NXT Superstar Makes Shock Return, Becomes #1 Contender For Women's Title
Superstar had been sidelined for months before winning battle royal on NXT 2.0.
Zoey Stark returned to action Tuesday night after eight months on the shelf, winning a 20-woman battle royal to become #1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship.
The battle royal involved the vast majority of the NXT women's roster, with Toxic Attraction and Roxanne Perez as the only notable absences. The match came down to a final four of Stark, Nikkita Lyons, Tiffany Stratton and Kiana James. It quickly was whittled down to Stratton and Stark, and after a few teased elimination, Zoey managed to put the daddy's girl out.
However, Cora Jade -- fresh off a heel turn after attacking her best friend Roxanne Perez last week -- returned from having run away from the battle royal and tried to dump Stark. Thankfully, the old WWE trope of a heel winning a battle royal after spending the majority on the outside got turned on its head, as Zoey ducked and tossed Jade, winning the match proper.
.@ZoeyStarkWWE has earned the right to challenge @WWE_MandyRose for the NXT Women's Title!#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/LVnbLmNAqQ
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 20, 2022
The victory means Stark gets an opportunity at some retribution against Toxic Attraction, who injured her back in November after she and Io Shirai lost the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship to Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne at Halloween Havoc.
No date has been set for when Stark will challenge champ Mandy Rose for the title.