WWE Announces Signings Of Mason Rook, Nikki Martinez (Nikki Blackheart), Lacey Simon (Marie Malenko) & Marcus Brown

Published: May 20, 2026 by Connel Rumsey | Last Updated: May 20, 2026 by Connel Rumsey

Connel has over five years of wrestling journalism experience writing about some of the biggest stories from across the wrestling world. Being a fan for 20 years, Connel has an expansive knowledge from a wide range of various wrestling promotions, including WWE, AEW, NJPW, TNA and Joshi.

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WWE Announces Signings Of Mason Rook, Nikki Martinez (Nikki Blackheart), Lacey Simon (Marie Malenko) & Marcus Brown

WWE has now officially announced the signings of Mason Rook, Nikki Martinez (Nikki Blackheart), Lacey Simon (Marie Malenko) and Marcus Brown.

Earlier today, it was officially reported that independent women’s wrestler Nikki Blackheart had signed with WWE after she was in action in a dark match prior to last night’s NXT show under the name “Martinez”.

It was also reported that three other names had reportedly signed with the company that had yet to be officially announced, and the identity of those three names has now been revealed.

WWE Announces Four New Signings

WWE took to social media today to share it’s latest WWE Performance Center class, which included the aforementioned Nikki Blackheart, announced under the name Nikki Martinez.

Alongside Blackheart was the official signing of Mason Rook (Will Kroos), who has already made waves on NXT television after making his debut three weeks ago.

Also announced in the latest class was Marie Malenko, the daughter of Dean Malenko, who recently took part in a WWE tryout, with her being announced under the name ‘Lacey Simon’.

The final name announced is English fitness influencer Marcus Brown, who has over 300,000 followers on his Instagram.

Main Roster Stars Competing At NXT Live Events

WWE recently held a series of NXT live events, with WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta, Grayson Waller and Bayley all making appearances on the shows.

With WWE recently announcing the return of more live events over the Summer due to the belief that they can help younger talent develop faster, it’s no exception with the NXT live events, with newer stars often debuting on the live events before making it to television.

The addition of veteran main roster names such as Bayley is another way to help get more experience to the younger stars on the NXT roster, prepping them more for their eventual move to Raw or SmackDown.

WWE announced several upcoming NXT live events for the month of June on last night’s episode of NXT, so it will be interesting to see if any more main roster WWE stars will compete on them this time around.