Former AEW Champion Makes a Statement in Shocking WWE Debut

WWE NXT has seen its fair share of surprises over the past few months, and tonight it got one of its biggest when a former AEW star made their shocking WWE debut right in the middle of the show. WWE has been pursuing a number of free agents recently, and tonight it was revealed that they in fact landed one of the biggest in AEW’s Mariah May. May debuted during a segment that showed she will be right in the thick of the NXT Women’s Championship picture, and the crowd lost it when the lights came back on to reveal that The Glamour was now a part of WWE NXT. You can watch the full debut in the video below.

This all took place during what was supposed to be a celebration for the newest NXT Women’s Champion, Jacy Jayne. Jayne shocked the world when she took down Stephanie Vaquer for the Championship last week, and she hit the ring with her Fatal Influence allies Fallon Henley and Jazmyn Nyx to throw her win in the crowd’s face and ring in a new Championship reign.

The party was crashed quickly, however, after a number of superstars came out to stake their claim on a Title shot against Jayne, including Jordynne Grace, Kelani Jordan, Jaida Parker, Lash Legend, and Thea Hail, and then things devolved into a brawl outside of the ring. That’s when the lights went out, and when a spotlight came on, it was aimed at none other than Mariah May.

She got a big pop from the crowd, who clearly knew who she was, and she soon put the rest of the NXT Women’s Division on notice. May said, “I have finally arrived,” much to the delight of the crowd, and then said, “Ladies, ladies, you can call me the next NXT Women’s Champion, because the best women’s division in the world just got a lot more glamorous.”

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Last week it was reported that May had been removed from the official AEW roster page, which typically means that they are no longer with the company. It was then stated by sources that May was expected to debut soon, but most didn’t expect that to happen over the course of the next week.

It was also unclear where she would debut. May would have been an easy fit on Raw or SmackDown as well, so there was some debate as to which show she would be a part of when she finally arrived. Now we know that is NXT, and it actually makes a lot of sense when you consider that NXT has lost several high-profile superstars in its Women’s Division to the main roster over the past few weeks, and more call-ups are reportedly happening soon as well.

Over the past month, NXT superstars Roxanne Perez, Giulia, and Stephanie Vaquer have all joined Raw and SmackDown, with Vaquer making her Raw debut this Monday. Perez is also a part of the Raw roster, while Giulia is over on SmackDown alongside the newest main roster Tag Team contenders Fraxiom. Previous reports have also indicated that the call-ups may not be done, with Jordynne Grace and Ricky Saints as names that could end up on Raw and SmackDown over the next few weeks.

With that in mind, having someone like May come in is going to be a welcome addition to the Women’s Division, and she will instantly be able to mix it up with NXT’s next set or rising stars like Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker, Zaria, Kelani Jordan, and Thea Hail. She’s also going to be mixing it up with Jacy Jayne, and it will be interesting to see if she aligns herself with anyone to help balance out the numbers advantage by Jayne and her allies.

What did you think of Mariah May’s WWE debut? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things wrestling with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!