SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT TV RESULTS
JULY 30, 2024
WINTER PARK, FLA. AT THE CAPITOL WRESTLING CENTER
AIRED ON SYFY NETWORK
REPORT BY KELLY WELLS (@spookymilk), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
NXT Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Backstage Correspondent(s): Kelly Kincaid, Sarah Schreiber
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR POST-SHOW PODCAST
[HOUR ONE]
-Hank & Tank said being hosts of Great American Bash would change the face of NXT, and the world. They did a silly heist movie sequence breaking into a secret area and turning on fuses. They made their way into the arena and the show got started. That was…different.
(1) LASH LEGEND & JAKARA JACKSON vs. ISLA DAWN & ALBA FYRE (c) – WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
The champs jumped the challengers during the formal introductions, robbing us of Mike Rome’s introductions. The champs controlled early as Jackson played face in peril. They cut off the tag and bumped Legend from the corner for good measure. Legend entered during a double-team and cleaned house, and assisted Jackson as she hit Dawn with a tope suicida as the match went to split-screen. [c]
Legend and Jackson got some near-falls shortly after the return to full-screen, but the champs cut it off with some double-teaming and after a schmoz, Legend and Fyre were left legal in the ring with Fyre controlling. She hit a tornado DDT for two. Tweets from Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill were shown – they said they were watching to see who their competition would be on Saturday – to cast doubt on this match’s finish. A nice touch although I doubt anyone gives the challengers a chance here. Dawn took out Legend on the outside while Fyre dominated Jackson inside. The champs hit their finisher on Jackson.
WINNERS: Fyre & Dawn at 9:55.
After the result, Ethan Page entered and ran down Meta-Four for coming up short. He said he hopes the ladies console Oro Mensah after his loss next week. The audience chanted “1, 2, 3.” Mensah rolled up Page as he moved in, and the two women acted as referees and counted another three.
(Wells’s Analysis: Decent opener with a lot of extracurricular action, so it had little flow after an early heat segment. It was a fine enough way to move toward the NXT Championship match next week)
-Earlier today, Shawn Spears stormed in on Cedric Alexander, who was trying to teach some young PC guys about the business. He talked about weak minds and Brooks Jensen showed up and yelled that he doesn’t have a weak mind. Spears held back Jensen and said this wasn’t the time.
-Hank interviewed Tavion Heights, who was sparring with the other members of No Quarter Catch Club. Heights put over his competition but said he was ready. Hank threw to Tank, who interviewed Tony D’Angelo with the Family, and Family responded in kind. It was a nothing segment, but made the championship seem important, I guess. The match is next. [c]
-Pete Dunne had a sit-down previously recorded segment. He said next week, he’s going to teach Trick Williams a painful lesson.
-Williams was shown watching the video. He said forget whoopin’ that Trick, he’s gonna whoop that ass.
(2) TONY D’ANGELO (c) (w/The Family) vs. TAVION HEIGHTS (w/Charlie Dempsey & Myles Borne) – NXT Heritage Cup Championship
Mike Rome was able to get through formal intros this time.
Round 1: The two locked up and the first minute was almost entirely grappling with nobody getting the upper hand. Heights wore American flag-inspired gear that actually managed to look patriotic without being gaudy. D’Angelo took down Heights with a headlock and held on despite a few escape attempts. Heights finally managed a reversl and he worked his own headlock. The two each went for gut-wrench suplexes as the match continued to establish that the men were perfectly equally matched. Time expired as they had both attempted a leg submission. Wren Sinclair was shown in the audience cheering loudly for No Quarter Catch Club, who she’s still trying to join. The match went to split-screen. [c]
The match returned with D hitting a superplex with no time to recover as time expired in the second round.
Round 3: Heights tried a powerslam but D changed momentum and splashed Heights. Very shortly afterward, D’Angelo hit Fuhgeddaboutit and got the first fall at 0:29 of the round.
Wren Sinclair charged into the ring and fired up Heights. She slapped him to motivate him and yelled that he had to do it.
Round 4: Heights came out firing and he hit his own finisher and got a fall about thirty seconds in. Tied 1-1. Outside the ring, NQCC were having a bit of a talk session about Wren.
