Ricochet wants to go back to WWE NXT. The former black-and-yellow brand has seen an influx of main roster WWE stars. Names like AJ Styles and Natalya have appeared on the brand and Ricochet says he wants to do the same.
Ricochet signed with WWE in 2018 and would go on to become the NXT North American Champion in the same year. He started appearing on both the main roster brands Raw and SmackDown Live in early 2019. He teamed up with Aleister Black to win the fourth annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
After WrestleMania 35, Ricochet moved to the main roster and won the United States and the Intercontinental titles. He is the current IC Champion in his first reign.
In a recent interview with Cultaholic, Ricochet said that he is open to an NXT return. He mentioned AJ Styles and Natalya appearing on the show who seem to be having a great time there. Ricochet also mentioned Carmelo Hayes. They both have heat with each other as they have taken shots at each other on social media.
Answering the question of whether he would like to go back to NXT, Ricochet said, “AJ went back and now Nattie’s down there and all these guys are going back down there and it seems like they’re having a great time. Me and Carmelo [Hayes] had a thing. If Carmelo wants the heat, he can have it but whoever it is I would love to go down there. That’s always been a home of mine so, any time.”
A while ago, Ricochet sent out a friendly reminder for rude fans. He sent a stern message to fans telling them that he would send fans away if they bother him to get multiple things signed at the wrong time, like 4 am in the morning at a hotel, for example.
WWE reportedly sees a lot of potential in NXT star Nikkita Lyons.
Lyons signed with WWE last year before making her NXT debut in February. Since, she’s been a regular feature on NXT 2.0. When Lyons isn’t wrestling in the ring, she’s also featured in video packages or backstage segments.
She tends to get big reactions from the crowds at the Capitol Wrestling Center, and has also generated some buzz on social media. Recently, Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer discussed Lyons during an episode of Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast. Meltzer said WWE management sees big potential in Lyons.
While WWE likes the reactions she’s getting, Meltzer doesn’t believe they’ll fast-track her the way the likes of Bron Breakker or Gable Steveson likely will to the main roster.
He also added that he’s not even sure WWE knew how over she’d be at first. Another telling sign about how WWE feels in regards to Lyons is that she’s working with Natalya. Natalya currently works with young talent in NXT to help them improve their in-ring work.
It will be interesting to see how much working with Natalya will help Lyons improve in regards to her in-ring work over time. If she continues to get big reactions in NXT, it will also be interesting to see if WWE decides to ultimately fast-track her to the main roster.
Former NXT star Dakota Kai has sent out a statement after getting released from her WWE contract earlier this week.
She posted the statement on Twitter and noted how she has been overwhelmed by the love and support she has received since the news broke out:
“Above everything, thank you all. I am so overwhelmed at all the love and support. The DMs, txts, tweets.. you all have my heart. I love you. I am thankful for being able to meet, work and intertwine with so many beautiful people,”
The former champion also mentioned that she chose to become a professional wrestler at the age of 17 and assured fans that she is ‘far from being done.’
Though reports also suggest that Kai herself was planning on not re-signing with the promotion once her latest contract with WWE expired. She apparently saw the release coming as well.
The latest round of WWE cuts saw some surprising releases. It included names such as Dakota Kai, Harland, and Malcolm Bivens.
Reports after the news broke out revealed that WWE officials were not satisfied with Harland’s progress in the ring.
Dave Meltzer of the F4Wonline provided some updates on another one of the releases. He claimed that Dakota Kai was not seen as ‘main roster material’ by the officials.
Per Meltzer, the idea is for talents to not have ‘ten-year’ careers in NXT. The female star had been with the development brand for too long so there was nothing left for her.
A lot of people disagree with this assessment of Kai. WWE officials however have a vision about women’s wrestling and the former tag team champion didn’t fit into it.
Many people have protested the decision online since the news came out. This includes Shayna Baslzer, who mentioned how the released star is one of the best in-ring talents out there:
Dakota Kai originally signed a contract with WWE back in December 2016. She had several dark matches on the main roster in 2021 but was sent back to NXT.
