WWE NXT delivered a loaded Tuesday night from the Performance Center in Orlando, with the 2026 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic officially getting underway and multiple major rivalries taking significant steps forward.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Opens With an Upset

The tournament kicked off with Los Americanos vs. Noam Dar & Romeo Moreno, and the opening match immediately set a high bar. After a back-and-forth battle that featured plenty of innovative offense, Dar and Moreno ultimately put the masked duo away with a top-rope Death Valley Driver and tandem takedown.

Winners: Noam Dar & Romeo Moreno

Later in the night, The Creed Brothers made their return to NXT competition and advanced past Harley Riggins & Jax Presley. Technical problems unfortunately prevented viewers from seeing much of the contest, but Julius and Brutus Creed moved on in just three minutes.

Winners: The Creed Brothers

Women's Division Delivers Two Major Results

Skylar Raye defeated Kali Armstrong in an entertaining singles contest that ended in controversial fashion. Armstrong accidentally took out the referee, allowing Reina Volcan to interfere and leave both competitors down. The recovering official subsequently counted Raye's arm across Armstrong for the three-count.

Winner: Skylar Raye

The night continued with a champion-vs.-champion tag team matchup as NXT Women's Champion Kelani Jordan & NXT Women's North American Champion Zaria faced La Catalina & Thea Hail.

After surviving an extended period of being isolated, Hail finally made the hot tag to Catalina. In the closing moments, Hail caught Zaria with a surprise roll-up to secure the victory.

Winners: La Catalina & Thea Hail

Cruz Montana and Dion Lennox Rivalry Explodes

One of the night's most heated segments came when Cruz Montana attempted to address the NXT Championship picture, only to be interrupted by DarkState's Dion Lennox.

The confrontation quickly became personal, with Montana questioning Lennox's route into professional wrestling and Lennox responding with deeply personal comments about Montana's family.

Montana eventually snapped, launching himself at Lennox and sparking a wild pull-apart brawl that spilled from the ring and continued backstage.

BirthRight Steal Six-Man Tag Team Victory

Zilla Fatu, Sean Legacy & EK Prosper battled BirthRight in a chaotic six-man tag team contest.

Fatu was particularly dominant, throwing BirthRight members around the ring and delivering several impressive power moves. The trio also produced one of the night's biggest visual moments when Fatu, Legacy and Prosper simultaneously dove through the ropes onto their opponents.

But a referee distraction involving Arianna Grace ultimately proved decisive.

With Prosper unable to officially make a tag and Legacy left vulnerable, Uriah Connors rolled him up, allowing BirthRight to steal the victory.

Winners: BirthRight

Afterward, Lexis King continued provoking Fatu and slapped him across the face. Fatu responded with a Samoan Spike, forcing BirthRight to retreat.

Zaria Embarrassed Backstage

An attempted interview with Zaria took an unexpected turn when old footage of the Women's North American Champion performing in a school play appeared on screen.

Zaria stormed away in embarrassment, while Izzi Dame arrived to mock her and declare herself NXT's resident "mean girl."

Grayson Waller and Mason Rook Go Face-to-Face

The show closed with an extended confrontation between NXT Champion Grayson Waller and No. 1 contender Mason Rook ahead of their championship match next week.

Waller spent much of the segment attempting to get inside Rook's head, acknowledging the challenger's physical gifts while questioning whether Rook possesses the mentality and work ethic necessary to defeat him.

Rook refused to get dragged into Waller's preferred verbal game. Instead, he emphasized that he earned his place in WWE and warned Waller that none of the champion's talking will matter once they're finally in the ring together.

Rook finished by promising that when the championship match takes place next week, there will be no microphone, camera or escape route available to Waller.

The stage is now set for the NXT Championship showdown between Grayson Waller and Mason Rook next week.