It was the biggest match of his career to date, and while Grayson Waller may have gotten a massive assist, he still left the WWE Performance Center Wednesday night with the NXT Championship around his waist.

Waller took on CM Punk in the main event of the show, and just as the Best in the World appeared to be closing in on a victory, Kevin Owens would hit the ring to put a stop to his GTS attempt.

Security stopped Owens from getting into the ring, but the distraction allowed Waller to roll up Punk and grab a handful of tights in the process to retain his championship. Owens involvement comes just days before he battles Punk in a No Holds Barred Match on Friday Night SmackDown.

KO IS HERE 🤯

Kevin Owens has COST CM Punk, Grayson Waller RETAINS the NXT Title! pic.twitter.com/4ygtc4xvCI

— WWE (@WWE) November 5, 2026

The inaugural NXT Women's Champion made her surprise return to the WWE developmental brand Wednesday night. Paige was revealed as the mystery challenger for Kelani Jordan and nearly went on to capture the gold, almost 13 years after she held it the first time.

Cody Rhodes was on hand to award the Dusty Cup to Romeo Moreno and Noam Dar, while John Cena invited the first NXT Superstar to the John Cena Classic next month in Orlando, Florida. In a very touching tribute to his family, Cena selected Zilla Fatu.

Here's everything you may have missed from Wednesday night's special episode of NXT on The CW Network.

WWE NXT results for November 4, 2026:

Chad Gable, Dragon Lee & AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix defeated The Vanity Project in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. The crowd inside the WWE Performance Center was on their feet for a majority of this high-paced match, which saw Dragon Lee pick up the win for his team by hitting Operation Dragon on Jackson Drake. Neither Ricky Smokes nor Brad Baylor could break up the fall as Gable and Fenix had them locked in submission holds.

CM Punk and Shiloh Hill were shown chatting backstage. Punk told Hill that he has a very bright future in WWE and promised him the first shot after he won the NXT Championship from Grayson Waller.

Kelani Jordan defeated Paige to retain the NXT Women's Championship. Days after she successfully defended her title at Halloween Havoc, Jordan was ordered to put the gold on the line against a mystery opponent. Paige took the opportunity to make her surprise return to NXT and nearly pulled out the win.

Jordan wisely focused her offense on the surgically repaired neck of her opponent, and when she was physically unable to deliver her Rampaige finisher, Kelani rolled her into a cradle and scored the three count.

Kelani Jordan SURVIVES and retains against Paige! 👏@kelani_wwe pic.twitter.com/EdKaUwlWgT

— WWE (@WWE) November 5, 2026

Romeo Moreno & Noam Dar defeated Hank & Tank to win the 2026 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Cody Rhodes was on commentary for the match and had a front row seat to watch Moreno and Dar complete their Cinderella run to the cup. After hitting Cross Rhodes in stereo, Moreno and Dar went high-low on Tank to score the final pinfall of the tournament.

After the match, The American Nightmare announced that Moreno and Dar would challenge for the NXT Tag Team Championship next week.

Cruz Montana defeated Dion Lennox in an Unsanctioned Match. Osiris Griffin and Cutler James attempted to help ruin this fight and Montana's final night on NXT, but just as they had him in position for a powerbomb through the commentary desk, the lights went out in the WWE PC. When they came back on, Royce Keys and The 946 emerged to take out Griffin and James. That opened the door for Cruz to put Lennox through a table, and then Spin the Block to pick up the three count.

Ain't NOBODY Safe 😳 pic.twitter.com/5dv34ssPVK

— WWE (@WWE) November 5, 2026

John Cena made a special appearance to invite Zilla Fatu to participate in the John Cena Classic on Monday, December 14. Cena said Fatu's family means a great deal to him; he loved his father, Umaga, and it would be an honor if he would join Cody Rhodes in the field for this year's inaugural event. Cena later turned down the overtures of Kam Hendrix to be invited to the classic.

Grayson Waller defeated CM Punk to retain the NXT Championship. It seemed inevitable that Kevin Owens would find a way to get involved in the main event after Shawn Michaels barred him from The PC earlier in the day on Wednesday.

Just as Punk was going for a GTS, Owens appeared out of the crowd to provide Waller with the distraction he needed to retain his title. Punk attempted to go after KO, and that allowed Grayson to roll him up and hook his tights for some extra leverage. The referee never saw it and counted the three.