For those unaware, Myles Borne shockingly won a 25-man Battle Royal on NXT on the May 6 show. This granted Borne an opportunity to win Oba Femi’s NXT championship at NXT Battleground in Tampa, Florida, on Sunday, May 25. Whilst this result was unexpected for many, the No Quarter Catch Crew member’s victory was born out of necessity for a fledgling men’s division on WWE’s developmental brand.
Who Is Myles Borne?
Myles Borne has been part of WWE since 2022 and has trained exclusively at their state-of-the-art Performance Center. He was a part of the same class of recruits that included the likes of Roxanne Perez, Sol Ruca, and Kiana James, among other names.
At present, Borne is WWE’s only deaf employee. His disability has impacted his speech, however, this has not negatively affected his promo ability. As said by Borne this past week in a heartfelt promo, “I want to be judged by my ability, not my disability.”
The 25-year-old debuted on NXT television in 2023 and joined a Drew Gulak-led NQCC later that year, after turning on Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen in a six-man tag team match. From a singles perspective, Borne has not done much as he has primarily teamed with Charlie Dempsey and later with Tavion Heights.
With the latter, he unsuccessfully challenged Fraxiom for the NXT Tag Team Championships at NXT Deadline late last year. The pair also lost to the TNA Tag Team Champions, The Hardys, a few months ago.
Why Is Myles Borne The Number One Contender?
Many fans on social media have taken to Borne because of his funny tweets regarding his disability, as well as his striking resemblance to WWE legend Randy Orton. Despite this, Borne’s Battle Royal victory can be attributed to the brand’s need to create new male stars. The division is suffering from the departures of Bron Breakker, Ilja Dragunov, and Carmelo Hayes.
Ethan Page and Shawn Spears were nice additions to the roster, but Page has already won the NXT Championship, and Spears is older than most developmental talents. Wes Lee has been largely uninteresting after his battles with Zachary Wentz, and Tony D’Angelo is in the midst of a feud with his former underboss Channing “Stackz” Lorenzo. The 21-year-old Je’Von Evans has previously unsuccessfully challenged the Ruler of NXT.
It would not be a surprise if current NXT North American Champion Ricky Saints challenges Femi at some point down the line, given that he is the most over men’s star on the roster. Using Borne as a challenger to the Nigerian would help add much-needed legitimacy to the man from the Tarheel State as a singles star. This could also potentially benefit all members of the NQCC.
Can Borne Win The Big One?
It would be wise not to place any bets on Borne walking out of Battleground as the NXT Champion, primarily because of the tension between him and his NQCC stablemate Charlie Dempsey. Aside from their encounter with The D’Angelo family in 2024, the faction has not done anything significant outside of wrestling for the Heritage Cup.
The addition of Wren Sinclair has helped to add a fun and quirky dynamic to the group after the departures of Drew Gulak and Damon Kemp. However, the only noticeable moment of Sinclair to date was her hilarious performance in the Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge in December.
The son of pro wrestling great William Regal, Dempsey could use Borne’s championship aspirations as a means to break free from the faction. The on-screen interactions between the pair have heavily teased a potential break-up.
The match at Battleground is not the first time that Borne and Femi have tangled on NXT television either. The pair’s first encounter was an NXT Breakout Tournament first-round match-up where the Nigerian would swiftly eliminate Borne on his way to winning the entire competition.
Fans will be hoping that their upcoming bout will be a lot more competitive than their last matchup, given that this is now a main event-tier feud. Even if Borne does not win the NXT Championship, the Battle Royal win and subsequent pinfall victory over Page (a former NXT Champion) have allowed fans to see what he is capable of.
Borne was used as a punching bag for Kendal Grey a mere 10 months ago. He now gets to battle for NXT’s top prize, which is a testament to the work that he and the rest of the No Quarter Catch Crew members have put in.
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