Results
- Kam Hendrix def. Myles Borne & Tony D’Angelo (12:06)
- Tristan Angels def. Romeo Moreno (8:59)
- Tatum Paxley def. Lizzy Rain (NXT Women’s North American Championship) (11:38)
- Keanu Carver def. Tate Wilder (5:40)
- Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes def. Dion Lennox & Saquon Shugars (NXT Tag Team Championships) (11:33)
NXT newcomer Kam Hendrix steals pinfall win against top men’s champs
This week’s episode of NXT, live from the WWE Performance Center, opened with a tag match that saw the two top men’s champs, Myles Borne and Tony D’Angelo, team up to face off against NXT debutants Kam Hendrix and Mason Rook. While we had gotten teasers of Rook and Hendrix in recent weeks, this was the first time we saw either in a full match.
They did a good job at putting over Rook’s strength in this match, he delivered a dual suplex to Borne and D’Angelo at one point. Borne had an impressive dive over the top rope and to the outside late in the match, beginning the finishing sequence for the bout. With the referee looking away, it was at this point in the match that Tavion Heights appeared at ringside and briefly attacked Hendrix. This distracted Borne, who hasn’t been too fond of the aggressive antics of Heights, his friend.
Numerous WWE officials pulled Heights away from the action (but didn’t alert their fellow official calling the match in the ring about the disqualification-worthy incident, thus causing the bout to continue).
Rook caught a springboard move from Borne into an Air Raid Crash in a corner of the ring. Rook connected with a Death Valley Driver and went for the pin, but the referee wouldn’t count! Little did Rook know, Hendrix sneakily tagged into the match during the finishing sequence. Hendrix got into the ring and earned the pinfall win off Rook’s work, possibly allowing him to steal a future title shot against the North American champ. Rook looked quite angry at Hendrix after the finish but didn’t do anything about it, just made a nasty face at him.
This was a fun win for the newcomers. Rook was the wrestler entering this one with the most hype and intrigue, and while he delivered, I thought Hendrix looked good as well.
Lola Vice picks next challenger, Kelani Jordan finds next opponent
A disgruntled Kelani Jordan hit the ring for the next segment, getting on the mic to talk about how she’s deserving of an NXT Women’s Championship shot. Jordan is supposed to be a heel that you want to disagree with, but laid out a solid case: She beat strong contender Kendal Grey last week and has a win over now-champ Lola Vice, among other credentials. There were some boos for her, but some fans in the PC heard her case and applauded in agreement.
This promo was interrupted by The Culling’s Izzi Dame, who reminded Jordan that she beat Vice just a few weeks ago and thus should be next in line. This back and forth was cut off by the champ herself. Vice called for a title match next week against Dame. Jordan, upset that she was about to miss out on yet another opportunity, started to complain again. Just as Vice was about to explain the plan she had for Jordan, this segment was cut off by Grey.
Grey said that Jordan has bigger issues to deal with. Just as she said this, Wren Sinclair came from behind and attacked Jordan with a clutch. The two heels fled the ring to end the segment. This segment was a little all over the place, a lot happening in a short period of time. Coming out of this, we’re getting Dame vs. Vice next week, and Jordan vs. Sinclair sometime soon. I don’t like that this seemingly leaves Grey with nothing, but I trust that the writers see how well received she has been and will figure her into the plans sooner than later.
Backstage, Noam Dar told Romeo Moreno that he feels he’s not his old self anymore, hence why he lost in his return last week against Jackson Drake. Moreno, who still believes in Dar, tried to make him feel better and convinced him to be a cornerman for his match tonight.
Tristan Angels wins NXT debut, sets focus on Shiloh Hill
We were shown a clip of Nattie trash-talking Jaida Parker on a clip of Busted Open Radio recently. Layla Diggs, a trainee of Nattie on LFG, defended her comments against Parker in an exchange which got heated. This ended with Parker challenging Diggs to a match for next week. That’ll be Diggs’ first proper NXT match after previously appearing on EVOLVE, NXT Level Up, and LFG.
