Results
- Naraku def. Shiloh Hill (9:42)
- Noam Dar & Romeo Moreno def. Dorian Van Dux & Sean Legacy (11:35) (Recommended)
- Thea Hail def. Nikkita Lyons (4:17)
- Mason Rook def. Kam Hendrix (4:37)
- Zilla Fatu def. Tristan Angels (9:29)
Zilla Fatu finds his first rival in NXT
Fresh off an incredibly newsworthy Premium Live Event (PLE) by the name of Heatwave from last weekend, NXT returned to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, for tonight’s episode of TV. Among the top headlines from Sunday’s show: New champs in Kelani Jordan and Grayson Waller, The Vanity Project now holds the North American and tag titles, and Zaria unified the women’s North American and Speed belts.
After a recap of Sunday’s card, we went to the live venue where Zilla Fatu opened the show. Fatu was one-quarter of the men’s title match on Sunday, where he made his NXT in-ring debut.
After opening his promo with “HELLO!!”, which seems to be his catchphrase, Fatu said he simply “didn’t get the job done” when he challenged for the NXT title last weekend. He said a line which was quite confusing but was meant to convey that he’ll get the title someday.
This promo was interrupted by Tristan Angels, who said the crowd was already getting bored of his Heatwave talk. “You proved to everybody here that you’re not ready to be the main one in NXT. In fact, you’re not the main one in your own family,” Angels said.
Fatu called Angels “Gangrel Jr.,” then said he doesn’t like his attitude. Feeling “hot” because of his Heatwave loss, Fatu said he wants to beat Angels’ ass. Angels tried to jump Fatu but was chased out of the ring. Fatu needs work on the mic but has a certain raw charisma that, once he can dial his character in a little better, will be great. This is a solid rivalry for Fatu, something that will build him up a little better as he gets settled in NXT.
Backstage, we saw Saquon Shugars, EK Prosper and Keanu Carver all upset at NXT General Manager Robert Stone for not being figured into the show’s current title picture.
Naraku takes down Shiloh Hill via mist
Myles Borne, in a car promo, explained why he attacked former tag partner Tavion Heights at Heatwave. Borne felt a turn from Heights was coming and decided he would beat him to the punch: “I got you before you got me.”
The first match of the night saw Naraku go head-to-head with Shiloh Hill. We’ve seen videos over the past few weeks where Hill showed his research on Naraku and the mist he sprays during matches. Naraku warned ahead of their match that Hill’s research won’t help him when they face off tonight.
There was an awkward pause partway through the match after Naraku started to favor one of his hands. The referee checked on him before the match continued. A near fall emerged after Naraku scored a powerbomb. Hill got back into the match by catching Naraku with a stiff forearm.
After a spot where both men knocked eachother down with lariats, Naraku sprayed his green mist onto a hand while out of the referee’s view. After a misdirection spot made the referee duck down, Naraku put his mist-covered hand into Hill’s eyes. This moment allowed Naraku to score his Enter the Abyss finisher for the pinfall win in just under 10 minutes. I guess Naraku was right; Hill wasn’t ready for his dirty tactics. This was a very by the numbers match, not bad but not outstanding either.
Creed Brothers crash NXT after Dar & Moreno score first win
The next match saw the duo of Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno face Dorian Van Dux and Sean Legacy. Dar and Moreno were still hunting for their first win as a duo. I was really looking forward to this match, as both teams are tons of fun.
Van Dux wiped out Dar with a gnarly lariat early in this one. Legacy and DVD had a pair of nasty moves at ringside before the break: Legacy dumped Dar chest-first onto the ring apron, and Van Dux powerbombed Moreno onto his knee. This was a hard-hitting one to start.
Van Dux had an impressive hot tag run after the show returned from a break, including a huge top-rope moonsault onto Moreno. It still shocks me that he can move like he does, considering his size.
Dar and Legacy got into the match and had a quick exchange of thudding strikes. Dar scored a slam on Legacy and transitioned into an armbar attempt while on the way down. As Dar kept the hold intact, Moreno gave Van Dux a Death Valley Driver out of the corner. Legacy slammed Dar onto tag partner Moreno to escape the submission, causing a “This is awesome” chant to break out.
Legacy took out Dar at ringside with a tope suicida. Moreno followed with a big top-rope dive to Legacy. Van Dux went next with a springboard moonsault to the floor. Legacy tried to do his catapult springboard moonsault, where Van Dux helps fling the rope out to give him extra airtime, but Dar and Moreno prevented it. Instead, Dar draped Legacy off the top rope as Moreno came out of the corner with a double stomp. Legacy survived with a kickout at two.
Dar and Moreno tried for dual strikes to Legacy, but Legacy got out of the way, causing Dar to accidentally catch Moreno with a spinning back elbow (this looked a little forced). Legacy, who did a great job at selling damage from the armbar late in the bout, came off the top rope with a 450 splash. Dar put up his knees to block the move, hurting Legacy enough for him to get the pinfall win. As expected, this was a really fun match which gave Dar and Moreno their first win.
The Dar and Moreno celebration was short-lived, as the Creed Brothers from the main roster surprisingly hit the ring and attacked them! Following in the footsteps of Grayson Waller, the Raw tag duo are dropping back down to NXT for the time being. The Creed Brothers are fun and we haven’t seen much from them in a while, so I like this decision.
It was revealed backstage that the men’s and women’s Speed titles have been retired. End of an error. I guess NOAH didn’t get the memo about the Speed titles being on the way out, as they are introducing one of their own soon.
Backstage, Cruz Montana pitched GM Robert Stone with a title shot. Stone said he can’t really set anything up currently.