The former champion had apparently indicated to the officials that she wasn’t interested in renewing her contract. She was already planning to leave and saw her release coming.
A new wave of WWE releases is here and NXT has been affected.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful broke the news on his Twitter account. The first release he revealed was Dakota Kai. The second name was Malcolm Bivens, who reportedly made it clear that he did not want to re-sign with the company back in February.
Bivens took to social media to upload a quick video responding to the news.
In what some may consider to be a surprise move, Harland has also been given his walking papers. He had been a bodyguard for Joe Gacy, who is challenging Bron Breakker for the NXT Championship at Spring Breakin’ on May 3.
In total, there were 10 NXT cuts this go-around. Here’s the list of talent cut from the NXT roster in this latest wave:
WWE has released a few promo videos for the Breakout Tournament:
Breakout Tournament History
As the name implies, the Breakout Tournament features NXT rookies.
The inaugural NXT Breakout Tournament was held in 2019. Jordan Myles won the tournament and later cashed in against then-NXT Champion Adam Cole. He lost.
There was no tournament in 2020, but the Breakout returned last year. Carmelo Hayes took the honors and went on to win the NXT North American Championship from Isiah “Swerve” Scott.
Xyon Quinn will not be competing on tonight’s episode of NXT 2.0.
Quinn was set to have a match with Tony D’Angelo on the Apr. 26 episode of NXT 2.0. However, WWE has shared on Twitter that Quinn is not “Medically cleared” to compete and canceled the match. It’s unclear if D’Angelo will have a match with someone else.
The company didn’t share if Quinn was injured or what caused him not to be medically cleared in the tweet. His last match was against Wes Lee on the Apr. 19 episode of NXT 2.0. It’s possible an injury could’ve happened sometime during the match. However, the company hasn’t revealed if that is the case.
Since WWE announced that Quinn would not compete, NXT 2.0 Manager Robert Stone has shared that his client Von Wagner could replace Quinn. In a tweet, Stone said, “If Xyon isn’t man enough to step up and face Tony D, my guy will cause he’s not SOFT. I got Von’s suspension cut down. Now all I have to do is pay his fine, which won’t be a problem.”
It appears that a WWE Hall Of Famer is backstage for tonight’s episode of WWE NXT 2.0 in Orlando, Florida.
Per a report from PWInsider, Rick Steiner is backstage for tonight’s episode of WWE NXT. He is likely there to further the storyline between Joe Gacy and his son, WWE NXT Champion Bron Breakker. A few weeks back, WWE did an angle where Gacy kidnapped Rick Steiner and put him in a shark tank.
The Hall Of Famer hasn’t been on WWE NXT TV since, but Gacy did return Steiner’s Hall Of Fame ring to Breakker last week, before pushing him off a platform. Both Rick and his brother Scott Steiner were inducted into the Hall Of Fame earlier this month prior to WrestleMania 38.
Rick’s son, Bron Breakker, currently reigns as NXT Champion and is expected to make his next title defense against Gacy at NXT Spring Breakin’ next year.
Check out the updated card for tonight’s episode of WWE NXT 2.0 below:
Solo Sikoa vs. Trick Williams
Fallon Henley, Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen vs. Legado del Fantasma (Elektra Lopez, Cruz Del Toro & Joaquin Wilde)
Nikkita Lyons vs. Lash Legend
Nathan Frazer makes his NXT 2.0 debut
Katana Chance & Kayden Carter vs. Yulisa Leon & Valentina Feroz
Roxanne Perez made a successful WWE television debut on Tuesday’s edition of NXT.
Just days after picking up a win on NXT Level Up last week, Perez is now working a program with Toxic Attraction.
A vignette aired on NXT that highlighted Perez growing up as a WWE fan. She’s watch WWE programming and play WWE video games to escape feeling like an outcast at school.
Perez was initially scheduled to debut next week, but she was confronted by Toxic Attraction (NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose and NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin). The heels attempted to intimidate Perez and told her to keep her expectations in check.
Perez wrestled Jacy Jayne and got a surprise win. The finish came after Wendy Choo was shown on the big screen destroying the Toxic Lounge. Perez used the distraction to her Code Red finisher on Jayne for the win.
