SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT TV REPORT
MAY 5, 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
Correspondent: Emily Agard
[HOUR ONE]
-Vic Joseph introduced the show, then threw to a video package featuring the new talent that appeared on NXT last week, including Kam Hendrix, Tate Wilder, Lizzy Rain, Tristan Angels, EVIL, Tavion Heights 2.0, and the unnamed chubby dude who moonsaulted Tony D’Angelo.
-In the back, NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo said he wasn’t going to wait and told the cameraman, “Watch this.” He power-walked to a table that was set up with several wrestlers hanging around, yelled for Tavion, then speared him over the table as the two began brawling on the floor. Harley Riggins, Harlem Lewis, and OTM were among the wrestlers who pulled them apart.
(1) JAIDA PARKER vs. KALI ARMSTRONG
The referee had his hands full trying to keep the two women apart before the bell. The crowd was fired up to see this one begin. Parker took Armstrong down hard twice, then cinched in a headlock as she continued talking trash to the camera. Armstrong missed an elbowdrop, and Parker took advantage by bounding off the ropes and sliding into another headlock. She worked over the newcomer for a bit before clotheslining her over the top rope. She slid out to the floor and continued to dominate before pitching her back in. They took each other out mid-ring before they cut to a split-screen commercial break. [c]
I’m not sure what was being advertised on the right, because I was still trying to get over the fact that the commercial break began during a spot in the ring instead of on the floor. That really threw me. Back to full-screen, Parker was still beating on Armstrong until Kali hung her neck across the top rope. Armstrong landed a beautiful springboard press, then started throwing those great jabs of hers to turn the tide of the match. She began bullying Parker in the corner with shoulder drives and kicks, but Parker quickly rallied. She laid her across the second turnbuckle, hit her hip attack, then high-stepped in celebration.
The two ladies battled mid-ring until Armstrong went to the eyes to gain the upper hand. She ran the ropes and exploded with a Kali Konnection on Parker for the win. Armstrong celebrated on the way back up the ramp as a dejected Parker slumped into the corner.
WINNER: Kali Armstrong at 9:54.
(Miller’s Take: This was a good, strong opening match. While I applaud them putting over the very talented Armstrong, I hate that it had to come at the expense of Parker, who is once again on a downward slide. Parker is loaded with charisma, but she can’t eat many more losses, or it will start to diminish her marketability as a top-tier player, which she certainly has the potential to be.)
-In GM Robert Stone’s office, he was chastising the NXT champ for his actions earlier. Tony D. said he wasn’t going to be a champion who waits around for challengers, because he’s still a hunter. He demanded a match with Tavion Heights tonight, which Stone reluctantly agreed to.
-A video package promoted the match between Jackson Drake and Jasper Troy later tonight. [c]
-In a lounge area in the back, Speed Champion Lexis King (who looked like Michael Hayes dressed as Colonel Sanders), lamented the actions of Sean Legacy and Tate Wilder last week. Fit Finlay walked in and told them they were supposed to uphold tradition, not be outmaneuvered by gamers. He had William Regal on the phone. Regal said last week was a disappointment, but he sent Charlie to train in the snake pits in England because there would be a six-man tag team match next week. Finlay told them to step up as he left the room.
-A video package aired of EVIL, who said (in Japanese) that he’d won many championships, but a warrior is never satisfied. He vowed to meet Tony D’Angelo for the NXT title soon. As the video ended, a graphic proclaimed, “Naraku debuts next week.” So, there we have EVIL’s new WWE name. He came across as a very menacing threat.
(2) JASPER TROY vs. JACKSON DRAKE (w/Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes)
Drake rushed Troy at the bell but was caught and easily manhandled by the much larger Troy. He flipped out of a charging Troy but got flattened. Smokes and Baylor provided a distraction, which allowed Drake to land a massive meteora before they cut to the second split-screen commercial of the night. Two straight commercial breaks that didn’t occur during a floor spot. This has to be a record. [c]
The battle of speed vs. power continued when they returned to full screen. Troy caught Drake as he went for a cross-body press and attempted a black hole slam, but Drake turned it into a DDT. As Drake climbed the turnbuckle, Troy kipped up. Drake looked horrified before taking a leap of faith, but Troy caught him with a high chokeslam, then followed that up with a senton. Drake rolled to the outside, and Troy followed him out. He decked Smokes and Drake, then tried to press slam Baylor over the top rope, but he didn’t quite clear it, and Baylor bounced off every rope as he tumbled to the mat.
