Tag: NXT

Taya Valkyrie Getting New Ring Name And Bringing Her Dog To WWE NXT Next Month?

It looks like Taya Valkyrie is set to make her WWE NXT debut on the first episode after next week’s two-night “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” event.

Last night’s Takeover go-home edition of NXT on the USA Network featured a series of vignettes where a Pomeranian dog was seen running through the Capitol Wrestling Center at the WWE Performance Center. The dog finally ran up to a woman in boots. The only part of the woman shown was her boots, but it said she would be coming on April 13, which is the first NXT episode to air in the new Tuesday night timeslot on the WWE Network. The final part of the vignette featured writing on the screen that said “Franky” will see us soon.

Earlier this month WWE filed to trademark the “Franky Monet” name for general pro wrestling and sports entertainment use. It looks like this will be the name of the “Franky” teased in tonight’s promo.

Fans online noticed that the dog used in the vignette is Presley, one of the pets owned by Valkyrie and her husband, WWE RAW Superstar John Morrison. They have an Instagram account for both of their dogs, Presley and Bowie, at @the_pee_boyz. Taya has carried Presley at various wrestling shows in the past, including for a few Impact Wrestling appearances.

There is some online speculation that Valkyrie will use another name, and that the dog will go by the “Franky” name but that has not been confirmed, and it’s more likely that Valkyrie’s new ring name in NXT will be Franky Monet.

As seen below, WWE tweeted a screenshot from the April 13 teaser and indicated that Franky could be the name of the dog. They wrote, “How are we gonna wait that long? Franky stole our heart. [dog emoji][growing heart emoji] #WWENXT”

Valkyrie has re-tweeted several of the dog tweets from tonight’s show, and she also re-tweeted a USA Network tweet that teased her as the new character.

“If that’s who we think it is… @WWENXT is gonna be loca in April 13th. #WWENXT,” USA tweeted.

Valkyrie is a former Impact Knockouts Champion and a former three-time AAA Reina de Reinas Champion. She debuted for Impact in September 2017 and left in January of this year, leaving the company as the longest-reigning Knockouts Champion in history. Valkyrie signed with WWE in mid-February and reported to the WWE Performance Center to begin training in late February.

There is no word yet on what WWE has planned for Valkyrie, Below are shots from the related vignettes on tonight’s show, along with recent photos of Taya and Presley:

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1377422774470287361
https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1377425876803932160
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1377428628481339394
https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1377434474552586240

WWE NXT Preview 3/31/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will be the go-home show for next week’s “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” event. This will also be the last regular Wednesday night episode before NXT moves to Tuesday nights on April 13.

WWE NXT Superstar Danny Burch To Miss Several Months With Injury

WWE NXT Superstar Danny Burch will miss several months of in-ring action due to his shoulder injury.

Burch suffered a separated shoulder during last week’s NXT main event, which saw he and Oney Lorcan retain the NXT Tag Team Titles over Karrion Kross and NXT Champion Finn Balor. The injury came when Kross hit a double suplex and Burch landed awkwardly.

Vic Joseph noted during this week’s NXT show that Burch is expected to be out of action for 6 months.

NXT General Manager William Regal was forced to vacate the NXT Tag Team Titles due to Burch’s injury. Night One of “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” on Wednesday, April 7 will feature a Triple Threat for the vacant titles with MSK vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Legado del Fantasma.

There’s no word on what WWE has planned for Lorcan while Burch is out. He lost a singles match to Kross on tonight’s show. There has been some speculation on Lorcan and Pete Dunne teaming up.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Preview 3/24/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will feature more build for the upcoming two-night “TakeOver: Stand and Deliver” event during WrestleMania 37 Week.

WWE NXT Preview 3/17/2021

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will feature more build for the upcoming two-night “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” event during WrestleMania 37 Week.

WWE is teasing more in the new feud between Karrion Kross and NXT Champion Finn Balor for tonight’s episode.

It was previously announced that Leon Ruff vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott would be happening tonight, plus tag team action with Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa vs. Imperium’s Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner, but the WWE website indicates that those matches may have been pulled, possibly due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak.