Backstage after the match, Perez said wrestling in WWE is a dream come true. She’s been working for this goal since she was 13 years old and showed off a tattoo that marked the date of her first match.
“I had my first win in my debut for WWE NXT, and it feels so crazy to say that,” she said. “Because like I said, I’ve wanted this my entire life. This is all I’ve ever dreamed of, and now it’s real.”
She also tweeted that winning her NXT TV debut was like a fever dream. She received congratulatory messages from several people including WWE’s Senior Director of Content & Development Jeremy Borash.
A lot of people were critical of WWE for rebranding NXT shortly after Triple H had to step away from his role due to his cardiac event. However, according to The Game himself, the overhaul was in the works before he took time off.
The former world champion recently had an interview with The Athletic. He discussed how NXT has gone through many different phases.
Discussing the brand’s revamp to NXT 2.0, Triple H explained that being put on TV and the pandemic completely altered the show. According to him, they were discussing bringing NXT back to its development roots even before he took time off:
“We were talking about this shift anyway. That’s where we were headed. It happened at a period of time where I had to leave for a bit. Luckily, Shawn (Michaels) had been doing it with me all that time, so it was a seamless thing.
I stepped out, did what I needed to do, but that team has killed it.” said Triple H, “They’ve really created a show where you can really say that’s the next generation of stars.”
Apart from this, the WWE EVP also talked about the rise of AEW, and NXT talents jumping ships to Tony Khan’s promotion. The King of Kings revealed that he stays in touch with almost all of them and claimed that he is happy for them.
Former NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida has reportedly left WWE.
Fightful Select is reporting that Kushida has made his exit from the company. The report notes that his contract expired. There’s currently no word on whether or not he was offered a new deal. The report also mentions that there was no word of bringing Kushida to the main roster before his exit.
Kushida signed with WWE back in 2019. He entered the promotion as one of the most renowned junior heavyweights in Japanese wrestling. He is a six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and captured the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship twice with Alex Shelley as the Time Splitters.
As mentioned, Kushida was able to lay claim to gold in WWE, holding the NXT Cruiserweight Title for 161 days. Once that reign ended, however, he was paired with Ikemen Jiro to form the joke tag team, Jacket Time.
It’s no secret that WWE’s NXT brand has undergone significant changes since Kushida was signed. It’s no longer about signing independent talent and international stars to build the brand. NXT is now about preparing younger talent for Vince McMahon’s vision of the main roster.
Carmelo Hayes vs. Santos Escobar has officially been announced for the April 19 episode of WWE NXT 2.0. Last week, Escobar demanded Hayes go to the back of the line for the NXT North American Title, after the latter dropped the strap to Cameron Grimes at Stand & Deliver.
In response, Hayes challenged Escobar to a match, leading to their confrontation this week. Check out the updated card for this week’s episode of WWE NXT 2.0 below:
WWE has announced that their Table For 3 series will be making its return on the Peacock TV streaming service. This will be the first new episode of Table For 3 since 2019. The episode will feature WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle, alongside Alpha Academy, Chad Gable and Otis. You can watch the episode when it goes live on April 22.
Table For 3 was a staple of WWE’s original content on the WWE Network before being sold to Peacock. It has featured dinners and conversation between some of the business’ most groundbreaking and influential trios of all time. Past episodes have featured the likes of The New Day, The Kliq, The Shield, and so many more.
This week’s episode will feature Angle, a WWE Hall Of Famer who has made several appearances on the program already. Alongside him will be the former RAW Tag Team Champions Alpha Academy, who recently challenged for the titles at WrestleMania 38 – but came up short to RK-Bro.
Several more NXT stars have received new names in line with Vince McMahon’s latest edict about not using real or indie names for performers in WWE.
According to PWinsider, former American Ninja Warrior star Kacy Catanzaro will be known as Katana Chance going forward.
Former NXT UK Women’s champion Kay Lee Ray has also been renamed. Per the report, she will now be known as Alba Fyre.
These two aren’t the only NXT stars to have received new names in recent weeks. WWE has newly trademarked the names Roxanne Perez, Alba Fyre and Cruz Del Toro.
