Something interesting happened at WWE NXT Halloween Havoc on October 25. Yes, Tatum Paxley won the WWE Women’s NXT Championship. Yes, Darkstate defeated The Hardy Boyz in a wild match. Yes, Ricky Saints defeated the former NXT and TNA Champion, Trick Williams. But that wasn’t the thing that caught the most attention from fans. It was the fact that this was the third NXT PLE to feature two Black performers in the main event. That is something that can’t be overlooked and should be discussed even further.
This is a topic that always generates a lot of disingenuous discourse online. But it is one worth having. NXT continues to be the WWE brand that highlights performers of diverse backgrounds. Women such as Roxanne Perez, Guilia, and Stephanie Vaquer stood out as top champions, and Black women like Sol Ruca and Kelani Jordan were long-standing title holders as well. But it is important to highlight how this brand is putting the spotlight on Black men as singles performers, because that’s just not happening on the main roster.
Ricky Saints defeated Trick Williams at Halloween Havoc. Saints took that title in the main event of No Mercy, where he defeated Oba Femi. Before that, Femi defeated Je’Von Evans at Heatwave. Five of the last seven NXT Champions have been Black men. DarkState is once again WWE NXT Tag Team Champions. Black performers are thriving in WWE NXT. On the main roster, that same statement can’t be made and hasn’t been a talking point for Black men for quite some time.
Many focus on the issue that Black men aren’t getting an opportunity to stand out as singles performers on both SmackDown and Monday Night Raw. That same statement is even becoming truer with the tag team division. The New Day and Street Profits both held tag team titles on their respective shows in what were widely considered mediocre title reigns that didn’t help the teams nor the division.
In the same three months that those NXT PLEs were happening, three occurred on the main roster: WWE Wrestlepalooza, Clash In Paris, and Crown Jewel. Within those three PLEs, The Street Profits were the only Black men to appear when they took on The Wyatt Sicks at Clash in Paris. Within that same timeline, zero Black women have appeared on PLEs. Pointing out who is booked on these PLEs isn’t opinion; it is a clear fact that WWE isn’t putting a specific segment of performers in prime positions on these shows. At least when it comes to the main roster, but on WWE NXT, Black performers are continuing to break through the glass ceiling.
Professional wrestling features a diverse audience that includes people of all backgrounds and identities. However, those backgrounds and identities aren’t featured on the WWE main roster. While it is important to point that out, it is also important to look at the good that is happening in WWE NXT and use that success to ask what is truly keeping WWE from doing a better job featuring Black performers and those of other backgrounds across its products.