SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT TV REPORT
SEPTEMBER 22, 2026
ORLANDO, FLA. AT THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON THE CW
REPORT BY DAVID MILLER, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Correspondent: Emily Agard
[HOUR ONE]
-The show opened with a video package on the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, narrated by Cody Rhodes, who said he would personally present the trophy to the winning team.
(1) ROMEO MORENO & NOAM DAR vs. LOS AMERICANOS (Rayo & Bravo) – Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round Match
Dar began the match against Rayo. After a brief exchange, they both tagged their respective partners. Los Americanos showed off their seamless teamwork before Dar tagged back in, giving his team a chance to show off their teamwork as well. He locked in a guillotine that was broken up by Bravo. Moreno & Dar got ejected to the floor before the luchadors took some time to show off their dance moves in the ring prior to a split-screen commercial break. [c]
We actually got some new commercials for a change, but that’s the extent of the attention I paid to them. Back to full screen, Moreno and Bravo struggled to reach their corners for the tag. Rayo took the tag first, then Dar shortly afterwards. After Rayo was dispatched, Bravo got worked over for a bit, but came back to lift both opponents on his shoulders for an airplane spin. That was impressive. They picked the pace up a few notches, with Moreno barely breaking up a pin attempt. Both teams hit some high-impact moves before Dar caught Bravo in a grapevine anklelock that he nearly tapped to before managing to escape. Moreno ate an elbow after a springboard dive attempt to the floor.
Back in the ring, Dar barely escaped a pin attempt by Rayo, who retaliated by splitting the fingers of his opponents. Moreno leaped on the ropes with Bravo to deliver an incredible Attitude Adjustment off the top. Bravo was pinned after a high/low by Moreno & Dar.
WINNERS: Romeo Moreno & Noam Dar at 15:08 to advance to the quarterfinals.
(Miller’s Take: Typical spotfest that NXT tends to lean towards these days, but it was highly entertaining. I think Moreno & Dar have a good shot at making it to the finals, as they have been a featured team.)
-An X social media post from Grayson Waller was shown before Kali Armstrong made her ring entrance. [c]
-Kendal Grey was shown seated on a leather couch, wringing her hands nervously. An unseen “doctor” asked her how she was feeling. She began talking about her vertigo, but the shrink asked her how she felt emotionally. She said it sucked being on the sidelines watching everyone else chase their dreams. She explained that the difference between this injury and others she’s suffered is that she can’t see this injury. She worried that she might not be the same when she returns and admitted that she didn’t know who she was if she wasn’t competing.
-Pseudo-celebrity Jimmie Allen (whoever he is) was shown in the crowd.
(2) KALI ARMSTRONG vs. SKYLAR RAYE
Joseph mentioned that Raye will challenge Nikkita Lyons tomorrow night for the Evolve Women’s Championship. She frustrated Armstrong with her speed and agility before Armstrong stopped her with a series of right hands that would make Jerry Lawler proud. A plucky Raye quickly recovered and showed some good fire before getting caught with a running powerslam by her opponent before they cut to another split-screen commercial break. [c]
After being treated to the Liberty Biberty yellow fuzzball, the laundry bead-sniffing elegant woman, KFC, plug-in bug killers, and bears that use toilet paper, they returned to full screen, where Raye escaped Armstrong’s offense with a backstabber. She got Armstrong off her feet and executed a satellite DDT that showed plenty of light between Armstrong’s head and the mat. That needs some work. The former Evolve Women’s champ hit a spinebuster for a near fall, then caught Raye with a powerslam. She picked up speed off the ropes for a Kali Konnection, but Raye moved and Armstrong took out the referee. Reina Volcan rushed the ring and laid waste to both women. She dumped Raye in a position on the mat that allowed her to drape her arm over Armstrong, and the dazed referee crawled back into the ring and made a slow three-count as Volcan smirked at ringside.
WINNER: Skylar Raye at 9:37.
(Miller’s Take: With the exception of that DDT, this was really good. Raye is Candice LeRae small, but she’s quick as a wink. I’d nearly forgotten about Volcan since it’s been a while since we’ve seen her, but she reminded us who she is and what she’s about tonight. Raye picked up a much-needed win, Armstrong has an out, and Volcan is back.)
