WWE NXT live results: Tony D’Angelo vs. Ricky Saints
Former WWE NXT Champion Ricky Saints will take on hopeful future challenger Tony D’Angelo in the headliner for tonight’s WWE NXT on The CW.
This came about as D’Angelo was gunning for a title shot against Joe Hendry, but Saints got involved instead.
The next challenger for the men’s North American title will be determined in a gauntlet match featuring Jackson Drake, Dion Lennox, Shiloh Hill, Charlie Dempsey and a mystery entrant. The winner will challenge Myles Borne at Stand & Deliver.
After winning the Women’s Speed title last week, Wren Sinclair will team with Kendal Grey against Fatal Influence’s Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid as Grey is targeting NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne.
In a tournament match to determine the number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team titles, The Culling battle Eli Knight & Elio LeFleur.
Following a backstage skirmish, Thea Hail will go one-on-one with Kelani Jordan.
Our live coverage begins at 8 pm Eastern.
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– Following the Then, Now, Forever signature, we went right to the WWE Performance Centre before a recap of last week’s episode from Houston, Texas was shown.
– Backstage, we saw Mr. Stone chatting with Shiloh Hill, as Tatum Paxley asked him where her NXT Women’s North American Title was, as well as Blake Monroe. Paxley left with Shiloh, who was on his scooter. Meanwhile, a referee appeared and tried to get Stone’s attention for an important matter.
WrenQCC (Wren Sinclair & Kendal Grey) vs. Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid) (w/ Jacy Jayne)
Henley charged at Sinclair early, but got taken down instead. Henley got the advantage soon enough in the cornerf with stomps, but got reversed into an early pin attempt by her opponent. Henley got hit with a spinning kick from Sinclair, as she quickly recovered and taggged Reid in. The Fatal Influence duo shelled Sinclair with consecutive elbow drops, but Sinclair fought back. Meanwhile, we got a picture-in-picture inset during the match of Mr. Stone checking in on Eli Knight and Elio Lefleur down and out backstage after being beaten down by mysterious assailants.
Back in the ring, Sinclair got blasted with a kick by Henley, as she quickly recoered with a floatover double underhook suplex. Henley tagged in Reid, who took down Sinclair with a modified Blockbuster while Henley had a hold of Sinclair. This led to a commercial break.
We returned from break as we learned that Eli Knight & Elio Lefleur were taken to medical attention after the backstage attack. Bringing attention back to our match at hand, Sinclair hit Grey with an enzuigiri as she reached out to Reid for a tag. Reid dodged an attempted strike from Grey, which opened her up for a back body drop from Sinclair. Reid finally entered the match and held her own against Grey and Henley for a bit. The Fatal Influence duo soon took advantage with a double team on Reid, before Grey hit a modified ushigoroshi on her opponent. Sinclair broke up the count to keep this match going.
Grey tried for that ushigoroshi again, but Reid reversed and hit a nice spinning elbow instead. Grey found herself trapped in Reid’s armbar while Sinclair locked in the Final Wrench on Henley to keep her from interfering. Grey tapped out to win this match.
After the match Grey called her shot against Jacy Jayne, but Lola Vice appeared and instead said that she’d be the one to be the NXT Women’s Champion. NXT General Manager Mr. Stone soon showed up and declared that next week in New York, we’d see Kendal Grey vs. Lola Vice, with the winner going on to face Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Title at Stand & Deliver next Saturday.
WrenQCC def. Fatal Influence via submission
This was a decent opener for tonight’s show. The scheduled Grey vs. Vice match for next week’s NXT should prove to be an interesting encounter to watch.
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Sol Ruca’s face-to-face with Zaria
Ruca was already in the ring and said that she has seen everything that Zaria had to say on social media, telling everyone who would listen. Ruca said that she thought that she and Zaria were stronger than this, but she found out how Zaria thought she wasn’t worth standing next to her anymore.
Ruca talked about how she stood beside her as a friend, every time after every spear, after every snarky comment. Ruca discussed about Zaria didn’t want a team, she just wanted a moment, and that when she got that moment, Zaria decided to take her out instead. Ruca said that she genuinely believed that she and Zaria were better together, which is why she took every opportunity given to them. Maybe that’s where she went wrong, according to Ruca. She gave Zaria her spot in a women’s title battle royal, vouched for her in a TNA Knockouts championship match, and let her fight for her NXT Women’s North American Title.
