WWE: WWE Officials Reportedly Very Impressed with Several NXT Talent at 12/13 WWE SNME Show, Seth Rollins on His Torn Rotator Cuff Injury, WWE Reveals Nominees For 2025 NXT Year End Awards

Dec 16, 2025

WWE Officials Reportedly Very Impressed with Several NXT Talent at Dec. 13th WWE SNME Show

This past Saturday’s WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event show in Washington, D.C. featured Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defeating NXT Champion Oba Femi by disqualification in an exhibition match.

Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that his sources stated that WWE officials were very impressed with Oba Femi, Joe Hendry, Sol Ruca, Je’Von Evans, and TNA talent Leon Slater’s performances on the show.

Meltzer reported that WWE officials were impressed with the great crowd reaction Hendry got for his segment with R-Truth and The Miz on the show. WWE officials reportedly currently view Femi, Ruca, Evans, and Slater as future superstars for the company.

Seth Rollins Comments on His Torn Rotator Cuff Injury

As noted before, Seth Rollins has been out of action for WWE since this past October’s Crown Jewel: Perth event due to a torn rotator cuff injury and surgery.

A recent episode of Julian Edleman’s Games with Names podcast featured Rollins as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Rollins’ thoughts about his torn rotator cuff injury and how he felt in the moment after suffering it. This interview was held in late October to early November and released earlier today.

“I did what we call a coast-to-coast headbutt. In the landing, I didn’t stick it. I did not stick the landing. I rotated a bit to my left, landed hard on my left elbow, and jolted it up into my shoulder. Felt it go right away. I was like, ‘Oh, we got a lot left to do in this match. How much can I do? Can I do it? Should I go in a different direction with the finish? What should we do?’ There was a lot going on in my head. Luckily, I didn’t have to pick him up for anything, and fortunately, I was able to get through everything. I took his finisher off the top rope, which was pretty scary at that point. I knew I was going to land partially on my shoulder, so I kept it tucked real tight. I don’t know that I did anymore damage than the rotator. Two weeks out of surgery now, it’s about a six-month recovery. We’ll see how it goes.
I landed and I immediately felt it go. I pinned him, he kicks out, I’m talking to the ref, ‘Oh, that wasn’t smart. That wasn’t good.’ ‘Are you hurt?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘How bad?’ ‘I’m not sure.’ ‘Do you need to change something?’ ‘Let me think about it…Nah, we’re good.’ At that point, we were 20 minutes deep, so the adrenaline (is going), but I could feel it. It was hard for me to raise him. If you watch it back, (my arm) is dangling at my side. I can’t throw punches or forearms correctly. It was hard to do what I needed to get done. It was really tender and it was starting to get worse as the match was going on. Is it stupidity or courageousness? I don’t know. Where is the line? My mindset is to finish.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

WWE Reveals Nominees For 2025 NXT Year End Awards

WWE announced the full list of nominees and categories for this year’s NXT Year End Awards.

It was also announced that fan voting is currently open and the winners of this year’s awards will be officially revealed at the December 20th episode of WWE NXT.

Full list of categories and nominees for 2025 NXT Year End Awards

Male Superstar of the Year: