Dusty Rhodes Classic, Shinsuke Nakamura and Latest WWE NXT Developmental News

WWE NXT is set to welcome the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic again and soon open its doors for Shinsuke Nakamura to train.

Those are two big reasons for NXT fans to celebrate. A report on WWE's plans for the tag team tournament brings welcome news of more tourney action being on its way once more.

As for Nakamura, the New Japan Pro Wrestling star is reportedly poised to make a major step in turning all the recent rumors of his signing with WWE into a reality.

In other WWE developmental news, Evolve is borrowing NXT talent, a former prospect has moved on to TNA, and Hugo Knox earned some notable press.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic to Return

The celebration of the art of tag team wrestling that culminated at NXT TakeOver: Respect is coming back.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestling Inc), WWE plans to make the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament an annual event. There has also been discussion about having the finals on the TakeOver special around the same time as SummerSlam.

Making the tourney a yearly tradition is just plain smart.

The inaugural edition showcased a number of teams, resulted in some strong matches and gave the Respect event a special feel. Going back to this well is good business and allows future teams to use it as the home of their breakout moment.

Evolve to Welcome NXT Talents

The relationship between NXT and Evolve continues to develop. The indy promotion is next going to welcome a trio of names from the WWE developmental brand.

Evolve announced on its official website that William Regal will appear at its Jan. 23 show in Orlando, Florida. Chad Gable and Jason Jordan will also be there for an autograph-signing session.

This is uncharted territory. WWE usually doesn't even acknowledge the existence of other promotions. But the Triple H-led NXT is crafting new rules.

The WWE offshoot is smartly finding new ways to promote itself. Plus, NXT is sure to have Evolve return the favor and put some of its stars to work. 

TNA Signs 'WWE Tough Enough' Contestant

NXT raided WWE Tough Enough, signing a good number of the reality show's contestants to developmental deals over that past several months. One Tough Enough talent, though, is headed elsewhere. 

Gabi Castrovinci is set to debut for TNA, wrestling as Raquel.

TNA aired a vignette to introduce her on the most recent edition of Impact Wrestling. For those fans who thought that she looked mighty familiar, they had to go no further than Castrovinci's social media accounts to confirm it was her in the video.

She wrote on her Instagram account: "It's official, guys. I'm the first Brazilian BR Knockout on Impact Wrestling."

Shinsuke Nakamura Update

The signs that Shinsuke Nakamura is really going to make the dreams of WWE fans come true by bringing his unique brand of showmanship to Vince McMahon's company keep coming.

Early in the week, New Japan Pro Wrestling stripped him of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, per ProWrestling.net. That seemed to be a move to allow him to make his exit from NJPW.

And now he reportedly has his sights set on Florida. Citing a source in Japan, PWInsider's Mike Johnson wrote that Nakamura "will be coming to the United States for several weeks in early February to spend time at the WWE Performance Center."

Johnson noted that Nakamura would be training and undergoing medical testing.

That means we are inching closer and closer to a reality where The King of Strong Style will compete in a WWE ring. That was hard to imagine just a few weeks ago. 

Other News, Notes

Recent signee La Sombra has officially kicked off his NXT career. F4WOnline reported on Jan. 9, "The former La Sombra made his NXT debut last night as Benny Andrade, which is basically his real name (Manuel Alfonso Andrade Oropeza)."

The former Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) star is among the most promising prospects not yet on NXT TV. Keep an eye on him.

BBC did an excellent profile on Hugo Knox (real name: Stuart Tomlinson). The NXT prospect said of his character: "Hugo Knox and I are the same person; he is a little bit more amplified. I'm myself, I'm not trying to be anybody else—it's just a little bit more turned up."

Knox has only competed at house shows thus far, but one would expect his TV debut has to be on its way soon.

On Monday, Dave Meltzer noted on F4WOnline, "Jason Jordan & Chad Gable are backstage at Raw, although I'd expect if they were to wrestle it would be for a dark match. Gable and Jordan didn't end up wrestling any dark matches; however, it's a great sign that they traveled to New Orleans at all. It's increasingly clear that the company thinks highly of the duo.