Results
- Mike Santana, Bronco Nima & Lucien Price def. Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin & Saquon Shugars (11:15)
- Bravo Americano & Rayo Americano def. Stacks & Uriah Connors (NXT Tag Team Championships #1 Contenders Match) (10:42)
- Jaida Parker def. Kelani Jordan (9:35)
- Keanu Carver def. Jasper Troy (2:23)
- Kendal Grey def. Lola Vice (13:27)
TNA’s Mike Santana scores win alongside OTM
This week’s episode of NXT, the final show before Stand & Deliver goes down this weekend, took place from the famous Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City. The action got started with an NXT x TNA collaboration, as Mike Santana teamed with OTM to take on DarkState. This was Santana’s first match on NXT TV since October, as overall, we haven’t seen the company tied into the Tuesday night brand’s programming too much in recent weeks. Santana got a good reaction from his hometown crowd during the entrance.
Bronco Nima was isolated by DarkState and teased a hot tag for long. He tagged in Santana during commercials, but since the referee was distracted and didn’t see the tag, he deemed that Nima was still the legal man.
Lucien Price had a fun hot tag run which put over his size. He tossed Saquon Shugars at Dion Lennox, then took down the similarly towering Osiris Griffin with ease. Santana was next to get a hot tag. He hit Lennox with a Rolling Buck 50, took out the other two DarkState members with a tope suicida to the outside, then came off the top rope with a frogsplash to Lennox. This didn’t end the match, which shocked the live New York crowd.
Griffin helped Lennox avoid a splash in the corner from Santana. All three DarkState members hit the ring for a triple-team powerbomb, but a follow-up pin attempt was broken up by OTM.
OTM brawled at ringside with Griffin and Lennox. In the ring, Santana caught a move from Shugars for a Death Valley Driver. He scored his Spin The Block lariat, then took out the other two others at ringside with another dive. OTM scored their double-team slam finisher to Shugars to win the match in 11 minutes. This was a fun little opener.
In a pre-taped interview, NXT North American Champion Myles Borne was asked what type of Johnny Gargano he expects to see on Saturday: The dejected, defeated Gargano that has appeared in recent weeks, or “Johnny Wrestling?” He said he hopes it’s the latter that shows up.
Gargano came into the interview room and went face-to-face with Borne and said the champ should be careful what he wishes for. He explained that he believes this title match is how he can finally get his life back.
“That guy is still somewhere in here,” Gargano said about his old self. “And you better pray I don’t find him on Saturday, because if I do, I will eat you alive.” He explained that facing Borne isn’t “personal” for him, but regaining the title is.
I know Gargano’s current gimmick and appearance last week were very divisive online, with a lot of people strongly rejecting it. But, I thought this segment was a good way to sell the match.
Los Americanos secure NXT title shot
The next challengers for the NXT Tag Team Championships were determined next, as the Monday Night Raw duo of Bravo and Rayo Americano took on Stacks and Uriah Connors of Birthright. Lexis King, who was off TV last week, was in Birthright’s corner for this one along with Charlie Dempsey and Arianna Grace.
The New York crowd was quite strongly behind Los Americanos. Bravo was on a roll late, delivering his airplane spin to Stacks. He climbed to the top for a move but was knocked down by King. The referee was distracted by Grace, allowing King to get the shot in.
Just moments later, Shiloh Hill appeared from the crowd and chased away the Birthright posse at ringside with a steel chair. Rayo gave Stacks a hurricanrana out of the corner and Bravo followed up with a top-rope frogsplash, but Connors got in the ring to break up the pin attempt.
Stacks gave Rayo a nasty tope suicida at ringside as Connors hit a frogsplash of his own to Bravo. But, Bravo kicked out at two. It was at this point that El Grande Americano appeared on the ring apron to distract the referee – this cameo got a huge reaction.
Like they do in every match, Los Americanos loaded up their masks with metal plates as the referee was looking away. Bravo came running off the ropes with a flying headbutt to Connors to earn the pinfall victory in 10 minutes. Los Americanos will face The Vanity Project for the NXT tag titles at Stand & Deliver this weekend.