Drake’s beefy girlfriend, Myka Lockwood, appeared and stopped Troy from entering the ring, then scooped the big man up and easily slammed him to the floor. That was unbelievable. She rolled Troy into the ring and helped Drake to his feet. He climbed to the top to deliver a 450 splash for the win.
WINNER: Jackson Drake at 7:19.
(Miller’s Take: Judging the size of Lockwood, it was only a matter of time before she appeared in a Chyna-like role alongside The Vanity Project. Drake is fantastic in the snarky heel role, as are his cohorts. Three smallish pretty boys with a hulking she-monster like Lockwood is bound to make a big splash in NXT. Lockwood’s left thigh is bigger than Jackson Drake, and ten times as muscular. Troy has a good presence, but it’s rare to see a match of his in which there are no glaring mistakes. He seemed unsure of how to properly execute the press and didn’t have a firm enough grip on Baylor to clear the top rope. An extended stay in Evolve would have done him a lot of good.)
-The Progressive NXT Spotlight shone on newcomer Tristan Angels, accompanied by classical music. He admitted to being a 7th-generation sheep farmer but said he knew he was destined for greatness. He said he could shear a sheep in less than a minute and can kick your favorite superstar’s ass in less than that. He ran down the rest of the roster while putting himself over. [c]
-NXT Origins featured the evolution of current Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley. It was interesting seeing how much her look has changed over the years.
-From one Aussie to another, next up was Zaria, who made the most confident-looking ring entrance I’ve seen from her thus far. She seemed to have the presence she always should have had. She said nothing was holding her back now, and it always should have been like this. She claimed she now has a path to what started it all: the North American title. She said she was around that title so much that she started to feel like it should have been hers.
-Tatum Paxley interrupted her, saying she knew the North American belt shattered her relationship with Sol Ruca, but it had nothing to do with her. She told her she danced with the devil while putting someone in a casket for the title, then was interrupted by Lizzy Rain.
-Rain said it would be fitting to add some heavy metal to the title, then was interrupted by Nikkita Lyons. She mocked her accent and said Rains was only the talk of the town last week because of the Nikkita Lyons rub and feline effect. She told her to go cut some grass because the new car smell is already wearing off. She took a swing at Rains and missed. Zaria landed a boot to the face of Rains, then delivered a German suplex to Lyons. Paxley set up Zaria for a Cemetery Driver, but Zaria countered it with an F5. She licked the belt before tossing it down onto Paxley.
-The Vanity Project stumbled upon Romeo Moreno, who introduced himself to them. They acknowledged him as that new kid on Evolve that likes to paint. Noam Dar walked up to them, and Drake told Baylor and Smokes that Dar used to be a big deal, like ten years ago. Dar said he was back and needed to shake off that hiatus, then challenged Drake to a match. Myka Lockwood walked up from behind, slapped Dar on the shoulder, and said, “They’re with me.” Drake said he’d accept if Myka could be there, too. Dar accepted while rubbing his shoulder. He pointed to Lockwood as she walked off with her boys and muttered, “Mucho grande.”
-Tony D’Angelo was shown walking down the hallway before being grabbed from behind by Kam Hendrix, who put a hole in the wall with D’Angelo’s head before officials ran in to break it up. [c]
-Robert Stone was rushing through the back, then caught a staff member and demanded his headset. He put it on and said, “Hey Tim, Tony and Tavion is not happening now. I kicked Kam out of the building, and Tony is nowhere to be found. He stormed off, so we’re going to move up the mixed tag team match, Lola & Iguana vs. The Culling right now. Make it happen!” He handed the headset back and rushed off.
