Results
- Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy def. Dion Lennox & Osiris Griffin (TNA & NXT Tag Team Championships) (10:44)
- Jacy Jayne, Sol Ruca, Lola Vice & Jaida Parker def. Kelani Jordan, Mara Sadè, Cassie Lee & Jessie McKay (NXT vs. TNA Survivor Series Match) (23:11)
- Ethan Page def. Mustafa Ali (NXT North American Championship) (14:20)
- Mike Santana, Leon Slater, Moose & Frankie Kazarian def. Ricky Saints, Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans & Myles Borne (NXT vs. TNA Survivor Series Match) (22:49)
The Hardys dethrone DarkState, earn champ-champ status
This week’s special “Showdown” episode of NXT TV from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, opened with a video package discussing how tonight’s event will see “two brands with storied legacies” put on a once-in-a-lifetime clash. The video package we got here, discussing each match set to take place, gave this a real PLE feel.
Title action got the night started, as The Hardys put their TNA World Tag Team Championships on the line against Dion Lennox and Osiris Griffin of DarkState, who were wagering their NXT Tag Team Championships. If this match finishes without any funky business, we’ll have double champs coming out of this one.
Matt and Jeff Hardy got a big reaction from what sounded like a hot crowd. TNA’s Carlos Silva was shown in attendance, as were The Dudley Boyz, who will be facing The Hardys at Bound for Glory this weekend.
The DarkState quartet tried to use a numbers advantage before the match, but instead it was The Hardys who sent them all out of the ring. The referee then ejected Saquon Shugars and Cutler James from ringside – a rough start for the NXT champs.
Jeff got a hot tag during a commercial break and briefly had a run of moves onto Lennox, but had his momentum stopped after taking a nasty double-team clothesline and leg-sweep onto the ring apron.
Jeff came off the top with a Whisper in the Wind at the eight-minute mark of the match, taking out both DarkState members and leaving the opening to tag out after minutes of isolation.
Matt took out Lennox with a Twist of Fate, then dropped Griffin with a DDT. Hardys scored their Plot Twist double-team to Lennox, but Griffin was able to get back into the ring and break the pin.
DarkState landed a double-team powerbomb to Matt. Jeff broke up a pin attempt, but was thrown out of the ring moments later. Matt escaped an attempted Doomsday Device, then gave both DarkState members a Twist of Fate.
Jeff got tagged back in with Griffin out in the middle of the ring – we all knew what was coming next. Jeff came off the top with a Swanton Bomb, earning him a clean pinfall win in 10 minutes. The Hardys are now not only the TNA World Tag Team Champions, but also the NXT Tag Team Champions. This match had some slight errors here and there, but otherwise was a quick and digestible TV bout.
With double the gold, The Hardys stared down The Dudley Boyz, whom they’ll be facing this weekend.
Team NXT takes women’s Survivor Series bout
In the first of two Survivor Series matchups set for this evening, Team NXT (Jacy Jayne, Jaida Parker, Lola Vice, and Sol Ruca) took on Team TNA (The IInspiration, Kelani Jordan and Mara Sadè). Jordynne Grace was the special guest referee for this match – neither Team NXT nor TNA considered her loyal enough to draft to either of their squads, so instead she’s in charge of moderating everything. Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay got to use their old WWE theme here, which was neat.
There was a series of dives before the match’s first commercial break, a sequence which ended with Ruca hitting a Sasuke Special onto numerous women at ringside. The first elimination of the match emerged at the 12-minute mark, when Sadè took out Parker with a roll-up pin. Parker, distracted in the moment after knocking another women out of the ring with her Hipnotic move, was caught off guard by the pin attempt.
Sadè’s celebration was short-lived, as Ruca came off the ropes with a Sol Snatcher, eliminating her via pinfall just moments later. It was three-on-three as the show went into another break.
Vice got a hot tag from Jayne, her rival, who escaped a long isolation in the ring. A strong run from Vice culminated with the elimination of both IInspiration members, knocking out Lee with a spinning backfist, then tapping out McKay with a rear naked choke.
TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordan found herself in a three-on-one gauntlet match. The IInspiration attacked Vice and Ruca on their way out, attempting to help Jordan, but it ended up backfiring. This distracted special guest referee Grace and caused her to miss a pin attempt from Jordan after she scored a One of a Kind Split-Legged Moonsault.
Vice and Jayne suddenly struggled to work together. A mix-up between them allowed Jordan to eliminate Vice with an Angle Slam. Jordan now just had to take out Ruca, then Jayne to make the comeback for Team TNA.
Jordan and Ruca had a fun back-and-forth exchange. Jordan connected with a top rope Spanish Fly and tried to follow up with a 450 Splash, but Ruca put up her knees to block the move. Ruca came off the ropes for a Sol Snatcher, which didn’t fully connect. Jayne scored a blind tag as Ruca hit the ropes for the move, allowing her to get into the ring and steal the pinfall after Ruca hit her finisher, ending the match. Team NXT got on the board, making it 1-1 at the halfway point of the night.
While visibly dejected over how the finish emerged, Ruca celebrated with Jayne in the post-match. This bout went long – 23 minutes in total. While it had some fun points, there were a lot of small errors that took away from it as well. The struggle between Vice and Jayne near the end failed to really work. Jayne stealing the finish from Ruca was a fun touch.
A backstage segment showed NXT General Manager booking Matt Cardona vs. Josh Briggs for next week’s episode. Cardona interfered in Briggs’ match last week against Myles Borne.