The metal plate finish got stale for me a long time ago, but this crowd seemingly liked it. The Stand & Deliver match should be fun, although I think there’s something to be said about how this is one of the many programs that is on NXT’s biggest PLE of the year with little to no real build.
Fed up with DarkState struggling recently, Dion Lennox vowed that his presence will be felt at Stand & Deliver this weekend.
Jaida Parker takes down Kelani Jordan
Singles action was up next, with rivals Kelani Jordan and Jaida Parker going one-on-one.
Jordan showed some aggression early, trapping Parker’s head under the ring apron before unloading with a series of punches. Parker started to mount a comeback after a commercial break, escaping a move from Jordan with a back bodydrop.
Parker picked up some steam with a pair of shoulder tackles followed up with a lariat. She draped Jordan in the corner and scored her high-step hip attack, but after she turned around from celebrating, Jordan answered back with a front kick.
Jordan took down Parker and tried to apply an arm lock, but Parker escaped by trying for a pin attempt. Jordan climbed to the top rope and connected with a Five-Star Frogsplash for a near fall.
Jordan looked for her Split-Legged Moonsault, but Parker stopped her from coming down with the move. Parker joined Jordan on the top rope for a brutal avalanche German Suplex. She then scored a Hipnotic then a powerbomb for the win in nine minutes. I enjoyed this one.
Stand & Deliver’s main event meets in contract signing
A contract signing for this weekend’s NXT Stand & Deliver main event was next, with Joe Hendry, Ethan Page, Ricky Saints and Tony D’Angelo all appearing in the ring for this conference.
Hendry was the first to talk, mentioning that he can’t wait to see who will be the backstabber when the faux friendship of Page and Saints falls apart this weekend. Saints declared that he’s going to become a two-time NXT champion. Page immediately followed up by saying he’s actually going to be the one to win it.
“Well, it’s actually going to be me,” Saints replied.
“Alright, alright, enough,” D’Angelo said, finally getting into the discussion. He called Saints an “Absolute underwhelming failure,” and said Hendry is only good at going viral (same talking point Saints used on him weeks ago). D’Angelo claimed he’s going to run all three of them over “like a freight train” this weekend.
D’Angelo told NXT General Manager Andre Stone to get out of the ring, then started a brawl. Hendry and Saints got put through tables, causing the two standing men, D’Angelo and Page, to start trading fists as the segment came to an end.
Man, this segment was a perfect example of how D’Angelo feels like an overshadowed part of this feud. He got no reaction during his entrance, initially was booed when he cut off Page and Saints’ argument, and was mocked with “What?” chants. People simply don’t care about his presence when there’s the more enticing story of the Page & Saints tension to focus on. I think this will be a good main event this weekend, but I don’t think it benefits from having D’Angelo as part of it.
Josh Briggs gets involved in NXT’s big-man drama
The co-main event saw giants Keanu Carver and Jasper Troy face off in a long-awaited grudge match. Josh Briggs was the special guest referee for this match, as all of the NXT referees claimed it would be too unsafe to oversee this match.
Carver got the jump on Troy, attacking him at ringside before the match was officially underway. Carver sent Troy into the steel steps. Troy battled back, using his chain to yank Carver at him for a nasty lariat. The match went into the ring and got started right after.
Carver went to ringside early in this match, hoping to harass Troy mentor Booker T once again. This trash talk distracted him and allowed Troy to pick him up for a chokeslam through the commentary desk. Back in the ring, Troy hit a Black Hole Slam, but it wasn’t enough to end the match.
Troy got in the face of Briggs, complaining about the kickout. Briggs was shoved by Troy and responded by dropping him with a front kick. Carver capitalized on this mid-match drama, scoring a pounce onto Troy then a powerslam for the win in two minutes. Much shorter than expected.
Carver wouldn’t let Briggs leave the ring until he raised his arm. Briggs clearly had a short temper tonight, as he wiped out Carver with a lariat to end the segment.