Round 5: Back-and-forth action until Heights hit a double-underhook suplex for a long two. Heights missed a charge and landed in the ropes, and D’Angelo got in a few strikes and his own double-underhook suplex. A spinebuster followed, and he hit one more to finish. It’s so weird to see a person do a job to a spinebuster.
WINNER: Tony D’Angelo at about 8:30 combined ring time.
(Wells’s Analysis: The fire-up session and quick pin by Heights was pretty exciting, so it was kind of odd that D’Angelo got the duke so quickly afterward and they didn’t at least go to a round six. Decent enough hoss action as the focus was more about getting Wren Sinclair into a spot where she can be seen a little more)
-Fallon Henley, Jacy Jayne and Jazmyn Nyx whined about not being booked on X. Sol Ruca, Karmen Petrovic and Lola Vice all had their rebuttals on the platform as well.
-Brooks Jensen made his way to the ring wearing a Jimmy Rave shirt ahead of the next match. Vic said we wouldn’t miss any action, so it’s likely the bell will sound during split-screen. [c]
(3) CEDRIC ALEXANDER vs. BROOKS JENSEN
We were a minute or two in as the match went to full-screen. Alexander dropkicked Jensen from the ring and hit a tope suicida. Jensen reentered the ring first and he booted Alexander as he tried to enter himself. The crowd booed as Jensen went for some ground and pound. Shawn Spears walked to the ring slowly and watched from the ramp side, having his own issues with Alexander. Jensen put up Alexander in the tree of woe, elbowed the prone Alexander, and covered for two.
Jensen went to a headlock as the audience tried to get Alexander into it. Alexander freed himself and took down Jensen with a few ax-handles followed by a German suplex. Alexander hit a big forearm in the corner and a Michinoku Driver for two. The two went up in a corner and shortly after, went to the outside. Jensen slammed Alexander on the announce table, then tried to splash him on the desk and landed very badly on the legs. Alexander hit the lumbar check once they were back inside.
WINNER: Cedric Alexander in about 5:30 (opening bell during the break)
(Wells’s Analysis: Harmless diversion, but possibly not so harmless to Jensen once he landed so awkwardly on the table. Jensen’s heel turn thus far isn’t leading to victories)
-Je’Von Evans had a hype segment where he talked about watching wrestling at a young age with his parents. His mom loved John Cena and his dad was more of a Booker T guy. He said he told his teachers to suck it and he honed his craft on his neighbors’ trampoline.
-We saw Joe Hendry (from the back, so he can do his turn-reveal later) surrounded by a gaggle of adoring women before he headed out for his concert. After he walked away from the camera, we panned over and Ashante Adonis had shown up and had his arms around two of the women. [c]
-There was a bizarre Rascalz segment where they were having a bull session about magic. Zach and Trey suggested celebrating with a little “you know.” Wes Lee said absolutely not, since a little PG around here (the background was a green curtain, in case they weren’t laying it on thick enough. They all said they deserved another tag team championship because they never lost them in the first place. For some reason, there was a goofy laugh track. They said “While we’re waiting…” and then they each, in turn, put their hands over the camera.
[HOUR TWO]
-Joe Hendry was in the ring with a guitar. The audience was singing his theme song as he grinned. He welcomed everyone to the first Joe Hendry concert in NXT. He said he needed a song that almost everyone was going to love. He tuned up a bit. He played a song and sang that Joe Hendry makes things better for everyone in NXT. He had a line about the president of his fan club being Booker T, and on the tron, there was a graphic of Booker T photoshopped so he was wearing a kilt and tam. He sang that if you hate Gallus, wave your hand in the air. He said Joe Coffey was deported for having awful facial hair. For what it’s worth, Hendry can sing.
The audience gave him a pretty good ovation and he asked if they wanted an encore. They definitely did, so he set up another song. Of course, Gallus’ theme played and all three members hit the ramp. Joe Coffey called Hendry a one-trick pony and said if he hears the song one more time, Hendry’s in trouble. Hendry took a few shots at Coffey, but the three members beat him down in short order. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang held Hendry in place while Joe Coffey swung the guitar at his back. It didn’t break very much, so it was probably a pretty painful shot.