The latest – 9:27 p.m. ET: Ethan Page retains North American title in barnburner against Mustafa Ali
The next match saw TNA’s Mustafa Ali attempt to earn the NXT North American Championship against Ethan Page. This match tied up a loose end from 2023, as Ali had earned a shot at the North American title shortly before he was cut from the promotion. Now, two years later, he’s finally getting that shot he was once promised but never received. Despite being a heel in TNA (leading the cutthroat Order Four faction), he assumed a babyface role here against Page.
Ali had Page reeling early, sending the champ running around the ring for a breather – and at one point walking into a DDT onto the floor. Page gained control of the match heading into commercials after running Ali into a ringpost.
Ali came out of the corner with a Sunset Flip powerbomb right as the show returned, giving him the opening for a possible comeback. He climbed back up to the top for another high-risk move, but got tripped up after Page intentionally shook the top rope.
Page got back into the corner, where he picked up Ali and then dropped him head-first onto the top rope. Page floored Ali with a huge Brogue Kick, but it wasn’t enough to put away the challenger, who shot back up to his feet as he kicked out at two.
After a series of back-and-forth moves, Page sent Ali face-first into the middle turnbuckle at high speed – this looked incredible. Still, not enough to send the Order Four leader home. “This is awesome,” chants started around this point.
After a series of reversals, including Ali dodging an Ego’s Edge, Ali came out of the corner with a tornado DDT for a two-count. Ali went to the top rope and tried for a 450 Splash, but Page avoided it.
Page tried for an Ego’s Edge, but Ali reversed it into a hurricanrana bridged into a pin attempt for a two-count. Ali came off the middle rope for a cutter, but instead ate a nasty uppercut from Page in mid-air.
Page tried for a Twisted Grin, but Ali instead was able to reverse it into a pin attempt.
Ali sent Page out of the ring, then came flying through the ropes with a tope suicida, sending them both over the announce desk. As they made their way back to the ring, one of Ali’s legs got caught on Booker T’s microphone cable. Ali tried to take the cable off his ankle while on the top rope, but this slight pause allowed Page to push him off the top, sending him crashing into a barricade at ringside – creative spot here and a devastating landing.
Page got Ali back into the ring and then hit his Twisted Grin for the pinfall win in 14 minutes, continuing his reign and keeping the North American Championship in NXT. Easily the highlight of the night thus far, these two showed up and showed out.
Backstage, El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. said that he’s coming for the NXT North American Championship. Lexis King approached Wagner Jr. and accused him of being Tavion Heights (Heights dressed up as Wagner Jr. recently to attack Page). As King turned around, Heights was behind him. This confused King, who thought Heights learned some form of magic.
Mariah May approached Sol Ruca to express interest in taking her NXT Women’s North American Championship. Zaria, who was arguing with Ruca just moments prior, defended Ruca during this exchange.
Two matches were announced for next week’s NXT:
- Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Lexis King
- Matt Cardona vs. Josh Briggs
Trick Williams abandons Team NXT, Mike Santana wins it for TNA
This week’s show closed out with the men’s Survivor Series match. Team NXT (Ricky Saints, Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans and Myles Borne) took on Team TNA (Mike Santana, Leon Slater, Moose & Frankie Kazarian). Evans, being the young Gen Z-er of his team, was wearing Jersey #67.
Egos were on display just moments into the match, as Williams and Kazarian both forcefully tagged themselves in to get things started. We got an elimination surprisingly early in this match, as Kazarian caught Borne with a cutter off the ropes for a pinfall win at just the two-minute mark.
Slater, who will face Evans one-on-one in just a few days at Bound for Glory, eliminated him at 11 minutes with a roll-up. Evans was on a roll, taking out numerous TNA wrestlers at ringside with huge dives, but once he got back into the ring, a recovered Slater was able to dodge a move and instead hit a roll-up, eliminating him. Team NXT just had two wrestlers left against the full Team TNA squad as the show went into its final break.
Williams and Saints had some trouble working together late in this match. Saints wasn’t in the corner when Williams tried to tag out, then a minute later, when Saints was back on the apron, Williams ignored him. Saints eventually tagged his way back into the match, which Williams didn’t like.
Williams got his payback on Saints a few minutes later: As a hurt Saints crawled back to his corner to tag out of the match, Williams intentionally dropped off the ring apron. He then went one step further: Williams walked to the back, leaving Saints in a three-on-one scenario. So much for co-captains.
Saints took out Kazarian with a roll-up, finally eliminating a Team TNA wrestler from the match. With Slater, Moose, and Santana still involved, Saints still had a long way to go before he could emerge victorious.
Saints put up his knees to counter a Swanton 450 from Slater, doing enough damage that he could eliminate the X-Division Champion with a roll-up immediately after.
Saints dodged a buckle bomb from Santana, instead landing on his feet and dropping the TNA star with a thrust kick. Moose came into the ring and attempted to take out Saints with a spear, but it instead landed on Santana. This hard shot to Santana wasn’t enough to get him out of the match.
Saints dodged a Spin The Block from Santana, but was thrown into a pop-up powerbomb from Moose. This allowed Santana to score with a Spin The Block upon second attempt, giving Santana the pinfall win in just under 23 minutes. Team TNA got the final win of the night!
Just before the show went off air, Ava announced that a battle royal would be held next week to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Women’s Championship. She extended an invitation to the TNA Knockouts Division to bring their best for the match, which Santino Marella accepted.
