| The Culling | |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Leader | Shawn Spears |
| Members | Niko Vance Izzi Dame |
| Name | The Culling |
| Billed heights | Spears: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Vance: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Dame: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Former members | Brooks Jensen Tatum Paxley |
| Debut | August 13, 2024 |
| Years active | 2024–present |
The Culling is avillainousprofessional wrestlingstable consisting of leaderShawn Spears,Niko Vance, andIzzi Dame. They are all signed toWWE, where they perform on theNXTbrand. Dame is the currentNXT Women's North American Champion in her first reign. Spears is a former one-timeNXT North American Champion andTatum Paxley was a one-timeNXT Women's Champion during her time with the stable.
On June 21, 2024,Brooks Jensen posted onX that he was (kayfabe) released by WWE, which began a storyline where he wasn't working for the company. Jensen has subsequently appeared on indie events at this time, and he has also appeared in the background of NXT arena to target Senior Vice President of Talent Development CreativeShawn Michaels. He was also seen intruding theWWE Performance Center during tapings ofNXT. On the July 9 episode ofNXT, Jensen had a sit down with NXT General ManagerAva, who agreed to give Jensen a second chance afterJosh Briggs, Jensen's former tag team partner, vouched for Jensen. Moments later, he was seen attackingJe'Von Evans backstage.[1][2] On the following week, Jensen was defeated by Evans. After the match, Jensen attacked Evans and was stopped by Briggs, to which Jensen challenged Briggs to aNo Disqualification match where Jenson won after interference fromShawn Spears.[3][4] On the August 13 episode ofNXT, Jensen acknowledged Spears as his mentor and the reason behind his new attitude, solidifying this alliance.[5]
On November 12, 2024,Niko Vance made his debut on NXT aligning himself with Spears and Jensen.[6] During this time, Spears, Jensen, and Vance would begin to feud withThe D'Angelo Family. Vance would have his first bout inNXT on January 21, 2025, teaming with Jensen to defeat The D'Angelo Family (Luca Crusifino andChanning "Stacks" Lorenzo).[7] In early 2025,Izzi Dame was accepted into The D'Angelo Family (Tony D'Angelo, Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo,Adriana Rizzo and Luca Crusifino) when she was stalked by Spears, who was attempting to recruit her into his stable. On the February 11 episode ofNXT, D'Angelo successfully defended hisNXT North American Championship againstRidge Holland in asteel cage match (which was suggested by Dame herself to D'Angelo in the prior week). After the match, Dame turned on The D'Angelo Family and sided with Spears.[8] On the March 4 episode ofNXT, Spears defeated Tony D'Angelo to win the NXT North American Championship.[9] A week later, atNXT: Roadblock, during a vignette with all four members, they officially started calling themselvesThe Culling. On the April 1 episode ofNXT, Spears lost the NXT North American Championship toRicky Saints despite interference from The Culling, ending his reign at 28 days.[10]
On the June 3, 2025 episode ofNXT, Jensen was kicked out of The Culling by Dame for being that he lost them the match atNXT Battleground, and believedTatum Paxley was a more valuable asset to the group.[11] On the July 1 episode ofNXT, Paxley and Dame defeatedZaria andNXT Women's North American andSpeed Women's ChampionSol Ruca in a tag team match for Paxley to join The Culling.[12] For pinning Ruca in the tag team match, Dame received a NXT Women's North American Championship match atNXT Great American Bash on July 12 but failed to defeat Ruca for the title.[13] AtEvolution on the following day, Dame and Paxley entered the 20-womanbattle royal for a women's world championship match atClash in Paris but the pair were immediately eliminated at the start of the match byNia Jax.[14] On the July 22 episode ofNXT, The Culling (Spears, Vance, Dame and Paxley) defeatedNXT Tag Team ChampionsHank andTank, Zaria, and Ruca in aneight-person mixed tag team match in The Culling's first match as a whole stable.[15] On the August 5 episode ofNXT, Paxley challenged Ruca for the NXT Women's North American Championship, but failed to win the title.[16][17] On October 14 episode ofNXT, Paxley won a battle royal to become the #1 contender for theNXT Women's Championship by last eliminating Dame andJordynne Grace.[18] AtNXT Halloween Havoc on October 25, Paxley defeatedJacy Jayne to win the title.[19] Throughout her title reign, Paxley was handing out title matches, which did not sit well with the stable. At Week 1 ofNXT: Gold Rush on November 18, Paxley lost the title back to Jayne after The Culling turned on her, ending her reign at 24 days while exiling Paxley from the stable. AtNXT Deadline, Dame defeated Paxley due to distraction from The Culling. On January 6, 2026, atNXT: New Year's Evil, Dame lost to Paxley in a rematch. Later that night, Dame answeredThea Hail's open challenge for the NXT Women's North American Championship and defeated Hail to win the title, marking the first championship in her career.[20]
| L | Leader |
|---|---|
| * | Founding member(s) |
| Members | Joined |
|---|---|
| Shawn Spears (L) | August 13, 2024 * |
| Niko Vance | November 12, 2024 |
| Izzi Dame | February 11, 2025 |
| Member | Joined | Left |
|---|---|---|
| Brooks Jensen | August 13, 2024 * | June 3, 2025 |
| Tatum Paxley | July 1, 2025 | November 18, 2025 |