Ruca said that while it was clear she was fighting for her and Zaria, it was clear that Zaria was simply just fighting for herself. Ruca said that she now knows what Zaria is, and it was time to ftake her on at Stand and Deliver.
Zaria appeared and provided a rebuttal. She accused Ruca of stealing the spotlight, stating that Ruca only saw her as nothing more but a “partner” in her shadow. Zaria said that hitting the spear and F5 was a liberating feeling. And it was fitting that Ruca wanted to fight her at Stand and Deliver, because that’s where it’s started and it’s where it will end.
Zaria yelled that Ruca chose the Women’s North American Championship over her last year at Stand and Deliver, which she hated greatly. Zaria said she hated seeing Ruca succeed, because it meant that she’d stand behind her former friend as a result. Zaria said that she cared enough to realize that as long as Ruca stood, she wasn’t going to herself. Zaria pointed out that this isn’t wasn’t about Ruca, but being about caring about only her interests.
Ruca got upset at Zaria’s gaslighting and silent treatments just because she didn’t get opportunities, then accusing her of being the villain in her story. Zaria corrected Ruca, declaring her not to be the villain of her story, but nothing more but a mistake.
I find this feud having no true heel/face dynamics and it being treated as a realistic breakup (or as realistic as a wrestling storyline can get anyway) between friends. The Performance Center crowd siding with either woman adds to this. Hopefully the presumed Stand & Deliver match between Ruca and Zaria delivers.
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– Ricky Saints & Ethan Page argued about who would be the NXT Champion, which annoyed Josh Briggs. Page uttered that between him and Saints, he was the one who pinned Joe Hendry, which brought out the man himself. Hendry said that he doesn’t care which one he’ll face, or if it’s Tony D’Angelo, he’d handle either one of them at Stand & Deliver. After Hendry left, Saints and Page continued to argue amongst themselves.
Kelani Jordan vs. Thea Hail
This match got underway with chain wrestling between Jordan and Hail before the latter hit a Lou Thesz Press. Jordan caught Hail’s leg and began hitting her with punches to the face. Jordan then followed that with an overhead suplex for a two-count. Jordan smashed Hail’s head against the turnbuckle twice, but the third attempt was block before Hail gave Jordan a taste of her own medicine.
Hail struck Jordan in the corner and tried for a suplex, but that was block. Jordan escaped a standing armbar from Hail with a slam, but she got caught in it once more. Jordan broke it up by throwing her into the middle turnbuckle before connecting with an X-Factor. Jordan then got the victory after a Rob Van Dam-style split-legged moonsault.
After the match, Jordan continued the attack on Hail before she locked in an arm bar on her. Jaida Parker ran in and went after Jordan and sent her to a retreat.
Kelani Jordan def. Thea Hail via pinfall
Kind of a short match, which makes it really hard to judge on its own merits or lack thereof. Hail did show some nice fire, but it was ultimately for naught. The Jordan vs. Parker feud should prove to be a hard-hitting one.
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– We got remarks from Jasper Troy about what Keanu Carver did last week in his attempt to ruin Booker T Appreciation Night. Troy said that he and Carver would face off next week in New York and he promised to make Carver pay for what he tried to do with Booker.
– Backstage, Shiloh Hill was talking with Tatum Paxley, telling her that he put a picture of Blake Monroe through some tracking software, apparently having a tutorial of some sort for that. Hill gave Paxley the supposed info about Monroe’s whereabouts before leaving for the Gauntlet Eliminator Match that was coming up next.
Gauntlet Eliminator Match (#1 Contender for NXT North American Championship): Shiloh Hill vs. Dion Lennox vs. Jackson Drake vs. Charlie Dempsey vs. ???
Hill entered first before the commercial break, with Jackson Drake being the man he would face first in this Gauntlet Eliminator.
Drake applied a headlock on Hill, but got hit with a running shoulder block. Drake attempted a neckbreaker, but Hill countered that into an attack on the arm. Drake recovered and dropped him on the top rope with the guillotine. With Hill stunned, Drake hit a knee drop to the head and maintained control of this match early on. Hill recovered, but got hit with a standing Russian leg sweep from Drake. The former Evolve Champion soon found himself hit with consecutive tilt-a-whirl slams from Hill.
