Former IWGP Champion Officially Arrives In WWE (WWE News)

EVIL has arrived in NXT.

WWE debuted the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion during a segment with Tony D'Angelo on this week's episode of the developmental brand's TV. Interestingly, the company neglected to name EVIL, so there's a chance they'll be giving him a WWE-ified moniker fairly soon for copyright purposes. Either that or it was just coincidental, but that seems unlikely.

The good news for EVIL fans is that he appears to be in a top position on NXT quickly. D'Angelo is the reigning NXT Champion, so matching up as his new rival will be a good spot for the 39-year old WWE newbie.

Tony was in the ring talking about the box showing a Japanese symbol that was given to him last week. The symbol meant 'war', but D'Angelo didn't have to wait long to find out who was behind it. A hooded figure emerged from the entrance, handed Tony the same symbol, then revealed himself to be EVIL.

No, not very nice, very evil like Danhausen.

NXT's commentators did refer to EVIL as "a former IWGP Champion", which is a cool upside of the post-Vince McMahon era - generally, the promotion acknowledges the broader pro wrestling world these days rather than pretending that nothing exists outside the core WWE bubble. That helps when trying to educate the audience on who somebody is and why they should care.

EVIL wasn't the only one to confront D'Angelo during this segment, but he's definitely the highest profile get for NXT in a while. The developmental wing's roster has been blitzed by a number of call ups to Raw and SmackDown, so bringing some fresh stars to the brand is a good idea.