The show opens with a recap from last week, featuring
highlights of the women’s combine.

Kiana James is hyping up Izzi Dame in the locker room, ahead
of Dame’s match tonight. James says she is going to run
Monday Night Raw, after being called up recently. James then
says Dame will run NXT. James tells Dame to go out there and
win her qualifying match. Dame then leaves, heading for the
ring.

Sol Ruca is also heading to the ring, and what an entrance
she makes. Ruca cuts a total babyface promo into the camera
just before she enters through the curtain. Ruca then walks
on her hands as she enters the sound stage at the
Performance Center in Orlando. Unique entrance to say the
least.

Sol Ruca defeated Izzi Dame in a NXT Women’s North American
Championship qualifying match

The first to qualify for the championship ladder match, Ruca
won via pinfall. The match was good by the end, and they had
a great flashy finish.

The match itself starts off clunky, but it improves greatly
to end with a hot finish. Ruca gets launched outside the
ring, and then thrown hard onto the announce desk. The big
bump outside the ring was among the many wild bumps Ruca
took in the match. She is worked over by Dame, until Ruca
makes a fiery comeback. Dame cuts her off, just before the
go home.

For the finish, an Irish whip sends Ruca into a corner. Ruca
springs off the ropes to catch a charging Dame in a
headscissors. Ruca then flips inside out to deliver a
cutter. Called a Soul (or maybe “Sol”) Snatcher by the
announcers, it was a great finish out of nowhere. Ruca hooks
a leg and covers Dame for a three count. Ruca now advances
to the ladder match.

After a good match comes some bad community theater. The
D’Angelo Family meets with NXT GM Ava in her office. “The
Don” was fined $2,000 by the GM. Ava is paid off in a large
envelope. Tony D says it is all there, “and then some.” He
tells Ava she can maybe spruce up the office. As far as
tonight goes, D’Angelo insists to Ava there should be no
“funny business” in the Heritage Cup match later on.

Malik Blade & Edris Enofe are in the locker room. Blade is
pumped up, but Enofe is skeptical since he has a stretch of
bad luck lately. Enofe even has a rabbit’s foot for luck.
Brinley Reece burst into the room, and she is hyped for
them. She tosses the rabbit’s foot aside, and says to go get
the “W.” Good luck with that.

Shayna Baszler is on NXT again, this time for an interview
alongside Lola Vice. Sarah Schreiber interviews them.
Suddenly, Karmen Petrovic and Natalya attacks Baszler and
Vice. The interview ends with a pull-apart brawl.

OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price with Jaida Parker) defeated
Edris Enofe & Malik Blade (with Brinley Reece)

Enofe drops the fall, as his run of bad luck continues. In
this match, he almost loses his boot.

The match goes through a commercial break, after Parker and
Reece gets into a brawl at ringside. The two team leave the
ring to separate the two women, who wrestle next week
against each other in a qualifying match. Things settle
down, only for a flare up when the show is back from the
break.

Referees and officials pour out to ringside, trying to
separate Parker and Reece. Soon thereafter, Enofe gets
ragdolled in the ring and double teamed. Enofe’s boot is
super loose, which would play into the match.

Hot tag to Blade, and he begins to clean house. High cross
off the top on both of OTM, and Blade is pumped up. He
quickly tags out to Enofe, but his boot is barely hanging
on. Blade signals for a double team finisher. Before they
can, Blade is booted over the top rope with a kick by Nima.

Enofe tries to fight off Price, but Enofe’s boot is falling
off. He eats a superkick instead. OTM hammer Enofe into the
mat with a double team spinebuster. Nima then covers Enofe
for a pinfall. OTM win in a dominate manner.

Wacky skit in the trainer’s room, as Dar is not cleared to
wrestle tonight after an alleged sneak attack. Lash Legend
is not worried about them, she has a match up next. She
storms off, headed for the ring.

Another wacky skit, this time in the men’s locker room. Tag
teams are the focus. NXT Tag Team Champions Nathan Frazier &
Axiom are confronted by The Good Brothers, while Frazier &
Axiom are talking with Ridge Holland. He has words with Karl
Anderson & Doc Gallows. They challenge Holland to a tag
match tonight.

Lash Legend (with Jakara Jackson) defeated Ivy Nile in a NXT
Women’s North American Championship qualifying match

Legend is the second to qualify for the championship ladder
match, after Legend pinned Nile to win this match.

Legend works an arm early on, as she targets Nile’s
shoulder. The fight spilled outside at one point. From
there, Legend slams her on the floor, and also slames her on
the ring apron. Nile counters Legend, and Nile begins a
comeback. High cross back into the ring, and Nile is firing
up. Legend soon cuts off Nile, but Nile fights back.

