Zaria claims WWE NXT Women's NA title from Tatum Paxley

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One of the worst things any TV show or movie can do is telegraphing how things are going to end by making it completely obvious from the jump. Shortly after NXT came on the air tonight and we were told that Zaria and Tatum Paxley’s North American Title match would be the night’s main event, my first thought was that Zaria was definitely winning. With two high profile #1 contenders matches also on the card, a successful title defense on Tatum Tuesday didn’t really scream a show-ending angle to me. Just because that was the obvious way the show was going to go doesn’t make it wrong. It’s not a stretch to say that Zaria needed to win this one. After her months long breakup with Sol Ruca that was centered around Zaria’s desire for individual glory, not winning this match would’ve essentially made it hard to take Zaria seriously as a threat for at least the rest of 2026. On the flip side, Tatum Paxley’s one of the biggest fan favorites the developmental brand has right now, and her losing her championship wasn’t going to change that. The match itself was solid. Tatum showed some of the babyface fire that we’ve become accustomed to seeing during her time on Tuesday nights, and Zaria had a few moments that made her look like a legit powerhouse. A brutal spear and two vicious F-5’s later and we have a new champion. This moment felt like the changing of the guard in some ways, as well as the end to Zaria’s quest to finally earn some accolades on her own. The way she brutalized Lizzy Rain last week and Tatum Paxley tonight made her a believable beast in my eyes, and an extended title reign seems to be in her future. On a night where the table was set for the Great American Bash, tonight’s main event made it clear that Zaria should be considered a force to be reckoned with in the NXT women’s division going forward. Naraku & Tony Will Go to War at the Bash Newcomers Mason Rook and Naraku squared off in a #1 contenders match tonight to see who would face Tony D’Angelo for the NXT Championship at the Great American Bash at the end of the month. The paths that the two men took to get there couldn’t have been more different. Naraku’s presence has been mostly a silent (albeit deadly?) one, serving as Tony D’s protector and vowing to keep the NXT Championship in D’Angelo’s possession until it’s time for the two of them to go to war. Mason Rook, on the other hand, took a more direct and aggressive approach, nailing the NXT Champ with top rope moonsaults in each of his first few weeks on the show. In what was each competitors’ just second televised matches for the developmental brand, they were both positioned to earn a championship match on NXT’s first premium live event on the CW later this month. The match was a decent one and both men got a bit of shine, but in the end, it was a Kam Hendrix distraction that allowed Naraku to pick up the victory after hitting his version of the STO that Vic Joseph called “Enter the Abyss”. Naraku will now get his wish and is scheduled to go to war for the NXT Championship in less than three weeks, while Mason Rook will have to work a little harder to get rid of his Kam problem. Reaction: With the way the last few weeks have panned out, this result was not at all surprising. While I thought Naraku protecting Tony’s title reign had a bit longer of a shelf life, I felt like Kam getting involved and costing Rook the match was almost inevitable. Mason has some babyface potential down in NXT and could very well be next up for whoever the NXT Champion once he’s able to put Hendrix behind him. Kendal Grey is Headed Back to Vice City After seeing Sol Ruca and Zaria go through with a nasty breakup on NXT earlier this year, Kendal Grey and Wren Sinclair vowed to not let the WrenQCC suffer the same fate as ZaRuca. But as the weeks go along, it seems as though a different kind of tension is starting to build between them. Grey keeps asking her friend to be in her corner for her matches and Wren keeps pulling back so she doesn’t end up becoming a distraction for Kendal. An awkward last-minute chat with Sinclair before heading out didn’t seem to bode well for the former collegiate amateur wrestler, and when Wren walked the other way, it was clear that Grey was indeed going to flying solo tonight. Once the bell rang, Kelani and Kendal reminded everyone why they’re two of the most athletically gifted women in the entire company. The match started off a little slow (or maybe it was the picture-in-picture commercial break that took me out of it early on), but it picked up with several impressive high spots as it progressed. One of the memorable sequences happened when Kendal reversed a Kelani springboard into a snap German suplex and then shortly after, followed Jordan up the ropes and pulled Kelani through the air, back into the ring and directly into an armbar. Kelani continued to flash some of the heel tendencies she’s been building up for the past year or so and Kendal’s white-meat babyface energy was palpable. In the end, it was Shades of Grey after