Tony D’Angelo has done it all in his NXT career. He’s been a singles competitor and a tag team guy. He started a faction and then was part of its huge breakup. Many different titles have been won by him, including the NXT North American Championship and the NXT Tag Team Championship. But what happened last month was certainly the highlight of his run. At Stand & Deliver, he beat Ethan Page, Joe Hendry, and Ricky Saints to become NXT Champion.
In doing so, he also became the first NXT Grand Slam Champion. Unfortunately, that meant having to watch out for men who wanted the title. He was first confronted by the newly named Naraku, making his debut in NXT. Then he was attacked by Tavion Heights and another debut in Mason Rook. He first had to deal with Heights in a singles match before thinking about Naraku or Rook. Would he get the victory, or would the pressure around him cause him to lose?
Tony D’Angelo Wins against Heights Before Being Attacked by Rook
It makes sense why Tony D’Angelo’s popularity would skyrocket throughout the men’s locker room. He may not be the only veteran in there, but he’s the most senior member of NXT. Making his debut on October 5, 2021, in a match against Malik Blade, he’s spent the last four and a half years entertaining fans on Tuesday nights.
He’s seen multiple rounds of wrestlers get called up, yet he remained on NXT. He wrestled in the last WarGames on the brand, which shows everyone that he’s been there for a long time. All the young guys not only want his championship, but also want to send him to the main roster.
On the April 28, 2026, episode of NXT, he wasn’t attacked by Heights, Naraku, and Rook at different points in time. They came at him one after the other, leaving him defenseless. He was mad as he confronted NXT General Manager Robert Stone at the end of the episode. The next week on the May 5th NXT, he opened the show by attacking Heights. Their match ended the night due to it being delayed by an attack by Kam Hendrix on him.
The match started with both men locking hands with each other before Heights applied a waist lock to D’Angelo. Not letting go, he slammed him to the mat. After nearly a minute, TonyD’Angelo did the same thing to him. He got out of the hold, then rolled him up and hoisted him onto his shoulders. After an impressive display of power, he dropped him onto the ground. They locked up again with the same result as D’Angelo slammed him to the ground.
The two went back and forth before he got sent down with a clothesline. D’Angelo was in total control of the offense from that moment until Heights kicked out of a pin attempt. Heights then returned the favor with a huge amount of offense until he got pushed off the top rope onto the outside. He came back inside and hit D’Angelo with a gutwrench, but was unable to pin him.
A splash led to another pin attempt, but he was once again unsuccessful. The two men started punching each other before Tony D’Angelo hit Heights with three suplexes in a row. Heights countered with a knee, an overhead toss, and a suplex, but once again came up short with the victory.
They traded more punches before Hendrix attacked Heights, who got jumped on by NXT North American Champion Myles Borne. The distraction led to Tony D’Angelo hitting the Dead to Right to win the match. But he couldn’t celebrate as Rook attacked him afterward to close the show. He may still be NXT Champion, but D’Angelo’s days could be numbered if attacks keep coming his way.
