Three debuts set for WWE NXT Level Up
Three recent WWE signees are set to debut on this week’s edition of NXT Level Up.
Troy Donovan (real name Cole McKinney), Channing Lauren (Mitchell Lavalley), and Thea Hail (Maddie Knisley) will debut on the Level Up episode that airs this Friday night. Donovan & Lauren will face Andre Chase & Bodhi Hayward in a tag team match, while Hail will take on Ivy Nile in singles action.
Donovan, Lauren, and Hail were all independent wrestlers before signing with WWE. They were part of the group of recruits that reported to the Performance Center last month.
Donovan went by the name Cole Karter prior to signing with WWE, Lauren went by “Motherlover” Jake Tucker, and Hail went by Nikita Knight.
Donovan, Lauren, and Hall have all appeared on AEW Dark in the past.
WWE.com wrote about them when they joined the Performance Center:
Cole McKinney from Charleston, W.Va., has been honing his craft for over a year and a half already after foregoing wrestling offers from multiple DI Universities to pursue his passion for professional wrestling, going by the ring name Cole Karter on the independents.
Mitchell Lavalley has made a name for himself on the independent circuit under the moniker ‘Motherlover’ Jake Tucker. Trained by the likes of WWE Hall of Famer Kane, Natalya, Tyson Kidd, and Dr. Tom Prichard, Lavalley won the 2014 ‘WWE Show Us Your Superstar’ Contest when he was 19, making a series of videos at the WWE Performance Center before appearing on the SummerSlam Pre-Show Panel.
18-year-old Maddie Knisley is a six-time state champion in vault, having trained in competitive gymnastics for 11 years. She also competed on the independent wrestling scene as Nikita Knight.
NXT Level Up replaced 205 Live this February. The show airs on Peacock/WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Fridays.
Here’s the full lineup for this week’s show:
- Andre Chase & Bodhi Hayward vs. Troy Donovan & Channing Lauren
- Ivy Nile vs. Thea Hail
- Javier Bernal vs. Guru Raaj