-In GM Robert Stone’s office, Shiloh Hill told him about the talking raccoons while Saquon Shugars asked him what he was going to do about Tristan Angels costing him a shot at the NXT title. Hill offered some red mist to Shugars and said Angels probably doesn’t know how to use an eye-wash station, so the effects might be permanent. Shugars dug into his pocket and offered Hill $7 and a scratch-off as payment before Stone admonished them for talking about blinding a wrestler right in front of him. He said he’d work on matches with Naraku and Angels next week. They were appeased by that and walked off as Shugars asked Hill about the orange mist and talking raccoons. Hill and Shugars are comedy gold together! More, please. [c]
-An Instagram video showed footage from an hour ago, where Robert Stone caught wind that Wren Sinclair was outside mingling with fans. Due to her suspension, Stone and security removed her from the premises.
(3) THEA HAIL & LA CATALINA vs. ZARIA & KELANI JORDAN
Zaria came out to new, higher energy entrance music, which I wasn’t crazy about. Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke. Hail charged Zaria, but got shoved off. Jordan tagged herself in, but wasn’t paying attention to Hail and paid the price for it. With their opponents on the floor, Hail split the ropes with her legs for Catalina to dive through them. Hail followed suit with a springboard backwards dive. Hail and Catalina danced on the floor before they cut to another split-screen commercial break. [c]
The women battled in silence on the microscopic screen on the left while advertisements blared on the much larger screen on the right. When they returned to full screen, Hail reversed a vertical suplex into a sleeper, but wound up eating a boot from Jordan, who thumped on her before cinching in an abdominal stretch. Hail reversed the hold and fought in an attempt to tag her partner, but failed. A second attempt to crawl to her corner was also thwarted by Jordan. Zaria came in and missed a cannonball, which allowed Hail to make the hot tag to La Catalina, who came in and cleaned house. She executed hip attacks from corner to corner before Zaria hoisted her up for an F5 and threw her onto Jordan. She attempted another F5 on Hail, but Thea countered with an impressive sunset flip for the pin.
WINNERS: Thea Hail & La Catalina at 9:36.
(Miller’s Take: Unlike the previous tag team spotfest, this match had good psychology and told a story, which was that of the odd woman out as far as singles titles are concerned, picking up the victory and punching her ticket to a future title match against Zaria.)
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of “PWT Talks NXT” with Kelly Wells and Nate Lindberg, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
[HOUR TWO]
-In the locker room, Sean Legacy told Zilla Fatu that Dorian Van Dux has a punctured lung, but he had a replacement in mind for their upcoming six-man tag team match. DVD came in and said he was ready to fight. Legacy reminded him that he had a hole in his lung. DVD said it was just a tiny one. E.K. Prosper showed up to join them for the tag match. DVD protested, but Legacy said he needed him healthy for the Dusty Cup.)
-Cruz Montana made his way to the ring through the crowd before the commercial break. [c]
-Montana admitted he hasn’t been winning a lot, but he said he doesn’t take losses, he learns lessons. He was interrupted by Dion Lennox, who also came through the crowd to confront Montana. He touted Montana’s accomplishments in TNA, then started putting himself over. Montana said he cleaned up his own mistakes, overcame his demons, and paid his dues. He told Lennox he’d run circles around him in every aspect. He poked at Lennox about turning to wrestling because he couldn’t make the cut for the NFL. Lennox fired back by accusing Montana’s mom of being a drug dealer and calling him a former drug addict. Montana heard enough and decked Lennox. The two men brawled to the back ans referees rushed out to try to separate them.
-In Stone’s office, Hank & Tank jazzed up Mason Rook for his upcoming encounter with Grayson Waller. They expressed their confidence in dispatching Evolve’s Viktor Zanov & Shido Ash in the Dusty Cup. [c]
(4) THE CREED BROTHERS vs. JAX PRESLEY & HARLEY RIGGINS – Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round Match
Presley & Riggins were already in the ring when the Creeds were introduced, which doesn’t bode well for the Evolve team. Brutus and Julius ejected Riggins from the ring before the bell, then went to work on Presley. They went for their finisher early, but Presley, who is no slouch, slipped out and fought back with a series of stiff clotheslines and backdrops. He took the fight to the floor, but got tripped up and crashed and burned on the ring steps.
Back in the ring, they pounded on Presley while continuing to knock Riggins off the ring apron to prevent the tag from being made. An angry and determined Riggins made his way back up, took the hot tag, and landed a twisting senton off the top as the crowd chanted “Harley”. Riggins got knocked off the ropes before he and Presley could execute a Doomsday Device, then Brutus and Julius successfully performed their double sit-down slam on Presley for the win.
WINNERS: The Creed Brothers to advance to the quarterfinals.
