At NXT Battleground 2023, Noam Dar defeated Dragon Lee to retain the NXT Heritage Cup with assistance from Jakara Jackson, Lash Legend and Oro Mensah. On the June 6 episode of NXT, during a backstage segment, Dar accepted Nathan Frazer's challenge to a match for the Heritage Cup and introduced the group as The Meta-Four. On the June 13 episode of NXT, Dar was set to defend his title against Nathan Frazer until it was revealed that he had a knee injury. Mensah took Dar's place in the match but lost to Frazer after Valentina Feroz and Yulisa León thwarted Jackson and Legend's attempts to interfere. A match between the two teams would be scheduled for NXT Gold Rush the following week, in which Jackson and Legend defeat Feroz and León. At NXT Heatwave on August 22, Dar defeated Frazer to win the NXT Heritage Cup for a record-setting third time. At NXT Halloween Havoc, on night one, Akira Tozawa returned to NXT and stole the Heritage Cup under The Meta-Four's noses. Tozawa returned the Heritage Cup to Dar on night two before managing to spook Dar into a match for the cup on the following week's NXT, with Dar winning the match 2-1.