Results
- Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes def. Osiris Griffin & Saquon Shugars (NXT Tag Team Championships) (11:52)
- Keanu Carver def. Sean Legacy (4:15)
- Elio LeFleur def. Jasper Troy, Eli Knight (Triple Threat) (WWE Speed Championship) (5:50)
- Jacy Jayne def. Sol Ruca (NXT Women’s Championship) (0:07)
- Thea Hail def. Blake Monroe (WWE Speed Women’s Tournament Semi-Final) (1:12)
- Uriah Connors def. Kale Dixon (4:30)
- Myles Borne def. Ethan Page (NXT North American Championship) (13:41)
Tony D’Angelo causes DarkState to lose tag gold
This week’s episode of NXT, a jam-packed card which promised four title matches and seven bouts in total, took place from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. This was originally planned to be a show on the road, visiting the legendary Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia. However, apparently production logistics prevented that from happening. It definitely wasn’t a tickets problem, since that Atlanta venue is incredibly small.
Tag title action got things started, as recent EVOLVE call-ups Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes of The Vanity Project challenged DarkState’s Osiris Griffin and Saquon Shugars. Dion Lennox and Cutler James were at ringside, as was Jackson Drake (this will become important later).
DarkState was in control to start, with a significant part of the opening minutes being put towards emphasizing Griffin’s significant size advantage. The Vanity Project was able to get back into the match after a slick combination on Shugars: As Smokes grabbed his legs from ringside, Baylor scored a huge knee to the head.
This eventually built to a hot tag for Griffin, who took on both Baylor and Smokes at the same time. Griffin tagged Shugars back in for a huge top-rope missile dropkick in a Doomsday Device-type formation. A pin attempt was stopped by Jackson Drake, who put a leg of Baylor on the bottom rope to break the pin.
James got in the face of Drake at ringside, causing the referee to uncharacteristically exit the ring and address the scuffle nearby. This ref distraction allowed Tony D’Angelo, the DarkState hunter, to suddenly appear at ringside and give Shugars a chokeslam on the ring apron. He rolled Shugars back into the ring, and Baylor pinned him to win the NXT Tag Team Championships in just under 12 minutes.
This was an incredibly odd heel vs. heel match. For the majority of the bout, DarkState were in a de facto babyface role, building up to a big comeback after a commercial break. They were also the team favored by fans. But once Tony D’Angelo got involved, the crowd flipped and they were excited that Vanity Project won. The finish was the usual interference formula that you either love or you hate. Vanity Project has been a pretty enjoyable heel group as of late so I don’t mind them getting the belts.
Keanu Carver breaks down Sean Legacy
In one of the few non-title bouts of the night, Sean Legacy and Keanu Carver faced off. These two had an exchange during the seven-way NXT title match a few weeks back, causing this bout to get made.
Legacy sent Carver out of the ring and attempted to knock him down with a tope suicida, but Carver countered him mid-air with a forearm to the head. This became a one-sided beatdown in favor of Carver, who tossed Legacy all around the ring. Carver tried to re-do the same spot he did during the ladder match earlier this month, spearing Legacy through a platform at ringside, but Legacy avoided the move, knocking Carver back with a thrust kick.
Legacy tried to mount a comeback in the ring, scoring a 450 Splash then a springboard dropkick. A sliced bread was countered by Carver, who caught and threw Legacy instead. Carver hit an impressive pounce off the ropes then a powerslam for the win in four minutes. I think Carver has a lot of potential in this powerhouse, big-man type role, and I’m curious to see what they can do with him.
Elio LeFleur captures title in fast-paced Speed three-way
The first-ever three-way WWE Speed match was next, with Jasper Troy defending his title against not only Eli Knight, but also Elio LeFleur. The usual Speed title match is five minutes, but this one was seven minutes due to the added competitor. Booker T talked about how much he hated the rule change – at least someone cares about this match.