We had two more NXT in-ring debuts next, as Romeo Moreno (formerly Zozaya) faced Tristan Angels. These two notably faced off a couple of months back as part of an EVOLVE episode.
Angels plays the character of a cocky, posh Englishman. Santos is more of a white-meat babyface, humble and hardworking. As this match was playing out, we saw Shiloh Hill in the crowd, greeting fans while holding a sign that said “Mr. NXT” on it, making fun of Angels’ “Mr. England” nickname. Hill was here to play a little mind games after having a face-to-face with Angels last week.
Moreno sent Angels out of the ring and scored a gigantic crossbody to the floor just before the commercial break. He was gaining steam once again as the show returned from a break, getting a near fall from a top-rope missile dropkick.
Angels got back into the match, knocking Moreno out of the corner with a step-up kick, then hitting a backstabber for a near fall. Angels climbed to the top rope but was knocked down after a leaping headbutt from Moreno.
Moreno came off the top rope with a double stomp to Angels’ back for a two-count. Angels swept Moreno off the ring apron, then hit his finisher, something like a modified curbstomp, for the pinfall win in nine minutes. This was a fun one – Moreno and Angels are both in their early 20s and are impeccable in-ring workers. Solid debut for both.
Angels got on the mic and had a post-match back-and-forth exchange with Hill. I think Angels’ gimmick is a little lame, but he doesn’t overdo it too much. Angels finished the segment by saying he will make Hill pay for trying to ruin his debut. Hill laughed manically as Angels walked away.
Backstage, we saw Naraku warn Tony D’Angelo that “EVIL will strike when you least expect it.”
Shawn Spears told Niko Vance that he has secured them a tag match next week against OTM. Vance showed some concern that the match is going to happen the same week as Izzi Dame’s title match against Lola Vice.
Tatum Paxley overcomes Lizzy Rain, Zaria intervenes afterward
In the first of two title matches tonight, NXT Women’s North American Champion Tatum Paxley took on fast-rising talent Lizzy Rain, who was looking to earn her first title just weeks into her WWE run.
This one was 50-50 the entire way. They had a really fun opening exchange, going back and forth with some grappling.
Late in the match, Rain was having some moments where she came close to earning the title. Rain went for a pin after scoring a neckbreaker, but only received a two-count. Paxley rolled to the outside and Rain tried to follow her with a foot-first dive through the ropes, but Paxley caught her coming with a step-up head kick.
Paxley powered up after taking a German Suplex from Rain, but was knocked down after taking a follow-up leaping headbutt from Rain. These two traded roll-up pin attempts, an exchange which suddenly came to an end when Paxley seamlessly transitioned into her Sematary Drive finisher for the pinfall in 11 minutes. I enjoyed this one.
Paxley helped Rain up after the match to put over the young talent, but their wholesome moment was interrupted by Zaria, who speared them both then lifted Paxley’s title.
NXT General Manager Robert Stone told Wren Sinclair that, if she can get cleared to compete by next week, she can get the grudge match against Kelani Jordan that she wants.
Tate Wilder overdoes it again
Tate Wilder, who had a solid debut last week, went one-on-one with Keanu Carver in the next segment. Wilder, who is too brave for his own good, refused to tag out in a multi-man match last week, a decision which caused him to suffer the pinfall loss for his team. When he begged for another shot in the ring on this episode, GM Robert Stone gave him the menacing Carver as an opponent.
Wilder sent Carver out of the ring after shaking off a headlock early in the match. Wilder connected with a springboard moonsault, but some hesitation after that moment allowed Carver to get back into the match, pushing him into a ringpost then scoring a huge suplex in the ring.
