Results
- Kendal Grey & Wren Sinclair def. Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid (9:51)
- Kelani Jordan def. Thea Hail (2:47)
- Johnny Gargano def. Shiloh Hill, Jackson Drake, Dion Lennox & Charlie Dempsey (NXT North American Championship #1 Contender Match) (Five-Man Gauntlet) (20:29)
- Rayo Americano & Bravo Americano def. Shawn Spears & Niko Vance (NXT Tag Team Championships #1 Contenderships Semi-Final) (10:12)
- Tony D’Angelo def. Ricky Saints (10:17) (DQ)
Opening match result kicks off new #1 contender search
This week’s episode of NXT, the last before Roadblock and the second-last before Stand & Deliver, took place live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. To kick the show off, we saw Tatum Paxley backstage telling General Manager Robert Stone that, when Blake Monroe attacked her last week, she actually has her Women’s North American Championship stolen in the process.
Just as Josh Briggs was about to come up to Stone for a conversation, an NXT official pulled Stone away, saying that there was something urgent he had to address. Cliffhanger! Minutes later, we saw tag partners Elio LeFleur and Eli Knight wiped out backstage by a mystery attacker. The rumor mill said over the weekend that LeFleur had seemingly gotten hurt during a house show match, and the fact that he got written off this week’s show like that basically confirms it.
In her first appearance since capturing the WWE Speed Women’s Championship, Wren Sinclair and WrenQCC teammate Kendal Grey faced Fatal Influence’s Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid.
Sinclair was isolated for a large portion of this matchup. In fact, I’m not sure Grey got in the ring at all until she got a hot tag seven minutes into the bout. She had a fun run after getting into the match, sending Reid flying after a belly-to-belly German, then scoring a DDT out of the corner onto Henley for a near fall moments later.
Fatal Influence got back into the match after a double-team German onto Grey. Reid scored an awesome modified backbreaker, but Sinclair hit the ring to break up the pin attempt. She tried for it again, but Grey countered into a stunner.
Grey dodged a move from Reid, then dropped her with a convincing spinning back elbow. The WrenQCC member tried for an armbar, but Reid escaped with a pin attempt. Grey hit what was basically a hurricanrana into another Final Wrench armbar for the win in just under 10 minutes. This was a really fun one in the closing minutes. I’d say all four of these women are pretty fun right now.
Grey got on the mic afterward and made a big statement: She wants to take the NXT Women’s Championship off Jacy Jayne at Stand & Deliver. This was interrupted by Lola Vice, who, while she believes Grey will be a champ someday, thinks Stand & Deliver will be her crowning moment as a champ instead.
NXT GM Robert Stone came out and booked a match between Vice & Grey for a #1 contenders bout next week, with the winner facing Jayne at Stand & Deliver. Jayne had no real title storyline heading into this week, so we basically knew something was going to come out of this segment. It’s a quick build with not much tension or story, which but Vice vs. Grey could be fun. I’m happy with either result: Vice is arguably due for a big spot on the brand, and I don’t think anyone is against Grey getting hotshot into a big spot, considering how well she has been received over the past year.
Sol Ruca vs. Zaria official for Stand & Deliver
The next segment saw Sol Ruca hit the ring to call out teammate turned rival Zaria.
Ruca reflected on why Zaria turned her back weeks ago. Ruca said that she always tried to help and elevate Zaria: “I wanted you to shine just as much as I did … I even let you defend, and lose, my NXT Women’s North American Championship.”
This promo went a little too long before Ruca finally got to challenging Zaria to a match: “If you think that you can stand on your own, then prove it at Stand & Deliver.”
Zaria said that Ruca wanted “your own success” more than she wanted “us.” “Every time I stepped into this ring, I wasn’t Zaria,” she said. “I was Sol Ruca’s partner.” She accepted the challenge from Ruca as part of the promo.
“This isn’t about you,” Zaria said. “This is about me finally choosing myself.”
Ruca said that Zaria gaslit her, manipulated her, and treated their relationship as transactional. In realtime she was turning, as the crowd booed her strongly and Zaria was cheered. At one point, Ruca asked if she was the villain, which made the crowd shout “YES!”
