– Following the WWE “Then, Now, Forever” signature, we went
straight to a live shot of the WWE Performance Center in
Orlando, FL. Vic Joseph and Booker T welcomed us to the show
and tossed to a recap of last week’s NXT from the 2300
Arena, the home of ECW.
Stephanie Vaquer & Giulia defeated Jakara Jackson & Lash
Legend
Before the match, we got an inset promo from Jackson and
Legend where they trashtalked Vaquer and Giulia ahead of
this opening contest.
Giulia and Legend started off for their teams, with the
latter taking down Giulia with a big boot. The tag to
Jackson led to the Meta Four duo maintaining control of the
action. Jackson struck Giulia down with a missile dropkick
and continued control until Vaquer tagged herself in. Giulia
and Vaquer got a fantastic tag team maneuver on Jackson.
Vaquer landed the legdrop on Jackson before she squeezed her
head with the legs and slammed it down repeatedly on the
mat. Legend re-entered the match and used her awesome
strength to lift both Giulia and Vaquer at the same time to
shake both all about. She then had Jackson go up on her
shoulders for a dive to the outside onto Vaquer and Giulia,
which sent us to our first break of the evening.
NXT returned with Legend having Vaquer held in a stalling
suplex that she connected on. Jackson was tagged back in as
she held Vaquer in a submission, which kept her at bay
mometarily. Vaquer escaped and she got the tag to Giulia.
Giulia was a house of fire, as she hit Legend and Jackson
with impressive moves, including a flip powerbomb on the
massive Legend. Vaquer made her way back to the match and
hit a double back suplex with Giulia on Jackson for the two
count.
On the outside, Giulia took down Legend with a dropkick to
the outside. With Giulia the legal woman in the match,
Jackson was at the mercy of the international superstars,
who hit a tandem knee strike for the victory.
– After the match, both Giulia and Vaquer were asked what
would happen if both made it into Iron Survivor at NXT
Deadline. Giulia said that she knew this day would come,
while Vaquer simply told her friend, “see you at Deadline”.
– A video package that explained Iron Survivor’s rules was
shown, handy for those who were just tuning in to NXT on The
CW.
(Fun little opener where all competitors looked good. Legend
and Jackson proved themselves worthy on the main roster
during their short excursion, and they looked fantastic
standing across the ring and keeping up with the
international sensations Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer.)
**********
– A promo for The CW’s Trivial Pursuit, featuring several
NXT stars as guests, was shown.
Women’s Iron Survivor Qualifier: Sol Ruca defeated Cora Jade
The match started off with Jade taunting Ruca while sat on
the top turnbuckle. She then avoided a superkick attempt
from Ruca, who then sat on the opposite turnbuckle before
she slammed Jade face first. Ruca then pretended to use Jade
as a surfboard before her foe regained the advantage with
knees to the back.
Jade trapped Ruca against the middle rope and ran into her
with a running forearm strike that only got a two-count. An
exchange of strikes ended with Ruca regaining the momentum
for a moment. Jade stopped the attack tried for her DDT, but
Ruca fought out of it. Jade went for a running knee, but
Ruca dodged at the last second and went up for her Sol
Snatcher for the shocking victory.
(The match went by quickly, though we got a bit of an upset
with Ruca pulling off the win. With how involved Cora Jade
has been in the NXT Women’s Title picture, it seemed like
her qualifying for Iron Survivor was a given, so this is a
bit of a surprise.)
**********
– Backstage, Je’von Evans and Cedric Alexander were hyping
each other up for their Iron Survivor Qualifier matches
before the scene shifted to Karmen Petrovic and Dion Lennox
chatting about how Ashante “Thee’ Adonis is seemingly
flirting with Petrovic. Brinley Reece and Adonis himself
then appeared as Lennox suggested Petrovic and Adonis team
up next week in a mixed tag match.
Ava’s State of the NXT Tag Team Division
– Backstage, NXT GM Ava was with several NXT teams,
including Gallus, OTM, Hank and Tank, among others. She
challenged these teams to prove themselves worthy of facing
Fraxiom for the NXT Tag Team Championships. As the teams
argued with one another, Ava said this was the energy that
she needed to see, and that she wanted to see these teams
back it up in the ring.
Men’s Iron Survivor Qualifier: Wes Lee defeated Cedric
Alexander
As the bell rang, Lee and Alexander locked horns in the ring
briefly before the former backed off for a bit, much to
Alexander’s frustration. Alexander trapped Lee in a headlock
for a good while before his opponent forced him to the ropes
to break the hold.
Lee countered out of another Alexander headlock as things
began to pick up a bit with both men using their agility. On
the apron, Lee got caught in the middle ropes and got kicked
repeatedly by Alexander, which sent him outside. With a full
head of speed, Alexander soared to the outside with a
suicide dive onto Lee, which led us to break in the action.