Entrant #3: Dion Lennox
Lennox stormed the ring and hit Hill and Drake with spinebusters to take command of the match as the match headed to a commercial break.
Entrant #4: Charlie Dempsey
The Birthright’s patriarch entered during commercial, as he took over in the match as we returned. He had Lennox locked in a submission, with Drake and Hill soon joining in a train of sorts. Lennox escaped, but it was Hill who got control with scoop slams a-plenty. Dempsey trapped Hill in a modified STF that was broken up by Drake. Dempsey and Drake brawled it out in the ring, while Hill was thrown into the barricade by Lennox.
Lennox entered the ring and hit a double German Suplex on Dempsey and Drake. While Dempsey and Lennox fought, the final competitor was set to enter. The voice of Candice LeRae was heard, stating that she had tried everything to snap a certain someone out of a funk, and maybe it took a place that he called home… and the final entrant, as we’d find out, is Johnny Gargano!.
Entrant #5: Johnny Gargano
Gargano seemed confused but the WWEPC crowd chanted for him before entering the ring. Drake kicked Gargano as he entered, which seemd to knock him out cold. Dempsey took down Lennox with a triangle choke, but was lifted into a sitdown powerbomb. Drake kicked Lennox out of the ring, which left him at the mercy of OTM, who laid Lennox out with a curbstomp into the broken barricade. Lennox was thrown into the ring, as Hill hit his finisher, a back suplex into a neckbreaker to score the first elimination.
Dion Lennox has been eliminated
We returned from the commercial break as Dempsey and Hill had Drake locked in a simultaneous leg lock that got broken up as the two began trading blows. Meanwhile, Gargano was still out cold on the apron as Drake leapt over the top rope to take both Hill and Drake out with an amazing dive. In the ring, Drake connected with a 450 Splash on Hill, but that wasn’t enough to get the elimination. Dempsey entered the ring and attempted a German suplex, but Drake landed on his feet. Drake clotheslined Dempsey out of the ring as he then hit a suicide dive on the follow-up. Drake tried for a leap, but got caught in the finisher of Hill, which got him the three.
Jackson Drake has been eliminated
Dempsey stepped back into the ring and and began to mix it up with Hill, as he connected with a Northern Lights Suplex, followed by a double underhook Suplex. Dempsey attempted a back suplex, but he found himself with Hill’s finishing move to get the elimination. Afterwards, The Birthright assaulted Hill as Stacks Lorenzo and Uriah Connors threw him into the steel stairs. Dempsey hit a German Suplex on Hill, who was then thrown into the ring. With Hill left beaten, Gargano stood up and was pushed by LeRae, which was counted as a pinfall win.
Johnny Gargano wins the Gauntlet Eliminator to become No. 1 Contender for the NXT North American Championship
The actual gauntlet match was pretty fun, and the finish was a bit ridiculous, but oddly fitting for the rather ridiculous world of NXT.,
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– Robert Stone was a busy, busy man as a referee complained that nobody wanted to officiate the Jasper Troy vs. Keanu Carver match next week. Stone said he’d think of something. Jaida Parker rolled up and wanted to face Kelani Jordan next week, Stone then booked the match for next week.
– OTM were backstage as we found out that we’d see them and Darkstate in a six-man tag match next week in New York. TNA World Champion Mike Santana was revealed to be the partner of OTM in this big six-man tag match.
NXT Tag Title Contenders Tournament: Shawn Spears & Niko Vance vs. Los Americanos (Rayo & Bravo Americano)
El Grande Americano’s two charges were revealed as the replacement for Elio & Eli after their winning effort against The Vanity Project last week.
Bravo started out against Spears in this match with a tie-up in the middle of the ring. Bravo broke out of an arm wrench from Spears and hit an arm drag as she showed off. Spears taunted Bravo by flexing his derriere, and got a dropkick in response. Rayo tagged in as Vance entered for his team. Los Americanos’ attempt at a double team was overpowered by a double clothesline from Vance. Rayo chopped at Vance’s chest, but that did minimal damage to the area. Bravo blind tagged in as their attempt at a double team finally succeed against Vance with stereo kicks. Bravo took out Spears with a dive, as Rayo tried one of his own. Vance caught him, but Bravo assisted with the suicide dive to bring Vance to his knees. We took a break in the action.
WWE SmackDown recapper. Former NXT PLE/WWE Saturday Night's Main Event/fill-in recapper.