WWE Main Roster Star Returns To NXT, Earns Championship Match

Published: Mar 25, 2026 by Connel Rumsey | Last Updated: Mar 25, 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

A WWE main roster star made their return to NXT on tonight’s episode of the show, earning a title shot at Stand & Deliver.

Tonight’s NXT show featured a Gauntlet match, which would see the winner earn a shot at Myles Borne’s NXT North American Championship at Stand & Deliver next weekend.

The match was advertised to feature Shiloh Hill, Dion Lennox, Jackson Drake, Charlie Dempsey and a mystery fifth participant.

Johnny Gargano’s Return To NXT

When the final entrant of the match was set to enter, Candice LeRae took to the microphone.

Candice noted that she’s tried everything she can over the past few weeks to get her husband Johnny Gargano to remember who he is, but there was one more thing she wanted to try, or more specifically, one more place.

Johnny would then make his way out, continuing his current character, not participating in the match and lying on the apron as the other four men fought to chants of Johnny Wrestling from the NXT crowd.

However, after Shiloh Hill had eliminated Drake, Lennox and Dempsey, he was jumped by the Birthright, before his unconscious body was tossed back into the ring.

With Gargano leaning in the corner, Candice would push her husband into the cover, winning him the Gauntlet match, and earning him a North American Championship match at Stand & Deliver.

Top WWE Prospects In NXT

Most recent WWE main roster call-ups have already shone since their debuts on Raw and SmackDown, with Jordynne Grace, Je’Von Evans and Trick Williams impressing, Lash Legend already winning a title in the form of the Women’s Tag Team Championship with Nia Jax, and Oba Femi exploding onto the scene with his WrestleMania storyline with Brock Lesnar.

Of course, the question is which current NXT stars are the next top prospects – the ones who could break out in a similar way to Femi as major stars on the scene.

The majority of highly touted talent in NXT is found in the women’s division, with big things expected for the likes of Sol Ruca, Kendal Grey and Lola Vice in particular, as well as others who could easily join them, such as Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, Blake Monroe, Jaida Parker and Tatum Paxley.

Of course, their success on the WWE main roster will rely on not only their talent as a performer, but also the backing of the booking, and as evidenced by the WrestleMania main events and overall how things have played out ahead of the event, it’s still seemingly harder to break out into a main event spot in the women’s division than it is for the men.

As for the men’s division in NXT, the aforementioned Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans and Oba Femi being called up have left the roster somewhat depleted, but there are still some top names including Ethan Page, Ricky Saints, Joe Hendry and Tony D’Angelo who are likely to make it to the main roster in a featured position.

After his WrestleMania appearance last year, Triple H already backed Hendry to have many more Mania moments in his future.

Looking potentially furter down the line, Keanu Carver is clearly a project right now and might end up being the next Oba Femi level star to come from NXT if everything goes well.