Results
- Jaida Parker def. Lash Legend (9:07)
- Myles Borne def. Josh Briggs (10:14)
- Lola Vice def. Fallon Henley (3:48)
- Je’Von Evans & Leon Slater def. Shawn Spears & Niko Vance (10:52)
Team captains picked for next week’s NXT vs. TNA matchups
Just days removed from No Mercy, NXT returned to its home base at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, for another episode of its Tuesday night program. Before we got to any of the live action, we had a lot to recap from the past seven days: TNA vs. NXT tension caused a huge brawl on last week’s TV, Ricky Saints defeated Oba Femi to capture the NXT Championship, and Jacy Jayne got past Lola Vice to keep her reign alive, among other headlines.
Inside the PC, the first segment of the evening saw newly-crowned NXT Champion Ricky Saints make an appearance. It has been a while since we have welcomed a new main NXT champ: Jayne is currently on a 120+ day run, and Femi held his belt for 263 days.
Saints cut a brief babyface promo, encouraging others to bet on themselves like he has done. Surprisingly, his segment was cut off by NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne.
Jayne said there were more important things to talk about here, like the ongoing NXT vs. TNA war. She got even less time on the mic than Saints did, as she was also interrupted, this time by NXT General Manager Ava.
Ava mentioned that Jayne and Saints will be the team captains for next week’s NXT vs. TNA multi-person tag matches, giving them the job of choosing who will fight alongside them in elimination tag action.
TNA General Manager Santino Marella appeared on stage to reveal his captains. Marella doesn’t trust TNA World Champion Trick Williams as the captain for team TNA, so instead, it’ll be Mike Santana leading the men’s side. NXT’s Kelani Jordan, who won the TNA Knockouts World Championship last weekend, will represent the women’s TNA team (so an NXT wrestler will be on team TNA vs. team NXT? Doesn’t that sort of defeat the purpose of the entire storyline, which revolves around how NXT has used its power to take titles off TNA?).
Ava noted that the picks for both teams will be decided later tonight during a “Summit” between both brands. Marella said next week is less of an “Invasion” from NXT and more of a “Showcase,” confirming the reports from earlier today that next week’s TV special has received a name change.
Jaida Parker takes down rival Lash Legend
TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater and NXT’s Je’Von Evans ran into eachother backstage. The upcoming Bound For Glory opponents had a polite discussion that was cut off by The Culling, who chewed out Evans for talking to a member of NXT’s opposition.
Niko Vance and Shawn Spears challenged them to a match, so we’re getting Evans and Slater vs. The Culling later. Lyra Valkyria walked into the shot and gave Tatum Paxley a new doll. An overjoyed Paxley was dragged away by Izzi Dame, who continues to try and keep her tag partner away from Valkyria.
A grudge match kicked off the in-ring portion of the night, as Lash Legend took on Jaida Parker. They wasted no time getting this one started, with Legend charging into the ring to get things going. The fight went to ringside just before the break, where Parker dropped Legend to the mat with a slam.
Back from the break, Parker dodged a standing splash from Legend, then came running off the ropes with a Blockbuster. Parker put Legend in the corner for her usual High-Step splash, but Legend powered back up to her feet after consuming the move, responding by immediately dropping her with a front kick.
Legend threw Parker into the steel stairs and the barricade at ringside before bringing her back into the ring. She picked up Parker for a move, but she escaped, instead sending Legend flying head-first into the middle rope. Parker capitalized on a wobbled Legend, coming running off the ropes with a Hipnotic for the pinfall win in nine minutes.
Backstage, Trick Williams approached Ricky Saints about the lineup for the upcoming men’s NXT vs. TNA match. Williams considered himself a “co-captain” of the team alongside Saints, a title Saints took issue with.
Saints started to reveal who else he wants on the team: Je’Von Evans and Myles Borne. Williams elected Josh Briggs, which Evans objected to, due to their past.
Team NXT had just four spots. But since there were five people in talks to represent the brand, somebody had to be taken out of the mix. Williams mentioned the idea of Briggs and Borne facing off tonight to decide who could join the team. Saints agreed, and thus we’ll see that later.
