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NXT TV REPORT
APRIL 28, 2026
ORLANDO, FL 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
[HOUR ONE]
-Highlights from Revenge were shown, including all the call-ups putting their opponents over in a big way.
-GM Robert Stone was in a meeting with Shawn Michaels and Matt Bloom. He expressed concern over bringing in talent to fill the shoes of Ethan Page, Joe Hendry, Fatal Influence, Sol Ruca, and Blake Monroe. He said his phone has been blowing up and suggested bringing in talent from Evolve or LFG. Bloom said there was a crop of international talent looking for a chance. Michaels told him he could put up index cards and take calls or throw a stick of dynamite in the locker room and see who runs out.
(1) MYLES BORNE (c) vs. SAQUON SHUGARS (w/Dion Lennox & Osiris Griffin & Cutler James) – North American Championship Match
Shugars rushed Borne at the bell but got caught by Borne with some powerful offense. Shugars rolled to the outside after a powerslam, then Borne flew over the top rope with a cannonball to the floor that took out Shugars and Griffin. Back in the ring, Shugars hung Borne gut-first over the tope rope, pulled his shoulder into an exposed turnbuckle, then flew between the bottom and middle ropes with a dropkick that floored Borne. Since the action spilled to the floor, that meant it was time for a split-screen commercial break. [c]
Shugars maintained a slow-paced offense during the commercial break. As they returned to full screen, it was Borne’s time to rally a bit, but Shugars showed some impressive athleticism to keep him grounded. He locked in what looked similar to a cobra clutch to wear the champ down. Shugars attempted a huge belly-to-back superplex off the top but Borne twisted in mid-air and turned it into a massive press for a two-count.
They went into a series of competitive chain wrestling until Borne nailed Shugars with a beautiful dropkick as his challenger was perched on the top rope. Lennox jumped up on the apron to momentarily distract Borne. Griffin and James climbed to the ring apron to distract the referee while Lennox grabbed a chair and went after Borne on the floor. Shugars intercepted him to stop Lennox from getting him disqualified. Lennox shouted at Shugars, “What are you doing? I’m trying to win!” Borne shoved Shugars into Lennox, backdropped Shugars on the floor, then pitched Lennox over the ring steps. He tossed Shugars into the ring and leaped over the top rope to deliver a Borne Again for the victory.
WINNER: Myles Borne at 11:11 to retain the North American Championship.
(Miller’s Take: Well, you just knew that Lennox would find a way to screw it up for Shugars to return the favor from last week. Seeing Shugars in a singles bout really showcased his ability to rise to the occasion and shine. He kept Borne on the run most of the match, but the storyline must go on. One step closer to a DarkState implosion.)
-After the match, Shugars brushed off Lennox’s attempt to comfort him. As Borne stood victorious, Tristan Angels, who debuted on Evolve a couple of weeks ago, stood in the crowd with a microphone and introduced himself. He assured Borne he would be seeing a lot more of him in NXT. As he continued to talk, Evolve bully Kam Hendrix attacked Borne from behind and laid him out. He stood over a battered Borne and ran his mouth about NXT being his show.
-In the women’s locker room, Kelani Jordan interrupted a conversation between Kendal Grey and Speed Champion Wren Sinclair. She expressed frustration with Grey getting title shots instead of her. Grey reminded her that Lola Vice knocked her out in their underground match. She insulted Sinclair and told her that Grey would turn on her, just as Charlie had. She challenged Sinclair to a non-title match, saying she didn’t want her title, she just wanted to embarrass her in front of her “little friend”.
-A short video package of NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo aired before the next commercial break. [c]
-Speaking of the champ, he made his ring entrance after they returned from the break. He said competitors come and go, but he’s the constant, and there’s not a man on the roster who is tough enough to kick him off of the mountain, including whoever sent him that box last week. He said he knew the box was a warning. The arena went dark as a man in a black cloak came out and entered the ring. Fans chanted “Evil” as the individual handed Tony D a T-shirt with the same markings as the box he was given. The cloaked individual removed his hood to reveal himself as former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Evil, whose arrival was highly anticipated. Evil retreated to the back without breaking eye contact with D’Angelo.