This was a pretty good segment. Ruca & Zaria is easily the strongest non-title feud they have currently, and I’m excited to see that match.
Backstage, Joe Hendry said that if Ricky Saints can’t beat Tony D’Angelo tonight, he’s going to face D’Angelo at Stand & Deliver.
Jaida Parker stops post-match attack by Kelani Jordan
A grudge match was next, with Thea Hail and Kelani Jordan facing off. This one was quite fast. While Hail got some moves in early, she was caught by a split-legged moonsault in just under three minutes for the pinfall win.
The victory wasn’t enough for Jordan, who continued to attack Hail after the bell. This caused Jaida Parker to hit the ring for the save, causing Jordan to roll out of the ring.
Jasper Troy announced in a pre-taped promo about how he’s going to make Keanu Carver pay for crashing Booker T Appreciation Night last week. It was announced earlier this week that Troy and Carver will meet at Roadblock next Tuesday – I’m looking forward to this one.
Shiloh Hill used his creepy internet sleuth powers to track down Blake Monroe’s location. He gave this info to Tatum Paxley, who wants her title back. Hill is so good in these segments, I love it.
Smackdown’s Johnny Gargano wins North American title shot in surprise appearance
The challenger for NXT North American Champion Myles Borne was determined in the next match, a five-wrestler gauntlet. The match started with Shiloh Hill and Jackson Drake, two of the three wrestlers in the match that we knew about beforehand. Commentary reminded us that Drake dropped his EVOLVE title last week.
The third man in was Dion Lennox of DarkState. Charlie Dempsey of Birthright entered during commercials. Lennox took Hill out at ringside, sending him into a barricade which folded upon his impact.
Before the final entrant came out, Smackdown’s Candice LeRae came out. She said that she has been trying to help Johnny Gargano snap out of a funk for a long time, and believed the thing that might finally help him is bringing him back to NXT. A hesitant Gargano came down the ramp and got into the ring and immediately ate a boot to the head from Drake. He spent a large portion of the match down on the ring apron, lying face-first.
OTM, who were jumped by DarkState on last week’s episode, appeared at ringside and took out Lennox, delivering a Curbstomp onto the broken barricade at ringside. This allowed Hill to give Lennox a neckbreaker, making him the first elimination of the bout.
Drake got a near fall on Hill after connecting with a 450 splash. Hill instead eliminated Drake a minute later with another one of his neckbreaker finishers. Dempsey succumbed to the same finisher moments later.
Hill was on a roll, but had his momentum hurt by the rest of Birthright, who dragged him out of the ring and ran him into a set of steel stairs. Dempsey gave Hill a German Suplex on the floor then rolled him back into the ring.
A borderline zombie-version of Gargano stood over a hurt Hill. Candice LeRae pushed Gargano to the mat, putting him on top of Hill for a pin attempt, which gave him the win in 20 minutes. Gargano stumbled his way into a title opportunity at Stand & Deliver.
It’s a neat storyline that will deliver some nostalgia. And, if they don’t go too far with Gargano’s dead-weight gimmick, it’ll be a great match. Hill looked great here and part of me wanted to see him get the win, but maybe not yet.
It was announced backstage that OTM will team with TNA World Champion Mike Santana to face DarkState as part of Roadblock next week in New York. Fun to see Santana back on NXT TV. Worth noting that this is the first TNA collaboration with NXT we’ve seen in some time. Not long ago we had numerous TNA x NXT bouts each Tuesday.
We saw a video package talking about Tiffany Stratton’s journey in NXT. If you watched Raw last night, you already saw this.
Los Americanos step up, join tag tournament
The semi-final matchup in the NXT Tag Team Championship #1 contenders tournament was next. But, with Eli Knight and Elio LeFleur attacked earlier in the night, who did Niko Vance and Shawn Spears face instead? Rayo and Bravo Americano! That’s two weeks in a row of them on TV, and, if they win, we’ll see them again next Tuesday.