We returned to the action with Alexander attempting a
comeback, but to no avail. Lee attempted for a Kardiac Kick,
but Alexander intercepted him with a dropkick to the head as
both men struggled to get themselves to a vertical base.
Alexander went on the attack with repeated chops to Lee’s
chest, followed by a Kitchen Sink knee strike.
Alexander and Lee faced off on the apron, as Lee got slammed
on the hardest part of the ring. Back inside, Alexander
caught Lee with a rollthrough DDT for a near-fall. Lee
recovered and struck Alexander in the gut before he
connected with the Kardiac Kick. 1, 2…. KICKOUT~!
Alexander flattened Lee with a clothesline, which sent his
opponent to the corner. Lee pulled out the middle turnbuckle
pad and threw it at Alexander, which allowed him to use it
as a distraction so he could hit Alexander with a cheap
shot. Lee sent Alexander into the exposed middle turnbuckle
before he put an end to things with the running Meteora.
(A good match that showcased Wes Lee’s willingness to play
dirty as part of his heel character and Alexander as the
cagey veteran wanting to put the cocky youngster in his
place. I enjoyed it.)
**********
– Tony D’Angelo was enjoying dinner as Shawn Spears and
Brooks Jensen paid the North American Champion a visit.
Spears said that D’Angelo built a hell of a Family since he
won the North American Championship, before he told D’Angelo
that he wanted Jensen challenge him for the NA Championship.
Spears said that the only thing that will satisfy his
“appetite” is D’Angelo’s championship before he left.
Outside, Spears and Jensen went in their car and spoke with
a bearded man (Niko Vance from NXT Level Up), saying that
what they did with D’Angelo was apparently how to “deal with
the Don”.
**********
– Backstage, Kelani Jordan was interviewed about her Women’s
North American Championship rematch later tonight. She said
that it’d be on sight with Fallon Henley as Jazmyn Nyx &
Jacy Jayne appeared to taunt Jordan about her chances
tonight.
Trick Williams speaks
The NXT Champion entered to a massive ovation from the
Performance Center crowd. Williams talked about how he was
an Iron Survivor success story, but that wasn’t what he
wanted to focus on. He wanted to talk about Ridge Holland
pinning him last week in Philadelphia, and how it won’t end
like that. Williams tried to call out Holland, but was
interrupted by Andre Chase.
Chase said that he wasn’t done with Holland, as Williams
praised him for his ability to bounce back and for doing
everything on NXT… other than be NXT Champion. Before
Williams could issue a challenge, Holland cut him off and
got a chorus of boos.
Holland asked why Williams dared to call himself a champion
for “ducking” him in favor of a guy he beat already. He
bragged about making the ECW Arena fall silent last week
when he pinned Williams as Chase challenged Holland for one
more match. Holland rejected it, even when Chase put up his
university up for grabs.
Williams says that he could see where this was going as he
told Chase and Holland that he was going to go see Ava to
have a match made for next week: Andre Chase vs. Ridge
Holland with a NXT Championship match at Deadline on the
line. Holland interjected by saying that he wanted Mr.
Chase’s relationships with Thea Hail, Riley Osborne, and
Duke Hudson gone if he won last night. Chase accepted thus
wager and promised to give Holland a “Chase University-sized
ass kicking”. Holland struck Chase with a cheapshot as
Williams responded with an attack of his own on Holland.
Chase and Williams stomped on Holland for a bit, which sent
him for a retreat.
**********
– We got remarks from Jaida Parker, who congratulated Sol
Ruca for qualifying for Women’s Iron Survivor. She promised
that she’d be the winner of that match at Deadline.
– Backstage, Josh Briggs was with Pro Wrestling NOAH’s
Yoshiki Inamura and GM Ava. Eddy Thorpe walked right in and
was informed that Ava placed him in an Iron Survivor
qualifier match against an unknown opponent.
Nikkita Lyons defeated Adriana Rizzo
As the bell rung, Rizzo and Lyons went right at one another
with an exchange of strikes. Rizzo had Lyons staggered in
the corner with a dropkick as she went up top for a dive
attempt. Lyons avoided it and caught Rizzo in a Master Lock
submission before she slammed her down ot the mat. She
maintained control of the match with another Master Lock on
Rizzo, who struggled to eventually escape the hold. Rizzo
roared back with repeated running elbows before she tried a
suplex to no avail. Rizzo eventually took down Lyons with a
running press for the near-fall.
Rizzo went up the middle turnbuckle and went for a diving
splash, but Lyons caught her and hit her karate kick before
she finished Rizzo off with the body press from the top
rope.
After the match, Rizzo struck Lyons with the tire iron to
the back.
