WWE NXT - 5/26/2026: 3 Things We Hated And 3 We Loved

Another "WWE NXT" has come and gone. The show was a bevy of fresh faces, even seeing newcomer Romeo Moreno earning a shot at the Men's Speed Championship. If you want to read more about the show, let me direct you to the WWE NXT 5/26/2026 Results Page.

Otherwise, it's time for us to break down the best and the worst of the weekly Tuesday program. There was plenty to love, like the main event, and there was plenty to hate, such as Dark State's poor excuse for a promo this week. If you want to continue the conversation, I can direct you to the comments section.

So now, please enjoy the best and the worst of WWE NXT.

Naraku, the former EVIL, is lurking around the fringes of the WWE NXT Title scene, but the scene has gotten so crowded that he's starting to become part of the furniture too quickly. He has wrestled a single match on NXT television so far: a slightly-too-long victory over Lince Dorado. Otherwise, he's just kind of wandering around backstage, making evil puns. It feels like he's been Flanderized already.

For those who don't know, "Flanderization" is a term for when an initially three-dimensional character is stripped to their most memetic qualities, named for Ned Flanders on "The Simpsons," who went from a cartoonish albeit thoughtful character, into a two-dimensional parody of American Protestantism with two dead wives. Flanderization is something that usually occurs on the main roster, but it's as if Naraku is coming out already, something of a parody of his NJPW persona. It's been a little underwhelming.

Hopefully, when the Kam Hendrixes and the Mason Rooks of the world lose their title shots, Naraku will be able to look like a bona fide contender, but I will believe it when I see it.

Written by Ross Berman

It's rare that Wren Sinclair is allotted more than 10 minutes in a televised "WWE NXT" singles match, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that tonight marked one of the few occasions.

Sinclair is typically positioned in a way that puts over other talents, especially the "NXT" brand's top stars. WWE has also called upon her to serve as the opponent for debuting talents. And I understand why: she's reliable in the ring, good at selling, and has prior TV and indie wrestling experience.

On many of those occasions, though, Sinclair's in-ring time was reduced to five minutes or less, which meant fans couldn't fully see her charisma and exciting facial expressions. When she took on former NXT Women's North American Champion Kelani Jordan tonight, we were able to see all of it at work.

The story in this match centered on Jordan targeting Sinclair's injured knee and Sinclair further selling the damage. Sinclair even encountered a hope spot when she dodged Jordan's split-legged moonsault, then shortly after, powered through an STF. It wasn't until Jordan dragged Sinclair back into the middle of the ring and wrenched her legs and back that Sinclair finally submitted.

Even in defeat, Sinclair still shone. Jordan, as always, was amazed by her athleticism. Her heel behavior intensified as well, so really, I can't complain.

With Jordan's win, it appears we're on track for a future Women's Speed Championship match between her and Sinclair, too. And as a former gymnast, WWE Speed matches seem only fitting for Jordan.

Written by Ella Jay

I will always appreciate a professional wrestling company doing something different, like "NXT" did here by having both Sean Legacy and Dorian Van Dux's first round WWE Speed Championship Number One Contenders Tournament end in both men being eliminated when the time limit expired. It was something we hadn't seen on "NXT" before, but I just don't know if I entirely enjoyed this.

For one thing, I found it to be incredibly confusing to figure out. If you cast your minds back to the February 17 episode of "NXT", then you might recall that the finals match in a WWE Speed Championship Number One Contenders Tournament between Elio LeFleur and Eli Knight ended in a Time Limit Draw, and Robert Stone ultimately decided to make a Triple Threat Speed Championship match between the two men and then-titleholder Jasper Troy official. I know that there's a difference between the first round and finals, but it created even more confusion for me personally, as it muddled up all of the existing rules for Speed Championship matches that I already don't have a great grasp on. The fact that both the ring announcer and Vic Joseph had to explain what would be happening next also speaks volumes, and shows that WWE knew that, at least to some extent, their audience would have some questions about this. I still haven't fully made up my mind about how I feel about all of this because it was different, but I think that indecision speaks for itself in many ways, for what a confusing mess this all felt like to me.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

We already have a "Miss NXT" (thank you, Arianna Grace), so it's only fair we crown a "Mr. NXT" as well.