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]
(3) LOLA VICE & MR. IGUANA vs. THE CULLING (Izzi Dame & Niko Vance) (w/Shawn Spears) – Mixed Tag Team Match
Vic Joseph clarified beforehand that the AAA Mixed Tag Team Championship was not on the line for this bout. Vance started the match by throwing Iguana down hard to the mat. A shoulder tackle from Vance put Iguana on his back with all fours in the air, which seemed to confuse Vance. He hung Iguana on his back, then backed up toward Iguana’s corner. Vice handed La Yesca to her partner, and the usual entertaining comedy ensued, with Vance acting like a Komodo dragon had been thrown on him instead of a stuffed lizard. Vice took the tag and kicked Dame in the face. The champs both landed dives onto their opponents on the outside before, in a return to form, they cut to the third split-screen commercial break of the night during the floor spot. [c]
NAPA, Bounty, Safelite, and a red bear cub with pieces of TP stuck to his bum graced the dominant screen on the right while I got my binoculars out to make out what was happening on the thumbnail-sized screen on the left. When they returned to full screen, Vance was beating on Iguana while Dame sneaked around the ring to lay out an unsuspecting Vice as she awaited a tag. She gamely climbed back onto the apron to take the hot tag from Iguana. She lit up Dame with a series of kicks, then turned and did the same to Vance. The champs bumped hips, then hit stereo hip attacks in opposite corners. Vice got a two-count on Dame, then hit a vicious spin kick that dimmed Dame’s lights. She went for another pin, but Vance stopped the referee from counting to three. It wouldn’t have mattered, because Dame got her shoulder up at two, anyway.
Dame hit a running elbow for a near fall, then went for a hiptoss, but Vice countered it with an armbar. Iguana cinched an armbar on Vance as well. Vance lifted Iguana and dumped him over the top rope, but Iguana hung on, and they both tumbled outside the ring. With Iguana still holding on, Vance landed on his feet and slammed him hard to the floor. An alarmed Vice released her armbar and walked to the ropes to stare down at her partner for no logical reason. She missed a back fist on Dame, who bounded off the ropes with a knee to the face to pin the champion.
WINNERS: The Culling at 11:43.
(Miller’s Take: As Joseph mentioned before the match, a Culling win should lead to a future title match. It’s easy to forget how good Vance is when he’s only been used as Shawn Spears’s shadow. Dame looked good, as always. Vice and Mr. Iguana make a great, entertaining team whose matches I always look forward to. La Yesca is cheesy and childish, but still a lot of fun in a 70s studio wrestling kind of way. Iguana is a capable wrestler who will never rise above mid-card status but is perfectly wonderful in his role. The Women’s champ was pinned, so this will most likely also lead to a Women’s title match soon.)
-In the back, North American Champion Myles Borne listened to Tavion Heights complain about Kam Hendrix costing him his match with Tony D. Borne told him it might be a good thing, because now he has more time to prepare. Heights said they were always prepared and asked Borne not to talk to him like the opposition. Robert Stone walked up to them and told Heights that Hendrix had been kicked out of the building, but Tony D. said he was still up for the match. Heights was thrilled and thanked Stone profusely.
-As Heights and Borne fist bumped, Stone turned his attention to an approaching Zaria. She asked who Lizzy and Nikkita thought they were interrupting her and reiterated that the North American championship was hers. He told her he made a match next week for her and Lyons vs. Rains & Paxley. She growled at him that she was done with tag matches, and this was about her. Stone bluntly told her that if she wanted another title opportunity, she’d do the match. Zaria looked like she was ready to chew on barbed wire.
Hank & Tank made their ring entrance before the next commercial break. [c]
-Back from the break, Jaida Parker was throwing a temper tantrum and screaming, “I’m over this! Jaida can’t do a damn thing right!” After she grew tired of destroying the locker room, she sat down, looking despondent. An unseen, yet unmistakable voice said, “I guess what they say about Miss Parker is true.” The camera panned to reveal that the voice was Nattie’s. That reveal got a nice pop from the crowd. “You’ve gone soft.” Parker watched meekly as Nattie turned and walked away.
(Miller’s Take: Like the rare non-wrestling segment I did a take on for Evolve last week, I feel this was an important enough segment to do one for NXT this week. It was nice to see NXT acknowledge the glaringly obvious fact that Miss Parker, despite being popular, has been on the losing end of nearly every match lately. A shakeup here is desperately needed, and I can’t think of anybody better than Nattie to do the shaking. The question is, will Nattie take Parker under her wing to bring out a darker, meaner side to her, or will the two clash, with Parker looking to prove Nattie wrong?)
