EVIL’s WWE Name Is Naraku but It Almost Wasn’t — Here’s What Nearly Happened

The former EVIL’s WWE name has been officially revealed as Naraku on the May 5 edition of NXT — but according to Fightful Select‘s Sean Ross Sapp, internal WWE materials were still referring to him as Nox Raijin as recently as Sunday, May 3. The switch to Naraku appears to have been a last-minute creative decision made just days before the reveal. WWE had filed a trademark for Nox Raijin with the USPTO on April 28 — Raijin being the Japanese god of lightning, thunder, and storms.

“There were internal materials for EVIL with the trademarked Nox Raijin name as recently as Sunday, so it seems like the name adjustment was recent,” Sapp wrote on X/Twitter. Naraku is the Japanese word for Hell and also refers to the underground passageway beneath the stage in Japanese theatre — a thematically fitting name for a performer who spent his entire NJPW career as EVIL.

Naraku Has Set His Sights on NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo After His WWE Debut

On the May 5 NXT episode, Naraku appeared in a vignette making his intentions toward the NXT Championship clear. He had made his first on-screen appearance the prior week, handing Tony D’Angelo a shirt bearing the Japanese symbol for war. The former EVIL spent his entire career in NJPW from 2011 until his contract expired at the end of January 2026. He is a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion and requested to begin his WWE run in NXT at his own personal request.