NXT is recorded before a live studio audience in a sound
stage at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

The show opens with NXT General Manager Ava standing at a
table set up in the ring. She mentions two important dates
for NXT in the coming weeks, which are the shows on the road
for the first two weeks on CW.

Ava announces hip-hop artist Sexyy Red returns to NXT in St.
Louis. That is not her only surprise announcement for the CW
debut. Randy Orton is set to wrestle in NXT for the first
time on the show in St. Louis on October 8.

Besides plugs for the upcoming shows on CW, Ava is in the
ring for a contract signing. Trick Williams challenges Ethan
Page for the NXT Championship on Oct. 1 in Chicago, and
tonight they sign the contract.


Trick Williams enters the ring for the contract signing, but
first he cuts a promo. He is hurting and still in pain from
his match last week, “but Pete Dunne is still a “Butch.”
Williams was the “last man standing” in their match, and on
October 1st, NXT fans will be chanting “whoop that trick” in
Chicago.

NXT Champion Ethan Page interrupts the chants, and he mocks
the crowds. Page mimics Trick dancing, and the crowd chants
about the way Page is dressed. Page keeps cutting a promo as
he enters the ring and takes a seat at the table along with
Trick.

Williams accuses Page of “stealing” the championship. That
angers Page so much he takes off his sports coat as he rises
to his feet. Page gets in Trick’s face and cuts a heckuva
promo where he vows to defeat Trick and retain the NXT
Championship. Then, Page does the silly “N-X-Me”
catchphrase.


Trick responds with a promo of his own, where he says the
“N-X-Me” era is over. As Trick is responding, Page attacks
him. Page then sends Trick crashing through a table with a
Razor’s Edge. Page screams that Trick will not even make it
to Chicago.

Neither sign the contract, which is noted by Vic Joseph on
commentary. That will likely play into the story later on,
or at least it should.

Skit from last week shows Tony D’Angelo getting into an
argument with Hammerstone. This sets up a match between the
two for this week.

In a backstage skit, Je’Von Evans “shoots his shot” and asks
Ava for a match on the CW debut episode. Ava will think
about it.


Tatum Paxley & Lyra Valkyria defeated Wendy Choo & Rosemary

Paxley pinned Rosemary to win the match. I guess this is
NXT’s spooky division. Maybe they get their own spooky
championship. Heaven knows another title is just what we
need.

Valkyria & Paxley worked well together, as they are now
pals. If you ignore much of their back story, this makes all
the sense in the world. They were in control as the match
cuts to a commercial break, but Choo & Rosemary regained the
advantage when the show returns from the break. Hot tag to
Valkyria, and she runs wild.

Paxley takes a super belly-to-belly off the ropes from Choo,
and Paxley is then speared by Rosemary. She goes to cover
Paxley for a pinning attempt, but Paxley gets a foot on the
rope. Valkyria pulls Choo out of the ring to break up a
double team attempt from the spooky heels. Choo eats a spin
kick from Valkyria. Paxley then executes her finisher on
Rosemary in the ring. Tag to Valkyria, who jumps off the top
rope with a guillotine legdrop on Rosemary. Paxley then
covers Rosemary for a pinfall.


In a backstage interview with Sarah Schreiber, both Trick
Williams and Ava say the contract for the title match must
be signed tonight.

In a skit at the dojo of the No Quarter Catch Crew, Charlie
Dempsey tells Wren Sinclair she needs to prove herself like
everyone else in the crew.

Hammerstone defeated Tony D’Angelo via count-out

After dropping a fall in match last week, Hammerstone gets a
win on NXT television this week, albeit by count-out. This
all plays off “The Don” hiring Hammerstone for a bounty, but
Hammerstone lost.

Hammerstone makes a comeback in the match, and D’Angelo
powders. The Family pleads with “The Don” to get back in the
ring, but D’Angelo instead walks out on the match. He is
counted out by the referee, awarding the match to
Hammerstone. NXT North American Champion Oba Femi is seen
watching on a monitor, and Femi smirks as he says that
D’Angelo is broken.


