Former IWGP Heavyweight Champion EVIL Gets New Name, WWE NXT Debut Set

By Max Everett
Nakaru/EVIL in a vignette during "WWE NXT" WWE

Following his debut during last week's "WWE NXT" to confront reigning NXT Champion Tony D'Angelo, former NJPW star EVIL has officially been renamed Naraku and confirmed to be appearing next Tuesday. 

The former IWGP Heavyweight Champion finished up in Japan in January after dropping the NEVER Openweight Championship to Aaron Wolf at Wrestle Kingdom – though his last match came the following night at New Year's Dash! in trios action. Later that month, NJPW confirmed he would not be renewing his contract and thus ensued speculation over his future. 

He put an end to that speculation when he emerged to confront the NXT Champion last week, although he was never explicitly referred to by a name, least of all the one he'd been known as for 11 years. 

Tuesday's show answered that question with a vignette designed to promote his arrival during next week's show. During which, he addressed D'Angelo and made it clear he wants the title he is in possession of. The vignette closed with the writing: "Naraku debuts next week."

Naraku in Japanese translates to "Abyss," though it is unknown whether that's a deliberate nod to the WWE Producer and TNA Hall of Famer of the same moniker, Joseph Park. Naraku is also the name of a character in the "Inuyasha" manga series. 

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