They set up and execute an avalanche bulldog. Legend teases
a chokeslam as the two are perched on the ropes, but Nile
counters into a super bulldog off the top. Legend kicks out
for a near fall. Nile had executed a tilt-a-whirl earlier in
the match. Legend blocks the second attempt. Nile reveres
into a submission hold, catching Legend in a Dragon Sleeper.

Nile is near the ropes with the hold locked in, and Jackson
grabs at Nile’s feet. Nile lets go and dropkicks Jackson,
but the distraction allows Legend to recover. Legend plants
Nile into the mat, and Legend follows up with a pump kick.
Legend then pins Nile.

In a backstage interview, Je’Von Evans denies attacking Noam
Dar.

Newcomer to NXT television, Carlee Bright asks Ava for a
match against Lola Vice. Ava grants her wish for later
tonight, as Ava notes how well Bright did in the combine.

Je’Von Evans defeated Oro Mensah (with Jakara Jackson & Lash
Legend)

Evans pinned Mensah in an exciting match. NXT Champion Trick
Williams comes to ringside during the match for an
interaction with Legend, when she tries to cheat. It would
be the only live appearance of Trick on this episode.

Evans is a human highlight reel. He is cut off and sent
outside the ring as the show cuts to a commercial break. The
fighting only intensifies after the break. After a slugfest,
Evans springboards into a Diamond Cutter. Mensah rolls out
of the ring before Evan can capitalize. Evans follows up
with a big dive over the ropes.

Mensah looks to be trouble again, leading Legend to get a
metal folding chair from underneath the ring. Before she can
do anything with the chair, out comes NXT Champ Trick
Williams. He questions what Legend is doing. Meanwhile,
Mensah is pummeling Evans.

Back-and-forth in the closing moments, as Evans fights back.
Double springboard by Evans into a tornillo press. Evan then
scored a three count on Mensah.

Kelly Kincaid interviews Charlie Dempsey, ahead of his match
tonight defending the Heritage Cup against challenger Tony
D’Angelo. His crew jumped Myles Borne and Damon Kemp last
week, hurting them bad enough they could no wrestle tonight.
That left Dempsey alone to defend the Cup, without the
benefit of the Catch Clause.

Wes Lee is heading to the ring for a monologue. Lee gives a
heartfelt speech about his desire to return in NXT. When Lee
is seemingly at a loss for words in expressing his gratitude
to the fan base, he is interrupted by NXT North American
Champion Oba Femi. Since no monologue in NXT can go
uninterrupted, out comes the champ to confront Lee.

Femi insists he is impressed with Lee. Femi touts Lee’s
accomplishment in returning to NXT. Femi’s tone shifts more
sinister. Femi says Lee has taken it far enough, as now is
time to sit back and watch Femi take the title to new
heights. Lee may have the heart of a warrior, but Femi
insists he is an actual warrior.

Femi proclaims himself the ruler, the destroyer, and the
bringer of war. He is the mountain Lee cannot climb, and so
on. Femi tells Lee to prove he deserves a title shot.

Lee responds by saying that Femi checks all the boxes on
what makes a superstar. As Lee is talking, he is interrupted
again. This time, it’s Ivar of the Viking Raiders. Ivar says
everyone is excited to have Lee back, including Ivar
himself. Ivar empathizes with Lee, noting they have the same
spinal surgeon. Ivar says he had to fight his way back when
he returned from surgery, and Ivar wants Lee to do the same.

Ivar begins to challenge Lee to a match, when they are all
interrupted yet again. Out comes Josh Briggs, and he cuts a
promo on everyone being so emotional. Briggs notes he and
Femi stole the show in their last meeting, and Briggs wants
to run it back.

Femi says everyone has a good arguments. Lee insists that
Femi book a triple threat, since he is the “ruler’ and all.
Femi acts like he is making his own decision, only to book a
triple threat number one contender’s match for next week.
That is later made official.

A teaser of some sort has someone snoring. Cannot tell who,
as it is only audio. Then an alarm sounds, and the show
returns from commercial break.

Lexis King is being a jerk again in a backstage skit. Jaxmyn
Nyz enters the scene, looking to get people to sign a get
well card for Jacy Jayne. No one wants to sign it, except
King. He clearly only does it to hit on Nyz. As he leaves,
Nyz reads his inscription. King mistakenly refers to “Jacky”
instead of Jacy. Nyz in turn refers to King as an idiot.