-This time, it was the NXT champ who got attacked from behind, as Tavion Heights rushed the ring and delivered a hellacious belly-to-belly suplex on D’Angelo. He looked much different, with his hair braided and a combative attitude. He left D’Angelo lying in the ring as he hopped out and walked toward the back, saying he’s coming for everything he deserves. The camera quickly cut back to the ring, where some fat kid in a black hoodie climbed to the top turnbuckle and landed a moonsault on D’Angelo. Vic Joseph wondered aloud if it was a fan, as if a fan would ever get that far without being smothered by security. The pudgy dude exited the ring before they recapped what just happened.
-The Progressive NXT Focus was an overproduced cinematic video of North American Champion Tatum Paxley and Shiloh Hill standing in a cemetery with a big hole dug in front of a tombstone with the name Blake Monroe carved into it. They talked as if Monroe were dead before Paxley opened up to Hill about her feelings. Hill broke it down for her and praised her. She wished him luck with his match against Ricky Saints. Hill dropped his shovel and left Paxley, who wanted to stay with Blake Monroe’s corpse a while longer. I love Paxley and Hill together, but this was silly and unnecessary. [c]
-BirthRight made their ring entrance. Lexis King told E.K. Prosper he’d have to prosper on his own tonight because something happened to his Belgian bud. Phone camera footage showed Arianna Grace feigning dismay at BirthRight laying out Dorian Van Dux. Prosper sprinted to the ring and thumped on everyone until the numbers game became too much for him, and BirthRight commenced a gang beating. Just seconds later, Sean Legacy hit the ring at 100 m.p.h. to lend a helping hand. They quickly cleared the ring of the heels before the referee called for the bell.
(2) STACKS LORENZO & URIAH CONNORS (w/Lexis King & Charlie Dempsey & Arianna Grace) vs. E.K. PROSPER & SEAN LEGACY
Legacy started the match against Stacks and asserted his dominance from the start with some quick, intense offense. After a tag, Prosper flipped, flopped, and flew out of the way of a double clothesline in a move I’d have to go back and watch 15 times to even begin to describe. BirthRight showed their opponents that they had pilot’s licenses as well and flew over the top rope onto their opponents on the floor before, you guessed it, a commercial break. [c]
Back from the break, Vic Joseph questioned Legacy’s health even though he was medically cleared. Connors attempted a Mexican Destroyer off the top rope, but Legacy backdropped him to the mat below. Prosper took the hot tag and denied King’s claim of being the fastest man alive with lightning-quick offense. Legacy tagged back in and hit Shambles on Stacks for the three-count.
WINNERS: E.K. Prosper & Sean Legacy at 9:16.
(Miller’s Take: This was an excellent match from bell to bell. Prosper & Legacy were energized, and their gas tanks remained full throughout the entire bout. Both teams showed a lot, but the story of the night was the return of Evolve standout Legacy, who showed the NXT faithful why he’s going to go a long way in WWE. He and Prosper put on a clinic of exciting aerial offense, and Stacks & Connors are no slouches in that department, either.)
-As expected, the winners were jumped and thumped by all of BirthRight (with Grace cheerleading) after the match. Evolve star Tate Wilder ran to the ring and nailed Dempsey and Connors with a double dropkick off the top turnbuckle, then followed that up with an amazing shooting star double clothesline from the apron to the floor that took out Stacks and Connors. The three former Evolvers cleared the ring of BirthRight as the fans cheered them on.
-In the women’s locker room, Jaida Parker and Thea Hail were talking about NXT being wide-open with all of the call-ups to Raw and Smackdown. Kali Armstrong walked up and accused Parker of being afraid of a little competition. Parker suggested she tread a little more lightly. They got in each other’s faces before the other women separated them. [c]
-An Instagram video showed Shawn Michaels announcing that all NXT PLEs will be taking place on The CW starting this summer.
