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General Manager Ava Announces Plans To Crown A New NXT Champion

Ava wants to know which NXT Superstar is going to step up and lead the brand now that Oba Femi is heading to the WWE main roster.
Rick Ucchino|
Oba Femi
Oba Femi | The CW Network

NXT General Manager Ava has put a challenge out to the entire men's locker room, saying someone is going to have to step up in place of Oba Femi.

While we don't know if he's heading to Raw or SmackDown, we do know that the two-time NXT Champion is main roster bound. Femi relinquished his NXT Championship at New Year's Evil, just moments after her retained the gold against TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater.

Ava promised that she would come up with a plan to crown a new champion and she announced on Tuesday night's episode of NXT that a Six-Man Ladder Match for the vacated NXT Title will take place on Tuesday, February 3. A series of qualifying matches will be held to determine the competitors in that ladder match, and those will begin next week.

The news came much to the dismay of former NXT Champion Ricky Saints. After taking credit for running Oba Femi, Je'Von Evans and Trick Williams out of NXT, Saints was fully prepared to lead a new revolution for the brand as it's champion. Ava clearly had other ideas in mind.

While the qualifying bouts have yet to be announced, it's a safe bet that Saints will have the chance to earn his title back. He will, however, be facing much stiffer competition than he might have initially imagined, headlined by new NXT signee Keanu Carver.

The former defensive tackle for Temple University signed a development deal with WWE in the summer of 2023 and made his television debut that winter in the NXT Breakout Tournament. He lost in the first round to Riley Osborne and he has primarily been working Level Up and Evolve tapings ever since.

Will Ricky Saints find a way to capture the NXT Championship once again?

Ricky Saints
Ricky Saints | The CW Network

Moments after Ava made her announcement regarding the NXT Championship, a chaotic brawl broke out among the members of the locker room who stood ringside to hear it.

In the end, it was Keanu Carver who stood tall and all Ricky Saints could do was watch in horror from the entrance ramp as the big man left a path of destruction behind him.

Now that Femi, Evans and Williams have all moved on to the main roster, it's time for a new crop of stars to carry the brand forward into a new era.

Saints may ultimately be the guy who emerges from the upcoming ladder match as the NXT Champion, but Keanu Carver will be someone to keep an eye on in the weeks and months ahead.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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