Tony D’Angelo has won a few titles in his time in “WWE NXT,” and another title win could help him make history and become the first Grand Slam Champion in “NXT” history.
D’Angelo was recently informed in his appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show’s” “No-Contest Wrestling” podcast, that he has achieved something that no one else in “NXT” has done, i.e. win the North American Championship, Heritage Cup, and NXT Tag Team titles. This prompted him to say that he has been reminded on social media that he could be an “NXT” Grand Slam Champion if he wins the NXT Championship, which is currently around the waist of Joe Hendry.
“Well, I’ll be honest, I don’t know if that’s true or not [that he has won more titles than anybody else]. If it’s true, very cool,” he said. “I have heard, you know, I’ve seen on Twitter and whatnot about you know when I inevitably win the world title, I’ll be the first Grand Slam champion that NXT’s ever seen. [That’s] Pretty cool.”
D’Angelo has been a part of the “NXT” roster since 2021, making him one of the most experienced stars on the roster. The former leader of The D’Angelo Family has held the tag team titles twice, while winning the Heritage Cup and North American title once, with both those title reigns beginning in 2024. He could add to his list of title wins next month at NXT Stand & Deliver and become an NXT Grand Slam Champion, where he, along with Ricky Saints and Ethan Page, will face NXT Champion Hendry.
D’Angelo hasn’t had an NXT title opportunity in nearly two years, with his last shot at the championship coming at the very same Stand & Deliver show back in 2024, where he lost to Ilja Dragunov.
Former WWE star Big E has warned anyone who comes in Danhausen’s path to be wary of his curse.
Danhausen has done some damage with his curses since debuting in WWE, the latest victim being YouTuber iShowSpeed. The two met each other backstage on “WWE Raw” recently, and the former AEW star requested the young internet personality to share his login details so that they could create content together. iShowSpeed, who rejected the proposal, has been warned by Big E about his safety.
“Yes, gravely [concerned about iShowSpeed’s safety]. Gravely. The curse is real. I mean, you can laugh, you can giggle, you can tee hee, all those things. We’ve seen the results. And you ran down many of them. I think Speed, if he shows up next week, I think he should be surrounded by security. I think he should have a like a bubble boy kind of suit. I would have a lot of protective devices around me just in case,” he said on “Raw Recap.”
He reiterated his belief that Danhausen’s curse is legitimate, while also responding to the critics and naysayers who weren’t impressed by how he was booked on his WWE debut.
“There were certain discussions online when he debuted, and I feel like those very quickly changed when we saw him on Raw,” he added. “We saw the way he’s been utilized on TV lately. I think Danhausen is someone I would not mess with, whether it’s at Raw or SmackDown. The curse is real. I don’t mess around with curses or spirits or ghouls. I take all that serious. Hoodoo, voodoo, all the above. Yeah, I take them very seriously. So if I’m Speed, I’m probably getting a vial of holy water around my neck and maybe some garlic and a stake just in case. I don’t know if Danhausen is an actual vampire, but it couldn’t hurt just to be prepared, you know?”
Since being cursed, iShowSpeed has had a miserable week, with him experiencing various delays. We’ll likely see him in WWE soon, though, as the promotion reportedly has plans for him at WrestleMania 42.
In 2021, former Olympic boxer Anthony Ogogo burst onto the scene in AEW alongside QT Marshall to have a brief feud with Cody Rhodes. During an interview with ITR Wrestling, Ogogo noted that WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page introduced him to Rhodes, since he’s the godfather to his daughter, which set him on the path to AEW.
“I told Cody the story, the Olympics, my eye injury, my mother not being well at the start of the Games [Olympics],” he recalled. Unfortunately, Ogogo’s mother suffered a brain aneurysm weeks before his Olympic match in 2012. Then, years later, he’d also suffer a severe eye injury during his fight against Craig Cunningham on October 22, 2016, rendering him legally blind.
“Cody was like ‘Damn, that’s a good story, you’re an athlete, you look good, you have pedigree, and one of the best boxers on the planet,” he said. Ogogo then noted that Rhodes spoke to Tony Khan, who he met before the first Double Or Nothing at a Fulham vs. Newcastle game, where they chatted the whole game. “He said listen I have got this for you and then offered me a contract. It was a wonderful day,” he recalled. Ogogo noted that Khan has been pivotal to the wrestling industry, and that he now gets to live the dream because of this.