Mustafa Ali hasn’t forgotten what he is owed
NXT North American Champion Ethan Page, fresh off his No Mercy win over Tavion Heights, appeared in the ring for the next segment.
While Page quickly celebrated his win, he was fast to shift his focus to rival AAA’s El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., who called him out last weekend. As Page addressed the Mexican star, a video on the titantron showed a car pulling up to the venue. But it wasn’t Dr. Wagner Jr. showing up; it was TNA’s Mustafa Ali.
Ali, leader of the Order Four faction, made it clear that he was also focused on Page’s North American Championship. He noted that Page doesn’t “owe” him anything, but said NXT does. Going back in time, Ali talked about how he won a #1 contender’s shot for the North American title shortly before his WWE release in 2023. This was a great babyface promo from Ali, who is usually a heel, but tonight was taking up a different role.
Ali said that he has already politicked for this match, and it’s official: Next week, as part of the special NXT vs. TNA card, Ali will take on Page for the title.
Page said that, like when Ali was cut from WWE over a year ago, he will “wish him the best in your future endeavors” next week. This caused a quick brawl, ending with Page on the retreat.
Jacy Jayne, captain of the women’s NXT team, recruited Sol Ruca for the squad and also wanted to add Jaida Parker to the mix. Lola Vice made her case to join the team, saying she’s willing to put her differences aside with Jayne to represent the brand. Fallon Henley cut her off, saying the last spot will go to her. Lainey Reid also tried to object but went unconsidered by the captain, as Jayne decided that the final spot in the team would go to the winner of Henley vs. Vice later tonight.
In a pre-taped promo (inside Kai Cenat’s Mafiathon house), The Hardys mentioned how their match against DarkState next week for the NXT and TNA tag titles will be fair, as the two DarkState members not competing in the match will be banned from ringside.
Myles Borne rounds out team NXT
Battling it out for a spot on team NXT, Josh Briggs and Myles Borne faced off in the next match.
Borne went flying just a minute into this match, going over the top and to the outside with a dive. Back in the ring, he followed up with a crossbody off the top for a two-count. Briggs had the advantage before a break, scoring a massive chokeslam to Borne.
Briggs expressed frustration after commercials, as a huge backbreaker wasn’t enough to put away Borne. Borne started to mount a comeback after dodging an elbow drop from Briggs, closing out a combination of moves with a powerslam for a near fall.
Borne scored a Codebreaker to Briggs, but Briggs used the momentum of taking the move to come running off the ropes with a big boot. Briggs ripped a chain off his neck and planned to use it as a weapon on Borne. But, preventing him from using it was Matt Cardona, who seemingly has some stake in who plays for Team NXT next week.
The distraction from Cardona caused the referee to take the chain from Briggs. Borne scored a dropkick, then his Borne Again finisher for the win in 10 minutes, securing him a spot on Team NXT.
The men’s Team NXT is confirmed: Ricky Saints, Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans, and now Myles Borne. We’ll learn what TNA has to offer later.
Backstage, Jordynne Grace offered to compete for Team TNA since the brand means so much to her. NXT’s Kelani Jordan said that both Grace and Joe Hendry were playing both sides with TNA and NXT (you could argue Jordan is doing that too, but). Mike Sqantana agreed with Jordan. The segment ended with Grace and Hendry saying they have to get involved in next week’s brand warfare somehow, even if they won’t get picked for the tag bouts.
Lola Vice secures spot on Team NXT
After a slot on the men’s NXT squad was determined, we saw who would join the women’s team in the next bout when Lola Vice and Fallon Henley battled it out.
This was a significantly quicker match than the men’s qualifier we saw just minutes earlier. While Henley had her moments, including a crafty German Suplex through the ropes and a legsweep that dropped Vice onto the ring apron, she came up short. Vice caught her with a spinning backfist in the third minute, putting her out for the count.
A fast win for Vice, and no nonsense from Henley ally Jacy Jayne, who could’ve put her finger on the scale with interference at ringside.
