It was confirmed last month, that Tegan Nox will be about six to nine months, and Candice LeRae attacked her backstage during the September 23 episode of NXT, officially writing her off TV.
This could not have come at a worse time for Nox; with Mia Yim and Mercedes Martinez moving to RAW as part of Retribution, she looked poised to play a bigger part in the NXT women’s division. Now it’s become a situation that is sadly all too familiar.
I’ve always loved Nox, so I wanted to look at her NXT career so far and where it could go from here.
It all started back in April 2017, when she officially signed with WWE. She was supposed to be a part of the inaugural Mae Young Classic that July, but tore her ACL before the tournament.
She returned in April 2018, teaming with Dakota Kai to beat Vanessa Bourne and Raquel Gonzalez at an NXT live event. A few months later, she was announced as a participant in the second Mae Young Classic. This time around she defeated Zatara and Nicole Matthews, ensuring her a spot in the quarterfinals.
However, during that match against Rhea Ripley, she dove outside of the ring and injured her knee. She could not go on and Ripley moved on the semifinals. This injury was even more severe than the first; she ended up tearing her meniscus, LCL, ACL, and MCL, as well as dislocating her patella.
So began the road to recovery once again. Nox made her return in June 2019 at another NXT live event. Several months later, she made her NXT UK debut in a winning effort against Shax.
But NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray interrupted her victory celebration. Ray felt that Nox’s return was getting all the attention instead of her title win. The two came to blows three weeks later, with Ray putting her title on the line. While it was a hard-fought contest, Nox was unable to walk away victorious.
She quickly rebounded and started teaming again with Kai. The two defeated Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir on the October 23 episode of NXT to earn a shot at the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. The following week, they challenged The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) but were unsuccessful at capturing the titles.
Two days later, Nox was a part of NXT’s invasion of SmackDown. Her and Ripley challenged Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville to a match, which they won. Ripley then picked Nox to join her WarGames team against Team Baszler. Mia Yim was also supposed to be a part of the team, but was attacked shortly before the match and replaced with Kai.
Nox never made it into the match because Kai turned on her and attacked her inside the holding cage. She returned less than two months later to take part in a battle royal to determine the new number one contender for the NXT Women’s Championship. However, Kai interfered and eliminated her, igniting a deeply personal feud between the two.
Things came to a head at NXT TakeOver: Portland, where the former best friends met in a street fight. Thanks to interference by Raquel Gonzalez, Kai was able to pick up the win. The two faced off again two weeks later inside a steel cage, but Gonzalez once again made her presence felt and cost Nox the match.
The bad blood didn’t stop there, continuing into NXT TakeOver: In Your House that June. But this time, the team of Nox, Yim, and Shotzi Blackheart was able to defeat Kai, Gonzalez, and a newly turned Candice LeRae.
Afterwards, Nox and Blackheart continued to team up, earning a shot at the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. On the June 17 episode of NXT, they got their opportunity against Sasha Banks and Bayley. However, they couldn’t walk away as the champs.
During night one of NXT The Great American Bash, Nox defeated LeRae, Yim, and Kai to become the number one contender to Io Shirai’s NXT Women’s Championship. The two faced off on the July 17 episode of NXT, but Shirai successfully defended the title.
Before her most recent injury, it looked as if Nox was going to start a feud with LeRae. She wanted her best friend back, while LeRae wanted her to start doing things “The Gargano Way”.
No one knows where Nox’s will go from here. Surely, she will try to do whatever she can to get back into the ring again. But with this being her third ACL tear, who knows how stable her knees are at this point. She’d likely have to completely rethink her style of wrestling in order to take the necessary precautions to avoid another tear.
If anything, she can also join the Performance Center in a coaching capacity. Nox won’t ever stray far from the ring, so teaching a new generation of talent is right up her alley.
Regardless of what’s next, Nox will certainly handle it with the same grit and determination that she always has. Someone as talented as her will easily adapt to whatever is thrown at her. Hopefully that means we’ll be seeing her sooner rather than later.
We here at TWM wish Tegan all the best in her recovery, and hope that she’ll be back faster, stronger, and shinier than ever.