{"id":163880,"date":"2026-07-02T07:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=163880"},"modified":"2026-07-02T04:45:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T08:45:21","slug":"mason-rook-nxt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/07\/02\/mason-rook-nxt\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Mason Rook Should Take on the Vanity Project in a Gauntlet Match"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mason Rook debuted on the April 28,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>episode of NXT. He was<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the third\u00a0<\/span><\/span>of the three men who attacked Tony D\u2019Angelo that night, which was the Tuesday after he claimed the NXT Championship<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>at Stand & Deliver.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Out of him, Naraku, and Tavion Heights<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>he\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>only one who\u00a0<\/span><\/span>hasn\u2019t<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>gotten a championship match with D’Angelo.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>But over the past couple of weeks, he has faced an even larger problem. Jackso<\/span>n Drake and the Vanity Project have also been targeting D\u2019Angelo. <\/span><\/p>\n

On the June 23 NXT, he<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and Drake got into a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>huge\u00a0<\/span><\/span>fight, leading to a match<\/a> the n<\/span>ext Tuesday. He ended up\u00a0<\/span><\/span>losing, but<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>attacked fellow Vanity Project members Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes afterward<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>It seems like a great idea for him to face all three of them in a Gauntlet match as a way to really showcase his\u00a0<\/span><\/span>in-ring strength.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>If he can defeat them,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>there\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>no question\u00a0<\/span><\/span>he\u2019ll<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>be ready to face D\u2019Angelo when he gets the chance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mason Rook Will Be Able to Show Off His Power in the Ring<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

There are successful giants on the main roster that started in NXT like Rook. Two that\u00a0instantly\u00a0come to mind are Bronson Reed and Oba Femi.\u00a0Both of them\u00a0held titles in NXT and\u00a0have been\u00a0successful when they jumped to the main roster.\u00a0Rook has\u00a0shown off\u00a0his power\u00a0in several matches, but it\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0resulted in a singles win yet. Booking a gauntlet match is\u00a0a great way\u00a0to get people on his side as a potential championship\u00a0holder. <\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone saw what happened at the end of the match on Tuesday<\/a> when he lost.\u00a0He took down the NXT Tag Team Champions with ease as a direct warning to\u00a0Drake that he is a threat. Another singles match\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0make sense, as Drake always has Baylor and Smokes by his side.\u00a0There has to be a way for him to get a dominant victory without any interference.\u00a0A gauntlet match gives Rook time with each male member of the Vanity Project to\u00a0showcase\u00a0his wrestling skills.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vanity Project\u00a0Wouldn\u2019t\u00a0Be Hurt\u00a0by Losing<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

So far, the Vanity Project being on NXT has been\u00a0a huge success. They hold championship gold and have shown off their incredible in-ring ability several times. All of them have shown that their ages\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0a problem and that they deserve to be in NXT<\/a>. But there is one problem. Just like any other faction in WWE, whenever one of their members is in trouble, the rest of them interfere to get the win. In a gauntlet match, Rook gets Baylor, Drake, and Smokes one-on-one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Making the match gets him over with the crowd without fully hurting the Vanity Project. They won\u2019t get squashed by him, and Baylor and Smokes will still hold the NXT Tag Team Championships. The only thing that will happen is that they will finally definitively lose without any interference. Many times a handicap match is made in order to showcase a giant. However, a gauntlet match ensures that the Vanity Project won\u2019t be hurt with a Rook victory.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Gauntlet Match is the Best Way to Proceed<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

There has been obvious tension brewing between Rook and the members of the Vanity Project. Drake views Rook as an obstacle that is in the way of him challenging for the NXT Championship. That\u2019s why he was so happy when he won his match on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"NXT
NXT graphic of Jackson Drake and Masok Rook at the Great American Bash. (Photo Credit: WWE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But he wasn\u2019t smiling for long, as Baylor and Smokes were both taken out after the match was over. There are many different ways for them to proceed, but a gauntlet match is the best way not to hurt any of them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A handicap match is usually the way to go in order to get a giant over. But Drake has been impressive since his call-up from Evolve<\/a>, and the NXT Tag Team Championships belong to Baylor and Smokes. Having them get destroyed all at once by Rook will severely devalue them and their titles. A gauntlet match will showcase Rook\u2019s talent in the ring while protecting the members of the Vanity Project from looking bad.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mason Rook debuted on the April 28,\u00a02026\u00a0episode of NXT. He was\u00a0the third\u00a0of the three men who attacked Tony D\u2019Angelo that night, which was the Tuesday after he claimed the NXT Championship\u00a0at Stand & Deliver.\u00a0Out of him, Naraku, and Tavion Heights,\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0the\u00a0only one who\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0gotten a championship match with D’Angelo.\u00a0But over the past couple of weeks, he has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5338,"featured_media":163907,"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":[9733,9371],"class_list":["post-163880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nxt","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-mason-rook","tag-the-vanity-project"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163880","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=163880"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163908,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163880\/revisions\/163908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}