Results
- Myles Borne def. Dion Lennox (NXT North American Championship) (11:20)
- Keanu Carver def. Joe Hendry (9:12)
- Lexis King def. EK Prosper (Vacant WWE Speed Championship) (4:33)
- Tatum Paxley def. Blake Monroe (NXT Women’s North American Championship) (Casket Match) (11:43)
- Zaria def. Sol Ruca (Last Woman Standing) (15:56) (Recommended)
DarkState causes Dion Lennox to lose title match
The second week of NXT’s “Revenge” TV special, live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, opened with the first of three title matchups set for the evening. NXT North American Champion Myles Borne is defending against Dion Lennox of DarkState, a matchup which has been in the works since Stand & Deliver. There have been issues within DarkState as of late, with Lennox and Saquon Shugars butting heads last week. For me, that was the factor to keep an eye out for as part of this match.
Borne scored a huge dive to the outside early on, but lost control of the match immediately after due to a ringside distraction from the three other members of DarkState. Borne started to sell his lower back after Lennox rammed him into a side of the ring apron moments later. The fight went to ringside once again after the break, where Lennox slammed Borne onto the steel steps.
Lennox connected with a sit-down powerbomb in the ring, but it only earned him a two-count. Borne countered a spinebuster attempt into a DDT, giving him the opening for a comeback. He started to gain some momentum with a series of moves.
Borne began a climb up the top rope but was slowed by the rest of DarkState distracting him. Lennox was able to trip up Borne in the corner then connect with a Superplex. But, Borne started to power back up at this point and engaged in a back-and-forth striking contest with Lennox. The men dropped eachother after trading clotheslines.
It was at this point that Shugars attempted to formulate a new plan at ringside to interfere in the match and help Lennox win. All three men started to get involved in the match, trying to distract both the referee and Borne. While Cutler James was able to prevent Lennox from taking a Borne Again, moments later, Borne shoved Lennox into Shugars, who was on the ring apron. This collision allowed Borne to score Borne Again upon his second attempt to retain his North American title in 11 minutes. Shugars tried to help Lennox but ended up costing him. Kind of predictable – Well executed nonetheless.
Backstage, Saquon Shugars was seen begging NXT General Manager Robert Stone to give DarkState another chance. Important distinction here: Shugars wanted DarkState to get another chance, not Dion Lennox specifically. Later in the show, it was revealed that this request would only cause further tension in the group, as Stone decided that he would give Shugars a title shot against Borne. How would Lennox feel if Shugars won the title?
Vanity Project were expected to be in Blake Monroe’s corner tonight as she faced Tatum Paxley. However, plans changed after Jackson Drake matched with a “smokin’ hot blonde piece” on a dating app. Monroe said they the trio don’t need to help her tonight (are all three of them going on the date?). Anyway, after commercials, we saw Shiloh Hill tell Paxley that he essentially catfished Drake so that Vanity Project wouldn’t be in the building during tonight’s match.
Keanu Carver destroys Joe Hendry
Keanu Carver, a fast-rising big man in NXT, faced former champ Joe Hendry in the next match. Hendry is announced for next week’s Monday Night Raw and it was heavily teased last night that he’s officially a main roster talent, so this could possibly be a send-off match for him in NXT.
They put over Carver’s toughness early in the match, as Hendry would hit him with a big move but he would be quick to recover. Hendry was gaining some steam late in the bout, connecting with his usual fallaway slam, but Carver shot back up to his feet and rocked him with a hard lariat. Carver followed up with a spinebuster, then a pair of Ilja Dragunov-esque H-Bomb forearms to the head (although Dragunov does it much better). Carver kept the pressure on Hendry with a flurry of ground and pound until the referee decided to end this match via TKO. Carver kept going long after the bell, wailing away on an unconscious Hendry.
The finish here was strong, but it came after nine minutes of a 50-50 match. The finish made him look like a beast. Everything else? Kinda just made him look like another guy. They made the right decision by having Carver kill Hendry on the way out, but I wasn’t huge on this match.
We saw a video package for Lizzy Rain, a wrestler who made waves on the European scene as Rayne Leverkusen. Her character is that she’s heavy metal, and we’ll see more of her when she makes her NXT debut next week.
Lexis King captures WWE Speed title
A new WWE Speed Champion was crowned in the next match, as Birthright’s Lexis King took on EK Prosper. These two got into the title match by winning their semi-final bouts earlier this month, giving them a shot at the belt recently vacated by the injured Elio LeFleur.
Prosper had a hot start to the match, controlling the bout during the first minute. King got back into the fight after a distraction at ringside from the rest of Birthright. King draped Prospect off the ropes then scored a double-stomp to the chest for a near fall.
