Kyle O'Reilly makes his NXT debut at last tapings before TakeOver

July 16, 2020 By BLOGDAELLI

Image: @JJWilliamsWON

Kyle O’Reilly, one of the top stars on the independent scene, made his debut for WWE this evening by appearing at the NXT tapings at Full Sail University.

He debuted as a surprise against Aleister Black. After a long match, Black pinned him with the Black Mass. Interestingly enough, O’Reilly’s tag team partner, Bobby Fish, made his debut at the previous set of tapings, also losing to Black.

O’Reilly’s contract with Ring of Honor expired at the end of last year and he made his last high-profile appearance on January 4th at NJPW’s WrestleKingdom 11, where he lost the ROH World Championship to Adam Cole. He’s mainly wrestled for EVOLVE and other indie promotions in recent months.

As reported in previous issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, ROH legal threats over issues related to contract tampering have kept O’Reilly, Fish, and others from signing with WWE for the last several months.