So, it’ll be: Jacy Jayne, Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker and Lola Vice representing NXT next week.
Backstage, Lainey Reid, still trying to get her way into Fatal Influence, told Jayne and Henley that she was the one who attacked Jazmyn Nyx last week and was the masked woman who attacked Lola Vice at No Mercy.
Bound For Glory rivals Slater, Evans unite for tag win
The final match of the night saw Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans, two of the youngest stars in the scene currently, team up to take on The Culling’s Shawn Spears and Niko Vance.
It seemed as though we would get some funny business from Tatum Paxley and Izzi Dame interfering later, but that ended up not being the case. Instead, Dame actually led Paxley backstage early into the bout, getting frustrated at her playing with the doll Lyra Valkyria gave her earlier in the night.
The high-flying duo of Slater and Evans delivered stereo crossbodies to the outside just before the show went to a break. Slater took an absolutely wild bump during the break, getting thrown over the turnbuckle by Spears and landing hard on the steel stairs at ringside – they understandably gave this a replay once the show returned.
Slater remained isolated in the heel corner of the ring for minutes after that bump. He finally was able to give Evans the tag at the seven-minute mark, giving the NXT star the chance to take out both Vance and Spears with moves.
Evans came flying through the ropes with a tope suicida to Spears, then scored a springboard forearm to Vance in the ring.
Evans came off the top with a massive frogsplash, but it wasn’t enough to put away Vance. The Culling’s Vance was able to reverse a move in the corner from Evans and connect with an Alabama Slam for a near fall of his own.
Evans escaped a double-team suplex from Spears and Vance, giving him the chance to tag in Slater. Evans threw Vance and Spears out of the ring, giving Slater the opening to do his impressive dive over the ringpost onto both at ringside. He scored a Blue Thunder Bomb in the ring on Spears, but Vance broke up a follow-up pin attempt.
There was a fast exchange that ended with all four wrestlers getting laid out. Slater connected with a double cutter, then Evans hit both Culling members with a double springboard cutter. Evans took out Vance at ringside with a huge dive, then Slater came off the top rope with his 450 Swanton finisher for the pinfall in just under 11 minutes. Slater and Evans expectedly brought the house down here, a perfect preview for their Bound For Glory match.
NXT, TNA lineups finalized ahead of next week’s ‘Showdown’
With Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater still in the ring following their tag win, some NXT vs. TNA commotion was shown on the titantron. In the parking lot, a wave of TNA talents arrived together. After a quick face-to-face with NXT talent outside the building, everyone made their way into the venue. There were 30 or so people involved in this segment, quite the hectic scene.
With talent from both promotions at ringside, this week’s show closed out with an NXT and TNA summit. Ava and Santino Marella were in the ring to watch as the two teams select their matchups for next week’s NXT vs. TNA tag bouts:
Team NXT Men’s: Ricky Saints, Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans & Myles Borne
Team TNA Men’s: Mike Santana, Frankie Kazarian, Moose & Leon Slater
Team NXT Women’s: Jacy Jayne, Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker & Lola Vice
Team TNA Women’s: Kelani Jordan, Jessie McKay, Cassie Lee & Mara Sadè
Santana got the last word in before chaos took over, talking about what TNA will do next Tuesday: “We’re seizing the night, and TNA is winning Showdown the same way I’m walking into Bound For Glory and bringing that TNA world title back home where it belongs.”
Santana threw the first punch at Williams, causing a gigantic roster-versus-roster brawl to erupt, continuing until the show went off air.
Before we go, a quick rundown of next week’s lineup:
- DarkState vs. Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy (TNA & NXT Tag Team Championships)
- Ethan Page vs. Mustafa Ali (NXT North American Championship)
- Ricky Saints, Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans & Myles Borne vs. Mike Santana, Frankie Kazarian, Moose & Leon Slater (NXT vs. TNA Survivor Series Match)
- Jacy Jayne, Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker & Lola Vice vs. Kelani Jordan, Jessie McKay, Cassie Lee & Mara Sadè (NXT vs. TNA Survivor Series Match)