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]
-A brief recap of Lola Vice being beaten down by Izzi Dame was shown, followed by Robert Stone officially welcoming Tate Wilder to NXT in the back. Lola Vice walked up and told Stone she was getting ready to call out Izzi Dame, then walked out to the ring. She called Dame to the ring. Shawn Spears appeared on the screen and told her she didn’t learn from last week, and that The Culling was always one step ahead. Vice turned around to see Dame and Niko Vance in the ring behind her. Vice feigned fear and said, “Oh, it looks like you got me again. Or did you?” With that, Vice’s mixed tag team championship partner, Mr. Iguana, emerged from underneath the ring and whopped Vance across the face with La Yesca as Vice kicked Dame out of the ring. The Culling quickly retreated as the fans chanted “Iguana”.
-In the back, Shugars and Lennox quarreled until James and Griffin screamed at them to knock it off. They said they were going to go with the original plan and go after tag team gold. [c]
(3) LIZZY RAIN vs. NIKKITA LYONS
Before the match started, a promo from Lyons aired saying that Rain’s heavy metal vibe was too loud and messing with her frequency, so she asked to be her first opponent. Lyons yanked Rain down by her hair after a brief lockup, and Rain returned the favor. Lyons caught Rains during a flying press attempt and tossed her aside. She landed a stiff forearm in the corner and dribbled her head off the turnbuckle. Big Kat Kita raked her eyes across the second rope, then tied her up on the mat. Both ladies missed roundhouse kicks, but Rain connected with her second one and hit a cutter to stun Lyons. She cut loose with a series of chops in the corner, but ate a kick from Lyons, followed by a Michinoku driver for a near fall. She missed a Kita bomb and got rocked by a Rain forearm. Lizzy got a crazy look in her eyes and hit Thunderstruck (a step-up kick variation) for the win.
WINNER: Lizzy Rain at 4:49.
(Miller’s Take: This wasn’t long enough to assess Rain’s in-ring ability, but she definitely has crazy eyes down pat. That Thunderstruck finisher is pretty impressive. If you haven’t seen her on Evolve lately, Lyons has trimmed down considerably and looks to be in the best shape of her career. We’ll see what they do with Rain in the coming weeks.)
-In the locker room, Myles Borne confronted Tavion Heights over his sneak attack on Tony D’Angelo. Heights said he was making an opportunity and accused Borne of acting differently as a champion. Borne said he was right about one thing: there are a bunch of new guys coming up. Heights told Borne to add him to that list, then left as Borne stood a bit dumbfounded. Borne turned to see Keanu Carver standing beside him. Carver said he was going to tell him the same thing he told Tony last week, that the sharks are circling, but he’s the great white.
-Kelani Jordan made her ring entrance before the next commercial break. [c]
-In a lounge area in the back, Jackson Drake was bragging up his new girlfriend to Ricky Smokes and Brad Baylor. He said with Micah (I’m guessing the spelling here), he feels like he can conquer the world. This caught the attention of Jasper Troy, who stood up and told Drake he needs to focus less on dating apps and more on getting gold. A challenge was made and accepted.
(4) KELANI JORDAN vs. WREN SINCLAIR (w/Kendal Grey)
Jordan took Sinclair down and bragged about her wrestling prowess. They rolled each other up half a dozen times in a stalemate. Jordan slapped Sinclair, who promptly took her to the mat. They traded mat holds and escapes before Jordan hit a dropkick for a two-count. Grey encouraged Sinclair to fight back, and her friend listened. Sinclair fired up with some spirited offense. She kicked Jordan to the outside, then stood on the apron and threw a beautiful missile dropkick to the floor. She came up grabbing her knee and limping as Grey checked on her. Split-screen commercial break time, because NXT just isn’t NXT without seeing the Charmin bears and the Liberty Mutual dude hog the spotlight on the right screen. [c]
Back to full screen, Jordan was twisting on Sinclair’s knee. She hobbled around gamely before Jordan hit a chop block. She went for a second one, but Sinclair stepped over it and delivered a chop to Jordan’s chest that sounded like a shotgun going off. Ouch! Jordan eventually took control of the match and went for a frog splash, but Sinclair got her knees up. She tried the Final Wrench but collapsed when her knee gave out. Jordan landed a split-legged moonsault for the win.
WINNER: Kelani Jordan at 10:55.
