A new update has surfaced regarding WWE’s recent trademark activity, and the evolving identity of a familiar face in NXT.
In the days leading up to the debut of former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion EVIL, reports indicated that he would be working under the name Nox Raijin.
WWE officially filed to trademark that name on April 28, which coincided with EVIL’s first appearance on NXT, where he confronted Tony D’Angelo.
However, things quickly shifted.
On the May 5, 2026 episode of NXT, it was revealed that EVIL will instead be known as Naraku moving forward.
So what happened to Nox Raijin?
According to Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline.com, the original reports weren’t off base, but the name change wasn’t part of some elaborate swerve either.
“This was weird because I and several others were told he was going to be NOX RAIJIN,” Alvarez wrote about EVIL being revealed as Naraku instead. “Whatever happened, that name wasn’t a swerve, someone is going to be Nox, just not EVIL.”
Interesting wrinkle.
Naraku did not appear live on the May 5 broadcast, though a vignette aired to hype his upcoming appearance on the May 12 episode of NXT.
Meanwhile, WWE has continued to move forward with the new identity behind the scenes. The company filed with the USPTO this week to officially trademark the Naraku name for the former EVIL.
