{"id":162116,"date":"2026-05-28T06:00:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T10:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=162116"},"modified":"2026-05-27T22:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T02:25:15","slug":"why-naraku-could-be-protecting-tony-dangelo-on-nxt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/05\/28\/why-naraku-could-be-protecting-tony-dangelo-on-nxt\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Naraku Could Be Protecting Tony D’Angelo on NXT"},"content":{"rendered":"

Right now,\u00a0a very complex\u00a0storyline is unfolding in NXT. Kam Hendrix, Mason Rook, and Naraku are all going after Tony D\u2019Angelo\u2019s NXT Championship. They all want a chance to fight him<\/a>, but they keep running into each other.\u00a0He\u00a0understands Hendrix and Rook\u2019s\u00a0motivation but is confused about Naraku. <\/span><\/p>\n

On the May 26, 2026, episode of NXT, D\u2019Angelo called out Naraku, wanting answers about what he really wants from him. He came out and said that he didn\u2019t want to challenge him for the NXT Championship, uncharacteristic of a veteran like him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, he wanted to protect his title reign, something that confused him and probably most of the audience. When Hendrix came out to attack D\u2019Angelo, Naraku stopped him from getting hit, and a title match between Hendrix and D’Angelo was made for next week. It\u2019s very intriguing as to why he doesn\u2019t want to challenge D\u2019Angelo right away. Luckily, some reasons could be explained that make sense of his recent behavior.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Naraku Wants D\u2019Angelo Alone Without Interference<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

D\u2019Angelo won the NXT Championship at Stand & Deliver this year, beating Ethan Page, Joe Hendry, and Ricky Saints in a fatal four-way match.\u00a0He wrestled in NXT for five years before finally capturing the top title. Aside from a retention<\/a> during night 1 of NXT Revenge against Page, he\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0defended the title on television.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"WWE
An NXT graphic of Naraku. (Photo Credit: WWE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With many guys wanting a title opportunity, Naraku\u00a0is being\u00a0smart. After spending over a decade in New Japan Pro Wrestling<\/a>, he knows\u00a0how things work\u00a0regarding\u00a0being a champion. <\/span><\/p>\n

He sees Hendrix and Rook as young guys who are rushing into a title match. If D\u2019Angelo retains, they\u2019ll probably move on to someone else. That would be the best time for him to strike. If Hendrix and Rook are done with D\u2019Angelo, he won\u2019t have to worry about any interference going on in the title match. <\/span><\/p>\n

No interference would mean a simple one-on-one match between himself and D\u2019Angelo, which is what he ultimately wants.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u00a0Knows the Scariest Opponent is the Unseen One<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

D\u2019Angelo has his hands full with Hendrix and Rook, who both want his NXT Championship. Hendrix showed a great deal of promise on WWE LFG, while Rook has gone viral on the internet since the moment he arrived. However, Naraku is watching in the shadows, letting everything play out. <\/span><\/p>\n

If the storyline between those three goes on for a couple of weeks, D\u2019Angelo might forget about him. That could also make him easier to beat when they eventually meet for their NXT Championship match.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Former
A photo of former NJPW star and current NXT superstar EVIL. (Photo Credit: By \u30be\u30fc\u30d2\u30e7\u30fc – Own work, CC0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=168702138)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

D\u2019Angelo\u00a0will be too busy with Hendrix and Rook that\u00a0he\u2019ll\u00a0forget who he was originally targeted by.\u00a0Naraku\u00a0also convinced and\u00a0showed him<\/a> that he\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0joking about protecting his championship from being taken away from\u00a0him.\u00a0But he told him\u00a0that he knows the real\u00a0reason why\u00a0he is being targeted. However, Naraku could strike at any moment, which could leave D\u2019Angelo extremely vulnerable and at risk of losing his NXT Championship.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How Will D\u2019Angelo\u2019s Current Situation Play Out?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Naraku\u2019s current plan is extremely risky for a huge reason. If Hendrix or Rook somehow manages to capture the NXT Championship, his whole plan will fall apart. He targeted D\u2019Angelo at the beginning, but by convincing him that he isn\u2019t a threat, he\u2019s positioning himself to be an even bigger threat in the near future.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
A graphic featuring NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo. (Photo Credit: WWE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hendrix and Rook failing to win allows D\u2019Angelo to forget about him so he can easily take the title. But if either of those two men wins, his whole outlook will completely change. <\/span><\/p>\n

He could still get the title from them, but then he\u2019ll have major regrets about not attacking D\u2019Angelo when he had the chance. D\u2019Angelo could attack them afterward, delaying his match even more. <\/span><\/p>\n

Naraku is taking a major risk by watching from the shadows and letting Hendrix and Rook take their shots at D\u2019Angelo. If there isn\u2019t a championship retention, he might have some major regrets even though he could still win the title for himself.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right now,\u00a0a very complex\u00a0storyline is unfolding in NXT. Kam Hendrix, Mason Rook, and Naraku are all going after Tony D\u2019Angelo\u2019s NXT Championship. They all want a chance to fight him, but they keep running into each other.\u00a0He\u00a0understands Hendrix and Rook\u2019s\u00a0motivation but is confused about Naraku. On the May 26, 2026, episode of NXT, D\u2019Angelo called […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5338,"featured_media":162149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2192,4,3],"tags":[9735],"class_list":["post-162116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nxt","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-naraku"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5338"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162116"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":162151,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162116\/revisions\/162151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}