a series of nearfalls and reversals that booked Kendal’s next visit to Vice City at the end of the month. Reaction: Another solid match between these two ladies. While I’m a little surprised that Kendal went over here, as Kelani seemed to have a little more momentum heading into a potential title match, I’m all for another round between Kendal and Lola. I’m curious to see what happens next with Kendal and Wren, but perhaps moreso about what’s next for Kelani. After the loss, it kinda feels like she’s slipping into that super-senior purgatory that Jaida Parker has fallen into in recent months. Mr. NXT Pageant Turns Ugly While much of the storylines we see unfold on the main roster tend to play it safe and not take many risks or unexpected leaps, the vibe of NXT allows ol’ HB-Shizzle and his creative team to throw more against the wall to see what sticks. Exhibit A: The Mr. NXT Pageant It kicked off with Sarah Schreiber introducing the judges for the pageant: Evolve Men’s Champion, Aaron Rourke, Smackdown’s Kit Wilson, and apparently one of the fastest rising comedians in the game (who knew?), Matt Matthews. They went down to NXT catering (is that a thing?) and rounded up anyone with nothing better to do to sit in the audience and bear witness to the spectacle. In the first round, the judges voted 2-1 in favor of the formal, casual, and swimsuit attire of Tristan Angels. In the second round, Shiloh got a unanimous vote from the judges in the talent portion of the evening, outclassing Angels with a Rubik’s Cube, juggling, a unicycle, and a pogo stick. In the third and final round focused on public speaking, Tristan cut a cookie-cutter heel promo, talking up his history as a sheepherder and calling the NXT universe pigs. Shiloh, on the other hand, looked like he raided the dress up bin at a circus, but completely humanized himself with his promo. He spoke about how he’s having a hard time finding himself in NXT, but he thinks that’s a beautiful thing and that he’s doing a damn good job at showing us who he is each and every week. When it came time to vote, Matt Matthews voted for Shiloh, Kit Wilson picked Angels, and Aaron Rourke left his vote in the hands of the NXT universe. Results were shown on screen and the fans (allegedly) chose Shiloh as the winner. The pageant ended in really the only way it could, with Tristan attacking Shiloh and leaving him laid out in the ring. Reaction: For most of the first two rounds, I wondered what it was I was watching. Not sure who the intended audience was, but like Shaggy used to say, it wasn’t me. The third round, though, actually served a purpose. Angels embraced his over-the-top, self-obsessed heel persona, and Shiloh continued to show the quirky personality that has endeared him to the NXT audience. How we got there wasn’t really for me, but the destination furthered the story along fine. Quick Hits Nathan Frazer went down to the PC a few weeks ago and lost to Romeo Moreno in the Men’s Speed Tournament and the former NXT Tag Team Champions have been hanging around in Orlando since. NXT kicked off this week with fast paced tag team action as Smackdown’s Fraxiom took on Noam Dar and Moreno. The match itself was like a classic NXT Fraxiom match, with the duo fighting from underneath, making their opponents look good, and almost losing when Axiom mistakenly kicked Frazer in the face. In the end, it was a Golden Ratio and a Phoenix Splash that ended it. It’s interesting that Fraxiom has been hanging around the developmental brand for a few weeks while the main roster tours Europe when the WWE is supposedly trying to rebuild their tag team division, but this could be an attempt to give them some momentum for whenever they head back to Smackdown. As for Dar and Moreno, it was a pretty good showing that could potentially establish them in NXT’s tag team ranks moving forward. The ongoing tension between Myles Borne and Tavion Heights continued to escalate this week. Tavion was talking up a tag team rematch against DarkState for the two of them, but Myles was more focused on who he’d be defending his North American Title against at the Bash, reminding his former NQCC partner that their reunion last week was a one-time thing. Hearing this, Tavion completely shifted gears and said maybe he should be the one to challenge Myles next. Borne was seemingly about to agree to that until the Vanity Project walked up. Jackson Drake criticized Myles for handing out title shots to his friends and turning the belt into a charity case. As a result, next week, it’ll be Drake vs. Heights with the winner facing Borne at the Great American Bash. We got a spotlight on Tate Wilder, who they continued to portray as a high-flying adrenaline junkie. Clips of him riding bulls, dirt bikes, and jet skis, and jumping off of cliffs were shown. Unfortunately for the self-proclaimed daredevil, clips of him actually winning a match on NXT were not found. The eternally angry Jasper Troy got a chance to blow off some steam by taking on Dion Lennox, who was fresh off of a tag team victory over Borne and Heights last week. Despite a midmatch distraction from Saquon