(Miller’s Take: As your friendly neighborhood Evolve reporter, I was pleasantly surprised to see the reunion of Presley & Riggins, who began in Evolve as a formidable tag team that was broken up when Presley suffered a torn pec during training and was expected to be out of action until sometime in 2027. Since then, Riggins teamed with Kam Hendrix before going solo in pursuit of the Evolve title. It will be interesting to see if Presley returns to action in Evolve now. Of course, The Creed Brothers are favorites in this tournament, but it was good to see Jax & Riggins get in a decent amount of offense and not treated like jobbers.)
-The Progressive NXT Spotlight recapped the long-winded, insincere apology from Myles Borne to Tavion Heights, that was revealed as a ruse when Borne viciously attacked his former friend.
(5) BIRTHRIGHT (Lexis King & Stacks Lorenzo & Uriah Connors) (w/Arianna Grace) vs. SEAN LEGACY & ZILLA FATU & E.K. PROSPER – 6-Man Tag Team Match
As in the previous match, BirthRight was already in the ring when their opponents were introduced. No sign of Charlie Dempsey. Legacy and Stacks went from 0 to 100 m.p.h. at the bell. Prosper and Connors kicked the match into an even higher gear. King took the tag and slowed the pace down just a bit, but fell victim to Fatu, who took out all of BirthRight. Multiple tags resulted in multiple suicide dives before they cut to a commercial break. [c]
Back from the break, Stacks and Prosper traded kicks before the Fatu hit another suicide dive to the floor. Connors beat on Prosper, then grounded him with a rear chinlock that he quickly rose to his feet from. Connors expressed frustration at not being able to put Prosper away. Fatu again took the tag and no-sold a superkick from King, who ran for his life to tag out. Grace jumped up on the ring apron to distract the referee, who missed the tag to Prosper. Connors got his knees up for Legacy’s 450 splash and pinned him.
WINNERS: BirthRight at 11:06.
(Miller’s Take: Spotfest City tonight. Knowing that this was the main event of the night, I’m happy that this is the last time I will type the words “suicide dive” in this report. I’m not saying it wasn’t an entertaining match, because it certainly was, but there’s more to the art of tag team wrestling than one highspot after another. I wish someone would sit some of these teams down and have them watch a Midnight Express vs. Rock ‘n’ Roll Express match.)
-After the match, BirthRight yanked King out of the ring and out of harm’s way when he inexplicably tried to confront Fatu in the ring and nearly got spiked.
-In the back, Emily Agard told Zaria that she would be defending against Thea Hail next week. Zaria said it will be a different outcome with the belt up for grabs. Behind them, an unclear video played that showed two women seated and talking to each other. Izzi Dame walked up and said, “Zaria, is that you?” Zaria rushed off after what appeared to be an attempt by Dame to embarrass her. She said she was taking over the interview. She claimed Hail had no friends and Zaria never had friends in high school, as was evidenced by the video. Joseph exclaimed that Dame was playing “mean girl”.
Grayson Waller was shown preparing for the next segment before they cut to the last commercial break of the night. [c]
-Vic Joseph ran down next week’s card, including Zaria defending against Hail and more first round tag team matches with Fraxiom vs. DarkState and BirthRight vs. Mini Vikingo and Chazz “Starboy” Hall. Also, Myles Borne will have some ‘splaining to do following his heinous brutalization of Heights.
-NXT Champion Grayson Waller made his ring entrance, followed by his challenger, Mason Rook. Joseph commented that no less an authority than John Cena said he was floored the first time he saw Rook. Waller cut Rook off from talking, put him over briefly, then made the remark that nobody was “hungrier” than Mason Rook. He continued to make weight jokes, but got serious and touted Rook’s ability. He then shifted gears and called him lazy and half-hearted. He handed the mic to Rook, telling him not to eat it because it’s not a drumstick.
-Rook said he wasn’t going to trade witty barbs with him, but added that maybe he’ll take a stab at it after all. He told Waller that maybe there’s a “theory” as to why he’s back in NXT and that he didn’t quite fit the “vision” on the main roster. He said he’s not here because he wasn’t good enough elsewhere and claimed to be the best big man in the game. Rook stood confidently in front of the champ and said that being great on the stick wasn’t going to save his sorry ass this time. They continued to bicker as the show went off the air. Pretty good showing on the mic from Rook.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Not a bad show by any means, but I’d really like to see some more meat on the bones of the Dusty Cup. I really hope they don’t continue to treat the AAA and Evolve talent as filler material, because teams like Jax & Riggins, Mini Vikingo & Hall, and Shido & Ash have a lot to offer. I could see Hail upending Zaria next week, but Dame’s insertion into the equation muddies the waters a bit. Rook vs. Waller should be good, but I expect the Aussie to be a long-term champion. See you next week!
