WWE NXT - 9/15/2026: 3 Things We Hated & 3 Things We Loved

The WWE Performance Center once again played host to "WWE NXT." A new number one contender was determined, the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic was revived, and other things happened, all of which can be read about over on the WWE NXT 9/15/2026 Results Page.

As always, the Wrestling Inc. Staff held all their opinions in, while they delivered the news of the day to you, and now it is time for them to vent their frustrations and sing their laudations. There was plenty to love, like the new direction for the tag division or Grayson Waller seemingly running for two hours. There was also plenty to hate, like the endless slog that is the story between Tavion Heights and Myles Borne. 

Agree? Disagree? Have a completely unrelated point? The comments section will be open as always.

Without anymore introduction left, here's all the good and all the bad from Tuesday's show.

Since turning on Tavion Heights at Heatwave, Myles Borne has spent his time justifying why he turned, apologizing for the turn when challenged, and then begging for Heights' forgiveness. He turned on Heights because, in his words, he thought Heights was going to turn on him. But then he realized that wasn't the case, and this week, he called Heights down to the ring and then plucked his heartstrings.

Heights wasn't going to forgive him, so Borne continued to push and push until he finally relented, and they embraced to cement their reunion. Or so we thought, as Borne then turned on Heights again. It was melodrama for the sake of it, all for a payoff that was already provided weeks ago.

This segment was one that should have been staged the week after he had turned, cementing him as a violent and treacherous heel rather than playing with the idea that he was going to go back on something he never was. Heights looks like an A-1 idiot after this, having been fooled twice in almost as many weeks.

It also begs the question of why, in kayfabe, Borne has been spending all this time trying to feign an apology. He has had ample time to attack Heights before now. There should have been no guarantee that Heights would have forgiven Borne anyway. So he might have been doing all this just to give Heights the jump on him, or just to be ignored completely. There's no strategic advantage to it, no rhyme, no reason, just hollow manufactured drama in lieu of some actual storytelling.

So now the rivalry will continue as it was always going to continue, just with a few weeks of filler and deferral. That could have just been the case. This could have been a really good rivalry, and it still can be. But stalling out of the starting blocks is never a good sign, and they're going to be working against that to make something of this.

Written by Max Everett

We've gotten a few appearances from the AAA women's division on "WWE NXT," with Flammer, La Hiedra, and a few others, I'm sure, but it's usually those within the men's division that jump over and show up at the WWE Performance Center. Tonight, however, La Catalina's appearance to step up to NXT Women's Champion Kelani Jordan was something fresh and exciting.

Catalina just won the Reina de Reinas Championship during night two of Triplemania on Sunday, and the PC crowd seemed to know just who she was. During the brawl to end the segment, they were chanting her name. She had previously been signed to "NXT," but debuted back in 2020 before leaving the following year. Catalina is much more established now, and it's cool to see her get another shot in front of Orlando fans.

WWE also framed the initial shot well, in my humble opinion. As someone who's not familiar with Catalina's theme, it was interesting to wonder for a moment who was coming out, all while watching Jordan's eyes get big in shock. I had just been pondering who would be next for Jordan after she defeated Jaida Parker last week, and I can't say I expected anyone from AAA.

While the segments of parading promos surrounding "NXT" champions are getting pretty old in both divisions, this one came at just the right time during tonight's show. "NXT" wasn't exactly fast-paced or exciting tonight, so this actually worked well.

Jordan came out to run her mouth about her defense last week, then her debut on "WWE Raw" in Mexico City last night. She said nobody was coming for her title, as they were all too intimidated, and that's when Catalina's music hit. She cut a short promo, which brought out Women's North American Champion Zaria, then her soon-to-be challenger, Thea Hail. This all set up a tag team match for next week, which I'm not mad about.

There was only one women's match, a singles bout to open the show, so hopefully next week the stronger "NXT" division is showcased more. I'm interested to see Catalina work in front of the "NXT" crowd, and a team-up with the energetic Hail for a tag match should be fun.

Written by Daisy Ruth

It's pretty common in modern-day professional wrestling for a wrestler to compete in a match and be blindsided by a wrestler in the moments that follow the finish of the match. It's a tried-and-true trope that is usually used to turn up the heat on a storyline, and can be effective if it's used right. I'm not sure it was as effective as it was intended to be in the case of Kali Armstrong defeating Lizzy Rain only to be attacked by Skylar Raye out of nowhere in the moments that followed.