Jaida Parker calls her shot against new champ Kelani Jordan
Newly crowned NXT Women’s Champion Kelani Jordan appeared in the ring for the next segment. Flaunting that she only needed one title opportunity to capture the belt (let’s ignore how many #1 contender opportunities she lost), Jordan is now calling herself “One Shot ‘Lani.”
Jordan said that she had the “best women’s match of the day” on Sunday when she beat Kendal Grey. Mercedes Moné and Willow Nightingale would have something to say about that. She bragged about how Grey was in over her head against her.
Just as Jordan said nobody is able to take her down, she was interrupted by Jaida Parker. Coming off a win against Nattie from Sunday, Parker has some momentum. Parker said now that she has tapped out Nattie, her focus is now on the NXT title. She reminded Jordan that she has only lost to her in their past showdowns.
Parker pitched the idea of Jordan facing her tonight, mentioning that they still had time remaining on the show. I mean, we had another hour, but we still had three scheduled matches to go. So, in reality, we didn’t really have time for this one tonight. But I respect the optimism.
Jordan said she’ll face Parker, but not tonight. “You don’t tell me when I defend my title,” she said. “I’ll see you next week.”
Thea Hail, Mason Rook earn quick wins
Up next, EVOLVE Women’s Champion Nikkita Lyons went head-to-head with Thea Hail. This match is an extension of the Jaida Parker and Nattie rivalry; these two brawled at ringside during their Heatwave match. Hail dodged a Vader Bomb out of the corner from Lyons then scored her Hail Mary senton for the pinfall win in four minutes. This one was okay but incredibly short.
The broadcast said that Kendal Grey is “out for the foreseeable future” due to a bump she took during the title match. Sounded like a worked injury.
The co-main event saw NXT rookies Mason Rook and Kam Hendrix face off in a grudge match. Rook stormed Hendrix during his entrance, attacking him on stage before the match officially got started.
Hendrix came running off the ropes for a move but was wiped out by a huge crossbody from Rook. Hendrix peeled off a top turnbuckle late in the match, but was run into it by Rook almost immediately. Rook scored a back body drop then a powerbomb for the pinfall win in four minutes. Again, a really fast match. I was hoping this one would’ve gotten a little more time.
Backstage, Tavion Heights said he’s “betrayed” and “confused” after Myles Borne attacked him at Heatwave. Heights strongly denied the idea that he was going to turn on Borne. Vanity Project got in Heights’ face to kick him while he was down. Heights challenged Jackson Drake to a North American title match, which it seems we’re going to get next week.
Zilla Fatu wins first NXT TV appearance against Tristan Angels
The final match of the night, booked in the opening segment of the show, saw Zilla Fatu face off against Tristan Angels. This was the first time we saw Fatu wrestle on Tuesday night for NXT.
Fatu went for a tope suicida to the floor early on which sent Angels over the commentary desk. Fatu didn’t get caught and took a hard dive stomach-first onto the floor. Angels was able to trip up Fatu as he climbed to the top rope, then sent him back down to the ringside area with a head kick. Angels was in control as the show went to a break.
Fatu started bleeding from the mouth by this point. Unlike what we saw with The Usos on Monday Night Raw, the broadcast didn’t use huge mosaic censors to cover up the blood. Fatu started to mount a comeback as the show returned, scoring a Uranage then a senton for a near fall at one point.
Fatu caught Angels for a slick pop-up Samoan Drop. He followed up with the “Triple Z” Samoan Spike for the pinfall win in nine minutes. A solid showing from Fatu here.
Shortly after the match ended, Birthright hit the ring to confront Fatu. The group, mainly consisting of people who come from wrestling families, said he’s just like them. They offered Fatu to join Birthright, saying he can get to the top of NXT with their help (Can you even get to the middle of NXT when you’re part of Birthright?).
“Hello! More like, hell no!” Fatu said. He dropped Lexis King with a superkick then fled the ring to end the segment.
Here’s what was confirmed for next week’s show. Two solid matchups:
- Kelani Jordan vs. Jaida Parker (NXT Women’s Championship)
- Jackson Drake vs. Tavion Heights (NXT North American Championship)
Road to title opportunity gets booked for six contenders
Before NXT wrapped up, we saw an appearance from newly crowned men’s champ Grayson Waller. He told GM Robert Stone, who was ringside, that he finally has a bona fide superstar as his champ.
Waller said it’s time to give thanks to everyone who helped him get to where he is. “I have only one person to thank, and that’s Grayson Waller!”
After getting some more trash talk out of the way, Waller asked who would step up and be his first challenger. He ran down a list of names who are contenders, with roasts: Talent doesn’t run through the genes for Zilla Fatu, Cruz Montana is just “TNA good,” and Tony D’Angelo needs to be dug back up after he got buried by him.
A list of names came out to answer Waller’s challenge: Montana, Saquon Shugars, EK Prosper, Mason Rook, Tony D’Angelo, and Keanu Carver all came to the ring. Carver pitched a six-man tag with everyone involved on next week’s show. The winning team, in his plan, would go on to meet in a triple threat one week later. The winner of that bout will get a shot at the champ. Carver did a better job at General Manager activities here than Stone! The GM made the bout(s) official for the coming weeks.
A brawl between all six contenders broke out as the show came to a close.
Final thoughts
NXT is WWE’s busiest show of the week, and that fast pace is usually what helps make it so fun. This week, unfortunately, it was a little too crowded. We saw a fun tag match, some solid talking segments to set up the main title programs, and a strong Zilla Fatu showcase. But the number of segments on this show caused some matches, like Mason Rook and Kam Hendrix, to seem way too short and rushed. I get that NXT has a lot of irons in the fire currently, but this week felt like a bit much. Nonetheless, I’m intrigued by the two main title pictures. I’d prefer Cruz Montana to emerge from the #1 contenders match, and I’m curious what it’ll do for Keanu Carver.
