WWE NXT has a major championship picture set to take shape on October 6, 2026, as a 20-Woman Number One Contenders Battle Royal will determine the next challenger for Kelani Jordan and the NXT Women’s Championship. The show takes place at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, and the loaded field brings together talent from NXT, WWE EVOLVE, Raw, SmackDown, AAA, and TNA Wrestling.
That battle royal is the centerpiece of an episode that will also feature two first-round matches in the 2026 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Tokyo Bad Boys’ SBK and Takuma will meet Sean Legacy and Dorian Van Dux, while Hank Walker and Tank Ledger face Viktor Zanov and Shido Ash. Elsewhere, Shiloh Hill goes one-on-one with Naraku amid their escalating issues, and the evening is scheduled to begin with BirthRight member Lexis King taking on Zilla Fatu.
The card has considerable implications across NXT’s women’s division and tag team scene, with crossover competitors adding another variable to a night already packed with potential turning points.
A wide-open race to face Kelani Jordan
NXT General Manager Robert Stone announced last week that the battle royal would settle the next contender for Kelani Jordan’s NXT Women’s Championship. The final lineup contains a broad mix of established names, champions, rising prospects, and visiting stars, making it one of the more unusual contender-deciding matches NXT has presented this year.
For more background on this topic, read Jacy Jayne Reflects On Surreal First NXT Women’s Championship Victory.
Reina Volcan, Women’s North American Champion Zaria, Layla Diggs, Skylar Raye, Thea Hail, Kali Armstrong, Arianna Grace, Izzi Dame, EVOLVE Women’s Champion Nikkita Lyons, and Chantel Monroe represent the NXT and EVOLVE side of the field. Arianna Grace enters as part of BirthRight, meaning the faction could have an opportunity to influence more than one major NXT issue on the same show.
The WWE main-roster contingent is represented by Raw’s Ivy Nile and SmackDown’s Kiana James. Both arrive with the experience and physicality to immediately alter the dynamic of a battle royal. Nile is particularly dangerous in a format where eliminating an opponent can come down to positioning, strength, and the ability to capitalize in a crowded ring. James, meanwhile, has a chance to establish herself as a direct championship threat in a different WWE environment.
AAA will have four entrants in Lady Shani, Adelicious, AAA Reina de Reinas Champion La Catalina, and the Women’s North American Champion Zaria is already part of the NXT side of the championship landscape. La Catalina’s presence is especially notable because she arrives carrying AAA’s top women’s prize. A win would place one of AAA’s champions in line for a major NXT title match and further underline the reach of the field.
TNA Wrestling rounds out the lineup with Indi Hartwell, Knockouts Television Champion M By Elegance, Heather By Elegance, and Knockouts World Champion Xia Brookside. The Elegance Brand has numbers on its side through M By Elegance and Heather By Elegance, an advantage that can matter enormously in a battle royal. Still, those alliances can become complicated quickly when only one woman can win the match and earn the title opportunity.
Brookside enters as the Knockouts World Champion, adding another reigning titleholder to a match that already includes Zaria, Lyons, La Catalina, and M By Elegance. That collection of champions raises the stakes beyond the NXT Women’s Championship picture. Any elimination involving a titleholder could create talking points, while the winner will immediately become the woman standing closest to Kelani Jordan’s championship.
The full battle royal field
- Reina Volcan
- Women’s North American Champion Zaria
- Layla Diggs
- Skylar Raye
- Thea Hail
- Kali Armstrong
- Arianna Grace
- Izzi Dame
- EVOLVE Women’s Champion Nikkita Lyons
- Chantel Monroe
- Raw’s Ivy Nile
- SmackDown’s Kiana James
- AAA’s Lady Shani
- AAA’s Adelicious
- AAA Reina de Reinas Champion La Catalina
- TNA Wrestling’s Indi Hartwell
- Knockouts Television Champion M By Elegance
- Heather By Elegance
- Knockouts World Champion Xia Brookside
- One additional announced entrant completing the 20-woman field
The announced names create a 20-woman match built around the depth of the wider WWE-associated wrestling landscape. With several promotions represented, the battle royal will not simply be a matter of identifying the next NXT challenger. It will also test how alliances, rivalries, and unfamiliar opponents affect the chase for Jordan’s title.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic resumes
The 2026 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic continues with two first-round bouts, and each match presents a different kind of challenge for the teams involved. The tournament is one of NXT’s most important annual tag team events, placing momentum and prestige at a premium from the opening round onward.
