If you tuned into NXT on July 21, 2026, you witnessed an absolute car crash. The six-man tag team match between DarkState and the makeshift trio of Saquon Shugars, Noam Dar, and Romeo Moreno did not even wait for the opening bell. It started with a chaotic pre-match brawl that saw bodies flying over the guardrails and security guards getting shoved like they were trying to break up a fight outside a sports bar at 2 AM.
The Orlando crowd was electric, and for good reason. They knew they were watching the latest chapter of the most intense civil war in the developmental brand today. But as the dust settled and the referee finally restored some semblance of order, a very familiar, frustrating feeling started to creep in.
WWE has a potential megastar on their hands with Saquon Shugars. Yet, they are currently booking him like he is just another guy trapped in the endless, muddy waters of faction warfare. It is time to call it what it is: a waste of one of the brightest talents on the entire roster.
A megastar trapped in the midcard
Let’s talk about Shugars. If you followed his work on the independent scene as Lucky Ali, you already know the guy is an absolute prodigy. He did not just wrestle in high school gyms; he carried promotions like Deadlock Pro-Wrestling on his back as their champion.
He has the size, the physical presence, and the kind of natural charisma that you simply cannot teach in the Performance Center. During the match, he hit a springboard crossbody that looked like he was floating in mid-air. He followed that up with a Falcon Arrow on Dion Lennox that nearly cracked the ring canvas in half.
His nickname is "Up Next," but that is a lie. He is ready right now. He possesses the raw athletic ability of a young Seth Rollins combined with the swagger of a prime Booker T.
But instead of letting him chase singles gold, the booking team has him playing babysitter to Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno. No disrespect to Dar, who has been a reliable midcard hand for years, but Moreno is strictly there to eat pins. Watching Shugars carry this team is like watching prime LeBron James try to win a championship with the 2018 Cleveland Cavaliers.
It is a classic booking trap. We saw it when Cody Rhodes was stuck in Legacy, and we saw it when Orton was dragging around Ted DiBiase Jr. You have a guy who is ready to explode, but you keep linking him to guys who have a ceiling lower than a basement.
The Varsity Blues of Dion Lennox and DarkState
Let’s flip the coin and look at the guys across the ring. DarkState was supposed to be a dominant force, and Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin, and Cutler James certainly have the look. They even held the tag team titles last year, before dropping them to The Vanity Project on February 24, 2026.
But since losing those belts, the group has struggled to find its footing. Their solution to this identity crisis was to turn on Shugars on May 19, 2026, after a failed tag title match. They beat him down and put him through the commentary table in a segment that was admittedly great television.
The problem is the justification they offered the following week on May 26. They cut a promo claiming Shugars was just an "independent wrestler" who did not belong with their elite Division I college athlete status.
Honestly, this is the most tired trope in the WWE playbook. We have seen the "real athletes vs. indie darlings" storyline more times than we have seen Triple H point at a new signee. It was lazy when Baron Corbin did it, it was lazy when Charlotte Flair did it, and it is lazy now.
The fans in Orlando do not care about how many yards Dion Lennox gained in college. They care about who can actually work a match and connect with the crowd. In that department, Shugars is playing chess while the rest of DarkState is playing checkers.
A booking finish that protects nobody
The finish of the July 21 match was classic, frustrating WWE television booking. Shugars had the match won, attempting a triple powerbomb on Lennox through a table. But Griffin and James broke it up, as heels do.
Then, Griffin and James hit their double spinout powerbomb on Romeo Moreno to secure the victory. Technically, Shugars did not take the pinfall. He is protected, but his team still lost, and the feud drags on for another week.
This is the same booking trap that ruined the Nexus back in 2010. You have a hot babyface who needs to look like an unstoppable force. Instead, you dilute his momentum by giving him partners who exist solely to lose matches on Tuesday nights.
Shugars already proved he was the superior athlete when he beat Dion Lennox clean at the Great American Bash on June 28, 2026. That should have been the exclamation point on this entire rivalry. Instead, we are getting rematches of rematches, stretched out like cheap taffy.
NXT has a bad habit of running successful feuds into the dirt. They keep the wheels spinning until the crowd gets bored and starts playing with their phones. Shugars is too good to be stuck in this holding pattern.
Compare it to the greats
Think back to the great faction splits in WWE history. When Batista turned on Triple H in 2005, WWE did not drag it out with six-man tag matches against La Resistance. They built the tension, had Batista hit the Batista Bomb on the contract signing table, and moved him straight to the main event of WrestleMania.
When Evolution turned on Randy Orton in 2004, they did not have Orton team up with Maven and Tyson Tomko the next week. Orton was isolated, fought the whole group, and either won or lost on his own terms. It established him as a lone wolf who did not need help.
By saddling Shugars with Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno, you make him look weak by association. He looks like he needs backup against a group he already proved he can beat on his own. It makes the babyface look foolish, which is the ultimate sin in wrestling booking.
The rest of the card shows the contrast
The contrast was even more obvious when you look at the rest of the July 21 show. The main event saw Tony D'Angelo defend his NXT Championship against Naraku in a brutal Street Fight. That match had stakes, drama, and a clear direction for both men.
We also saw Jaida Parker defeat Nattie via submission using the Sharpshooter. That match worked because it was personal and had a clean finish, even with Thea Hail throwing in the towel. It moved the story forward instead of keeping it in a perpetual loop.
Even Keanu Carver's win over Hank Walker felt like it was building toward something new. Meanwhile, the DarkState civil war feels like it is stuck in a loop. We are getting the same promos, the same pre-match brawls, and the same post-match chaos.
It is time to pull the trigger
After the match on July 21, the referees and security guards had to physically separate Shugars and Lennox. The crowd was screaming, and the energy was there. The fans want to see Shugars succeed, but they want to see him do it in matches that actually matter.
WWE needs to stop overthinking this. Saquon Shugars has the potential to be a main roster megastar within the next two years. He has the look, the work rate, and the connection with the audience that most wrestlers spend their entire careers trying to find.
But if they keep him locked in this midcard prison, they risk cooling him off permanently. The crowd will eventually get tired of seeing him lose six-man matches because his partners cannot hold up their end of the bargain.
It is time to end the DarkState civil war. Give Shugars one final, decisive victory over Dion Lennox, and then send him straight to the top of the card. He should be chasing the NXT Championship, not fighting Cutler James and Osiris Griffin in throwaway television tag matches.
WWE has a goldmine in Saquon Shugars. They just need to stop burying it under a mountain of repetitive booking. Put the rocket on his back and let him fly.
