Generation NXT - NXT recap for January 13, 2026

The NXT Championship is in the ring at the start of the show, and so is General Manager Ava. She mentions Oba Femi vacating the title and the massive opportunity that this will create. The locker room surrounds the ring as Ava says that regardless of whether anyone just walked through the door or has been here for a while, there is no better time than now. Ricky Saints shows up and thanks everyone for showing up tonight, then says that he ran NXT and says that Oba Femi was afraid of a rematch with him while also mentioning Je'Von Evans leaving. He says that the ring is surrounded by future champions, but they are the future and he is the now. Saints expects Ava to hand the title to him, but she refuses, saying that everyone else around the ring has demanded an opportunity. Ava then announces a six-man ladder match on February 3rd, and the winner of that match will become the new NXT Champion. She also announces that qualifying matches will start next week and that she cannot wait to see who make this moment their own. Ava then hangs the title onto a hook, which rises to the ceiling as the NXT locker room starts brawling. All of a sudden, a man in a black durag suddenly shows up and starts fighting people. He is identified as Keanu Carver, formerly from Evolve. Keanu Carver decimates everyone that he sees, and ends up being the last man standing in the entire brawl. Meanwhile, Ricky Saints has retreated, not believing what he is seeing.

Backstage, General Manager Ava is met by Robert Stone, who says that Blake Monroe is here and has a lot to get off her chest. Ava is not surprised.

Lola Vice beats Kelani Jordan with the spinning back fist after Kelani is caught by the referee using the middle rope for leverage during a roll-up.

We hear from Tavion Heights, who talks about how he broke out and showed what he was made of in 2025, then says that he will show what it is like to reach new heights in 2026 by beating Jasper Troy for the WWE Speed Championship. We then hear from Jasper Troy, who congratulates Heights for earning five minutes in the ring with him before stating that he does not need five minutes and that Heights' momentum will reach a dead end tonight.

Jasper Troy retains the WWE Speed Championship against Tavion Heights. After the match, Heights is attacked from behind by Lexis King, who soon hits him with the Coronation, still angry that Heights beat him in eight seconds.

Backstage, Wren Sinclair and Kendal Grey are met by Sol Ruca and Zaria. Zaria says that she and Sol Ruca have the next shot at Jacy Jayne. When Jacy Jayne shows up, the four of them force her into General Manager Ava's office. Ava announces that she has spoken with Total Nonstop Action Director of Authority Santino Marella and that the three sides will face each other in a three-way tag match for a shot at the Knockouts Tag Team Championships.

Backstage, Lexis King brags about what he did to Tavion Heights to Chase University. Andre Chase calls this a teachable moment on what not to do, but Lexis says the men's division is wide open and the NXT Championship is his. Stacks and Arianna Grace shows up with Stacks agreeing with Lexis. Chase University leaves after Andre Chase disagrees. As Robert Stone shows up and tells Lexis King that what he did was not good, Myles Borne demands to be in one of the qualifying matches for the NXT Championship ladder match.

We see another vignette for Elio LaFleur, formerly known in the European scene as Aigle Blanc.

Backstage, General Manager Ava is met by "All Ego" Ethan Page, who thanks her for signing The Vanity Project before finding out that he will only qualify for the NXT Championship if he vacates the NXT North American Championship. He also finds out that he will be defending the NXT North American Championship next week against the debuting Elio LaFleur, much to his chagrin.

Blake Monroe heads to the ring. Blake says she showed up last week with every intention of regaining the Women's North American Championship, and that she was just "bringing a little Hell out to play" when she attacked Thea Hail, saying it was still her title in the first place. She then says that the powers that be turned everything into controversy and chaos and changed the narrative, making it look like she was the problem. Blake Monroe says that when one is as talented as her, people do not know what to do, and that they will call one controversial, debate one on controversy and nitpick what one does "wrong." She says that the spotlight is on her and that she is the moment. She proclaims that she lost patience, not control, with a system that does not know what to do when she does something that courts the least bit attention. As she says that she will give the other women their shine, Jaida Parker suddenly shows up. In Jaida's first appearance in months, Blake Monroe makes the mistake of interrupting her, and when she goes for the cheap shot, Jaida immediately fires back and hits her with Hip-Notic at the ring apron.

We hear from Shiloh Hill, who says that his 2025 was wild, as he won LFG Season 2 and found himself in some Christmas chaos. He then talks about how he brought some squirrels home for Christmas and how they tore up the Christmas tree and even had his grandfather chasing them with a sledgehammer. He laughs about his false tooth falling on Arianna Grace before stating that Total Nonstop Action and NXT will both find out why they should not sleep on him when he wins the TNA International Championship.

We hear from DarkState (Dion Lennox, Cutler James, Saquon Shugars, Osiris Griffin), who talk about how they just came to take over NXT by sliding in with the best in 2025 and even winning the tag team titles before promising to go through the whole locker room and show what they are capable of in 2026.

Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo retains the Total Nonstop Action International Championship against Shiloh Hill after Shiloh gets Stacks in an inside cradle only for Arianna to kick at Shiloh to reverse the pinfall and give Stacks the win.

Izzi Dame heads to the ring. Izzi calls her new title reign the fans' new reality before stating that she has not stumbled into success and that she outsmarted everyone else to get to this point. She also says that she does not waste losses like the one that she suffered against Tatum Paxley and that she studies them, and that she is learning NXT to see who is capable of what. Izzi says that loss gave her clarity and states that The Culling is about removing weakness, exploiting mistakes and making sure everyone is out of place so she can make her move, and because of all of this, she is now champion. She already knows that everybody wants a piece of her and her championship, including Lola Vice and Thea Hail, and proclaims that she is in control of who gets a shot at her and when. Izzi says she is a champion because she think faster, plan longer and pull the trigger without hesitation, and if anyone thinks they will get close to her title, they should know they are walking into a trap as part of a game that has already begun. Tatum Paxley suddenly runs into the ring with referees quickly chasing after her, and as the referees keep her back, one of them gets laid out by Tatum.

Backstage, Kelly Kincaid interviews Ricky Saints. Saints says he has told General Manager Ava that he is owed a rematch for the NXT Championship and that he will also not only in the ladder match, but will also be sitting front and center for two of the qualifying matches. Those two qualifying matches will be "Super" Sean Legacy vs. Eli Knight and Shiloh Hill vs. Josh Briggs, and both will take place next week. Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and Arianna Grande show up when Saints mentions Shiloh Hill's name, with Stacks cursing Shiloh Hill's name for getting a shot at the title before him, but Saints reminds him he still has title and his girl before leaving. Lexis King then shows up and tells Stacks "Let's talk."

Backstage, Tatum Paxley is forced out of the building before The Vanity Project (Brad Baylor, "The Smoke Show" Ricky Smokes, Jackson Drake) walk up to Blake Howard as he reports on it. The three of them look forward to the girls they will meet in the locker room, and Jackson Drake says that he should be able to qualify for the NXT Championship due to being Evolve Champion. Brad Baylor mentions that Swipe Right (Baylor and Smokes) have a tag team match next week against Chase University (Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors) next week. Keanu Carver shows up, and after The Vanity Project run away, Carver makes it clear he is not in the mood to talk for the camera.

Joe Hendry beats Dion Lennox in a no-disqualification match that sees OTM (Bronco Nima and Lucien Price) brawl to the outside with the rest of DarkState (Cutler James, Saquon Shugars, Osiris Griffin) and Tony D'Angelo suddenly show up to hit both men with a Uranage before placing Hendry on top of Lennox for the pin and the win. After the match, security shows up to deal with Tony D'Angelo, but D'Angelo easily floors them as General Manager Ava watches.

Here are the highlights from tonight's show!

Here are the top ten moments from tonight's show!