There are plenty of "NXT" viewers (myself included) who don't keep up with other shows under the developmental umbrella such as "WWE EVOLVE" or "WWE LFG". I'm not sure if there was something that happened between Armstrong and Raye on one of those, but it felt incredibly random and awkward to see Raye attacking Armstrong post-match for what felt like no reason. Regardless if there was something happened between the two women on one of those shows, commentary didn't really help to fill in any gaps for me and only gave me more questions than answers. It came off as being incredibly nonsensical, with Raye's reasoning of wanting to be noticed not really helping matters, and it was something that should've occurred down the line in a storyline rather than being used as a means to kick off a storyline between the two women on "NXT".

Written by Olivia Quinlan

The "WWE NXT" tag team scene is quite chaotic right now, but given the lackluster state of the main roster, I'd say that's a good problem to have.

Tonight alone, we saw several potential tag team contenders make their mark. Firstly, Sean Legacy and Dorian Van Dux took on DarkState's Osiris Griffin and Cutler James, with the latter team emerging victorious. Afterward, the Birthright stable (Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo, Uriah Connors, Lexis King, and Charlie Dempsey) put the "NXT" roster on notice and attacked Legacy and Van Dux.

Elsewhere, NXT Tag Team Champions Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes of Vanity Project battled the potentially budding team of EK Prosper and Cruz Montana in a non-title match. Baylor and Smokes went on to win by executing a weight-assisted backslide on Prosper. Whether Prosper and Montana will continue to work together after their loss has yet to be seen. If neither is planned to be in the NXT Championship picture soon, however, I could see them becoming a major threat in the "NXT" tag team division, with the WWE Universe firmly behind them.

At "NXT" Heatwave, General Manager Robert Stone promised that the brand's tag team division would be "taking off." Based on tonight's series of events, it's safe to say that promise is on its way to being fulfilled. The recent return of former NXT Tag Team Champions The Creed Brothers (Julius and Brutus) as well as the added numbers in Noam Dar-Romeo Moreno and Hank Walker-Tank Ledger, certainly helps, too. So does the announcement of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic return.

Written by Ella Jay

Just when I thought the NXT Championship picture was getting a little less overbooked, Tristan Angels interfered in tonight's number one contender's match between Saquon Shugars, Mason Rook, and Tony D'Angelo. While I'm glad it's not D'Angelo getting a rematch for the gold, and I really do like Rook, I was really hoping Shugars would win here. Honestly, I thought we'd be getting a straightforward triple threat match, but I guess I should know better.

Shugars really needs something substantial to do following the DarkState breakup and his months-long feud with Dion Lennox, and he was well on his way there after getting himself involved in last week's six-man tag match, which led directly to the triple threat. Shugars found himself in an argument with Angels during an interview segment backstage, however, and as he had Rook pinned to win the bout, Angels appeared and pulled the referee out of the ring, leaving things wide open for Rook to get the victory.

I'm also not entirely sure I understand Angels and where he fits on the roster just yet. He's certainly getting heel heat, and I liked his schtick with the whole "Mr. 'NXT'" thing with Shiloh Hill, but after that, he's also felt directionless and very lower-mid card, at best. "NXT" already has a group of stereotypical pretty-boy heels, albeit of the fraternity boy variety, in Vanity Project, and I'm not sure if that's why Angels' gimmick isn't connecting with me or what. I just don't want to see him face Shugars, just like I wasn't thrilled to see him call out and face Zilla Fatu a few weeks ago.

I don't believe Angels has won a match on "NXT" TV since May. If Rook had to be the winner of this match over Shugars, I would much rather have seen Shugars and D'Angelo get into a feud over the coming weeks. They both may be babyfaces, but their characters are so different I think it would work. "NXT" has a lot of good things going for it right now, even in the tag team division, but there are some talents who feel like they're getting left behind, and to me, Shugars is one of them.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Grayson Waller announced on social media that he would run a half-marathon during tonight's "WWE NXT," as a way to prove to the competitors in the main event that he had better conditioning. This was barely touched on during the broadcast, despite repeated shots of Waller running his half-marathon backstage. The tag division was given direction, AAA star La Catalina made her presence known, and Grayson Waller kept running. Cruz Montana and EK Prosper put last week's loss behind them to face Darkstate, and Grayson Waller kept running. Kendal Grey met with a doctor, and Grayson Waller kept running.

I expected him to run-in to the main event in some fashion, but the main event came and went, and then Waller kind of jogged out to greet Mason Rook. It was a deeply goofy through line to the evening's show, and I found myself won over by the commitment to the bit. Waller was literally just trying to flex on his possible opponents, and based on the build of winner Mason Rook and the general tendencies of professional wrestling storytelling, his conditioning and athleticism will be a recurring theme in his feud with the rotund, equally-athletic rookie.

Written by Ross Berman.