Zachary Wentz jumps over the barricade and he gets into the
ring with a microphone. Wentz has footage shown of Wes Lee
attacking and injuring Trey Miguel in a parking lot ambush.
Wentz then cuts an impassioned promo on Lee ahead of their
street fight in Chicago.

Pro basketball player Tyrese Haliburton is backstage in
Ava’s office. Halliburton is confident he will get the
contract signed for the title match. Stevie Turner is not
sure he can, but Robert Stone takes up for Halliburton and
puts him over. Halliburton then big leagues Stone, making
Stone look like a geek. No one got over in this segment.

In a backstage interview, Fatal Influence cut promos on Lola
Vice and Jaida Parker. Meanwhile, Parker and Vice exchange
unpleasant words about each other in the locker room.


Eddy Thorpe defeated Ashante “Thee” Adonis

They have a father short match, given how well both can go.
Adonis takes most of the offense, and goes on to drop the
fall. Adonis does a tornillo splash off the top turnbuckle
to the floor. Adonis goes to follow with a high cross in the
ring, but no one was home. Thorpe then delivers an implant
DDT, and Thorpe covers Adonis for a three count. I am
hopeful they are now going to push Thorpe, but they have
disappointed me with that several times in the recent past.

CM Punk is seen walking into the building. He is up “next”
on NXT at the top of the hour.

What is actually up next is a video package. It shows Thea
Hail and Riley Osborne reflecting on Ridge Holland’s heel
turn on Chase U. Osborne and Holland meet in a singles match
next week.


CM Punk enters the sound stage, as the studio audience goes
wild singing “Cult of Personality” during his entrance. Punk
gets into the ring to address the audience. Punk handled
some “business” last night on Raw so he would not be in a
good mood tonight on NXT.

Punk goes to say to put over the crowd, and he says this is
his first time being the NXT ring surrounded by of the NXT
fanatics. Punk then kills the “first time” gimmick by saying
he used to try sneaking in to watch the NXT show while
recovering from an injury. Punk says he recognized some in
the crowd as having been here every week, and they say him
watching the show despite Punk trying to sneak around. The
studio audience then chants “we saw you” at Punk.


Punk keeps putting over the show by saying how much loves
watching it. Punk says he is also doing some scouting
because he knows one day he might face some of these NXT
talents in a ring. Punk mentions several people before he
mentioning he has shirts older than Je’Von Evans.

Punk says he talked to Shawn Michaels, and Michaels says
Punk can go whatever he wants on the show. Punk is then
interrupted by the entrance of NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne
Perez. She is looking at her wristwatch during her entrance,
which is an obvious nod to Punk.

Perez apologizes for interrupting Punk, and she promised not
to interrupt for long. She rants for big on Giulia before
Perez says 13-year-old her would be freaking out. Perez puts
over Punk as an inspiration for her, but Perez says she
always preferred Punk’s wife. The studio audience chants for
AJ Lee.


Perez goes on to say she waited so long for Punk to return
in WWE. Perez then heels on Punk by saying she should have
been a Drew McIntyre fan. Perez tells Punk to stay home at
the NXT debut on CW. Perez adds that Chicago will be her
town after he defeats Giulia.

Perez keeps cutting a promo on Punk, as he asks if can
respond. Perez tells him she is not done yet. Perez cuts a
promo on Giulia.

Punk finally responds with some encouragement. Punk says
Perez has a chip on her shoulder like Punk had on his
shoulder. That is what made Punk the best in the world, and
that is also what makes Perez the best not only in NXT, but
all of WWE. Punk talks about how Perez could succeed in WWE,
but none of that matter if Giulia beats Perez in Chicago.


Speak her name and she appears, as out comes Giula to
confront Perez. Giula tells Perez the countdown is on, and
Perez has only two weeks remaining as champion. Giulia turns
to leave, and Perez goes to attack her. Punk stops Perez and
holds her back. Giulia then wags her finger in the face of
Perez.

NXT North American Women’s Champion Kelani Jordan cuts a
promo on Fatal Influence in an backstage interview. Wren
Sinclair interrupts looking to make a name for herself
(which plays on an earlier skit). Sinclair slaps Jordan
across the face, and Sinclair flees.

