Results
- Sean Legacy & Eli Knight def. Jasper Troy (Triple Threat) (12:04)
- Lexis King & Uriah Connors def. Charlie Dempsey & Tavion Heights (4:38)
- Sol Ruca def. Lainey Reid (12:56)
- Wren Sinclair def. Thea Hail (WWE Speed Women’s Championship #1 Contender) (1:56)
- Ethan Page & Ricky Saints def. Joe Hendry & Myles Borne (11:09)
Izzi Dame isn’t letting Tatum Paxley go
This week’s episode of NXT, live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, started with a recap of last weekend’s Premium Live Event (PLE), Vengeance Day. Among the top headlines were: Joe Hendry defending his NXT Championship against Ricky Saints in 16 minutes, and Tatum Paxley claiming the Women’s North American title with a win over Izzi Dame.
The first segment of the night saw the aforementioned Paxley hit the ring to celebrate her recent title victory. It’s nice that she got the opening segment spotlight, as her title match last weekend was the best in the lineup. Paxley got on the mic and said she won her title on Saturday due to the support of fans, who reminded her to keep going whenever she felt alone. An uplifting promo from Paxley was cut off by Dame, who was ready to crash the party.
Dame, attempting to embarrass Paxley, played a video package about her early days as an NXT wrestler, when she wrestled as part of the Diamond Mine faction. At least, I think she was trying to embarrass her. I don’t know, it just seemed like pretty normal clips of her early goings as a wrestler.
Dame said that Paxley is lying to the fans when she said she has “found herself.” She called the champ a “chameleon,” saying she has constantly changed who she is to feel acceptance. Dame started to make it clear that she’s gunning for the title once again, saying she wants it back.
Paxley turned around to leave the ring but saw the rest of The Culling, Shawn Spears and Niko Vance, on the ring apron. Paxley was then jumped by Dame, who laid out the champ and lifted her title to end the segment. Guess they’re extending this program to Stand & Deliver in a month.
I was personally hoping they’d move on from this rivalry after the payoff last weekend – it just felt like time for something fresh, considering how long these two have been going back and forth. I mean, all the talking segments are very cyclical: Dame thinks Paxley is a weird freak who will never make it on her own, and Paxley disagrees. But, considering how great their match was last weekend, I’m not completely opposed to them facing off again.
Keanu Carver causes Jasper Troy to lose in triple threat
The first match of the night saw three names from the WWE Speed title picture face off in a triple threat: Former champ Jasper Troy, as well as contenders Eli Knight and Sean Legacy.
Troy’s strength was put over early on, catching Knight coming out of the corner while already carrying Legacy on his shoulders. He had a slight slip-up while in the process of trying to slam Knight onto Troy, but overall it looked good.
Troy was taken out of the equation a couple of minutes into the match, getting knocked out of the ring by a series of superkicks from Knight and Legacy. While recovering at ringside, Troy was attacked by Keanu Carver, who picked up the ex-Speed champ and chokeslammed him through a commentary desk (the referee didn’t see this, nor was he suspicious about what happened). For the second week in a row, Carver told Booker T to “tell your boy to keep my name out of his mouth,” a reference to Booker coaching Troy on WWE’s LFG show.
This match continued as a battle between high-flyers Knight and Legacy, who had the crowd hot with a solid performance. Knight scored a springboard crossbody to the outside then landed a crafty top-rope moonsault for a near fall.
Knight tried for a Moonsault off the top, but Legacy got out of the way. A series of quick reversals between the two ended with Legacy hitting a neckbreaker. Another fast-paced sequence culminated with a Spanish Fly from Legacy. It was at this point that Troy got back into the ring and started mounting a comeback, taking on Legacy and Knight at the same time.
Troy struggled to lift Legacy again, but at least this time it could be chalked up to him being a wounded fighter. He picked up both Legacy and Knight for a double Samoan Drop, then hit Knight with a huge chokeslam . He went for the pin, but Legacy broke it up with a double-stomp to the back.
