NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo Attacked With Fireball, Taken Away By Ambulance on June 23 NXT

Tony D’Angelo’s night at the WWE Performance Center ended in an ambulance rather than a contract signing, as the reigning NXT Champion became the victim of a fireball attack on the June 23 edition of NXT.

D’Angelo had been scheduled to sign on the dotted line for his upcoming NXT Championship defense, but the proceedings took a violent turn when Naraku struck. The attack escalated the already-simmering rivalry between the two men to a dangerous new level, leaving D’Angelo unable to walk out of the building under his own power.

The assault carries significant weight heading into NXT Great American Bash, which now looms as the backdrop for what has become a deeply personal and physically charged feud. Naraku’s willingness to use a fireball — one of professional wrestling’s most extreme and dramatic weapons — signals that this program is being treated as something more than a standard title program. The message was unmistakable: D’Angelo may be the champion, but he is not safe.

For D’Angelo, who has built his NXT tenure around the persona of a calculating, old-school mob boss, being on the receiving end of such a humiliating and dangerous attack adds a layer of urgency to the match. Whether he will be medically cleared and what condition he arrives in at Great American Bash remains to be seen, but one thing is certain — the stakes just got considerably higher for both men.