Four NXT wrestlers reportedly scheduled to be backstage at WWE SmackDown

This post contains spoilers for WWE Main Event.

Four NXT talents are reportedly scheduled to be part of Friday’s SmackDown tapings.

PWInsider reported this afternoon that Io Shirai, Dakota Kai, Roderick Strong, and LA Knight will be at the SmackDown tapings this Friday in Kansas City, Missouri. This would mark Shirai’s first main roster match since Survivor Series 2019.

Dakota Kai worked dark matches prior to Raw and SmackDown back in November 2021. Since then, she has returned to NXT with a new, more unhinged character. She most recently lost to former tag team partner Raquel Gonzalez in a street fight on the December 21st edition of NXT.

Strong and Knight had a match prior to last week’s SmackDown, with Knight defeating Strong. The two then had matches on the Main Event tapings that took place Monday night prior to Raw, with Strong losing to T-Bar and Knight defeating Cedric Alexander. Both men also appeared in a digital exclusive on WWE social media, with Knight confronting the team of Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode.