Results
- Kelani Jordan def. Jaida Parker (12:25)
- Kali Armstrong def. Skylar Raye (4:00)
- Tony D’Angelo def. Ethan Page (NXT Championship) (12:42)
- EK Prosper def. Dorian Van Dux (WWE Speed Tournament Semi-Final) (2:54)
- Lola Vice def. Jacy Jayne (NXT Women’s Championship) (10:35)
Kelani gets revenge against Parker
This week’s episode of NXT TV was the first of a two-week “Revenge” special, centered around rematches and sequels to some of the brand’s top rivalries as of late. The special, live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, opened with the sole announced grudge match of the night: Jaida Parker vs. Kelani Jordan.
These two faced off at NXT’s recent New York card, where Parker won clean. However, after Jordan attacked her backstage later that night, the rivalry carried on. This match was hard-hitting from the start. The women took eachother out with dual clotheslines outside the ring as the show went to a break.
Jordan started to target the legs of Parker part-way through the match, getting her in control of the fight. A long stretch of reversals between these two ended with a Falcon Arrow from Parker for a near fall – that was a fun sequence in the match.
Jordan dodged a Hipnotic from Parker, causing Parker to go hip-first into a turnbuckle which was exposed earlier in the match. Jordan then dropped her with a thrust kick then came off the top with a Split-Legged Moonsault for the pinfall win in 12 minutes. This was a fun little opener between these two. Both these women have been fun midcard acts for a while and I wouldn’t mind one of them getting pushed into a title program next.
Backstage, Ethan Page and Ricky Saints argued about the Stand & Deliver main event, where they struggled to co-exist. Page made a deal that saved their friendship for now: If Saints helps him win the NXT Championship in tonight’s main event, he’ll be first in line for a shot at the belt.
In a pre-taped promo, Sol Ruca laid out the case of why she’s in the right in her beef with Zaria. Ruca brought out all the receipts, showing off all the things she did for her over the past year. “Next week, last woman standing, what’s your excuse gonna be?” she said. I thought this was a good way to sell the fight. Zaria got to respond with a promo of her own later in the night.
Keanu Carver sets his sights on a former champion
The next part of the show saw Joe Hendry put on one of his classic concerts for the PC. I was interested to watch this segment, as the direction for Hendry after losing his title recently was unclear.
Hendry got on the mic and started to wonder what’s next for him. Should he stop? Quit? He looked in the mirror and told himself: “Joe says no.”
Hendry performed a song, including a line which toyed with whether he’s going to go for the NXT title again or go to the main roster. This performance was cut off by Keanu Carver, who came to the ring.
Page tried to make Carver back off, but was unsuccessful. Page bashed his guitar over Carver’s head, but the weapon did no damage to him! Carver wiped out Hendry along with a few security guards, spearing them through a barricade at ringside. That’s a huge rivalry for Carver, but I’m high on him and think he could deliver in this spotlight. I think the big question mark is how he will do in a longer match, as that bout with Jasper Troy and Josh Briggs last week wasn’t very good.
Just days before her Wrestlemania match, Stephanie Vaquer made a surprise appearance backstage, wishing Lola Vice luck before her title match later this evening.
Kali Armstrong returns to NXT
The next segment saw former EVOLVE Women’s Champion Kali Armstrong in action. This was promoted as an NXT debut, but we’ve actually seen her on the show before, notably facing Jordynne Grace last September. It is, however, worth noting that this was her first time on the show in half a year.
Armstrong was up against former LFG competitor Skylar Raye, who was making her third-ever NXT appearance. Raye actually got some moves in here before Armstrong finally took over. She came sprinting off the ropes for her pounce finisher (Kali Connection), turning Raye inside out to end the match in four minutes.
Backstage, NXT General Manager Robert Stone announced that Blake Monroe will get a rematch against North American Champion Tatum Paxley next week. One catch: Paxley will get to pick the stipulation for the match.
Tony D’Angelo defends NXT title for the first time
In the first of two title matchups on this week’s show, Tony D’Angelo defended his title for the first time in a one-on-one meeting against Ethan Page. As expected, Ricky Saints appeared at ringside early on. However, right after showing up, he was dragged under the ring by a mysterious figure. Who could it have been other than NXT’s local wacko, Shiloh Hill? Saints had his feet tied up by Hill under the ring then was dragged backstage. So, I guess Page can rule out any assistance from his friend during this one.
Page brought D’Angelo to ringside and connected with a nasty neckbreaker before the show went to a break. Page took D’Angelo out of the corner for a powerslam late in the match, giving him a two-count.
D’Angelo started to power up to his feet as he took a series of punches from Page. He started to make a comeback, tossing Page around the ring with a series of big slams. D’Angelo got a two-count after coming charging off the ropes with a spear.
These two went back and forth with kicks and punches. D’Angelo scored his Forget About It fisherman suplex, but it wasn’t enough to put away Page just yet. A chokeslam from D’Angelo was stopped by Page, who got a thumb in the champ’s eye. D’Angelo went shoulder-first into a ringpost after Page dodged a move from him.
Page hit an avalanche powerslam, but D’Angelo kicked out at two. Page came off the top with a frogsplash, but it again wasn’t enough for the win. A frustrated Page grabbed the NXT Championship from ringside and brought it into the ring. The referee started arguing with Page, who dropped the belt after D’Angelo tried a roll-up pin on him.
Page kicked out from the pin then scored an Ego’s Edge onto the title. D’Angelo showcased his toughness by kicking out once again. The fight went on top of the commentary table at ringside. Page tried for a Twisted Grin on the table, but D’Angelo stopped it and instead speared Page onto the table. The commentary booth didn’t break from this spot, so it looked like a rough landing for both of them.