Prosper came running off the ropes with a Shining Wizard for a two-count of his own. King answered back with a combination of moves capped off by a backbreaker for a two-count. A Coronation was escaped by Prosper, who responded with a kick to the head. Prosper scored an exploder suplex into a set of turnbuckles then tried for a moonsault out of the corner, but King prevented it.
The fight went to the ring apron, where a second Coronation attempt was reversed into a nasty back bodydrop. Prosper followed up with a top-rope moonsault to the outside, landing on all of Birthright – this looked great. Prosper rolled King into the ring but, before he could get into the ring himself, was distracted by Birthright once again. This slight pause allowed King the chance to regain his composure. Prosper returned to the ring and was caught by a thrust kick from King, who followed up with his Coronation for the pinfall win with 30 seconds to go. King is the new WWE Speed Champion.
We saw a clip from social media where it was shown that Jackson Drake got stood up on his date tonight. There were some NXT trainees as extras in the background, including Romeo Moreno. The end of his clip saw NXT’s Myka Lockwood go up to Drake and say “Did I hear you say you got stood up?” The joke was a woman who isn’t Drake’s type was trying to pick him up. This gag felt a little behind the times.
Tatum Paxley keeps title reign alive with casket match win
NXT Women’s North American Champion Tatum Paxley faced Blake Monroe in a rematch next with a special Casket Match stipulation. Monroe was dressed like a widow attending a funeral, which was a fun touch for this match.
A bouquet of flowers was used as a weapon by Paxley early on. A minute later, she pulled out her dollhouse from under the ring to use it as a weapon as well. After some back-and-forth, Paxley was dropkicked into the toy set, giving the challenger the advantage before a commercial break.
The fight went to the ring apron after the break, putting both women just inches away from the open casket. They both fell into the casket at one point, but the match continued. Paxley scored a huge Spanish Fly off the casket and to the floor, which looked both awesome and really painful.
Paxley came charging at Monroe for a follow-up move, but was hit with the fumes of a fire extinguisher. Monroe draped Paxley off the casket for a Glamour Shot DDT. Paxley was shoved into the casket and Monroe thought she had completely shut it to end the match… But realized later that her fake North American title was put in the way of the door. Paxley had quickly put the title in the crack of the casket before it was shut, preventing the match from ending. A replay of this moment showed that, in the process of getting the title in front of the door, Paxley actually had the door shut on her arm. Ouch!
Back in the ring, Monroe used her fake North American belt as a whip on Paxley’s back. Monroe poured a bag full of diamonds onto the ring mat and tried for a move onto it, but Paxley reversed into her Sematary Drive finisher. Monroe escaped to the ring apron, where a Rolling Thunder wheel kick from Paxley knocked her into the casket to end the match in just under 12 minutes.
This was a fun plunder-heavy match. I was kind of expecting Monroe to possibly win, as she has seriously lacked momentum in NXT for some time. But Paxley has been on a fun run as champ and I’m not against that continuing.
In a follow-up to the clip shown earlier in the night, Myka Lockwood broke the news to Jackson Drake: Unfortunately, his date online was an AI chatbot set up by Shiloh Hill.
“Shorty, you’re trippin’,” said Drake. “This is not an AI Bot… I know exactly who did it.”
Izzi Dame wants a piece of Lola Vice
Before the main event, NXT Women’s Champion Lola Vice hit the ring for a promo. She gave credit to former champ Jacy Jayne, who she said elevated the division. Vice talked about how her reign will be, and how challengers need to be ready for a “fight” when they face her.
This promo was cut off by The Culling’s Izzi Dame, who said she is waiting on an “emotional” Vice to make a mistake so she can capitalize. “I am going to rip you apart,” she said.
“All that waiting really just sounds like hesitation to me,” Vice replied.
Dame said she’s always two steps ahead. It was at this point that Niko Vance took a swipe at Vice’s AAA title, distracting her enough for Dame to drop her with a kick to the head.
I’m so-so about this rivalry. Out of all the contenders we saw eyeing Vice’s title last week (Zaria, Kali Armstrong, Kendal Grey, and Dame), Dame was the least intriguing challenger. She hasn’t done much to become a plausible main title challenger after losing back-to-back matches against Tatum Paxley recently. In fact, all we have seen her do since then is beat Sol Ruca, a win which came with some help from Zaria. Plus, with how good the first match between Grey and Vice was, I was hoping they would immediately go back to that. But let’s see how this goes, if they’re truly doing Dame and Vice next.
A backstage confrontation set up a tag match for next week between Birthright and the team of EK Prosper and Dorian Van Dux. The action we saw involving Van Dux last week was fun, so it’ll be interesting to see him again next Tuesday.