(While this match wasn’t necessarily anything to write home
about, I do appreciate NXT having women’s feuds that aren’t
centered on championships, something that it holds over Raw
and SmackDown in that regard.)
**********
– Backstage, Andre Chase was confronted by his students, who
didn’t like the wager that was made earlier. Chase responded
by saying that his University was built on risks and that
next week would be the highest of highs for Chase U. Riley
Osborne, Duke Hudson, and Thea Hail didn’t seem too hopeful
for Chase’s chances next week.
– The “NXT Focus” showed a vignette on Zaria, who talked
about how she was a destructive force and how she thrived on
inciting chaos. She said that at Deadline, there would be no
more mystery as to who she was.
Men’s Iron Survivor Qualifier: Je’von Evans defeated Lexis
King
Things started off fast with Evans and King going back and
forth with arm drags and acrobatic dodges. Evans leapt over
King with a dodge as he went for a roll-up pin that was
unsuccessful. Lots of pinfall attempts traded between Evans
and King in this early stage of the match.
Evans leapt on the top rope for a springboard hurricanrana
on King, which forced him into a retreat. That was followed
up by a dive over the top ropes to the outside. Back in the
ring, Evans tried to leap over King, but got hit with an
inadvertent low blow by King’s noggin, which took us to
another break in the action.
Back on NXT with King locking in a single leg crab on Evans
for an all-too brief moment. Evans eventually bounced back
figuratively with a kip-up cutter on King, as he followed
that with a springboard splash for the incredibly-close two-
count.
High-risk move by Evans was missed, which opened him for a
superkick from King. Both men now in the middle of the ring
as they traded strikes. Evans caught King with an impressive
kick before once again heading up top for the frog splash.
King kicked out and responded with a Michinoku Driver for
another two-count.
King ran into a superkick from Evans, which led to his
springboard spinning splash and the one, two, three to
qualify for Iron Survivor.
After the match, King shook Evans’ hand in a show of
sportsmanship.
(I quite enjoyed this match and how fast-paced it was.
Je’von Evans in Iron Survivor could be one hell of a
showcase for him and he’s already thrived in the spotlight
given to him so far.)
**********
– NXT Tag Team Champions’ Nathan Frazer and Axiom were
chatting backstage. Frazer revealed to his partner that he
signed for an Iron Survivor Qualifier match of his own,
seemingly without Axiom’s approval. After Frazer walked off,
OTM and The D’Angelo Family faced off with one another as
Axiom was frustrated at his partner striking out on his own.
– Dion Lennox & Ashante “Thee” Adonis chatted amongst
themselves as Lexis King entered the locker room, frustrated
about losing another match. Hank & Tank and Dante Chen gave
King encouragement for his sportsmanship as Gallus rolled up
and began bickering with Hank & Tank.
Women’s North American Championship: Fallon Henley (w/ Fatal
Influence’s Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyx) defeated Kelani Jordan
The match kicked off with Jordan and Henley caught in an
extended lockup sequence that the referee eventually broke
up. Jordan took down Henley with a springboard armdrag, but
she missed with the dropkick, wich allowed Henley to take
control of the match.
Jordan bounced back with a dropkick that sent Henley
scurrying to the ringside area. The fight spilled in front
of the commentary table as Jordan leapt on top of the
commentary table and hit a standing moonsault on Henley,
which led to the final commercial break of the evening with
about 8 minutes of show left.
We returned to the main event as both Jordan and Henley took
each other down with stereo armdrags to one another. A
picture-in-picture popup briefly showed a couple of NXT tag
teams brawling backstage with referees scurrying to break
things up.
Jordan tried for her split-legged moonsault, but Henley
blocked it and got a flip DDT on the challenger instead.
Jordan trapped Henley on the top rope and ascended for an
avalanche Spanish Fly. 1, 2…. NO~! Henley avoided a Phoenix
Splash from Jordan and rolled up for the close two-count.
Jordan caught Henley with a standing backdrop, as she then
hit her split-legged moonsault. Jacy Jayne put Henley’s foot
on the bottom rope as Jazmyn Nyx attempted to run
interference. The chaos broke out as Jayne caught Jordan
with a cheapshot, which led to the Fame-asser from Henley
and a successful Women’s North American Championship
defence.
OTM rolled up to talk trash which led to the Family
attacking them, with Gallus and Hank & Tank joining in for
the wild brawl at ringside. Referees and security poured in
to try and break up the fighting, but we end the night on
the fight as the producer credits for Triple H, Lee Fitting,
and Shawn Michaels close out the show.
(A fine enough main event that seemed to be hampered a bit
by time constraints, but I still found it enjoyable. In
fact, this show was a breeze to watch from start to finish
and the build towards Deadline is looking quite fine.)
