WWE Reportedly Unhappy With Recent NXT Crowds

WWE is encouraging “WWE NXT” talent to ask their friends and family to come to tapings in hopes of building up more enthusiasm among the live audience, according to a new report. In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it’s reported that WWE sent a memo to the talent on its developmental “NXT” roster ahead of last Tuesday’s taping requesting that they “strongly encourage their friends and family in the central Florida area to attend “NXT” tomorrow evening at the Performance Center to help bring energy to the crowd in the final shows leading up to Stand and Deliver.”

The memo was reportedly sent out in response to lackluster crowds at “NXT” tapings in recent weeks, something that irked WWE officials. Tickets are free to “NXT” tapings, but fans need to request spots in the audience ahead of time online. “NXT” Stand and Deliver, the developmental promotion’s annual WrestleMania weekend premium live event, will take place next Saturday in Los Angeles. The event will be headlined by an “NXT” Championship match between current title holder Bron Breakker and challenger Carmelo Hayes, while several other key figures including Dragon Lee and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s daughter Ava, will be making their highly anticipated in-ring debuts for the promotion.

The card will also include the return of former “NXT” Champion Johnny Gargano, who is set to face off against Grayson Waller, as well as several other title matches to be announced on this Tuesday night’s go-home show.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Roxanne Perez Shares Message With Fans Amid Murky WWE NXT Status

It’s been two weeks since “WWE NXT” Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez mysteriously “collapsed” after her successful title defense against Meiko Satomura at the Roadblock special, a clear homage to the November 1995 angle where “NXT” booker Shawn Michaels collapsed during a match with Owen Hart due to what was claimed to be post-concussion syndrome. There have been conflicting reports as to whether this was a cover for any kind of real-life health issue, and WWE has been building to a ladder match for the title at Stand & Deliver during WrestleMania weekend, but officially, Perez is still champion. On Tuesday, hours after Dave Meltzer reported that Perez was cleared to return from whatever was keeping her on the sidelines, she shared an update on Twitter.

“I can’t thank the @WWENXT Universe enough for all the thoughts and prayers over the past two weeks,” she wrote in the presumably in-character tweet. “The outpouring of support fills my heart. I wish I had better news, but the doctors are saying we’re no closer to finding out what happened to me at RoadBlock. I’m very frustrated, but I promise I’ll be back, stronger than ever, but I just don’t know when!”

https://twitter.com/roxanne_wwe/status/1638321201310253058

https://twitter.com/roxanne_wwe/status/1638321317815496706

Perez —as Rok-C — was the first wrestler to hold the rebranded Ring of Honor Women’s World Championship, winning a tournament final in September 2021. After Sinclair Broadcasting announced the restructuring of ROH shortly thereafter and offered releases to all contracted talent, she took them up on it and dropped the title to Deonna Purrazzo before jumping to WWE. Perez has held both women’s titles on the “NXT” brand, winning the singles title from the departing Mandy Rose in December and briefly holding the tag titles with Cora Jade in between them defeating Toxic Attraction and Jade turning heel in July.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Preview 3/21/2023

Tonight’s episode of WWE NXT from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center on the USA Network:

NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez has been medically cleared.

WWE NXT’s Roxanne Perez Medically Cleared

WWE NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez has been medically cleared after a mysterious issue that kept her sidelined.

A few weeks ago, WWE did a collapsing angle following her latest title defense that reminded fans of a similar segment Shawn Michaels did in the mid-nineties. It was reported that there was concern within WWE about Perez as she was dealing with an issue that was keeping her from in-ring action and wasn’t an injury.

WWE announced a ladder match for Stand & Deliver for the NXT Women’s Championship, although Perez has not been stripped of that title.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that Perez is now cleared to compete again and is expected to appear on NXT TV soon. There’s still no word yet on what the issue was.

Source: eWrestlingNews

Roxanne Perez’s Availability In Doubt, WWE NXT Poised To Crown New Women’s Champ At Stand & Deliver

It appears that a new “WWE NXT” Women’s Champion will be crowned at the brand’s Stand & Deliver event. WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels took to Twitter and announced that there will be a series of qualifying matches starting on tonight’s episode to determine who will be competing at Stand & Deliver in a ladder match for the “NXT” Women’s Championship.

“As of Friday Morning Roxanne Perez was discharged from the hospital,” Michaels wrote. “However, after numerous tests, Roxanne’s health is still in question. With Stand and Deliver in less than three weeks, I have the obligation to announce we possibly have to crown a New NXT Women’s Champion. Starting tonight there will be a series of qualifying matches with the winners advancing to Stand and Deliver to compete to become the NXT Women’s Champion in a Ladder Match.”

The end of the March 7 episode of “NXT” saw Perez suddenly “collapse” after she retained her title against Meiko Satomura. Perez was stretchered out of the arena to an ambulance backstage. This happened after several vignettes showed her “exhaustive workouts” ahead of the big match with the former “NXT UK” Women’s Champion. Perez has been the “NXT” Women’s Champion since defeating former WWE Superstar Mandy Rose on the December 13 edition of “NXT.”

Stand & Deliver is set for Saturday, April 1 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. It will be on the same day as night one of WrestleMania 39 and will be starting at 1 PM ET. Other matches announced include Bron Breakker defending his “NXT” Championship against Carmelo Hayes and Grayson Waller will be facing Johnny Gargano.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Preview 3/14/2023

Tonight’s episode of WWE NXT in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center on the USA Network:

NXT North American Championship: Wes Lee (c) issues another open challenge.
Johnny Gargano to speak to the NXT universe.
NXT Tag Team Championship: Gallus (Wolfgang & Mark Coffey) (c) vs. Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince)

Shawn Michaels Names Johnny Gargano As Grayson Waller’s Opponent At WWE NXT Stand & Deliver

The ongoing feud between Grayson Waller and WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels has escalated to the “NXT” Stand & Deliver premium live event. During Tuesday night’s special Roadblock episode, Michaels was a guest on “The Grayson Waller Effect.”

During the segment, Waller challenged Michaels to a match, which is when Michaels revealed that former “NXT” Champion and current “Raw” Superstar Johnny Gargano was going to be Waller’s opponent instead. Gargano and Waller have a history that goes all the way back to Gargano’s farewell to “NXT” in December 2021. As he was ending his farewell speech, Waller came out from behind and attacked him. Gargano’s last “NXT” match before he went to the main roster was at the “NXT” WarGames 2021 event.

Waller started his feud with Michaels when he crashed the Vengeance Day post-show media call and was “suspended” for his behavior. Waller returned on the February 14 episode of “NXT,” when he was kicked out of the arena after confronting Michaels backstage. While Waller was being escorted out of the building, he called the WWE Hall of Famer “a hypocrite and a suit” and that “HBK doesn’t exist anymore.”

“NXT” Stand & Deliver is set for April 1 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. It will be on the same day as night one of WrestleMania 39 and will be starting at 1 PM ET. The only other match announced for Stand & Deliver is Bron Breakker defending the “NXT” Championship against Carmelo Hayes in the main event.

Source: Wrestling Inc.