WWE NXT Review - April 28, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT North American Champion Myles Borne def. Saquon Shugars

Borne already beat Dion Lennox last week, but Shugars said that Robert Stone would give DarkState another opportunity only if Shugars was the one getting the shot. Obviously, that will further play into the tension within the group's ranks. Anyway, this was a quality contest and it was refreshing getting to see Shugars what can do on his own for a change. Post-match, Tristian Angels debuted by cutting a promo in the crowd, and Kam Hendrix (who I'm familiar with from his time on WWE LFG as Anthony Luke) laid out Borne.

NXT Champion Tony D'Angelo Was Confronted and Attacked by Potential Challengers

The NXT Championship scene went from depleted with pretty much all of the top talent getting called up to being somewhat interesting with a handful of new names arriving all at once. In this segment alone, we got EVIL (though he wasn't referred to by that name so I assume it ends up getting changed), Tavion Heights (who was already on the roster but is a welcome addition to the championship mix) and some huge dude who I believe is Will Kross from the independent scene. There was a lot going on, and each attack/confrontation ran the risk of overshadowing the others, but it was certainly eventful.

Sean Legacy and EK Prosper def. Birth Right (Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and Uriah Connors)

Prosper was originally supposed to team with Dorian Van Dux, but Birth Right attacking Van Dux led to Legacy returning and teaming with Prosper instead. As you'd expect, they had excellent chemistry as partners, so this was a fun sprint. Once again, Birth Right lost, but I imagine this was designed to build toward Legacy getting the next shot at Lexis King's WWE Speed Championship.

AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champions Mr. Iguana and NXT Women's Champion Lola Vice Attacked The Culling

Dame is a fine first challenger for Vice's NXT Women's Championship, even though it's not a feud that excites me at all. This was a fairly standard segment to set up a mixed tag team match, and it was logical that Mr. Iguana would help out Vice since they're currently the AAA World Mixed Tag Team champs together. The Culling need to win that mixed tag bout if they want any sort of credibility.

Lizzy Rain def. Nikkita Lyons

Yep, Lizzy Rain is going to be a star, and it's not going to take too long, either. Between her entrance, mic work and the match itself, she was extremely impressive all around, especially that awesome finisher. I'm shocked Lyons is still on the roster to be honest, but she sold that finisher wonderfully and played her role well. I'm looking forward to watching Rain's rise because she seems to have all the tools necessary to go far.

Kelani Jordan def. WWE Women's Speed Champion Wren Sinclair (Non-Title)

My top takeaway from this match was that Sinclair is good enough to win the WWE Women's Speed Championship but not beat anyone of note. Got it. In all seriousness, this was decent, but it left me wondering what's next for Jordan. She's definitely ready for the main roster, but I get not wanting to call up so many women at once, but she feels directionless in the meantime.

Shiloh Hill def. Ricky Saints

We already found out on last Friday's SmackDown that Saints is SmackDown bound, so the outcome of this contest was already obvious, but Hill had to win, regardless. He has potential and Saints is on his way out. They didn't have an instant classic or anything, but I thought it was a well-worked main event. Now the key is capitalizing on this momentum boost for Hill.

Overall Show

NXT didn't waste any time in hitting the reset button apparently. The roster was ravaged by call-ups coming out of WrestleMania 42, yet they replenished the pot pretty quickly. While I do question introducing/repackaging so many people at once, it seems like they're going to throw a bunch of stuff at us and see what sticks. The new blood will inject some much-needed life into the show, at least for a little while, and this was a solid start to this new era for NXT.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews