Former NJPW star Karl Fredericks will make his WWE NXT TV debut tonight.
Fredericks is now going by “Eddy Thorpe” in NXT. WWE filed to trademark the ring name on February 13.
Thorpe will make his in-ring debut on tonight’s NXT Level Up episode, going up against Dante Chen. The match is set to open the episode. A graphic can be seen below.
WWE’s official NXT Level Up preview noted, “Thorpe is an intriguing newcomer who has competed all over the world and has a chance to turn heads if he can defeat his fellow veteran, Chen. Chen is 6-3 in his last nine matches on NXT Level Up, having most recently picked up a hard-earned win against Kale Dixon.”
Thorpe made his NXT live event debut on January 20 in Fort Pierce, Florida. He attacked Axiom and laid him out after Axiom defeated Oro Mensah in singles action.
Thorpe has not tweeted to hype the debut as of this writing, but shortly after Tuesday’s tapings he tweeted, “Grateful [wolf face emoji]”
Tonight’s NXT Level Up episode will also feature Ivy Nile vs. Valentina Feroz, and Oba Femi vs. Xyon Quinn. You can click here for full spoilers from Tuesday’s tapings at the WWE Performance Center.
The 32 year old Fredericks, who was first spotted at the WWE Performance Center back in August, left NJPW that same month when his contract expired. It was reported then that he received a tryout with WWE. His last NJPW match was in May, a win over AEW’s QT Marshall at the NJPW Strong Collision tapings, but he has worked a few indie events since then. He reported to the WWE Performance Center to begin working with the company on January 14.
Fredericks began wrestling in 2015 but started with NJPW as a Young Lion at the LA Dojo in 2018, and graduated in 2020. He won the Young Lion Cup in 2019. He made headlines back in the summer when his NJPW contract expired on August 1. After taking to Twitter back in June to express frustration over being left out of the G1 Climax, Fredericks confirmed his departure in early August and said there was disappointment in the end of his NJPW chapter, but he is grateful for the four years with the company.
Below is the aforementioned tweet, along with a graphic for Chen vs. Thorpe:
https://twitter.com/karlfredericks_/status/1625731477315981314
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