As of this writing the following matches are being advertised for tonight:

* Karrion Kross sets his sights on NXT Champion Finn Balor

* NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin returns to the United States to confront NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar

* Austin Theory vs. Dexter Lumis

* LA Knight makes his NXT in-ring debut

WWE NXT Moving To Tuesday Nights Update

While not official as of this writing, it looks like the so-called Wednesday Night War between WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite will be coming to an end next month.

We noted earlier this month how there were reports of NXT moving to Tuesday nights on the USA Network. In an update, PWInsider has confirmed with WWE sources that the first NXT episode coming out of WrestleMania 37 Weekend is scheduled to air on Tuesday, April 13 on the USA Network.

It was noted that the internal production calendar for WrestleMania 37 Week currently has a taping scheduled for Tuesday, April 13.

NXT moving to Tuesday nights would put the show head-to-head against Impact Wrestling on AXS. NXT will likely remain in the 8pm time slot, the same time that Impact hits the air.

NXT has a two-night “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” event scheduled for WrestleMania 37 Week. Night 1 will air on Wednesday, April 7, and that looks to be the final NXT broadcast for Wednesday nights. Night 2 will air on Thursday, April 8, via Peacock and the WWE Network.

There’s no word on when WWE plans to announce the move to Tuesday nights.

WWE NXT To Remain On Wednesday Nights?

The Walt Disney Company, which owns ESPN and ABC, announced a seven-year rights agreement with the NHL that is worth $400 million per year. This is double the price that NBC Universal has with the NHL.

The NHL is still negotiating with other companies for a second rights package as their deal with ESPN is mostly for streaming and only half of the NHL playoffs. NBC previously had exclusive rights to the NHL in a 10-year deal worth around $2 billion, which expires in October.

NHL games had been airing on Wednesday nights on the NBC Sports Network, which will be shutting down this year. With the network shutting down, it was expected that the Wednesday Night NHL games would likely move to the USA Network, which would result in the weekly WWE NXT show moving to Tuesdays.

NBC is still in negotiations with the NHL for the other half of the rights package. Fox Sports and CBS are also expected to put in bids. According to Sports Business Journal, negotiations between NBC and the NHL “had been strained over the past several weeks, especially as it pertains to price.”

If NBCU does secure the rights to the NHL, then NXT will likely move to Tuesdays. However if the rights go to FOX Sports or CBS, then it’s possible that NXT will remain on Wednesdays head-to-head with AEW Dynamite.

It is expected that once the NFL’s television rights are finalized in the next couple of weeks, it will be more clear where the three networks stand with the NHL package.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Takeover Two-Day Event Announced For WrestleMania 37 Week

The first-ever two-day WWE NXT Takeover special is now official for WrestleMania 37 Week.

NXT General Manager William Regal opened last night’s NXT broadcast on the USA Network and announced that NXT “TakeOver: Stand and Deliver” will air on Wednesday, April 7 and Thursday, April 8.

Night 1 will air as the weekly NXT episode on the USA Network at 8pm ET. Night 2 will air exclusively on the WWE Network on Peacock for fans in the United States, and on the WWE Network internationally.

There’s no word yet on matches planned for “TakeOver: Stand and Deliver” but stay tuned as we will keep you updated.

Regal also opened tonight’s NXT show by announcing the first-ever NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles.

Below is a clip from the promo in last night’s announcement by Regal, along with the TakeOver logo:

Two Different Teams Crowned NXT Women’s Tag Champs On Same Night

Dakota Kai and Raquel González made history when they became the first ever NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions … but their reign was short-lived!

The newly created championship was announced on the latest edition of NXT.

At the top of the show, NXT General Manager William Regal unveiled the belts. He awarded the titles to the winners of the Women’s Dusty Classic: Dakota Kai and Raquel González.

But Dakota and Raquel’s reign did not last long. The pair lost the titles later in the night in a rematch of the 2021 Dusty Classic final!

As you might recall, Kai and González defeated Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance to win the Dusty Classic, but Wednesday’s match had a different result.

A series of miscommunication between Dakota and Raquel allowed Ember and Shotzi got their win back and capture the brand new (although technically second-hand) titles in the process.

WWE NXT Preview 3/10/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will feature two major “game-changing” announcements from NXT General Manager William Regal.