As Carver continued his beatdown on Wilder, a cut started to open around his left eye. Wilder started to mount a comeback, coming flying off the steel steps at ringside for a DDT to the floor as part of a long sequence. Back in the ring, Wilder scored a top-rope frogsplash. Commentary said that, similar to the error he made last week, Wilder made a huge mistake by not going for the cover after hitting a big move.
Wilder tried to climb to the top for another move, but was knocked down by Carver. The big Carver scored a gigantic pounce on Wilder, then a big spinebuster for the pinfall win in five minutes. I like the idea that Wilder will soon have to learn how to bottle up his aggression and use it more usefully in order to win. I also thought this was a better in-ring performance from Carver, who has been a little inconsistent as of late.
Will Kroos won’t let Kam Hendrix use him
Kam Hendrix appeared in the ring for a promo to address his win over Tony D’Angelo and Myles Borne earlier in the night. While he pinned North American champ Borne, he said he’d rather challenge D’Angelo for the title instead.
This promo was interrupted by Mason Rook, who had his pinfall win stolen by Hendrix earlier in the night. “You’re out here acting like our win tonight was all you,” Rook said. “These people have eyes … Without me, you wouldn’t be out here calling your shot.”
Rook offered Hendrix a chance to give him credit. Hendrix refused, calling him “big boy.”
“It’s every man for themselves,” Hendrix said.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Rook replied before attacking Hendrix, sending him flying into a set of turnbuckles with an Air Raid Crash. Looks like we’re getting Rook vs. Hendrix soon!
Here’s what they announced for next week’s episode:
- Lola Vice vs. Izzi Dame (NXT Women’s Championship)
- Sean Legacy vs. Dorian Van Dux (WWE Speed Tournament First Round)
- Wren Sinclair vs. Kelani Jordan
- Jaida Parker vs. Layla Diggs
- Shiloh Hill vs. Charlie Dempsey
- Shawn Spears & Niko Vance vs. Bronco Nima & Lucien Price
Saquon Shugars gets jumped out of DarkState
The main event of the night saw Dion Lennox and Saquon Shugars of DarkState challenge NXT Tag Team Champions Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes from The Vanity Project. This was a big match for DarkState, who has struggled to stay on the same page for a long time.
This match worked a fast pace from the very start, when DarkState tried to get the jump on Vanity Project outside of the ring. DarkState were closing in on a win late, but came up short in numerous instances.
Lennox got a hot tag in the match, delivering a dual German Suplex to both Baylor and Smokes, then giving Baylor a huge powerslam. A pin attempt was stopped by Smokes.
Late in the match, Lennox scored a spinebuster to Smokes, but didn’t notice that Shugars connected with a blind tag in the process. A confused Lennox went for the pin, but wasn’t able to get a count from the referee. He eventually rolled out of the way, allowing Shugars to hit a top-rope elbow drop for a near fall.
This hesitation frustrated Shugars, who thought a more fluid combo would’ve put an end to the match. The two argued briefly over the miscommunication. Smokes capitalized on this moment, rolling up Shugars for the pinfall in 11 minutes. Vanity Project are still the NXT Tag Team Champions.
An embattled DarkState lingered in the ring during the post-match. Osiris Griffin and Cutler James, who had watched the match from ringside, suddenly did something shocking: They attacked Shugars. Lennox joined in on the beatdown. Shugars slapped Lennox in the face, causing the now-trio to bring Shugars to ringside and deliver a triple-team powerbomb through the commentary table as the show went off air. DarkState is now just three.
A long-awaited development in the DarkState internal problems storyline, and it came from an enjoyable main event.
Final thoughts
I really enjoyed this week’s episode of NXT. All the recent debuts have been refreshing and intriguing. The wrestling tonight was great, and the storylines have made sense. You would think that a mass exodus of NXT’s top stars over the past few months would put the show at a severe disadvantage, but the past few weeks have shown that it has had the opposite effect. Instead, new life has been given to the product, causing some consistent TV.
