WWE NXT Review - January 27, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT Tag Team Champions DarkState (Saquon Shugars and Osiris Griffin) def. OTM

OTM have gotten over nicely as a babyface team, but it's too early in their chase for them to be winning the NXT Tag Team Championship, so them losing here was the right decision. As for DarkState, their matches regularly exceed expectations, but the act itself hasn't developed all that much. This was a well-worked opener, but the brawl between all of the teams at the end was lazy because we see that sort of thing too often on the show.

Jaida Parker def. Nikkita Lyons

I couldn't even tell you the last time I saw Lyons in action as I don't watch Evolve. She's not terrible, but it's not like she's improved enough to the point where I see the value in keeping her around for this long. Women with far more talented have been released far quicker. That said, this was perfectly fine for what it was. For what it's worth, Blake Monroe interrupted Parker's celebration afterward with a promo on the big screen, but it was clearly a pre-taped promo. Does that mean she's probably en route to Saudi Arabia to take part in the women's Royal Rumble?

Dion Lennox def. Myles Borne to Qualify for the NXT Championship Ladder Match

These are two guys NXT is obviously high on, so this could have gone either way. While I would have preferred Borne advancing, I get that his sights are set on Ethan Page's NXT North American Championship. Plus, Page factored into the finish here, so Borne was protected in defeat. The match itself was solid. I could certainly see Borne being the one to ultimately dethrone Page after all this time.

Lexis King def. Tavion Heights

Unsurprisingly, this was much more competitive than their last encounter, which was over in a matter of seconds. King was confronting various people backstage all night, so it would have been pretty embarrassing for him to lose again here. This was on the shorter side, so it was a basic bout at best. Heights has the higher ceiling at this point as King I get the sense King won't ever escape enhancement purgatory.

Zaria def. Thea Hail

Sol Ruca didn't appear on this episode in any capacity, so add her to the list of potential names for the women's Rumble this weekend. Anyway, Zaria turning on Ruca has been many, many months in the making and it looks like we're finally on the verge of it happening based on how Zaria acted here (attacking Hail when Fatal Influence emerged). They had a quality contest and Hail had to win since she's a part of the Triple Threat for the NXT Women's North American Championship next week.

Keanu Carver def. Andre Chase to Qualify for the NXT Championship Ladder Match

NXT wasted no time in giving Oba Femi's push to Carver now that Femi is on the main roster. Carver is supposed to be a bit more unhinged and he's playing his role well so far. Chase was the perfect first opponent for him, too. This wasn't a total squash, but it arguably should have been. I'm curious what Carver will be capable of when it comes time for him to start having longer matches.

A Brawl Ensued Among the NXT Championship Ladder Match Combatants

This was one of those typical NXT segments that was treated like a "summit" with none of the mic work really standing out other than Ricky Starks'. He's the obvious choice to put the NXT title back on, but I get the sense one of the fresher faces will win it instead to establish that this is a new era of NXT. By the way, The Vanity Project presumably attacked Henry backstage at the start of the show, but he automatically qualified for the Ladder match and Hendry was also added because he was cleared by the end of the night. Uhm, okay.

Overall Show

Next week's NXT has been built up like a special edition despite it not having any special branding. The Ladder match will be interesting because the outcome feels genuinely unpredictable. On the whole, NXT remains in a state of flux, but I applaud the effort to try to get over some newer names. None of the storylines are clicking right now for me personally, but as a "go-home" show of sorts, this episode was effective and accomplished what it needed to.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews