Published: 43 seconds ago by Liam | Last Updated: 3 seconds ago by Liam
Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news since early 2018. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles and led WrestleTalk.com's coverage from 2022 until mid 2026.
WWE
Potential frontrunners to win the WWE NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament – Dorian Van Dux and Sean Legacy – have been pulled from the brackets.
The announcement was made on tonight’s October 6 episode of NXT, where Van Dux and Legacy were set to face Kento and Takuma of the Tokyo Bad Boys in a first round match.
What happened?
That match didn’t take place due to Van Dux and Legacy being attacked backstage by Birthright, who had earlier in the night ambushed Zilla Fatu following his win against Lexis King.
The attack meant DVD and Legacy were unable to compete in the match against the Tokyo Bad Boys that was scheduled for later in the show.
WWE NXT General Manager Robert Stone therefore had a decision to make, as he needed to find a replacement team to face Kento and Takuma.
Stone was contemplating his decision backstage when he was approached by legendary former NXT GM William Regal, the father of Birthright member Charlie Dempsey.
Regal successfully convinced Stone to replace DVD and Legacy with King and Dempsey – Stone was reluctant at first as it would essentially be rewarding Birthright’s bad behavior, but Regal managed to manipulate him into agreeing.
WOW 🤯
Charlie Dempsey and Lexis King will REPLACE Dorian Van Dux & Sean Legacy in The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic!! @MrStoneWWE https://t.co/xhfXOtfqaD
— WWE (@WWE) October 7, 2026
The real reason
In reality, there appears to be an injury issue with Dorian Van Dux that forced his and Legacy’s exit from the tournament.
Van Dux had to be pulled from a match a couple of weeks ago – which saw Legacy, Fatu and replacement EK Prosper face Birthright – due to a punctured lung.
It would seem the Belgian hasn’t recovered from that issue in time, and the Dusty Classic needs to roll on rather than waiting for him to be available.
Legacy literally wrestled last night during the WWE Main Event tapings prior to Raw against Big Cass, so unless he suffered an unreported injury in that one, he’s fit to work.
New Dusty Classic favorites
Dorian Van Dux and Sean Legacy were among the favorites – and were maybe even THE favorites – to win this year’s edition of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
With them now eliminated, the new favorites have to be Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno.
It appears Dar and Moreno will be collectively known as Ultranueva going forward as that team name was trademarked by WWE last week and fits them perfectly.
It also suggests they’re together for the long haul, and they are now the best bet to go and win the Dusty Classic.
King and Dempsey did win their match tonight, which means they go on to face the Creed Brothers in the next round.
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