Admittedly, when Shiloh Hill began his campaign for Mr. NXT, I wasn't sure where exactly it would lead us. Tonight, though, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it has resulted in an official Mr. NXT pageant, taking place in two weeks.

Tristan Angles, who prides himself on being classy and clean, made the announcement tonight, with the added comment that "NXT" General Manager Robert Stone would get the "proper pageant affairs" in order. What exactly that means remains a mystery for now, but I, like others, I'm sure, already have some ideas as to what they might be.

A talent competition? An evening wear or swimsuit faceoff? Hard-hitting questions from a panel of judges? Whatever this pageant might include, I'm willing to bet that WWE embraces the element of campiness to deliver the most ridiculous yet entertaining and endearing show possible.

Also, per Hill, the following people have already endorsed his campaign: Papa Shango, Marie Curie, Timothee Chalamet, and Mike Tyson. Given her long-time passing, Curie's presence at the event would be impossible. The rest, however, stand as exciting possible additions to the segment. The mere idea of Charles Wright reviving Papa Shango to judge a pageant has me giddy.

Written by Ella Jay

I know I've said that I'm glad Saquon Shugars is out of DarkState and is now hopefully going to be able to shine on his own very soon, but that "very soon" was not tonight, as he was nowhere to be seen. Until the very last few seconds of the broadcast, however, which changed over to the local news so fast it was hard to see him standing menacingly on a trailer in the "NXT" parking lot as his former stablemates left the building. Even if the camera did linger for a few more seconds, that's all he was doing. Standing there.

Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin, and Cutler James opened up the show with a promo attempting to explain themselves and just why they kicked Shugars out of the group. First, I could barely take them seriously when Shugars' mask in their entrance graphic was just covered with a big, red "X" rather than being removed from the graphic entirely, which made it look really cheesy.

It can probably be chalked up to the fact that these guys are quite literally in developmental and still learning, but they also failed to play to the crowd at all during the opening segment, which made it really hard to get through. Rather than acknowledge the boos and chants, even with a passing "shut up" or something, Griffin, Lennox, and James seemed to just race through their lines. I know there can be some passionate hecklers in that Performance Center crowd, and some probably should be ignored, but it kind of took me out of it all, as we've seen plenty of developmental talent still playing up to and acknowledging the crowd.

The fact that Shugars didn't run out to take out his former stable was really lame. Sure, he went through the commentary desk last week, but he could have come out with his ribs taped up for something. He was the toughest guy in DarkState by a mile, and his just lurking in the shadows at the end of the show was really, really dumb.

I'm assuming he'll get involved next week during DarkState's tag match against North American Champion Myles Borne and Tavion Heights, but there's already a lot of story in that match with the tension between Borne and Heights. It would have made plenty more sense for him to get involved and save the opening promo segment, which would have set a better, more chaotic tone for the rest of the night.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Lola Vice defended the NXT Women's title against Izzi Dame in an action-packed main event that managed to make the challenger and champion look immense, even with the result. Since winning the Women's North American title to become the most successful, as well as the most interesting, of the Culling, Dame has been taking more of a leadership role in the group.

Prior to her match, she was seen chastising Shawn Spears for his role in attacking OTM. That played out in the match as Spears and Niko Vance accompanied Dame at ringside, only to prove unable to help her when OTM came out to get their receipt.

Dame still looked good to win the match and certainly threatened the champion, setting her up for a running flying knee. Only, Vice ducked the knee, and the referee didn't. Which would normally be the cue for some interference to take place and ruin what was developing into a good match. They didn't go that route, with Vice and Dame continuing to wrestle while the referee licked his wounds.

Vice dropped Dame with a spinning backfist for what would have been a sure three, but the referee was late to the count, thus prompting Vice to try and shake some life into him. That allowed Dame to grab the title belt on the outside of the ring, bringing it into the ring, throwing it for Vice to catch, and then delivering a big boot through it.

Vice kicked out of the subsequent cover for the closest near-fall of the match, shot for a submission, got rolled up, kicked out, and then delivered the snappiest of spinning backfists to finally win the match clean as a whistle.

It was a main event that delivered on action and story, with all the background context of Dame's standing with the Culling, it made Dame out to be a credible challenger and further cemented Vice as champion. That's all you can really ask from a TV main event, and I'm certainly looking forward to how everything develops moving forward.

Written by Max Everett