WWE NXT Review - May 12, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Lizzy Rain and NXT Women's North American Champion Tatum Paxley def. Nikkita Lyons and Zaria

Zaria made it quite clear to Robert Stone last week that she had no intention of teaming with Lyons since her split from Sol Ruca stemmed from her feeling overshadowed, so I appreciated that attention to detail. It's also why it was logical for her to walk out on Lyons, who made the most sense to eat the pin. It was a well-worked opener. We found out later on that it will be Paxley vs. Rain for the NXT Women's North American Championship next week, which I'm looking forward to.

Naraku def. Lince Dorado

I totally forgot Dorado works with the company in a backstage role and occasionally in an in-ring role until I saw him here. As for Naraku, it feels like he's all entrance so far. Last week's vignette for him was great, but once the bell rang, there wasn't anything overly special about him. That seemed to be the story of EVIL in New Japan Pro-Wrestling as well. He wasn't terribly impressive in this outing, nor did this need to last as long as it did, so we'll see how he fares going forward.

Birth Right (Uriah Connors, Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and Charlie Dempsey) def. Tate Wilder, Sean Legacy and EK Prosper

Birth Right winning is obviously a step in the right direction for them, but as I've said before, their booking is so damn inconsistent that I'm not convinced this is the start of some sort of serious push for them. Nonetheless, this was a fun six-man tag team match. Wilder taking the loss was strange seeing as how he just debuted and this marked his in-ring debut on the show.

Mason Rook Attacked NXT Champion Tony D'Angelo and Kam Hendrix Before Signing His NXT Contract

Rook is quickly coming across like a star on this show and this segment further helped establish him as such. Hendrix feels like less of a natural in the NXT Championship mix at this point, but I thought he played his role well here. Rook standing tall was the correct call. I hope they feed Hendrix to D'Angelo first instead of rushing into D'Angelo vs. Rook. That should be saved for a significant stage.

Jackson Drake def. Noam Dar; DarkState Challenged and Attacked Vanity Project

In all honesty, I'm shocked Dar is still on the roster. He's been with the company for a decade and hasn't done anything remotely interesting in ages. Despite that, I thought he and Drake had a nice match here. Drake continues to be built up with wins. The post-match angle was effective in setting up next week's NXT Tag Team Championship rematch between Vanity Project and DarkState and I liked that all the members of DarkState got a chance to speak.

Kelani Jordan def. Kendal Grey

This was a good, competitive battle between two women who are on the verge of entering NXT Women's Championship contention. The action was enjoyable and I didn't mind the involvement from Lola Vice and Izzi Dame at ringside right before the finish because it protected Grey in defeat. Jordan should get a shot at the title before Grey, who should be the one who ultimately dethrones Vice.

Overall Show

The women starting and ending the show was cool, though that's hardly surprising with how much NXT prioritizes their women's division. This was another thumbs-up edition of NXT TV as they continue to reset the deck and get stuff going. There was enough happening on this episode to hold my attention and keep me entertained. I hope they can maintain the momentum going forward.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews