20 female athletes, one shot at Kelani Jordan and the WWE NXT Women’s Championship at WWE NXT Halloween Havoc 2026, and the only way for one of them to earn that shot was to submit the remaining 19 women to the number one contender royal. The October 6 episode of WWE NXT. After a match that saw stars from TNA, AAA and EVOLVE, the suspended Ren Sinclair outlasted them all to earn his shot at the gold.
The eliminations started early as Layla Diggs was eliminated by Izzy Dame, who was then eliminated by Zaria herself. Reyna Volkan was the woman to beat in the early stages and established herself in a dominant position, taking out Skylar Raye and Adelicious before Chantel Monroe was eliminated at the commercial break. Coming out of the break, Arianna Grace ended up on the apron and tossed to the floor, along with two members of TNA’s Elegance brand, Heather and M, after a miscommunication.
It was time for Ivy Nile and Lizzie Rain to battle on the apron, and a diving headbutt from Rain knocked Nile off balance and his place in the match while Rain directed traffic as everyone worked together to eliminate the volcano. However, Volkan wanted to impress everyone as he dragged AAA’s Lady Shani to the outside and hit her with a Snap Powerslam, though she dragged her under the ropes keeping her in the match.
Next up was Nikita Lyons before Izzy Dame came back to try and get revenge on Zaria but was kicked out again. With that being said, Zaria was quickly eliminated by Kali Armstrong as Dame and Zaria brawled outside. Xia Brookside’s night ended at the hands of Indi Hartwell, who was dragged by Brookside herself to end her night, although they would match at TNA Bound For Glory on October 11. Thea Hail and La Catalina couldn’t get the job done, and neither did Kiana James, leaving Rain and Armstrong to better fight Armstrong.
Armstrong thought he won and talked trash to Kellan Jordan, who was watching the match from the WWE Performance Center perch, only for Lady Shani to come back and throw Armstrong out for the win. However, Shani surprisingly unmasked himself to reveal none other than the suspended Ren Sinclair, who was confirmed by Vic Joseph as the number one contender to Jordan’s title.