The Family is worried about Tony D’Angelo, and he finally
breaks. D’Angelo says he is afraid of Oba Femi, and “The
Don” is not confident he can beat Femi. What a fantastic way
to build a challenger.

Cedric Alexander & Je’Von Evans defeated No Quarter Catch
Crew (Myles Borne & Tavion Heights with Charlie Dempsey &
Wren Sinclair)

The tag match goes through a commercial break. Heat on Evans
as he is worked over. Hot tag to Alexander. When the tide
turns again, Evans has to jump in to break up a pinning
attempt. Not long thereafter, Sinclair runs down to attack
Sinclair at ringside. The women fight their way off the
sound stage. Borne is distracted by the goings on at
ringside, and he is given a backstabber. Evans follows up by
springboarding into a tornillo splash on Borne. Evans then
covers Borne for a three count.

A tweet from Randy Orton is shown on screen, in which Orton
announces his match on NXT will be against Je’Von Evans.

Ridge Holland cuts a promo on Riley Osborne and company.
Meanwhile, Brooks Jensen is heading for Gorilla. Shawn
Spears wishes Jensen good luck, and Jensen in turn asks
Spear to be in his corner.

Brooks Jensen (with Shawn Spears) defeated Dion Lennox

Jensen pinned Lennox after a DDT. Lennox got some offense,
but this match was more about getting Jensen over. Jensen
put on Lennox glasses at one point to mock Lennox, which
fires up Lennox. He was a cleaning house when he sees Spears
grabbing her the glasses. Lennox steps on his foot, before
saying, “Not today!” Jensen counters a schoolboy, and then
Jensen delivers a DDT on Lennox. One..two…three.

In a video clip posted in X, Wes Lee cuts a promo where to
takes credit for injuring Trey Miguel. Lee goes on to cut a
promo on Wentz ahead of their street fight.

Lola Vice defeated Jacy Jayne (with Fatal Influence)

Fallon Henley interfered by grabbing Vice’s leg, while
Jaxmyn Nyx distracts the referee. However, that backfires on
the heel trio after Jayne turns around and walks into a back
fist from Vice. A three count later, and Vice has pinned
Jayne.

Henley and Nyz jump into the ring to attack Vice for a post-
match beat down. Jayne joins in as the heel trio stomp on
Vice. Jaida Parker runs down to make a save. Parker cleans
house and clears the ring of the heel trio. Vice gets to her
feet and she confronts Parker. They have a pull-apart
argument. Unlikely partners do not get along. What an
original story on a wresting show?

Adrianna Rizzo gives Tony D’Angelo a pep talk, and they hug
afterwards.

Tyrese Haliburton is in the ring holding the title match
contract in one hand and a microphone in the other.
Haliburton says he did not come along, and he brought
reinforcements of his own. In the front row are teammates of
Haliburton from the Indiana Pacers. The studio audience boos
them, which I thought was hilarious. Haliburton then heels
on the crowd by insulting the Orlando Magic. More boos. The
Haliburton cameo is going rather well, don’t you think?

Trick Williams comes out to join Haliburton in the ring.
Trick tries puts over Haliburton, but the studio audience
boos again.

Out comes NXT Champion Ethan Page, and he joins Haliburton
and Williams in the ring. Trick signed the contract as
Page’s entrance.

Page gets into the ring, and Page cuts a promo likening
himself to the Boston Celtics (who won the NBA title this
year). Page continues his promo by ranting and yelling at
Trick. Page then signs the contract.

Haliburton says that is all we have, before he turns back
around to say he forgot something. “Hit the music..”

CM Punk enters the sound stage again for his advertised
announcement. Punk reveals that he will be special guest
referee for the NXT Championship match in Chicago where
Williams is challenging Page for the title.

Punk says the only rule is they have to listen to the
referee, and he says they can start fighting now. Williams
and Page must have listened, because they proceed to have a
pull-apart brawl. They are being separated as the show goes
off air.

• F4wonline