Knight and LeFleur took Troy out in the second minute of the match, running him shoulder-first into the steel steps at ringside. With the champ down and out, this temporarily became a one-on-one match. Knight had a neat moonsault off the top, the type of innovative use of the wrestling ring that reminds me of AR Fox.
LeFleur sent Knight out of the ring then scored a huge moonsault to the floor. Troy got back into the match briefly but was picked on by the challengers again, sending him out once again for a breather.
Knight climbed to the top for a move but was pushed to the floor by Troy. LeFleur powerbombed Troy out of the corner, DDT’d Knight onto the ring apron, then came off the top with a 450 Splash to Troy. It wasn’t enough for the three-count.
LeFleur escaped a Black Hole Slam, instead taking him out with a hurricanrana. Knight scored a top-rope moonsault to Troy just moments later. Knight rolled out of the way after hitting the move, and LeFleur capitalized on this slight error by pinning Troy for the victory in just under six minutes. As much as the Speed division is probably the least exciting part of NXT, this was definitely a fun match.
Zaria betrays Sol Ruca, costs her a title opportunity
Ethan Page was seen getting his left ankle taped by WWE medical, but insisted he will still defend his title against Myles Borne tonight. A video package about Joe Hendry’s backstory played.
After getting into a brawl backstage (and facing off last week), Lola Vice called for an Underground Rules match against Kelani Jordan at Vengeance Day, which General Manager Robert Stone agreed to.
In what I felt was the biggest match of the week, NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne defended against Sol Ruca in the next bout. The big question here was whether Ruca’s rocky relationship with Zaria as of late would come into play here again.
And, well, we got the answer to that question before the match even started. Zaria speared Ruca before the bell, then gave her an F5 before exiting the ring. Ruca insisted that she could compete nonetheless, but had no chance. Jayne hit Ruca with a Rolling Encore to win in just seven seconds to retain her title. Zaria continued to attack Ruca after the bell, slamming her onto the commentary desk.
NXT waited way too long to do the ZaRuca split, no doubt. But was this the right way to finally do the big turn? Absolutely. Zaria being the heel and costing Ruca in such a devastating way was perfect. Excited to see their eventual one-on-one match.
Sidenote: Ruca losing in the title match here gives me hope that she’ll get a call-up after wrapping up a Zaria program. I think she has lots of momentum and is main roster ready, and WWE should strike now.
Paxley devotes upcoming title match to fans, Jaida Parker eliminates Blake Monroe from Speed tournament
Back from the break, we saw Tatum Paxley cutting a promo in the crowd. She talked about how, in a moment of loneliness, she started listening to what the NXT fans wanted from her. “Because of you I have felt real love,” she said. “You all have accepted every little weird part of me, which is why, when I beat Izzi Dame at Vengeance Day and I get my hands around the NXT Women’s North American Championship, and I hold it close and never let it go, that title won’t just be mine. It’ll be yours!”
Paxley begged for one last conversation with Dame before their match next month. Her wish was granted, as Dame also appeared in the crowd. She thought Paxley was daydreaming about something that simply won’t happen: “And then you’ll wake up,” Dame said.
Their scuffle was cut off by Blake Monroe’s entrance, as she’s facing Thea Hail in the next segment in a three-minute WWE Speed match. This was the semi-final of a #1 contenders match, with the winner of the four-woman bracket eventually getting a shot at defending champ Fallon Henley.
Monroe rolled out of the ring a minute into the match, allowing Jaida Parker to appear from the crowd and give her a Hipnotic (kinda like what we saw… in the opening match?). Hail beat Monroe in 72 seconds to advance to the #1 contenders match. Three of the four matches by this point had ended due to interference, with two happening via someone suddenly appearing from the crowd. Feels a little lazy. But at least this takes Monroe out of the Speed tournament, which feels beneath her.
Former Chase U teammates face off in co-main
Uriah Connors, who recently abandoned Chase U to join the up-and-coming “Birthright” faction, faced former teammate Kale Dixon in the next match. Neither wrestler got an entrance – even with a seven-second match and a few other short ones, NXT was certainly in a rush this week.