SBK, also known as SB Kento, and Takuma of Tokyo Bad Boys will take on Sean Legacy and Dorian Van Dux. Tokyo Bad Boys enter with the distinction of representing AAA in the tournament, and their matchup against Legacy and Van Dux gives the bracket another cross-promotional layer. For Legacy and Van Dux, advancing would mean stopping a visiting tandem before Tokyo Bad Boys can establish a deeper run in the Classic.
The second tournament match sees Hank Walker and Tank Ledger battle Viktor Zanov and Shido Ash. Walker and Ledger have an opportunity to continue proving that their power-based teamwork can carry them through a tournament that regularly rewards chemistry under pressure. Zanov and Ash stand in their way, with a first-round victory capable of changing the outlook of their respective teams immediately.
Two teams have already moved on in the tournament. Chazz “Starboy” Hall and Mini Vikingo advanced last week by defeating BirthRight’s Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo and Uriah Connors. Fraxiom also progressed, defeating DarkState’s Osiris Griffin and Cutler James. Their wins ensure that the next two teams to advance will join a field that has already produced notable movement in the opening stage.
The Dusty Classic has historically placed teams in position for larger opportunities, and that dynamic is particularly significant in a division where emerging partnerships and established duos alike are trying to gain traction. A first-round win does not secure the tournament, but it can set the tone for every team’s path from here.
Lexis King opens against Zilla Fatu
The show is scheduled to open with Lexis King facing Zilla Fatu. King will represent BirthRight in a singles match that could have consequences for the group after Lorenzo and Connors were eliminated from the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic last week.
Fatu enters a prominent opening-match spot against a competitor who has continued to operate within the BirthRight structure. With the battle royal also featuring Arianna Grace, BirthRight will have multiple chances to shape the night. King’s bout with Fatu is the faction’s first opportunity to make an impact on the card.
For Fatu, defeating King would provide a decisive start to the broadcast and prevent BirthRight from gaining early momentum. The opening contest also offers a contrast to the multi-person and tournament action elsewhere on the card: a direct singles match where neither side can rely on the crowded-ring chaos of the battle royal or the shared responsibility of tag team competition.
Shiloh Hill and Naraku meet after weeks of tension
Shiloh Hill will face Naraku following mounting tension between the two men in recent weeks. Their match gives both competitors an opportunity to move the situation out of the confrontational phase and into a conclusive in-ring fight.
Because the rivalry has been building over several weeks, the matchup carries the potential for more than a routine singles result. Hill and Naraku have reached the point where a victory can establish control of the issue, while a loss could leave the defeated competitor with no easy answer moving forward.
The placement of this match on a card with a championship contender bout and tournament matches illustrates how much NXT has riding on the entire episode. Hill versus Naraku may not carry a title implication on paper, but personal conflicts often become the most volatile portions of a show when neither competitor is willing to give ground.
What to watch on October 6
The central question is straightforward: who will emerge from the 20-woman battle royal as Kelani Jordan’s next challenger? The answer could come from NXT’s existing roster, WWE’s main roster, EVOLVE, AAA, or TNA Wrestling. The field includes multiple champions and multiple potential alliances, leaving Jordan’s next opponent difficult to predict.
Beyond the women’s title scene, the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will narrow its field further. SBK and Takuma, Legacy and Van Dux, Walker and Ledger, and Zanov and Ash all have a chance to join Chazz “Starboy” Hall and Mini Vikingo and Fraxiom in the next stage.
With Lexis King versus Zilla Fatu opening the event and Shiloh Hill versus Naraku adding another heated singles encounter, NXT’s October 6 episode is positioned to deliver developments across several corners of the brand. By the end of the night, Kelani Jordan should know who is next in line, while the road through the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will become clearer.
In pictures
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.