WWE NXT Review - June 2, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zaria def. Lizzy Rain

Rain already unsuccessfully challenged for the NXT Women's North American Championship and Zaria was clearly being built up as the next number one contender, so Zaria winning here made sense. Rain had another impressive outing and was made to look credible in defeat. All in all, an enjoyable opener. Post-match, Tatum Paxley told Zaria that she'll give her a shot at the title on next week's show.

OTM def. The Culling (Shawn Spears and Niko Vance)

Every time OTM begin to build momentum, it feels like the powers that be don't know what to do with them. For example, they were on the ascent prior to Stand & Deliver during their feud with DarkState, but they all but disappeared from programming before resurfacing in recent weeks. On the bright side, this was a decent match and OTM was able to pick up the victory. The Culling are obviously on the brink of collapse, but I'm not sure any of them will benefit from being on their own.

Jackson Drake def. Tate Wilder

Drake is racking up wins, while Wilder is racking up losses. I'm glad Drake is being pushed, but I have no idea what they're going for with Wilder. You'd think it'd be a lovable loser type of thing, but I'm not sure what his character is supposed to be, either. It was an adequate outing. I don't expect this to be anything more than what it was, but I do wonder what the endgame with Drake is.

NXT Women's Champion and AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion Lola Vice, Kelani Jordan and Kendal Grey Confronted Each Other

With Vice defeating Izzi Dame to retain her title last week, it was logical for Jordan and Grey to step up for the next shot. The mic work from all three women was good, which made for an effective segment on the whole. I like how they've kept the NXT Women's Championship picture busy since Stand & Deliver and that's a testament to how deep the division still is even after all the call-ups.

WWE Speed Champion Lexis King def. Romeo Moreno

Moreno scored one upset over Nathan Frazer last week to earn this opportunity. Otherwise, he hasn't been established whatsoever (other than as a fanboy for Noam Dar). Despite that, this was the usual nice sprint for the Speed title. It came close to the time limit, ensuring Moreno scored plenty of offense, but King went over decisively as he should have. Birth Right are still struggling as a stable, but hey, they have the WWE Speed Championship in their ranks, for whatever the hell that's worth.

DarkState (Dion Lennox and Osiris Griffin) def. Tavion Heights and NXT North American Champion Myles Borne

This was a one-off reunion for No Quarter Catch Crew. I assume their loss will lead to them eventually turning on each other and feuding over the NXT North American Championship. This was a well-worked tag team match to get DarkState back on track after failing to regain the NXT Tag Team Championship two weeks ago. It was supposed to take place earlier in the episode, but Saquon Shugars attacking Cutler James in the crowd delayed it until later on.

NXT Champion Tony D'Angelo def. Kam Hendrix

As I've said before, it was way too soon for Hendrix to be thrust into the main event scene, but to his credit, he made the most of the opportunity. He's been fairly generic on the mic, but he did hold his own here and had a solid showing, even though the outcome was never in doubt. Mason Rook and Naraku will face off on next week's episode to determine the next number one contender.

Overall Show

Multiple potential challengers are lining up for shots at the NXT Championship, the NXT Women's Championship and the NXT Women's North American Championship and that's keeping things interesting. I can't say the stories they're telling with DarkState and The Culling are doing much for me, or that the Speed stuff is ever anything exciting, but the new blood has been enough to make NXT worthwhile most weeks, with this installment being no exception.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews