got nailed with a double superkick, and Connors covered him for the win.
WINNERS: Birthright at 12:57.
(Wells’s Analysis: I’ve been thinking Legacy might turn heel, but this could be a hint that Wilder might do so just as much as Legacy could. It was the usual messy multi-man match in NXT)
-Tatum Paxley & Lizzy Rain talked over their win, and Shiloh Hill showed up to glaze them further. Tristan Angels showed up to be a wet blanket, and he said his debut is next week.
-Still to come: Giant, agile Englishman Mason Rook signs his NXT contract. [c]
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