Out of these, the Cruz Del Toro name has already been given to Raul Mendoza. He made his WWE debut back in 2016 and has been competing on the NXT brand since.
Roxanne Perez is the new name for Rok-C. WWE signed the former ROH women’s world champion just last month in March.
NXT stars aren’t the only ones receiving new names. Several of the main roster stars have had their names altered in recent weeks.
The latest example of it is Austin Theory. His name was cut short to Theory on this past Monday’s episode of Raw. This change was made because WWE didn’t want to use part of his real name Austin White on TV.
Pretty Deadly are the new WWE NXT Tag Team Champions after winning a 5-team gauntlet match on Tuesday’s episode of NXT 2.0. They outlasted Grayson Waller & Sanga, Legado del Fantasma, The Creed Brothers, and Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen in the match.
It opened with Creed Brothers eliminating Legado del Fantasma before Briggs and Jensen came out as the third team. A spot saw Brutus get slammed through announce table. Finally, Brutus eliminated Jensen to bring out Waller and Sanga as the fourth team. The final team was Pretty Deadly. The former WWE NXT UK stars hit their finishers on Brutus to win the bout and the titles.
Last week, WWE announced the titles had been vacated but didn’t mention MSK or what led to the titles being vacated. MSK won the titles in a triple threat match at Stand & Deliver. However, Nash Carter was released by the company just days after winning the titles. Wes Lee is still with the company.
Carter faces domestic abuse allegations made by his wife, Kimber Lee, and that is reportedly not the reason why the company let him go. Instead, the decision to fire him was due to the photo of Carter posing as Adolph Hitler.
MSK was originally scheduled to defend the NXT Tag Team Titles against Grayson Waller and Sanga on Tuesday’s show.
At Tuesday’s WWE NXT Level Up tapings before NXT 2.0 went live on the USA Network, Rok-C made her NXT debut with a new name.
She is now going under the name Roxanne Perez and defeated Sloane Jacobs. This marked her first match since WWE confirmed her signing last month.
She was trained by WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T at his Reality of Wrestling promotion. In 2021, she started to make a name for herself during her time in Ring of Honor. She worked in a tournament to become first-ever ROH Women’s World Champion as she beat Miranda Alize in the finals.
She defeated Willow Nightingale to retain the championship at Final Battle in December before the promotion went on hiatus. She lost it to Deonna Purrazzo on the episode of Impact Wrestling that aired on January 13. Prior to signing with WWE, she also held the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship.
Damon Kemp vs. Troy Donovan and Tatum Paxley vs. Kiana James were other matches taped at the show that will air this Friday night on Peacock.
Posted April 13th, 2022 in News, NXT. Tagged: Rok-C.
WWE has changed up the designs of the two top titles for the NXT brand.
Bron Breakker currently holds the NXT Title while Mandy Rose is the Women’s Champion. To reflect the change in the brand, the company has added some more colors to the belts.
Bron Breakker became a two-time WWE NXT Champion when he defeated Dolph Ziggler on the Raw After WrestleMania episode earlier this month. Ziggler won the NXT Title on the March 8 edition of NXT 2.0 in a triple threat match that featured Tommaso Ciampa and Breakker.
Breakker got his rematch for the WWE NXT Title against Ziggler in the main event of the Stand & Deliver event, but Ziggler retained despite being a huge underdog. Breakker won the NXT Title for the first time from Ciampa at New Year’s Evil in January.
Rose defeated Gonzalez to win the NXT Women’s Championship at Halloween Havoc. Also at Stand & Deliver, Rose defended her title against Cora Jade, Kay Lee Ray, and Io Shirai in a fatal 4-way bout.
On Tuesday’s episode of NXT 2.0, Rose defended the title against Dakota Kai. On this same episode, WWE will crown new NXT Tag Team Champions after the titles were vacated.
Carter’s soon-to-be-ex-wife, wrestler Kimber Lee, accuses him of physical abuse and released a photo of him giving a Nazi salute while wearing a Hitler mustache.
