Returning star to challenge Grayson Waller for WWE NXT Championship: Three familiar faces who could step in for injured Mason Rook

WWE

Ahead of the September 29 episode of WWE NXT, it was sadly revealed that Mason Rook would be out of action for the “foreseeable future” and would therefore be unable to challenge Grayson Waller for the NXT Championship.

An open challenge was announced for the show’s main event and it was eventually EK Prosper that snuck around the masses of wannabe contenders. While he took Waller to the limit, it was “The Aussie Icon” who ultimately prevailed to retain his title.

We got a look at how many in the WWE locker room are after a shot at Waller, but with many of those names already engaged in other rivalries, it could be an outside the box name who steps up to the plate next.

Here are three returning stars we could see challenge Grayson Waller for the NXT Championship.

Elio LeFleur

Elio LeFleur has been out of action since suffering a torn labrum and ligament damage to his shoulder back in March; an injury that would force him to undergo surgery.

His absence was projected to last six months, so if his recovery has gone smoothly we could soon be seeing the exciting French star return to the WWE Performance Center in the near future.

LeFleur was only on WWE TV for around two months before he was sidelined, so seeing him return to action will feel as if NXT has gotten themselves a brand new signing.

While the NXT Championship is a big step up, LeFleur does have the right to a title shot of some description given that he was forced to vacated the WWE Speed Championship when he got injured. With that title no longer active, NXT GM Robert Stone could compensate LeFleur with an opportunity to take on Waller.

Elijah

Another star who saw his momentum derailed by injury was TNA Wrestling’s Elijah.

In May 2025, during the height of the NXT and TNA partnership, Elijah made a return to WWE NXT to compete in an NXT Championship battle royal, which was eventually won by Myles Borne. One month later, Elijah popped up again to compete in a six-man tag team match; teaming with Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura against the team of Trick Williams, Wes Lee and AJ Francis.

Elijah unfortunately suffered a torn tricep during that match and was ruled out for the remainder of the year. With the WWE and TNA partnership not being quite what it was in 2025, Elijah hasn’t made any more appearances back in WWE since. However, with Robert Stone announcing TNA names for the NXT Women’s Title number one contender’s battle royal next week, perhaps we could see more TNA crossovers in the men’s division also?

Elijah wouldn’t be a real threat to Waller’s reign at this point, but if WWE wanted to give the Aussie some more credible wins as champion then they could do a lot worse than the former Elias.

Carmelo Hayes

One of Grayson Waller’s former NXT 2.0. colleagues, Carmelo Hayes has been completely absent from WWE programming for over a month now.

His last match was an unsuccessful United States Title challenge against former champion Baron Corbin on August 14; the latest of many unsuccessful attempts to get back the gold he lost back in March.

Hayes really should be competing every week on WWE SmackDown – and he perhaps could resume his feud with Trick Williams after Money in the Bank – however, if that’s not in WWE’s plans they could always send him back to NXT for a spell.

Being a former NXT North American Champion and NXT Champion, Hayes would be a credible challenger for Waller that could carry the brand into Halloween Havoc and beyond.

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• nxt
• wwe
• Grayson Waller
• Mason Rook

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