-Backstage, Hank & Tank talked with Roxanne Perez, who looked tiny next to them. She was annoyed as Hank challenged Tank to put as many post-it notes on his face as possible in a fixed amount of time. Perez told them to stop bothering her as she was getting ready for her title defense. Jaida Parker walked by and said “Yeah, a title you might not have after tonight.” [c]
-Oro Mensah and Ethan Page were across from one another at a table with Ava between them. It was another pre-recorded segment. Mensah mocked Page about the three-counts he’s been getting on him. Page said none of it counts and none of it matters. He said Mensah can’t and won’t beat him. He signed the contract. Mensah said Page might be the champion, but he didn’t respect him. He signed the contract as well.
(4) KENDAL GREY (w/Carlee Bright) vs. JAIDA PARKER
Bronco Nima and Lucien Price, as usual, walked Parker to the ramp but then headed back. The two locked up early and Parker smacked at Grey’s head dismissively in the corner. Grey took Parker down with an armbar, but Parker drove Grey to a corner. Quick reversals and jockeying for position until Grey took down Parker with an armbar, but Parker grabbed the hair and charged Grey to a corner, then hung her up over the top rope and peppered her with rights until the ref counted it down. Parker hit a suplex for two.
Parker worked an abdominal stretch for a good while, and there was a shot overhead – as from a drone – that was a little jarring as it’s an angle we don’t often see. Neckbreaker and a few back elbows by Grey. Myles Borne headed to the ring and jawed with Bright as Wren Sinclair tried to hold him back. Grey headed outside and gave Borne a double-underhook suplex. Back inside, Grey took down Parker for two. Parker hit a teardrop in the corner soon after, then slammed Grey and hit the drive-by hip attack for the win.
WINNER: Jaida Parker at 4:02.
(Wells’s Analysis: Parker continues to look an absolute natural at this. Grey, for her part, played the fired-up babyface extremely well and hey, it’s something for Borne to do)
-Back near the lockers, Ridge Holland fired up Thea Hail, which is an easy thing to do. He repeated the words “whatever it takes to bring it home” prophetically a couple of times as the rest of Chase University looked on, concerned.
-The heels for the six-woman tag made their entrance ahead of the next match. [c]
-Axiom & Nathan Frazer were talking with LWO, but they were speaking in Spanish so Frazer didn’t know what they were saying. Rob Stone and Stevie Turner tripped over one another trying to get the tag champions to sign a contract to face MSK. Axiom was all for it, while Frazer wasn’t so sure, as the team continues to have small disagreements.
(5) SOL RUCA & KARMEN PETROVIC & LOLA VICE vs. FALLON HENLEY & JACY JAYNE & JAZMYN NYX
Ruca and Henley opened. Henley tripped Ruca and surfed on her back mockingly. Ruca started lifting Henley so she stomped on her. Rope run and Ruca surfed on Henley next. Petrovic tagged in and went at Henley’s arm. Nyx made the tag and the two both tried to work the arm of the other. Petrovic got in a nasty kick on Nyx’s chest. Petrovic hit a back kick that showed a ton of light, then worked a bridge cravat submission briefly before an escape. Vice tagged in to cheers and she slammed Nyx, who scrambled for a tag. Jayne entered and the two went at one another with chops and palm strikes. The two exchanged rollups for two.
Petrovic tagged in again and she and Vice caught Jayne with tandem kicks to the chest and back. Petrovic worked Jayne’s arm briefly and Jayne made the tag to Henley. They went for a double suplex but everyone got involved and it was bonzo gonzo. Petrovic hit a tope suicida on Jayne and Ruca hit a Phoenix Splash on all three heels and the babyfaces stood tall as the match went to split-screen. [c]
Nyx had Petrovic controlled as face in peril upon return, but she jumped for the hot tag to Vice, who dominated Jayne when she tagged in and the others when they interfered. Once again, all six got involved and it was a total mess. They all did Vice’s “I’m a Latina” booty shake together and hit the heels in the corners. Fun. The illegal women spilled to the floor and Ruca hit a powerbomb on Henley for two. Ruca hit a back kick and went to the top, but Henley crotched her on the top and tagged Jayne, then Nyx. Yet again, all six got involved. “NXT” chant. For a schmoz? Really?
The ring didn’t clear quickly and the mess got worse before it got better. Ruca and Nyx were legal and eventually they paired off. Petrovic made a tag and cut down Nyx with kicks, then hit a big karate strike for two. Nyx hit a Pele kick and tagged Jayne, who hit a big forearm, and then Henley hit her finisher on Petrovic for the finish.
