The final first round matches of the 2026 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic took place on the October 6 episode of "WWE NXT," and after two hard-hitting matches, both Hank and Tank and BirthRight advanced to the quarter-finals.Hank Walker and Tank Ledger didn't have it easy in their first round match as they took on the "WWE EVOLVE" team of Shido Ash and Viktor Zanov. The former WWE NXT Tag Team Champions walked into the match as favorites given their experience over their opponents, but the two former Olympian judokas used their physicality to overwhelm Walker throughout the first half of the match. It wasn't until Ledger got the tag that the tide turned in the match, and the momentum started to turn in favor of the former champions.The match came to an end when Ledger hit a Tope Suicida to the outside to take out Zanov, while Walker hit a big Lariat on Ash inside the ring. Ledger got back in to help his tag team partner hit a Double Splash and a tag team Powerslam/Forearm combination to pick up the win. Hank and Tank move on to the quarter-finals where they have a date with another set of former NXT Tag Team Champions, The Creed Brothers.Originally, the Tokyo Bad Boys were meant to face Sean Legacy and Dorian Van Dux, but Legacy and DVD were attacked backstage earlier in the night by BirthRight who were still angry about Zilla Fatu defeating Lexis King in the night's opening contest. William Regal then met with NXT General Manger Robert Stone and convinced him that the only people who were fit to replace Legacy and DVD were his son Charlie Dempsey, and King who would pull double duty on the night.Kento and Takuma had a lot to prove against BirthRight, and they had the "NXT" crowd on their feet by surprising King and Dempsey with a number of high-flying moves. Both men hit dives to the outside, and Kento even hit a Spear through the middle rope to Dempsey to gain control. Takuma would land a One-Man Spanish Fly and then a Springboard 450 Splash on Dempsey as the Tokyo Bad Boys looked to be on the verge of a major upset. However, Takuma went to the well one time too often and Dempsey hit an Avalanche Butterfly Suplex, and followed it up with a Fisherman's Suplex to gain the win for his team. BirthRight will now move on to face another AAA tag team in the quarter-finals, the AAA Tag Team Champions, The Wagner Brothers.
