NXT is recorded in front of a live studio audience at the
WWE Performance Center in Orlando. While practically a lame
duck episode before the move to CW, it feels more like a go-
home show. The episode opens with a title match.


NXT Women’s North American Champion Kelani Jordan defeated
Wren Sinclair (with Charlie Dempsey, Tavion Heights & Myles
Borne)

Jordan pinned Sinclair after a split-legged moonsault. This
was a fun opener.

The match goes through a split-screen commercial break.
Before the break, Sinclair was working over Jordan. The
champ makes a comeback, and Jordan wipes out Sinclair on a
tornillo splash just before the show cuts to commercials.
They wrestle through the break, and Sinclair is in control
much of the way. She has Jordan in a headscissors as the
show returns from the commercial break.

Jordan begins another comeback, while also selling her ribs.
Jordan lands on her feet when missing a splash, and Sinclair
targets the ribs. Sinclair is seemingly on a roll with
suplexes, until she is caught by an O’Connor roll. Sinclair
kicks out, which sends Jordan sailing outside the ring.
Jordan lands on the floor in front of the No Quarter Catch
Crew. They taunt Jordan at ringside, and Sinclair goes for a
high cross off the top. Jordan moves, and Sinclair wipes out
Borne and Heights instead. Jordan rolls Sinclair back into
the ring, and Jordan lands a kick. After a split-legged
moonsault, Jordan covers Sinclair for a pinfall. Jordan
retains.


A video package plugs to the move to CW. Video clips show
Trick Williams and Shawn Michaels doing local and national
media to plug the debut on CW.

NXT Champion Ethan Page is at a worked press conference. He
answers a few questions, but Page cuts his time short. Page
says he is going to talk with CM Punk. After a commercial
break, Punk makes an appearance on the show.

Punk is in a locker room talking with Je’Von Evans. In walks
Trick Williams, and Evans excuses himself to leave. Williams
talks with Punk, and they compliment each other. Punk tells
Trick he knows Page will try to cheat, and Punk is there to
keep both Page and Williams from cheating in their title
match. Punk says he is there to see who is the best man, and
Punk vows to not play favorites.


The Grayson Waller Effect with the NXT Tag Team Champions

Grayson Waller & Austin Theory are in the ring surrounded by
props for The Grayson Waller Show. Waller insults the crowd
before introducing the tag champs. Waller dubs them
“Fraxiom” during his introduction. The champions sit down
with Theory & Waller for a talking segment.

Waller & Theory look to tease dissension between Frazier &
Axiom. The champs turn the tables and try causing dissension
between their challengers. Frazier asks why Austin Theory’s
name is nowhere in the title of “The Grayson Waller Effect.”
Theory mulls it over a moment, and Theory takes the bait.
Theory begins to question it, and Waller changes the subject
with a cheap shot on Frazier. Axiom comes to his partner’s
defense, and Theory waylays him. A-Town Down Under beat down
the champions, and the challengers pose with the title belts
while standing over the champions.


Lexis King and Oro Mensah were in a blood feud, but King
comes to Mensah to talk instead of fighting or blindsiding
each other. King tries relating to Mensah by empathizing
over their late fathers. They shake hands, with King saying
may the best man win tonight. So much for the blood feud.

Ashante “Thee” Adonis is in the women’s locker with a rose.
He tries to hit on some of the women wrestlers, but they all
turn him down.

Hank Walker & Tank Ledger defeated Karl Anderson & Luke
Gallows

Ledger pinned Gallows to win the match in an upset for the
upstart team. Hank & Tank go over clean, and this win should
help them get over.

The Good Brothers have a competitive match, before they put
over the up-and-comers. Just before they go home, Hank takes
a superplex from Anderson. Gallows follows up by giving Tank
a spinebuster on top of Tank. A moment later, Good Brothers
go for a tandem move, but Tank pulls Anderson out of the
ring. Hank counters Gallows, and Hanks lifts him into a
powerslam. Tank spears Gallows as Hank delivers the power
slam, and Tank covers Gallows for a three count. Hank & Tank
score an upset.


Oro Mensah (with Jakara Jackson & Lash Legend) defeated
Lexis King

They match itself was decent enough, but the storytelling
going into this was odd. A segment earlier in the show
cooled off the heat between these two. King has apparently
turned over a new leaf, after they were in a blood feud in
recent weeks. King shoved Mensah out of the ring at one
point, but King sold like he was remorseful for a moment.
Later in the match, something similar would cost King. He
went to put his feet on the ropes for illegal leverage. King
stopped himself, and King insists he will not win that way.
Mensah then catches King in a roll-up, and Mensah puts his
feet on the ropes for leverage. Mensah scores a pinfall to
win the match.


Ridge Holland defeated Riley Osborne (with Thea Hail)

Osborne ambushes Holland during his entrance. Osborne takes
the fight to Holland, and they get into the ring to start
the match. Holland still has his robe on as the bell rings
to start the match.

Osborne has some cool moves, but he plays the underdog here.
They set up a stunt where Osborne sends Holland crashing
through the barricade around ringside. Osborne goes to
follow up with a high risk move off the top, and Holland
gets his knees up. Osborne then lands on his feet to counter
the counter. They run through a few more spots before
Holland catches Osborne with an implant DDT. Holland then
covers Osborne for a pinfall.