Legacy gave Troy a Sliced Bread then a 450 Splash off the top rope. Knight followed up with a moonsault off the top. Legacy and Knight went for the pin at the same time, and got a three! The announcer decided that since they both went for the win, both Legacy and Knight had won the match.
The match finish was a little silly here, but the main headline was the build to Carver vs. Troy, which should be good when it eventually happens. Carver has looked like a million dollars in these segments and could really be elevated by a solid feud.
Charlie Dempsey joins Birthright
An unofficial No Quarter Catch Crew reunion was next, with Charlie Dempsey and Tavion Heights teaming up to face Birthright’s Lexis King and Uriah Connors. Birthright have been trying to recruit Dempsey to their nepo-baby crew in recent weeks but weren’t able to get him into the group… Not yet, at least.
The first few minutes of this one played out like a normal match, including a spot which saw Heights and Connors come through the ropes and have a rough landing on the ground (it was unclear what move was attempted here, but it looked painful for both).
Dempsey and Heights were celebrating at ringside, but the mood shifted once Fitt Finlay and William Regal appeared. Dempsey gave teammate Heights a German Suplex onto the floor, then pushed Heights into the ring, where King put him away in four minutes with the Coronation.
It became official in the post-match that Dempsey has joined Birthright, which is now a five-person heel faction. It was incredibly predictable that this was how the match would go. But, good to see Dempsey get something new, it felt like he had been floating around in recent months without much purpose.
Shiloh Hill was asked by Tatum Paxley to try and stop The Culling from leaving the PC. To assist her, he was going to take the wheels off their cars. In the parking lot, where we could hear numerous car alarms going off, General Manager Robert Stone asked Hill what happened. The resident NXT wacko said that since he wasn’t sure which car was The Culling’s, he took the wheels off all the cars. He works fast!
With DarkState out of the way, D’Angelo wants gold
Tony D’Angelo, hot off a win over DarkState’s Dion Lennox from last weekend, hit the ring for the next segment.
Now that he has handled DarkState, D’Angelo said he’s ready to pursue the NXT Championship. D’Angelo said he has nothing against champ Joe Hendry, but is ready to make things ugly to get the belt.
“Joe, if I gotta break your face, that’s what I’m gonna do,” he said. D’Angelo ended his promo by sending a warning to Hendry, telling him to be ready for him.
Sol Ruca grabs win ahead of title matchup
A week before Sol Ruca faces Jacy Jayne and Zaria in a three-way for the NXT Women’s Championship, Ruca went one-on-one with Jayne ally Lainey Reid.
Reid had the advantage early on, in-part due to inteference from ringside. Ruca climbed back into the match, but Reid remained game. Reid notably dodged a 450 Splash off the ropes from Ruca then countered with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall.
Ruca caught Reid with an X-Factor, then a side slam, but it wasn’t enough to put her away yet. Reid came off the ropes for a move but instead ate a thrust kick from Ruca. Ruca tried for a Sol Snatcher, but Reid surprisingly prevented the move then hit a Crucifix Bomb!
Reid tried to charge forward at Ruca with a knee strike, peeling down the kneepad before the attempt, but Ruca dodged the strike then hit her Sol Snatcher upon second attempt to win in just under 13 minutes. Reid had a pretty significant spotlight in this match, not only going as long as she did but having the upper hand for a decent part of it. Good showing from her and a solid preview for Ruca before her title match next week.
Backstage, Speed champ Elio LeFleur was seen trying to convince Robert Stone that he should face either Eli Knight or Sean Legacy next. Stone seemed adamant that Speed title shots are only earned through tournaments. NXT tag champs The Vanity Project appeared in the locker room and made fun of the Speed wrestlers and the odd ruleset they compete under. They also asked Stone about their next title matchup. After they left, Knight and Legacy were annoyed by the trash talk and hinted at wanting to go after the tag titles now instead.
Stone announced later in the program that he has built a tag team tournament to determine Vanity Project’s next opponents, a bracket which will include: The Culling, Legacy & Knight, Hank & Tank, Birthright, DarkState, and OTM.