(Miller’s Take: I thoroughly enjoy any match I get to see with Kelani Jordan, and even more so when it’s someone she meshes so well with, like Sinclair. The champ has somewhat of an excuse to eat an L, with her injuring her own knee while delivering that incredible missile dropkick to the floor. I wouldn’t have been a bit surprised to have seen Jordan get called up, but I guess they can’t take everybody.)
-A cinematic video package on Zaria aired. It was a good promo by Zaria, but I’d rather just see a straight-up promo with an announcer holding a mic. If I want to watch a Marvel Comics movie, I’ll turn on Disney+.
-A video package was shown of the recent shenanigans and violence between Ricky Saints and Shiloh Hill. [c]
-Vic Joseph hyped the lineup for next week, including Iguana & Vice vs. Dame & Vance, Armstrong vs. Parker, and Drake vs. Troy.
(5) SHILOH HILL vs. RICKY SAINTS
Saints attacked Hill as he was taking off his shirt. Hill fired off a few punches and thumped on Saints in the corner. They traded punches and kicks before Hill gut-wrenched Saints over the top rope as he screamed in agony. They carried the fight to the floor. Saints noticed that Hill disappeared under the ring. He grabbed a boot that was sticking out and pulled out a dummy dressed like Hill. As he stood there looking stunned, Hill came running around the corner and nailed him as he jumped off the stairs. Hill took a little time to dance with his artificial doppelganger before they cut to a split-screen commercial break. [c]
The main event continued on the tiny left screen while NAPA, NASCAR, and other initials were advertised on the right. Back to full screen, Hill hit a tilt-a-whirl slam, shrugged off a forearm from Saints, then fired up and creamed him. Hill missed a senton as Saints locked him in a submission. Saints hit a great spear for a near fall. They rose to their feet while trading forearms before Hill hit a pop-up forearm that rocked Saints. He connected with a standing somersault this time, for a two-count. As Hill climbed the turnbuckle, Saints pushed the referee into the ropes accidentally on purpose, straddling Hill onto the turnbuckle. He followed him up and delivered a big superplex for a two-count.
He dragged Hill to the corner to tightrope walk the top rope, but slapped Hill in the face beforehand, which sent Hill’s fake tooth flying. He began walking the ropes, only to look down and see a hulked-up, toothlessly aggressive Hill kick the rope out from underneath him. Hill’s face turned beet-red as he howled in pain after crotching the top rope. Hill began yanking it up and down while Saints oversold so much that Shawn Michaels must have been bursting with pride. Hill kicked him to the floor, but Saints caught him off guard and hit Roshambo on the floor. He grabbed a chair from ringside but dropped it when Hill slugged him. Hill leg-tripped him facedown onto the chair, then delivered a Whisper to the Beast for the biggest victory of his young career to date.
WINNER: Shiloh Hill at 12:05
(Miller’s Take: Saints, like his recent predecessors, expectedly did the honors for Hill. Shiloh is deceitfully agile and obviously has an overabundance of personality, so it was nice to see him included among the NXT newcomers getting the rub from those who are moving up the food chain. Saints did a fantastic job of putting him over and will be a big player on the main roster soon.)
-Hill celebrated in the stands with the fans as he hoisted the Shiloh dummy on his shoulders.
-Tony D’Angelo was shown crashing the meeting with Shawn Michaels, Robert Stone, and Matt Bloom. He told Michaels they got one on him tonight, but he loves the chaos. Michaels told him he’s the NXT champ and now it’s time for him to prove it. A fired-up D’Angelo spat out some censored words and left with a purpose as Michaels grinned.
FINAL THOUGHTS: This was an eventful show with all of the new talent that debuted. If you’ve been watching Evolve or reading my reports, you’ll know that Kam Hendrix and Tate Wilder are ready to go. I still don’t have a clue who the fat kid that went splat on Myles Borne is, as he wasn’t mentioned the rest of the evening. Lyons is improving. Armstrong is a star waiting to explode. NXT got a lot more Evil. I’m excited to see this crop of new talent continue to develop, with the ultimate goal being main roster stardom. Remember that Oba Femi, Trick Williams, and Sol Ruca were once in their shoes.
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