Hollands jumps Osborne after the match, and Holland teases
hitting Osborne with a section of the barricade. Thea Hail
gets involved by yelling at Holland. That distracts Holland
while Osborne goes to spring off the ring steps with Air
Sabu. Security and referees pour out to separate Osborne and
Holland. The pull-apart ends a chaotic scene.

In a social media post, Miz announces Tony D’Angelo and NXT
North American Champion Oba Femi are his guest next week for
MizTV. This is ahead of their title match in two weeks. A
video package hyped the title match between Femi and
D’Angelo, and Femi is seen at a press conference. He answers
a few question before leaving, and another press conference
is cut short.


Wes Lee and Zachary Wentz are supposed to have a talking
segment after a commercial break, but they get into a fight
before the show comes back from commercial. They were
waiting for the segment to start, where each is in a
separate room for an interview segment on the face, like the
old “Face-to-Face” segments on Superstars back in the day.

Lee and Wentz cut promos and curse each other. That leads to
Lee insulting Wentz’s family, and an enraged Wentz leaves
the interview to go find Lee. They meet in a backstage era,
and they proceed to have a pull-apart brawl.

Vic Joseph and Booker T as the commentary team take time to
thank USA Network for the last several years of NXT. The
announcers throw to a video package that highlights the
years of NXT on USA with video clips.


Lola Vice and Jaida Parker are both called to NXT GM Ava’s
office. Vice and Parker bicker, before Ava announces she
booked them as a team in a match against Fatal Influence.

Wendy Choo & Rosemary defeated Karmen Petrovic & Brinley
Reece

Heat on Reece, which would seemingly build to a hot tag.
However, out comes Ashante “Thee” Adonis with a rose.
Petrovic leaves her corner as Reece is crawling for the tag,
and Petrovic confronts Adonis. Reece cannot tag out, and she
falls victim to Rosemary’s finishing move. Rosemary then
covers Reece for a pinfall.

NXT Champion Ethan Page confronts CM Punk in a backstage
skit. Punk insists he will not let either Page or his
challenger (Trick Williams) cheat in their title match. Punk
basically says he will call in right down the middle.


The Fatal Influence trio takes part in the worked press
conference. They will have Freebirds’ rules for the upcoming
match next Tuesday. Parker and Vice barge in looking to
fight, but they are held back by security.

Grayson Waller & Austin Theory defeated Je’Von Evans &
Cedric Alexander

Thoery pinned Evans to win the match. They had a good match,
and the tag champs (Axiom & Frazier) get involved during the
match. Evans drops another fall, despite him supposedly
getting a push.

Evans is cut off from his corner, and he is worked over by
A-Town Down Under. Alexander is sent crashing into the
barricade, so he is unable to help Evans. Alexander is down
on the floor selling as Evans is being worked over in the
ring. Double-team and tandem moves from A-Town Down Under.


Evans makes a comeback as he fights back. Alexander rejoins
the fighting, leading to a hot tag. But it was more like a
mild tag, as Alexander is soon cut off. The hot tag would
come later. Alexander counters. leading Evans & Alexander
each doing a dive to the outside. From there, the show cuts
to a split-screen commercial break.

When the show returns from commercials, Alexander is being
worked over by the heel team. Hot tag and Evans is a house
of fire. Evans runs wild, and he does dive outside the ring.
A springboard by Evans sets up a near fall.

As the fighting spills outside the ring, Waller sends
Alexander crashing into the ring steps. NXT Tag Team
Champions — Nathan Frazier & Axiom — suddenly storm their
way to ringside. Frazier goes to confront Waller, and Axiom
tries to stop his partner. Waller then shoves Axiom into
Frazier, and they both take a bump on the floor.

Back in the ring, Waller goes for a signature move. Evans
counters and prepares to launch himself off the top rope.
Frazier gets involved again, much to the chagrin of Axiom.
Frazier jumps on the apron, and Axiom pulls him off. In
doing so, Frazier shakes the top rope. That causes Evans to
lose his balance. Waller then plants Evans with a finisher.
Theory tags in, and he does his own finisher on Evans.
Theory the covers Evans for a pinfall. Sure, the challengers
needed to look strong ahead of their title match, but did
Evans have to lose yet another fall. Oh, and this is the
last NXT match on USA, but the show is no over yet.

Trick Williams does the worked press conference gimmick. He
answers a few questions. The “final portion of the press
conference” is in the ring for a face-to-face meeting
between NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez and her
challenger, Giulia. They are seen heading to the ring before
the last commercial break on the show.

Perez and Giulia are in the ring at separate tables. Giulia
is joined by Funaki, who translates for Giulia. Byron Saxton
host this worked press conference, and Saxton takes
questions about the title match. Giulia answers in Japanese.
Not only does Funaki translate, there are also subtitles on
the screen. Then, it was Perez’s turn to answer a question.

Perez cuts a heckuva promo on Giulia, and Giulia responds in
both English and Japanese. Suddenly, Stephanie Vaquer
appears “via satellite” to interrupt the press conference.
The live studio audience pops as Vaquer basically says he
facing the winner of Perez vs. Giulia. That is the final
cliffhanger on the last episode of NXT on USA Network, at
least until the next television deal. See you all next week
on CW.

• F4wonline