Commentary pointed out that Izzi Dame, who lost to Tatum Paxley last week, wasn’t at ringside. Vance caught a springboard crossbody from Rayo, but was knocked down after Bravo followed up with a tope suicida. The Monday Night Raw duo was in control as the show went to a break.
Rayo got a hot tag after the show returned, coming off the top with a moonsault onto Vance for a near fall. Bravo tried for a high-flying move, but Vance caught him for a chokeslam onto the chest of Rayo – this looked awesome.
Bravo lifted up and connected with a slam onto Vance, then picked up Spears for the helicopter spin. This move was stopped by Vance, who scored a knee to the head. Vance came off the top with a headbutt attempt, but Rayo dragged Bravo out of the way. The referee talking to Rayo allowed Bravo to slip a metal plate into his mask. Rayo did the same with his own mask seconds later.
Spears got into the match and scored a Death Valley Driver to Bravo for a near fall. Spears ran into the ropes after a failed roll-up attempt. As he went into the ropes, Rayo lunged forward from ringside and headbutted him with his loaded mask. Back in the ring, Bravo gave him another headbutt for good measure, giving Los Americanos the pinfall win in 10 minutes. El Grande Americano’s helpers are one win away from a title opportunity. First, they have to get past Birthright’s Stacks and Uriah Connors next week at Roadblock.
Vance, who rarely gets the spotlight on NXT TV, had some fun stuff here. I’m not against Los Americanos getting an opportunity, as the tag division is cold currently.
Josh Briggs, who has been struggling to find time on TV as of late, proposed that he could be the special guest referee for Keanu Carver vs. Jasper Troy next week. This helps solve an issue for GM Robert Stone, as he was told the referees all said it was too unsafe for them to work the match.
Tatum Paxley confronts Blake Monroe
In a pre-tape, we saw Tatum Paxley confronting Blake Monroe at her hotel room, attempting to get back her NXT Women’s North American Championship. Paxley pulled Monroe’s hair through the front door as she said they will meet next week.
We saw a quick promo video from artist Sexxy Red, who will be at Stand & Deliver.
Here’s a look at next week’s Roadblock lineup. They didn’t mention the tag team #1 contenders bout, but that’s likely on the card as well.
- Jasper Troy vs. Keanu Carver (Special Guest Referee: Josh Briggs)
- Mike Santana, Bronco Nima & Lucien Price vs. Dion Lennox, Saquon Shugars & Osiris Griffin
- Lola Vice vs. Kendal Grey (NXT Women’s Championship #1 Contenders Match)
Joe Hendry set for four-way at Stand & Deliver
The main event of the night saw two men in search of an upcoming title opportunity, Ricky Saints and Tony D’Angelo, face off in a singles match. Another man hoping for a shot at the belt, Ethan Page, was at ringside in support of Saints… Sort of.
Saints was in control as the show went into its final break, running D’Angelo shoulder-first into the stairs after reversing a move. A slight distraction at ringside by Page allowed Saints to try for a Revolution DDT, but D’Angelo reversed it into a suplex.
Saints came running off the ropes with a spear of some sort (looked more like a shoulder tackle) for a near fall. A series of head kicks from Saints caused D’Angelo to power back up. He wobbled Saints with a right hand of his own, dropped him with a clothelines, then landed a two huge overhead belly-to-belly suplexes. D’Angelo scored a spear then tried for a chokeslam.
Page got onto the ring apron but was dropped by a shot from D’Angelo. This angered Page, who hit the ring and attacked D’Angelo, causing the bout to end via disqualification.
Page and Saints provided a two-on-one beatdown against D’Angelo, an attack which was stopped once NXT Champion Joe Hendry hit the ring. He sent the heels retreating, then also took out D’Angelo with a Standing Ovation.
Page and Saints stared eachother down as Hendry looked on as the segment came to an end. Just before the show wrapped, NXT GM Robert Stone announced, expectedly, that Hendry will defend his belt in a four-way at Stand & Deliver. It became clear over the past few weeks that they were heading in that direction. A somewhat by the numbers final segment to hype that up tonight.