(4) HANK & TANK vs. DARKSTATE (Osiris Griffin & Cutler James) (w/Dion Lennox & Saquon Shugars)
Tank started the match against James. They traded some basic wrestling holds until Hank took the tag and pounced James. Griffin soon took the tag and took over. Tank tagged in but fell victim to a delayed vertical suplex. Hank and Tank quickly took back control but lost it just as quickly. As the action spilled to the outside, Shugars again stopped Lennox from using a chair. With Hank and Tank still laid out, Griffin and James separated their teammates and tried to talk sense into them before yet another split-screen commercial break. [c]
The two teams wrestled to a soundtrack of commercials until they returned to full screen. DarkState remained in control despite the civil war. Tank cartwheeled out of a waistlock and made the hot tag to Hank, who went to town. He ran around the outside of the ring and pounced Griffin onto the announce desk. Back in the ring, he flattened James and tagged in Tank. They hit a double spear on James, but the pin was broken up by Griffin. James delivered a black hole shoulderbreaker to Tank, then tagged in Griffin, who dumped him on the mat and landed a Vader bomb for a near fall. Griffin and James hit another impressive double team move for a near fall.
On the outside, James dropped Hank. Griffin and James caught Tank as he attempted a suicide dive, then bodyslammed him on top of Hank. They pitched Hank into the ring, threw him high into the air, and drove him into the mat for the win.
WINNERS: DarkState at 11:45.
(Miller’s Take: DarkState needed this win. James and Griffin are leading the way while their teammates can’t get along. This is actually the most interesting storyline DarkState has been involved in since they first graced our screens. Hank & Tank definitely held up their end in this match, but I was still surprised not to see their names on the list of wrestlers who were recently cut.)
-After the match, Shugars and Lennox held their partners’ hands in the air as they side-eyed each other.
-Kelani Jordan gave Lola Vice a hard time as Vice walked past her in the back. She said Izzi would definitely want a title shot after pinning her, but Vice should be worried about her and not Dame. Kendal Grey walked up and took exception to Jordan talking about a title shot. She told Jordan she hurt her partner last week, so even though she still has her eye on the title, Jordan is her number one priority at the moment. Vice told Jordan to fix her own problems first, then walked away. Jordan told Grey she’d see which was more important to her: friendship or the title.
-They cut to the announce desk, where a staff member was frantically trying to get a new headset for Booker T. Nothing was said by anyone before they threw to the next video package, so that was odd.
-Emily Agard introduced herself as the newest correspondent for NXT. She said her first assignment was getting to know Keanu Carver better. She approached him as he was outside on his phone. He said he didn’t know who she or the cameraman was, and he wasn’t going to talk in front of a camera. She told the cameraman to put the camera down. He placed it on the ground, but didn’t shut it off. Agard told him that they clearly put her in a tough situation to see how she would handle it, but she had to get something.
-She asked him what motivated him. He said money, pure and simple. He said he had a family at home to feed, and viral moments and comments from online fans didn’t pay his bills. He told her he didn’t need what everyone else does and reiterated that he has people at home he has to take care of. He admitted to her that he told Shawn Michaels to either give him a chance or cut him. He said if wrestling didn’t work out, he had to find something that would. She asked if she could get one more question in. He agreed and told the cameraman to go ahead and pick the camera up because he knew they were still shooting. She asked Carver how he knew about the symbol of war. He said he went to college and paid attention in class, so he was smart as (censored), even though nobody realized it. He told her that was all she was getting and walked off. This was a great segment that conveyed a human side to the destruction machine that is Keanu Carver. It revealed a motivation that anybody can relate to, and added dimension to Carver’s character.
-Back to the announcers, whose audio issues had been fixed, Booker T admitted that he may have misjudged Carver. [c]
-Joseph ran down the card for this weekend’s Backlash, then threw to an Instagram video of Shiloh Hill. Shiloh said last week was the best night in NXT when he defeated SmackDown superstar Ricky Saints and got to celebrate with the fans and his “special guest”. He said it was strange that Shawn Michaels talked about throwing a stick of dynamite in the locker room, because he was told specifically never to bring explosives in there again. He addressed Tristan Angels, whom he felt trash-talked him last week. He said he looked him up and found out that he won some beauty pageants and herded sheep, so maybe he should get some normal hobbies. He said he was going to try and learn more about him, like what he may be afraid of or allergic to, so if the fans know of any insults for male models, British people, or shepherds, to let him know. Typically hilarious promo from Hill.