WWE has yet to publicly address Nash Carter’s situation, but his Superstar profile no longer appears on the company website.
On Tuesday’s NXT 2.0, five teams will battle in a Gauntlet match to determine the next champions. The teams include:
Grayson Waller & Sanga
Legado del Fantasma
The Creed Brothers
Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen
Pretty Deadly
Who do you think will become the next NXT tag team champions?
NXT Champion Bron Breakker would love to do more in WWE with his father, Rick Steiner.
The Steiner Brothers made an indelible mark on the wrestling industry during their reign as one of the sport’s most dominant tag teams. Last weekend, Rick and brother Scott Steiner became two of the latest entrants in the WWE Hall of Fame.
Breakker is following in his father’s footsteps. He’s a rookie in WWE, but he’s already racking up championships. On last week’s Raw the night after WrestleMania, he defeated Dolph Ziggler to regain the NXT Championship.
During a post-match interview, Breakker stated it was a dream come true to induct the Steiners into the Hall of Fame and then win the NXT Championship.
During a conversation with Nick Hausman for WrestlingINC during WrestleMania weekend, Breakker said the Hall of Fame was an honor for the whole family. They all appreciate the Steiner Brothers got to end their wrestling careers on this high note.
It’s not easy being the son of Rick Steiner. Breakker says his father motivates him a lot, but he’s tough and doesn’t share a lot of compliments.
“He’s got high expectations for me, so he never really acknowledges that I am doing super well or anything,” said Breakker. “He’s always focused on how I can be better.”
WWE took some time before acknowledging that Rick Steiner was Bron Breakker’s father. The company probably wanted him to make a name for himself first, but secrets like this are hard to keep under wraps in today’s information age.
Rick Steiner celebrated Bron Breakker’s first NXT Championship victory back in January 2022. He hopes they can do more together on WWE television in the future. “I would love that,” he said. “I think the people would love that. I don’t know, we will see.”
You can catch NXT Champion Bron Breakker Tuesday nights on NXT 2.0.
William Regal helped many of the current generation wrestling stars get an opportunity with WWE. One such talent who finally got on the company’s radar with help from Regal after 10 years in the independent circuit is Johnny Gargano.
The former NXT champion is currently a free agent after leaving WWE a few months ago. He looks back on his WWE run with good memories and is grateful for the chance to work under William Regal.
‘Johnny Wrestling’ was in Dallas for a WrestleCon appearance over the WrestleMania weekend. Chris Van Vliet interviewed him during his trip. The two talked about things such as Gargano’s legacy in wrestling and more. Discussing how he got into WWE, Johnny mentioned that William Regal gave the chance to a lot of undersized guys like himself:
“2015-2016 I think is when I fully got on the radar. That was thanks to a guy named William Regal obviously. William Regal was a great proponent of independent wrestlers and guys like me who are undersized.” said Gargano.
“Who wasn’t given an opportunity during that time period. It’s so crazy to be in that window, where from 2016 to 2021 where I left. I felt I had a hell of a run. I maximized my time there for sure. Especially in NXT, the matches and opportunities I was given to be able to go out there and main event Takeovers in front of 15,000 seat arenas.
Today being able to do that meet and greet and signing stuff. It’s very reassuring to have people come up to me and share their stories of how I’ve affected their life. because it is wild to think that when I was younger, the boyhood dream, Shawn Michaels is what made me want to be a wrestler. For some kids out there, me winning the NXT title at Takeover: New York is gonna be what made them wanna be a wrestler. So it’s cool to have that kind of legacy in itself.”
WWE has announced the NXT Tag Team Championships have been vacated.
New champions will be crowned this Tuesday night on NXT’s weekly TV show on the USA Network. WWE has yet to address how the new champions will be determined.
As we’ve reported, WWE released Nash Carter of MSK earlier this week following allegations of abuse from his wife, IMPACT Wrestling’s Kimber Lee. On Monday, Lee took to social media, alleging that Carter “got wasted” and struck her in the face, busting her lip open. She also Tweeted out the following, tagging the official WWE NXT Twitter account (the Tweet has since been deleted):
“Hey @WWENXT this is my face after your tag champ @NashCarterWWE got wasted and hit me so hard he split my lip open. He told me I’m a wrestler so I’m always marked up. I’ve hid this for a year and even forgave him. But I can’t hide it anymore.”