As expected, this is leading to some sort of three-way between the big men. I have liked what they’ve been doing with Carver and Briggs and the action in this one was fun. It’s worth noting though this segment didn’t really resonate with the live crowd, which didn’t have much of a reaction to the Briggs attack afterward.
Elio LeFleur announced in a backstage segment that he’s relinquishing the WWE Speed Championship, as he’s expected to be out for six months with a shoulder injury.
Paxley vs. Monroe joins Stand & Deliver
The next segment saw NXT North American Champion Tatum Paxley come to the ring to talk. She was without her title, which was stolen by Blake Monroe last Tuesday.
Paxley politely asked Monroe to come to the ring and bring her title back. Monroe came out with the belt and said it “just feels right” to keep it in her hands.
Paxley said that she has something that Monroe wants in exchange of getting the title back. Monroe was skeptical, until Paxley revealed that she has a spot on Stand & Deliver and could choose to challenge Monroe.
“Wouldn’t you just hate it if you had to sit at home and just watch Stand & Deliver?” Paxley said.
Monroe accepted the offer. Immediately after taking the match she dressed down Paxley, saying they are not the same. “You look like you belong in the crowd with these dirty New Yorkers,” Monroe said for some cheap heat.
“I get that there’s a side to you that comes out when you get really angry, but there’s an even worse side to me,” Paxley said before demanding that she get her title back tonight. This confrontation erupted into a brawl, where Monroe was knocked out of the ring with a Pele Kick. But, Monroe got up to her feet quickly and snatched the title out of the ring, so Paxley is still without her gold.
Robert Stone announced that Keanu Carver, Jasper Troy, and Josh Briggs will face off next week. Stone heard a brawl nearby and saw that Kelani Jordan had attacked Jaida Parker.
We saw a video package detailing the feud between Zaria and Sol Ruca, who will face off at Stand & Deliver. Between a pair of commercial breaks and this video package, there was a long period in-between in-ring segments here.
Tap-out drama causes confusion in #1 contenders match
The main event of the night saw recent EVOLVE call-up Kendal Grey and Lola Vice battle it out in a #1 contenders match for the NXT Women’s Championship. This was the segment I was most looking forward to tonight, as it was very hard to predict who would get the win, or if they’ll pull off an angle that might set up for a three-way at Stand & Deliver.
Grey dodged a spinning backfist from Vice then tried for an armbar, but couldn’t fully extend the hold before Vice escaped. Vice caught Grey in a rear naked choke. The ex-EVOLVE champ escaped the hold but was knocked out of the ring moments later by a spinning backfist.
Just as the fight went to ringside, women’s champ Jacy Jayne and the rest of Fatal Influence showed up nearby. Grey avoided a hip attack from Vice against the steel steps at ringside, getting her back into the fight.
Grey came off the top rope with a move, but Vice caught her mid-air with a spinning back kick to the stomach, which gave her a two-count. For a second week in a row, Grey scored her Andrade El Idolo-esque spinning back elbow for a near fall of her own – this looked awesome.
The two contenders went back and forth with strikes, but the exchange came to an end after Grey caught a leg kick from Vice and transitioned it into an ankle lock. Vice escaped, then the women traded roll-up attempts. Vice caught Grey with a guillotine choke and brought the fight down to the mat as she kept the hold applied.
Grey worked back up to her feet, but Vice brought her back down to the mat with the choke still intact. Grey worked back up to her feet and hit a Northern Lights Suplex for the pinfall win, but seemingly tapped out and submitted to the hold while going for the pin! The broadcast didn’t really catch this at first, but they showed numerous replays. After the match, a second referee rolled into the ring and stated that he saw Grey tap out due to the choke. Drama!
Shawn Michaels came down to the ring and joined the argument with referees and wrestlers as the show came to a close. Will Jayne face Grey at Stand & Deliver? Or Vice, or both? We don’t know yet, but we’ll likely find out in the coming days.
The action in this one was really fun, but the finish felt a little corny. And, I wasn’t big on the show going off-air without the payoff of what will actually happen at Stand & Deliver. But, Vice and Grey had some great in-ring work together and put together a solid main event up until the finish.