A brawl between DarkState and OTM got into a scuffle during the announcement segment, and because of that, Stone announced that they are both out of the bracket. So, in reality, it’s a four-team bracket.
Wren Sinclair earns title shot
A title challenger for WWE Speed Women’s Champion Fallon Henley was determined next when Wren Sinclair and Thea Hail faced off.
Hail dumped Sinclair out of the ring just a minute into the match then delivered a tope suicida. She tried to follow up with a crossbody off the top, but Sinclair got out of the way. Sinclair went for a roll-up pin, which Hail switched into a kimura submission.
Sinclair countered the kimura into a Catal Mutilation to get the tap in just under two minutes, securing her a title shot for the WWE Speed belt next week.
After the break, we saw that Tatum Paxley found Izzi Dame backstage and ran up on her for some payback. Robert Stone got between the women as their brawl was broken up and announced that their rematch will happen next week in a steel cage! If they’re actually wrapping up their program next week before moving on, then I have no problem with that!
Here’s what NXT GM Robert Stone announced for next week’s show in Houston:
- Hank & Tank vs. Birthright (Tag Team Championship Tournament)
- Fallon Henley vs. Wren Sinclair (WWE Speed Women’s Championship)
- Tatum Paxley vs. Izzi Dame (NXT Women’s North American Championship) (Steel Cage)
- Jacy Jayne vs. Sol Ruca vs. Zaria (NXT Women’s Championship)
- Rayo Americano, Bravo Americano & El Grande Americano vs. Jackson Drake, Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes
- Booker T Appreciation Night
Ethan Page steals pinfall from Ricky Saints, pins NXT Champion Joe Hendry
The main event of the night saw NXT Champion Joe Hendry and NXT North American Champion Myles Borne team up to face their recent rivals, Ethan Page and Ricky Saints. The big story heading into this match was the struggles between Page and Saints, who recently formed an alliance but have failed to help eachother in a meaningful way.
In a callback to Saturday’s title match, Saints tossed a title into the ring, intentionally missing Page with the pass (Page did this to Saints over the weekend, although it was unclear in that instance whether it was intentional or not).
Borne worked a solid chunk of the early goings in this mach, spending a lot of time building up to a Hendry hot tag. Page and Saints got a near fall on Borne after scoring a Power & The Glory.
Hendry eventually got into the match, taking out Page with a neckbreaker then hitting Saints with a fallaway slam. Page came running off the ropes for a crossbody but was caught by Hendry into a Death Valley Driver, sending him rolling out of the ring. Hendry gave Saints an Olympic Slam, but it wasn’t enough to end the match just yet.
After Saints and Hendry got wiped out by dual clotheslines, Saints instructed the Page to toss him a title to use as a weapon, which he did. Saints tried to strike Hendry with the belt but was stopped by the referee. Hendry tried to capitalize on this moment with a roll-up pin, but it only gave him a two-count.
Saints came off the ropes and hit Hendry with a spear, and Page quietly tagged himself back into the match during this sequence. Page hit the ring and said he was the legal wrestler, which confused Saints, who wasn’t aware that he was tagged out.
Borne knocked Saints out of the ring with a dropkick before getting herded back to his corner by the referee. With the ref distracted, Page gave Hendry a Twisted Grin onto the NXT Championship for the pinfall win in 11 minutes. Did Page just sneakily steal the pinfall win from Saints, and thus moved himself to #1 contender status against Hendry? It seems as though he betrayed his friend Saints here. I thought this was a creative end to the match. Page vs. Hendry could be a great program, and Page getting into the main title picture has felt long overdue. I’m here for it.
Final thoughts
This was quite an enjoyable episode of NXT. WWE’s Tuesday night brand had a solid main event which used a crafty finish to set up a fresh program and they lined up a really strong card for next week’s road show, including a pair of women’s title bouts which I’m looking forward to. While we didn’t get any major breakout performances, overall this was a solid two hours of TV.