The timing couldn’t be any more significant, as Carter and tag team partner Wes Lee recently captured the titles at the NXT Stand & Deliver event over WrestleMania 38 weekend. Of course, the announcement of the titles’ vacancy did not mention Carter.
WWE also hasn’t publicly addressed Carter’s release, nor the allegations as of this writing. Prior to this announcement, MSK was scheduled to defend their titles against Grayson Waller and Sanga on Tuesday’s event. WWE has not yet announced who will be competing for the vacant titles.
Next week’s episode of WWE NXT 2.0 is shaping up to be quite a jam-packed show. We now have three title bouts set for the April 12 show.
First, WWE has announced that NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose will defend her title against Dakota Kai, shortly after Rose cost Kai and Raquel Gonzalez the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships to her fellow Toxic Attraction stablemates just a week ago.
After their confrontation last night, WWE NXT Tag Team Champions MSK will put their titles up for grabs against the team of Grayson Waller and Sanga. Waller still isn’t fully healthy after Stand & Deliver, as he has his arm in a sling, but that won’t hold him back from taking up the title opportunity.
And lastly, Solo Sikoa challenged newly-crowned NXT North American Champion Cameron Grims on this week’s episode of WWE NXT. Now, the matchup is official, as Grimes will put his title up for grabs for the first time after winning it at Stand & Deliver.
Also, a pair of singles bouts between Kushida and Von Wagner, as well as Xyon Quinn and Draco Anthony are slated for the show. With all that being said, it’s going to be quite the show next week, live on the USA Network.
Check out the updated card for the April 12 episode of WWE NXT 2.0 below:
NXT Women’s Championship: Mandy Rose (c) vs. Dakota Kai
NXT Tag Team Championship: MSK (c) vs. Grayson Waller and Sanga
NXT North American Championship: Cameron Grimes (c) vs. Solo Sikoa
Young Bucks React to KO Using Their Pose After RAW
As noted, Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes went one-on-one in a dark match following last night’s episode of WWE Monday Night RAW as it went off-air. The match began with a handshake and hug between Owens and Rhodes, but it was “The American Nightmare” who emerged victorious when it was all said and done. Even The Rock’s mother, Ata Johnson, got involved in the match at one point.
However, another interesting spot saw Owens taunt Rhodes while he was down on the mat, using All Elite Wrestling (AEW) stars, The Young Buck’s, signature pose. As a result, The Young Bucks updated their official Twitter page, placing “Whaddup Kev” in their bio. Check out the pose, and a screenshot from the Bucks’ bio, below.
Kevin Owens has also responded, updating his own bio:
New Match Added to Tonight’s NXT
A new match has been announced for tonight’s episode of WWE NXT, which will also feature fallout from Stand & Deliver. WWE has announced that Nikkita Lyons vs. Lash Legend will take place on the program.
It has also been confirmed that New NXT North American Champion Cameron Grimes will speak on the show. Grimes won the title at Stand & Deliver in a Ladder match this past weekend against Grayson Waller, Solo Sikoa, Santos Escobar and Carmelo Hayes.
Check out the updated lineup for tonight’s show below:
New NXT Champion Bron Breakker returns following title win on RAW
Tony D’Angelo and AJ Galante continue Stand & Deliver celebration
New NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez vs. Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne
New NXT North American Champion Cameron Grimes speaks out
The event took place inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas just hours before night one of WrestleMania 38. On the card, Tommaso Ciampa was pinned by Tony D’Angelo, seemingly marking the end of his NXT run and the start of a transition to the main roster.
As Ciampa was walking up the ramp after the match a familiar theme song played. Triple H made his way out and hugged Ciampa.
“The Game” recently announced his retirement from in-ring action during an interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. The WWE Hall of Famer (as a member of DX) has a defibrillator in his chest as a result of heart failure.
Fightful had reported that Triple H surprised talent by showing up at a meeting before the WrestleMania festivities began.