An NXT Spotlight video package covered Kendal Grey’s upbringing, being obsessed with freestyle wrestling and overall having a sport-focused childhood.
Backstage, we saw Ricky Saints attack Shiloh Hill, getting revenge after Hill pulled him away from the title match between Tony D’Angelo and Ethan Page last week.
Here’s what they announced for next week:
- Ricky Saints vs. Shiloh Hill
- Myles Borne vs. Saquon Shugars (NXT North American Championship)
- Lizzy Rain makes NXT debut
It wasn’t announced, but we’re supposed to get that Birthright vs. Prosper & Van Dux match as well.
NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo was given a mysterious box backstage. Keanu Carver, who was walking by, was asked by D’Angelo if that was him. Carver said if he wants something, he takes it; he doesn’t play mind games like that.
Zaria betrays Sol Ruca one last time in Last Woman Standing match
The main event saw teammates turned rivals Sol Ruca and Zaria face off in a Last Woman Standing bout. This was a rematch from Stand & Deliver, when Ruca won. This was Ruca’s second match in two days, as she wrestled Liv Morgan on last night’s Monday Night Raw, too.
Zaria emerged from the crowd in an attempt to get the jump on Ruca, but was unsuccessful. Zaria was sent to the outside and given a springboard corkscrew splash to the floor. Ruca was knocked down by a garbage can which was tossed at her by Zaria.
Ruca tried to respond with a kendo stick shot to the body, but Zaria caught the stick. Zaria picked up the garbage can but was dropkicked to the body by Ruca. Zaria used the cord from a camera to whip Ruca then choke her.
Ruca bashed Zaria in the head with a trashcan lid as the fight went into the ring. She followed up with an X-Factor, which kept Ruca down for a six-count. Ruca kept the pressure on Zaria with a series of kendo stick shots to the stomach and back.
Ruca tried for a Sunset Flip Powerbomb to the floor, but Zaria escaped the move then knocked her down with a pump kick to the head at ringside. An F5 from Zaria was escaped by Ruca, who speared her through the wall of a platform they have inside the venue. There was conveniently a camera inside this platform structure; they must have expected that this was going to happen. Both women were down as the show went into its final break.
The fight went into the crowd during commercials. They were both on top of a guardrail as the broadcast returned. Zaria picked up Ruca for a massive F5 off the guardrail, sending her through the venue’s commentary desk. Zaria set up a table at ringside as Ruca worked back up to her feet to beat the 10-count.
Ruca scored a hard German Suplex onto the floor. Zaria ran Ruca’s head into a ringpost then set up a second table alongside the other one at ringside.
Ruca used a piece of the broken commentary table as a weapon, then set Zaria up on the two tables. Ruca climbed on top of NXT’s 15-or-so-foot platform and was planning on hitting an incredibly high-up move. But, once she looked back down at the tables, Zaria was nowhere to be found. Ruca turned around and saw Zaria also on the platform with her!
Zaria charged at Ruca, but Ruca dodged a move then connected with a Sol Snatcher on top of the platform. That wasn’t enough to end the match, as they both got up before the 10-count. The women traded strikes, and we knew this was going to end with one or both of them taking the huge fall through the tables.
A hectic back-and-forth exchange ended after Ruca wobbled Zaria with a headbutt. Zaria was about to fall off the platform, but was caught by Ruca, who was hesitant about seeing her once-friend take such a far fall to the floor.
Zaria begged Ruca for mercy, asking her not to shove her off the platform. Ruca, remembering all the good times they had together, decided not to let her fall. They hugged and it seemed like they were going to make up… Then Zaria suddenly let go of the hug, stared Ruca in the eyes, and then shoved her off the platform.
This was actually quite the scary bump, as it looked like Ruca’s head clipped the edge of one table as she went through the other. Definitely not how they planned for her to fall. This nasty spot was enough to end the match, giving Zaria the win after the epic 16-minute battle.
I really enjoyed this match. Like Paxley vs. Monroe, it was full of plunder that kept it interesting. The finish was clever (albeit genuinely scary), wrote off Ruca and helped elevate Zaria. It was the right move to use this rivalry to push Zaria, who has been living in Ruca’s shadow for over a year. This finish gave her a solid heel edge and put a satisfying end to this rivalry.
Final thoughts
Overall, I thought the two-week NXT Revenge special was a success. This week’s main event was great, as well as the women’s North American title match. While I thought the Keanu Carver match wasn’t great, I still like what they’re doing with him. And although the DarkState match this week had an incredibly predictable finish, I’m curious to see where they go with that. Between Stand & Deliver and the past two weeks of TV, it’s been a really strong month for NXT.
