NXT officially set the course for its men’s division on Tuesday night, with General Manager Ava announcing how the newly vacated NXT Championship will be decided following Oba Femi’s sudden exit.
The show opened from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando with a dramatic visual, as the lights were dimmed and a spotlight shined down on the vacant NXT Championship belt positioned in the middle of the ring. Last week’s cliffhanger saw Femi vacate the title, and this week’s episode picked up directly from that moment.
Ava entered the ring and lifted the championship while the entire NXT men’s roster surrounded ringside. Addressing the locker room, Ava acknowledged that some might view Femi’s departure as chaos, but she framed it as a “perfect opportunity.” According to Ava, the men’s division is now wide open, with no better time than now to determine who truly deserves to lead it.
That announcement was quickly interrupted by Ricky Saints, who made his way to the ring in street clothes and soaked in the attention as the rest of the roster looked on. Saints boldly claimed he had pulled off an “absolute hat trick” by running Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans, and Oba Femi out of NXT. Playing off WWE’s “then, now, forever” slogan, Saints declared the former champions the past — and himself the present.
With confidence bordering on arrogance, Saints suggested Ava might as well hand him the championship right then and there.
Ava wasn’t impressed.
She brushed off Saints’ claim, noting that nearly everyone in the locker room had made the same case for why they should be champion. Ava then made things official, announcing that the vacant NXT Championship will be decided in a six-man ladder match on February 3. Qualifying matches will begin next week on NXT, with the winner of the ladder match crowned the new NXT Champion.
The title belt was then placed on a hanger and raised high above the ring — and that’s when things broke down.
Joe Hendry was the first to slide into the ring, quickly followed by the rest of the roster as a wild brawl erupted. Hendry and Saints briefly squared off while chaos unfolded around them.
Then came the exclamation point.
Recently signed powerhouse Keanu Carver stormed to ringside in his NXT debut and immediately left a trail of destruction. Carver tossed one competitor into the studio audience, wiped out multiple wrestlers inside the ring, and stood tall as the dust settled.
One segment. One announcement. One very clear message.
The race for the NXT Championship is officially on — and Keanu Carver may already be positioning himself at the front of the line.
For those interested, you can check out our complete WWE NXT Results 1/13/26 here at WrestlingHeadlines.com.