-Vic Joseph ran down next week’s card, including Grey vs. Jordan, Dar vs. Drake, and the debut of the newly christened Naraku.
(5) TAVION HEIGHTS vs. TONY D’ANGELO
Joseph joked that maybe their earlier audio issues were due to a Danhausen curse before the referee called for the bell. Heights took down D’Angelo from a waistlock and stuck to him like glue, but the champ reversed it. They went full speed ahead before Tony D. put Heights down in the same manner. Heights delivered a gut-wrench suplex, then climbed to the top turnbuckle. D’Angelo quickly recovered and shoved him off and to the floor before they cut to the last split-screen commercial break of the night. [c]
-The annoying Liberty Biberty guy was having trouble saying the word “bundle”, the butt-wiping bear plugged Charmin, and the upcoming NASCAR race at nearby (for me) Watkins Glen was plugged before they returned to full screen. They showed D’Angelo sailing through the ropes and to the mat after missing his target. After Heights thumped on him for a bit, D’Angelo fired up, got his Hillbilly Jim hair thing going on, and began thumping back on Heights.
The two men slugged it out mid-ring with right hands and forearms before D’Angelo speared Heights out of his boots. Heights slipped out of a Dead to Rights and took down the champ with a stunning belly-to-belly suplex. Kam Hendrix, who Stone confirmed earlier had been ejected from the building, reappeared and hopped up on the ring apron. Heights yanked him into the ring and clotheslined him over the top rope and to the floor. Myles Borne hit the ring, ran across it, and flip-dived onto Hendrix on the floor, then began brawling with him as Heights cheered him on. Tavion turned around and walked into a Dead to Rights from D’Angelo, followed by a three-count.
WINNER: Tony D’Angelo at 10:20.
(Miller’s Take: I like this new and improved version of Heights. He’s showing a renewed intensity and a lot more personality than we’ve seen before. The story coming out of this match will most likely be Heights blaming his former NQCC stablemate for interfering when he had everything under control, even though it was obvious to anyone watching that Heights did that stupid thing where the babyface is paying attention to what’s going on outside the ring instead of focusing on his opponent.)
-After the match, D’Angelo extended his hand to Heights, who was seated in the corner. As he pulled Heights to his feet, the chubster from last week ran in and shoved Tony D. into Heights, then lifted the champ into a fireman’s carry. D’Angelo slipped onto his back and cinched in a sleeper, but the portly fellow ran with him and hit a cannonball in the corner, crushing both D’Angelo and Heights. That was pretty darn impressive. As the show went off the air, the guy stuck his face in a camera and introduced himself as Mason Rook, saying he had arrived in NXT. After doing a minimal amount of research, I discovered Rook is formerly known as Will Kroos, a former Progress Atlas champion and English independent standout.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I could have lived without sitting through another meaningless Hank & Tank match, but this was pretty good otherwise. I have to give WWE credit for bringing in people who don’t fit into a particular mold, such as Myka Lockwood and Mason Rook. Lockwood’s bodyslam of the very large Jasper Troy on the floor was a sight to behold. I wasn’t joking a couple of weeks ago when I said she looked like she could squat a small minivan. Rooks seriously looks like a fan who somehow slipped past security, but we’ve already seen him deliver two extraordinary maneuvers that a man his size shouldn’t be able to do. The women’s title picture is heating up with Jordan and Grey playing tug of war with Lola Vice. Tony D. can’t walk down the hallway without getting attacked by an overzealous Evolve promotee. Heights vs. Borne is bound to happen soon. Tatum Paxley has Lyons, Rain, and Zaria gunning for her. Speaking of Zaria, this is the version of her we should have seen right out of the gate. She feels like a much more credible threat now that she’s broken away from the laid-back energy of Sol Ruca, and I fully expect Paxley’s title reign to end at her hands.
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