Shugars on the tron, it was a distraction from Osiris the Virus that helped Lennox pick up the win. Post-match, Shugars came back on the screen and threatened DarkState again, but as Saquon talked this time, the video buffered, making it clear that it was a recording. This allowed Shugars to be in two places at once, sneak into the PC, and nail Griffin from behind with his baseball bat. Interesting little twist there that allowed Saquon to get another one over on his former stablemates. As Tony D was being interviewed and asked about facing Naraku at the Bash, the #1 contender strolled up and handed D’Angelo an envelope. When GM Robert Stone asked Naraku what it was later, the former IWGP Champion told him it was an invitation to sit down and talk before they go to war. That face-to-face confrontation will happen next week. As Stone tried to get more details, Keanu Carver entered and asked why Stone was letting all of these newcomers get shots at Tony’s title before him. Stone urged Keanu to have patience and Carver made it clear his patience was running thin. Stone then promised he would let him know next week who his next opponent will be. If that doesn’t happen, Carver’s going to find someone himself. Earlier today, our man Sean Rueter reported on the lack of security at Nattie and Tyson Kidd’s wrestling school after video surfaced of Jaida Parker walking right in and jumping the Low Key Legend while she held class in the ring. That footage was replayed on tonight’s show and it was later announced that Nattie and Jaida will finally go one-on-one on NXT next week! The bracket for the Women’s Speed Tournament to determine who will get the next shot at Wren Sinclair was revealed tonight. Arianna Grace will face Layla Diggs and Izzi Dame goes toe-to-toe with Thea Hail in the semifinals. After the reveal, we saw Izzi and Niko Vance backstage, wondering why Dame would be randomly thrown into the tournament. Shawn Spears then entered, sporting a wicked shiner on his eye. He said now that Kendal is next to face Lola, winning the Speed tournament is a good way for Izzi to start taking back control of the women’s division. In return, Izzi gave Spears a half-hearted thank you and praise for thinking two steps ahead. Methinks Thea will definitely win that match and this will definitely get us closer to the end of The Culling. Final Thoughts The women once again were the most interesting part of tonight’s show for me. Zaria winning the gold was the right call, and I could watch Kendal and Kelani go head-to-head every week. My pro for NXT this week is that they are giving a ton of different people things to do on the show. There are storylines in motion all over the place and it’s clear they are making a concerted effort to make the show interesting. The big con that I have for this week’s show, and NXT in general right now is that I’m still having a hard time getting too invested in this new crop of characters that they’ve introduced recently. There aren’t many standouts on the men’s side especially right now, and I’m hoping we start to see something click a little more for some of these guys as we head into the summer. Match Results Fraxiom def. Noam Dar & Romeo Moreno Naraku def. Mason Rook in a #1 contender’s match Kendal Grey def. Kelani Jordan in a #1 contender’s match Dion Lennox def. Jasper Troy Shiloh Hill wins Mr. NXT Pageant Zaria def. Tatum Paxley to become the Women’s North American Champion What do you think Cagesiders? Did tonight’s episode get you excited for the Great American Bash in a few weeks? Was Zaria beating Tatum the right call? Let us know in the comments below!

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When Zaria first made her WWE debut in NXT in late 2024, the likes of Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia were still around making their mark on the brand. They’ve since moved to the main roster and made a name for themselves there too, with Vaquer in particular standing out. Zaria looked every bit like she should be in that same mix, but she’s been in NXT for all this time, quietly doing her thing to varying degrees of success. She finally vanquished Sol Ruca in their long feud, the final stop for the latter before she, too, took off for the brighter lights of Monday Night Raw (and is already Intercontinental champion there). Well, it was finally Zaria’s turn to strap up on this week’s episode of NXT television: .@ZariaWWE_ has finally captured the NXT Women's North American Championship! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/B4Ldv4KwTF — WWE (@WWE) June 10, 2026 Zaria defeated Tatum Paxley after three spears and the F-5, giving the Aussie her first championship as a member of the NXT roster. She had targeted the title immediately after finishing up with her former tag team partner, and now she’ll go into Great American Bash as champion. How about that? Get complete NXT results and coverage of this week’s entire episode by clicking here.

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Zaria defeated Tatum Paxley to claim the Women's North American Championship in the main event of "WWE NXT."