The fight went back into the ring, where D’Angelo connected with a chokeslam upon the second attempt to retain the NXT Championship. Entertaining match between these guys. I’d love a Page title reign right now, but obviously pushing D’Angelo is the priority right.
Backstage, Ricky Saints was seen telling Shiloh Hill that “this ain’t done” between them.
DarkState isn’t aligned
NXT North American Champion Myles Borne came to the ring for a promo in the next segment. After boasting about his win over Johnny Gargano from Stand & Deliver, he talked about getting attacked by Dion Lennox afterward.
“At Stand & Deliver, you stole my moment,” Borne said. “So, it’s only fair play when I say this: DarkState, when you attack the North American Champion, ain’t nobody safe.”
Those words invoked the quartet, who appeared from the crowd. Lennox got on the mic and talked about how he’s ready to end the “DarkState slump,” and said that begins by taking Borne’s title.
“If you want a title match, we could put that together next week, no problem,” Borne said. The champ proposed the title match, but said that if the group “does what DarkState does” and attacks him immediately, maybe that match won’t happen.
Saquon Shugars seemed interested in attacking Borne, but Lennox, focused on his title reign, tried to back him off.
“Our future [is in that title]? Or your future?” Shugars said to Lennox. Shugars tried to attack Borne but was stopped by Lennox. The heel group was seen arguing as the segment came to an end. We haven’t really seen any teases about friction between members of DarkState before, so this is interesting. Since Shugars is the best talker in the group, it feels logical to make him the dissenting voice.
EK Prosper takes down debtuing Dorian Van Dux in Speed semi-final
The co-main event saw EK Prosper and NXT newcomer Dorian Van Dux face off in a WWE Speed match. The winner of this match would go on and face Lexis King for the vacant WWE Speed Championship next week.
Van Dux, formerly Mike D Vecchio, was making his NXT debut in this match. We briefly saw the Belgian talent on an EVOLVE episode last month, and he also notably worked an AAA match recently.
The usual Speed three-minute time limit was in place, so these guys got started quickly. Van Dux caught a move from Prosper and sent him to the outside early on, allowing him to go flying out of the ring with a gigantic dive. DVD came off the top with a huge frogsplash for a pin attempt, but Prospect kicked out. Really impressive agility considering his size, Van Dux isn’t built like the type of guy who you’d see hitting such high-flying moves.
Van Dux rolled out of the ring for a breather, but Prospect met him there with a springboard dropkick. Van Dux dodged a move from Prospect then scored a springboard dropkick. He followed up with a lariat for a near fall.
Prosper sent Van Dux out of the corner with a hurricanrana then hit a Shining Wizard for a two-count. Van Dux scored a Je’Von Evans or Will Ospreay-esque top-rope cutter. He tried to follow up with a Shooting Star Press, but Prosper dodged it. Prosper responded with a moonsault off the top which he somewhat overshot for the pinfall win with just six seconds to spare. Decent showcase of these two.
We got a video package on Kendal Grey.
Here’s an updated look at the second week of NXT Revenge:
- Joe Hendry vs. Keanu Carver
- Zaria vs. Sol Ruca (Last Woman Standing)
- Lexis King vs. EK Prosper (Vacant WWE Speed Championship)
- Myles Borne vs. Dion Lennox (NXT North American Championship)
- Tatum Paxley vs. Blake Monroe (NXT Women’s North American Championship) (Casket Match)
Lola Vice turns back Jacy Jayne in women’s title showdown
The main event of the night saw NXT Women’s Champion Lola Vice take on Jacy Jayne, who was looking to become the first-ever three-time holder of the title with a win.
A distraction at ringside from the rest of Fatal Influence allowed Jayne to drop Vice with a front kick before the show went into its final break. Vice started to get back into the match after the show returned, rallying back with a series of suplexes then kicks to the body.
Vice gave Jayne a pair of hip attacks in a corner of the ring, then scored a side suplex. Jayne was knocked out of the ring by a roundhouse kick from Vice. The champ once again got distracted by Fatal Influence at ringside, this time causing her to take a knee to the head from Jayne once she got back in the ring. Having two distraction spots happen so close to eachother just made Vice look like she has terrible fight IQ.
Jayne tried to set up for a top-rope move, but Vice countered it into a submission in the corner. As Lainey Reid distracted the referee, Fallon Henley tried to give Vice a head kick to break the submission (she supposedly landed this shot but it didn’t look good).
Jayne scored her Rolling Encore forearm, but Vice survived with a kickout at two! Vice locked in a guillotine choke on Jayne, only letting go of the submission after Jayne tried for a roll-up pin attempt.
Vice was sent into the ropes after Jayne kicked out of a roll-up attempt. As Vice went near the ropes, Reid snuck in a cheap shot against her. A second Rolling Encore from Jayne was attempted but Vice reversed it into a spinning backfist for the pinfall win in 10 minutes. Vice has put away the most decorated woman on the NXT roster to continue her title reign. Good main event match, even if the interference from Fatal Influence got a little out of hand at times.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this clean finish was the send-off for Jayne, who has been more than ready for a main roster opportunity for some time now.
A post-match segment illustrated the many challengers after Vice and her title: Kali Armstrong, Kendal Grey, Izzi Dame, and Zaria all appeared at ringside to stare her down. Sol Ruca, who is scheduled to face Zaria in their huge grudge match next week, emerged from the crowd and attacked her rival as the show went off air.
Final thoughts
The first week of NXT Revenge has delivered. The two main title matches served the purpose of putting some spotlight on the two new big names on top of their respective divisions in some solid performances. We had some interesting angles made up, including the new intriguing angle of issues within DarkState. While next week doesn’t have the brand’s two main titles on the line like they did tonight, the build they did makes the second episode of NXT Revenge feel special as well. I liked this episode.