Ridge Holland & Riley Osborne (with Andre Chase, Duke Hudson
& Thea Hail) vs. The OC (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows)

Anderson pinned Holland, after a miscue where Osburne hit
Holland with a springboard dropkick.

The story going into the match is Holland trying to gain the
trust of Osborne, thus teaming with him tonight. Osborne
would go on to cost Holland the match.

For much of the match, Good Brothers work over Osborne. They
are cut off when Osborne fights back. Hot tag to Holland,
and he throws the heels around with power moves. Holland is
a house of fire, and he saves Osborne in the closing moments
of the match.

As they go home, Holland has Anderson ready for an Alabama
slam. Osborne springboard off the top rope with a missile
dropkick. Inadvertently or maybe on purpose, Osburne hits
Holland. Anderson then rolls up Holland for a three count.

Lola Vice (with Shayna Baszler) defeated Carlee Bright

Bright is a cookie cutter babyface, even down to the music.
She even got to shine some, but not for long. Vice
eventually cut off Bright with a superkick, and Vice
followed up with a spinning back fist. Vice then pinned
Bright.

Vice and Baszler look to attack Bright more after the match.
Natalya’s theme music blares, and in she runs alongside
Karmen Petrovic. A melee ensues. Nattie and Petrovic clear
the ring, and they challenge Vice and Baszler to a tag match
next week on NXT. That is later made official for next
Tuesday.

In a backstage skit, Riley Osborne shakes hands with Ridge
Holland.

Matches announced for the next episode include:

Thea Hail vs. Fallon Henley in a NXT Women’s North American
Championship qualifier
Jaida Parker vs. Brinley Reece in another NXT Women’s North
American Championship qualifier
Wes Lee vs. Ivar vs. Josh Briggs in a number one contender’s
triple threat match for a shot at the NXT Men’s North
American Championship
Shayna Baszler & Lola Vice vs. Karmen Petrovic & Natalya
Tony D’Angelo (with Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, Luca
Crusifino & Adriana Rizzo) defeated Charlie Dempsey to win
the NXT Heritage Cup

D’Angelo captures the Heritage Cup after winning two rounds,
including the final round. Dempsey won a round, but he
ultimately dropped the final fall. Thus, he dropped the
title. His cohorts in the No Quarter Catch Crew would run
during the match, but to no avail.

D’Angelo wins the first round, after catching Dempsey with a
victory roll. A subplot in round one is D’Angelo outsmarting
Dempsey in a grappling contest, and “The Don” goes up one
fall to nothing. While they would grapple at a times in the
later rounds, the first round looked much more like the
technical wrestling seen in past Heritage Cup matches. The
rest of the bout was much more pro wrestling than grappling.

Too bad much of the second round took place during a split-
screen commercial break. Joined in progress after the
commercials, time runs out on round two shortly thereafter.
Dempsey has D’Angelo trapped in an arm bar, but time
expires. “The Don” is saved by the bell.

Dempsey wins the third round, after targeting an arm.
Dempsey works D’Angelo’s arm. D’Angelo fights back, and they
trade near falls with roll-ups and such. That played off how
“The Don” scored the pin in round one. On the latest attempt
in round three, Dempsey is able to kick out and fight on.

Demspey is on the ropes when he sidesteps a charge. D’Angelo
crashes into the post, and Dempsey executes a German suplex
with a bridge. Dempsey is able to score a pinfall with the
bridge, evening the score at one fall apiece.

No falls in the fourth round. Dempsey continued to work the
arm, and Tony D tries to fight back. Comeback by D’Angelo as
time expires to end round four. Although D’Angelo delivers a
Ron Simmons spinebuster, he is unable to make a cover quick
enough as time expired to end the round.

As the fifth round begins, Myles Borne and Damon Kemp run
in. They are in tattered clothing, selling the kidnapping
and beating from last week. They brawl with the D’Angelo
Family at ringside. Borne is in the ring with D’Angelo, and
“The Don” backdrops Borne out of the ring.

Near fall for Dempsey in the closing moments, with an
O’Connor Roll and a bridge. D’Angelo goes on to counter
Dempsey and execute Forget About It (twisting fisherman’s
buster). D’Angelo then covers Dempsey for the deciding
pinfall. D’Angelo wins the fifth round to capture the
Heritage Cup. Not much time to celebrate, as it’s TO THE
BACK!

Cut to the back like this an old episode of TNA (from those
really bad years), and there was some sort of ambush. Bodies
are strewn around. Wes Lee, Ivar, and Josh Briggs are all
laid out. Gallus reveal themselves as the assailants, and
the show goes off the air with their return as the
cliffhanger.

• F4wonline