Back in 2022, Ogogo’s grandmother passed away, and while telling Khan about the funeral proceeds for her, the two of them shared a touching moment. “He teared up for me that I lost my grandmother. He said, ‘Go take the time you want and just be there for your family,'” Ogogo recalled.
Chris Jericho also noted that the competition between WWE and AEW similarly boosted WWE’s product, just as their rivalry with WCW did, and criticized the fact that wrestling became a monopoly again after the aforementioned promotion’s acquisition. “When I first had a meeting with Tony Khan about this new company, I thought there was no way it would work, because I’d heard it so many times before,” he admitted.
The veteran then shared his belief that a successful wrestling company needs three important things to start: plenty of money, new talent, and a strong TV deal. According to Jericho, Khan had all of that. “That’s all you need to start a company. And then once we started, I knew I had about three months to build as many guys as I could while the spotlight was on me, since I was the only nationally recognized star besides Jim Ross,” he added.
Jericho then claimed that he closely began to work with the likes of Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, Adam Page, Darby Allin, Scorpio Sky, and Jungle Boy, to all pass on the torch in different ways. “Then I put together the Inner Circle with Sammy, Ortiz, Santana, and Jake,” he recounted. “Suddenly it’s not all on my back — it’s on six backs, then ten, then twelve. That’s how you build a company.”
As noted, WWE has moved NXT Stand & Deliver away from WrestleMania weekend for the first time in years, signaling a major shift in how the brand is positioned.
During an interview with ReviewSTL, Blake Monroe addressed the decision and made it clear she fully supports the move. She believes WWE NXT has grown beyond needing the added exposure of WrestleMania weekend and can now stand on its own as a major brand.
“I mean, it’s always business as usual, but I think for me, I always believe we call NXT the developmental, but I strongly believe we’re a third brand. We’re on the CW every Tuesday. We get a fantastic rating. We get a lot of social buzz. And I feel like we were attached to WrestleMania because we, you know, it used to be cool to take over as, you know, and it was kind of like to help NXT because we had so many people from all over the world coming to town to see WrestleMania. WrestleMania is like the Super Bowl of WWE, just takes over a city. So I think it was so beneficial for NXT to get that kind of all of that influx of people.”
“I now do believe that NXT has built itself to be such a strong brand and I think we can show we can hopefully bring some people to St. Louis, we can have this amazing show. I think the matches that we have so far, Joe Hendry, we’ve got JC Jane, myself, Tatum, I think we are going to have an amazing show and I don’t think that we need help in doing that. And I think this is a chance for us to prove ourselves as a third brand and show that we can run a huge event, run a huge show, have our own version of WrestleMania. And then we do have WWE World, which happens in Vegas on WrestleMania week. So I’m sure you will see some of the NXT talents. We still get to be a part of it, but I’m excited to kind of show like we can do our own thing.”
Monroe also spoke about her in-ring philosophy, stressing that storytelling is what truly defines great wrestling rather than constant high-risk moves.
“I think you can steal the show with a story. I mean, if you look at my career and my career highlights, I think all of them have come from a story. And I think I’m a fantastic wrestler in the ring. I don’t do 25 moonsaults or death defying stunts, but when I go out there I give 110% of what I do. And I feel like my in ring marries my character perfectly.”
“ I just think the most important part of wrestling is telling a story. If you think about the people on top right now and the WrestleMania main events we’ve had recently in the past sort of 10 years, you know, Cody and Roman, that was like a two year long epics. I mean it was incredible. If you like look at John Cena when I grew up too, like the stories I would watch when like Jeff Hardy finally won the world title, I mean those are the moments you remember. It’s the stories. Nobody cares if you can do some gymnastics. At least I don’t.”
By referencing names like Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, John Cena, and Jeff Hardy, Monroe pointed to long-term storytelling as the foundation of memorable moments in wrestling.
Her comments reflect a broader perspective within the industry, where emotional investment and character-driven narratives continue to outweigh purely athletic showcases. As NXT prepares to present Stand & Deliver outside the shadow of WrestleMania, Monroe’s confidence suggests the brand is ready to prove it can thrive independently.
Blake Monroe Backs NXT Stand & Deliver Move, Emphasizes Storytelling Over High Spots
