WWE NXT Review - May 26, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

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

I dig the pairing between Sinclair and Kendal Grey as I feel they compliment each other well, but Sinclair continues to take a backseat to Grey and serve as a stepping stone for whoever she's feuding with. I understand that's the role she's designated, but I feel like she has a higher ceiling than that, especially as the Women's Speed champ. This was a decent opener from these two.

DarkState Addressed Saquon Shugars

Apparently DarkState's reasoning for kicking out Shugars was that they're all athletes and he came from the independent scene. Uhm, sure, I guess. Shugars are arguably the best part of the group, so without him, I don't see the stable finding much success. This was a solid segment, but it didn't get me any more invested in them. It was smart to sit out Shugars here so he could sell the vicious attack from last week.

Sean Legacy vs. Dorian Van Dux in a WWE Speed Championship No. 1 Contender's Tournament Semifinal Match Ended in a Time-Limit Draw

We don't know much about Van Dux as a character yet, but he's been impressive in the ring from what I've seen. Obviously, we know what Legacy is capable of. I thought they had a fun sprint. The time-limit draw was different in that we've never seen it in a Speed semifinal tournament match before, which meant the winner of Romeo Moreno vs. Nathan Frazer later on would automatically become the number one contender. 

Jaida Parker def. Layla Diggs

I remember first seeing Diggs get hired by WWE on that WWE: Next Gen show they put up on The Roku Channel two years ago. I also remember the matches she had on NXT Level Up before that was canceled. Of course, there's plenty of room for improvement (especially as seen in this outing), but she's made great strides since then. This was brief yet fine. It was more so designed to get us closer to Parker vs. Nattie since Diggs was Nattie's handpicked opponent for Parker.

NXT Champion Tony D'Angelo, Naraku and Kam Hendrix Exchanged Words

As I've said before, they're doing a nice job of keeping the NXT Championship scene interesting at the moment. I still think it's way too soon for Hendrix to be in title contention, but he's getting his shot at the strap on next week's show. His mic work was perfectly passable, but D'Angelo and Naraku were really the ones who carried this segment by planting the seeds for their future face-off.

Romero Moreno def. Nathan Frazer in the Finals of the WWE Speed Championship No. 1 Contender's Tournament

As I noted earlier, Van Dux and Legacy's semifinal tournament match ending in a time-limit draw meant that Moreno and Frazer's match was moved to the finals. A SmackDown Superstar losing to a random NXT wrestler was questionable, but at least it was a cool upset. The match itself was enjoyable. Moreno will challenge Lexis King for the title next Tuesday night.

Shiloh Hill def. Charlie Dempsey

We were supposed to get a match between OTM and The Culling right before this, but The Culling ambushed OTM beforehand, so it didn't happen. Anyway, this was adequate. Hill is feuding with Tristian Angels, who is basically Charlie Dempsey with more charisma, so this was a logical match to do before Hill and Angels do battle. It also sadly served as a reminder that Dempsey is as directionless as he's been in a long time.

NXT Women's Champion and AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion Lola Vice def. Izzi Dame

Despite NXT's best efforts, I never bought into the idea that Dame could possibly take the title from Vice. The Culling's interference made no difference to me. To give credit where it's due, though, Dame had a strong showing and was made to look credible in defeat. It was a worthwhile main event on the whole that actually exceeded my expectations. Props to both ladies for working hard. 

Overall Show

This was a little less eventful than other editions of NXT we've gotten as of late, but it was still a quality show with the women taking center stage in the opener and in the main event. Everything in the middle mostly moved stuff forward, even if it wasn't in the most exciting of ways. The build for next week's show was also well done with two title matches being announced.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews