The 2026 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic continued on WWE NXT with two more first-round matches, and the tournament field became considerably clearer following victories by Mini Vikingo and “Starboy” Chazz Hall, as well as FrAxiom.
Mini Vikingo and Hall defeated Birthright’s Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo and Uriah Connors in a fast-moving opening-round contest, earning a second-round meeting with Vanity Project’s Ricky Smokes and Chad Baylor. Later in the show, Nathan Frazer and Axiom, competing once again as FrAxiom, turned back DarkState’s Osiris Griffin and Cutler James. FrAxiom will next face Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno.
The two results reinforced the range of styles packed into this year’s tournament. One winning team relied on a high-risk, up-tempo aerial approach built around two younger competitors looking to create a breakthrough. The other featured one of NXT’s most proven pairings, with Frazer and Axiom using the timing and chemistry that have repeatedly made them a difficult matchup in tag-team competition.
Mini Vikingo and Chazz Hall overcome Birthright’s control
Birthright entered its match against Mini Vikingo and Hall with a clear physical advantage and an equally clear tactical plan. Lorenzo and Connors needed to slow down an opponent pairing that thrives in open space, and they eventually did just that after Vikingo and Hall seized the early momentum.
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Hall and Vikingo opened with an energetic burst of offense, forcing Birthright to react to their pace rather than establish its own. That advantage did not last. Lorenzo and Connors were able to ground Hall, isolate him from his partner, and turn the contest into the type of fight that benefited the more methodical Birthright duo.
With Hall trapped on their side of the ring, Lorenzo and Connors took turns working him over. The strategy was not complicated, but it was effective for a long stretch. Hall had to withstand both opponents cutting off his routes to the corner and making sure Vikingo could not receive the tag that would change the match.
The longer Birthright held control, the more important Hall’s eventual escape became. He initially struggled to fend off Lorenzo and Connors, but the tide shifted when he dropped both men with a double Pele kick. The strike created the opening Hall needed, and he finally reached Vikingo for the hot tag.
Vikingo immediately accelerated the match. With the ring no longer confined to Birthright’s preferred pace, he rallied against Connors and Lorenzo with a sequence designed to keep both men off balance. Vikingo scored a Spanish Fly on Lorenzo and came close to ending the match, but the pinfall attempt resulted only in a near-fall.
The match remained tightly contested after that surge. Hall appeared to have Connors beaten later in the bout, only for Lorenzo to make the save at the last possible moment. Lorenzo then tagged himself in and tried to capitalize on Hall’s fatigue with a cover of his own. Vikingo, however, sprang into action with a springboard break to keep his team alive.
That interruption set up a four-man striking exchange in the center of the ring, with neither side willing to surrender the momentum it had fought to gain. In the final sequence, Vikingo quietly tagged himself back into the match as Hall planted Lorenzo with a tornado DDT. Vikingo then went to the air and connected with a phoenix splash, securing the three-count for his team.
The victory sends Mini Vikingo and Hall into the second round, where a different kind of challenge awaits in Smokes and Baylor. Vanity Project did not wrestle in the opening round, having received a bye directly into the next stage. That means Smokes and Baylor will enter their tournament match fresh, while Vikingo and Hall arrive with a hard-earned win and more in-ring tournament experience behind them.
FrAxiom survives DarkState and advances
The night’s other Dusty Classic match put FrAxiom against the imposing DarkState pairing of Griffin and James. Frazer and Axiom are known for their speed, combination offense, and ability to create openings in an instant, but DarkState was able to neutralize those strengths for much of the contest.
Griffin and James spent the early portion of the match controlling Frazer. Their approach centered on limiting his movement and preventing the rapid tags that are essential to FrAxiom’s offense. When Axiom entered, DarkState was able to maintain that advantage and impose the same physical style on him.
For FrAxiom, the challenge was not simply getting back into the match. It was finding enough room to turn their usual pace into sustained offense against a team determined to make every exchange physical. Griffin and James successfully kept the action from becoming a sprint for significant portions of the contest, but they could not do so indefinitely.
Frazer and Axiom eventually found their opening and quickly made the most of it. Once they began operating together, the momentum shifted sharply. Their faster-paced attack forced DarkState to defend multiple threats in rapid succession rather than concentrate on isolating one opponent.
The decisive sequence came when Axiom connected with a Spanish Fly on James. Frazer followed immediately with a splash, and the combination was enough to earn the pinfall. It was a familiar formula for FrAxiom: create a brief opening, string together offense before their opponents can reset, and finish with a synchronized sequence that reflects their established chemistry.
The win puts FrAxiom into the second round against Dar and Moreno. While the tournament path does not promise an easy route for any team, Frazer and Axiom now have an opportunity to build further momentum in a competition that has historically carried major significance for NXT’s tag-team division.
Second-round pairings bring contrasting tournament tests
The newly established matches offer sharply different questions for the advancing teams. Mini Vikingo and Hall have already shown that they can withstand sustained punishment and still produce the explosive offense needed to finish a match. Their bout with Vanity Project will test whether they can maintain that resilience against a team entering the tournament without the physical toll of a first-round contest.
Smokes and Baylor’s bye gives Vanity Project additional time to prepare for a pairing that can change the direction of a match with one tag or one aerial maneuver. For Vikingo and Hall, the key will be avoiding the kind of extended isolation Hall endured against Birthright. They proved they can recover from it, but giving an opponent repeated opportunities to control the pace is rarely a sustainable tournament formula.
FrAxiom’s next match with Dar and Moreno presents another compelling stylistic matchup. Frazer and Axiom have demonstrated an ability to recover after being overpowered, as they did against Griffin and James. Their next opponents will look to prevent FrAxiom from finding the clean transitions and uninterrupted sequences that led to the finish in the opening round.
Both advancing teams also demonstrated why tournament matches can be decided by a single moment rather than a prolonged period of dominance. Birthright controlled Hall for much of its bout, but one double Pele kick changed the complexion of the contest. DarkState likewise had lengthy stretches in command against FrAxiom, only for Axiom and Frazer to capitalize once their opening appeared.
The Dusty Classic continues to reward teamwork
The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic has long placed a premium on more than individual athletic ability. Every team remaining in the field has to manage the demands of tournament competition: staying healthy, making quick adjustments, and trusting a partner under pressure. The opening-round action on NXT offered two distinct examples of that principle.
Hall’s perseverance allowed Mini Vikingo the opportunity to change the match when the tag finally came. Vikingo’s awareness in the closing stretch, including the tag that positioned him for the phoenix splash, made the difference when Birthright had nearly regained control. On the other side of the bracket, FrAxiom once again showed how quickly an established tandem can turn a small mistake into a decisive finishing sequence.
With Mini Vikingo and Hall moving on to face Vanity Project, and FrAxiom set for Dar and Moreno, the second round is beginning to take shape. The first-round winners have earned their places, but the tournament only becomes more demanding from here. Each surviving team is now one step closer to the Dusty Classic prize, and the margin for error will only shrink as the bracket progresses.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.