WINNERS: Henley & Jayne & Nyx at 12:53.
(Wells’s Analysis: A total mess for about a third of its runtime, with a few pretty rough spots that didn’t connect, but when it cooked, it really cooked. Energetic stuff here with some room for improvement)
-Tatum Paxley once again tried to get Kelani Jordan to play with dolls, but she tried forcefully to let her down. Paxley exited the scene, but Wendy Choo was looming in the background watching as Jordan briefly checked out the dolls. Jordan asked “What are you looking at?” and ran off. [c]
-Joe Hendry talked to an unseen interviewer outside as he left the building. He said Gallus was driven by jealousy and Joe Coffey is at the wheel. He said he’s there to prove he can hang with the best, and next week, he’s going to prove he can hang with anyone and he’s going to kick Joe Coffey’s ass. Big pop for that.
-Hype for next week. Oro Mensah vs. Ethan Page for the NXT Championship, Trick Williams vs. Pete Dunne, Joe Hendry vs. Joe Coffey, Kelani Jordan vs. Tatum Paxley for the North American Championship, MSK vs. Axiom & Nathan Frazer for the Tag Team Championship.
(6) THEA HAIL (w/Chase University) vs. ROXANNE PEREZ (c) – NXT Women’s Championship match
Mike Rome handled formal introductions. Vic mentioned that this is the youngest NXT Women’s Championship match in history. Didn’t they face each other for the championship before? (Seriously, I’m asking. No memory anymore)
Lots of reversals and evasions in the early going. Hail finally hit a big suplex that sent Perez from the ring. Hail hit a moonsault to the outside and she was right next to the NXT Women’s Championship (which was sitting on a podium on the ramp side) as the match went to split-screen. [c]
Hail had Perez rolled up for a near-fall when we returned. Vic said a women’s championship hadn’t changed hands at this event for over a decade. Perez took over on offense and she shoved and smacked Hail’s head as she was grounded. Hail fired up and hit some cross-bodies and a neckbreaker. Scoop slam and a rolling senton by Hail. She missed a springboard senton and Perez rolled her up with a crucifix for two. Perez transitioned to a crossface and Hail rolled to safety and spilled from the ring. Perez hit a tope, then rolled Hail inside. Perez took the time to mock all the men of Chase U and Hail hit her with a tope of her own. Back inside, Hail got in some strikes and a Michinoku Driver for two.
[OVERRUN]
Perez went for Pop Rox and Hail escaped, then snapped on the Kimura Lock. Perez transitioned beautifully to a crossface, and Hail transitioned just as nicely back to the Kimura. Once more Perez reversed, and Hail powered to her feet and slammed Perez. Back senton got two. The crowd was out of its mind at this point. Perez messed up the ring apron and the ref fixed it; while he was doing so, Perez went to the eyes. Hail was still able to charge Perez into a corner. Hail went for the Kimura lock and Perez rolled until both spilled from the ring. Perez charged Hail into the steps.
Back inside, Perez went to the crossface once again. Hail rolled her up for two and went to the Kimura again. Perez teased a tap and transitioned to the crossface. Hail crawled to the rope and Perez kicked off, then hit Pop Rox to finish. She immediately grinned her evil grin. There was no post-match angle as the show went off the air at 6 past the hour.
WINNER: Roxanne Perez at 11:20.
(Wells’s Analysis: By a long shot, the match of the night. Hail has come so close on enough occasions that there will be a huge reaction if she ever seals the deal and wins the NXT Women’s Championship. She’s the perfect underdog babyface that the company clearly wanted Roxanne to be, but it turns out Roxy is much more suited to a snotty heel role, despite her diminutive size.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: Well, it was Great American Bash, which isn’t the hugest of compliments. Every year, they go to this show for two “very special” episodes of NXT and there are a ton of championship matches that don’t result in any title changes (though I’d say MSK has something of a shot next week). There wasn’t a lot of story movement here as they were in PLE-lite mode, and the matches were mostly just okay outside of a very strong main event. I will say on the positive side that the overhead camera they employed a few times was pretty great, though, and provided a look we haven’t seen much in wrestling. Whether or not they consider it something worth keeping will be interesting to see. Check out PWT Talks NXT as Nate Lindberg and I will break it down further. Follow the link at the top or stream tomorrow. Cheers.
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