Dixon came off the top with a frogsplash just a minute into the match, but Connors blocked it by putting up his knees. Charlie Dempsey, who Birthright have been trying to recruit, was seen watching the match backstage.
Connors hit a pair of stunners for a near fall three minutes in. Dixon sent Connors out of the ring and had a crafty dive over the top rope. He came off the top with a corkscrew frogsplash, but Connors kicked out again.
Dixon tried for a top-rope moonsault, but Connors put up his feet to block the move, clipping Dixon in the face. Connors then followed up with a running knee strike, earning him the pin in four minutes.
Backstage, Zaria demanded a title shot against Jacy Jayne for next week’s NXT, claiming some ownership over Jayne’s title win this week.
Vanity Project meet Hank & Tank & Hill next week
A backstage segment revealed that Shiloh Hill (with the help of Hank & Tank) stole the steering wheel off Brad Baylor’s car. The segment ended with a brawl between the babyface trio and Vanity Project, so we’re likely getting a six-man tag between them soon. Hill’s character is growing on me more and more. He’s completely silly, but in a way that is has been so charming as a babyface. He’s also not bad in the ring, which certainly helps.
This week was way too overloaded on video packages. We saw two about Joe Hendry, one about Myles Borne, and one about Damian Priest (?).
Here’s what they announced for next week’s episode:
- Jacy Jayne vs. Zaria (NXT Women’s Championship)
- Hank Walker, Tank Ledger & Shiloh Hill vs. Jackson Drake, Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes
- An Absolute Experience with Ricky Saints
Myles Borne ends Ethan Page’s lengthy North American title run
The main event of the night saw Myles Borne attempt to end Ethan Page’s record-setting run as NXT North American Champion, which is over 270 days with a dozen in-ring TV appearances prior to this week.
Borne went after the left ankle of Page early on, targeting a limb which he attacked last week as well. Borne sent Page out of the ring with an Olympic Slam, then followed him to the outside with a baseball slide kick.
Page threw Borne head-first into the announce desk, then hit an Ego’s Edge onto the desk before the show went to its final break. Borne started to mount a comeback after the break, escaping a sleeper hold then putting together a series of strikes against the champ. Borne got a two-count from a Fisherman Suplex.
Page got back into the match and scored a second Ego’s Edge, this time in the ring, but Borne kicked out at two. The fight went to the top rope, where, after a lengthy back-and-forth, Page scored a superplex. Still, Borne remained alive by kicking out again.
Borne hit his Borne Again to Page. OK. The match got a little silly by this point, so be prepared for that. Vanity Project came to the ring in an attempt to assist Ethan Page. Jackson Drake hit Borne in the head with his EVOLVE title while the referee was distracted. Page went for the pin after the title spot, but Borne kicked out.
Hank & Tank as well as Shiloh Hill hit the ring to even the odds and Brawl with Vanity Project. Ricky Saints then got on the ring apron, another friend of Page. But NXT Champion Joe Hendry, seemingly always on alert for Saints sightings like some sort of Performance Center lifeguard, came to ringside to deal with him.
Saints apparently peeled off the top turnbuckle while on the apron, which Borne used to toss Page chest-first into. He then hit the Borne Again for a second time to win in 13 minutes.
If you love run-in finishes, boy, was tonight for you. This match was fine prior to the final sequence, but the crowd was quite asleep for most of it. The finish made sense in isolation, but felt lame considering it was interference spot #4 and #5 for the night. Borne getting an actually substantial push for the first time in what feels like forever is nice, though.
Final thoughts
This week’s NXT over-indulged in some ways: Too many matches (most of which didn’t even cross the five-minute mark). Too many run-in finishes. And this was a card without any meaningful build for the main title program, despite both men being in the building, as demonstrated by the final match. The pros here, to me, are the properly executed Zaria turn and the decent men’s Speed match. But I’m not too hot about the last two hours of wrestling I just watched.
