SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT TV RESULTS
SEPTEMBER 10, 2024
WINTER PARK, FLA. AT THE CAPITOL WRESTLING CENTER
LIVE ON USA NETWORK
REPORT BY KELLY WELLS (@spookymilk), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
NXT Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor
Backstage Correspondent(s): Sarah Schreiber
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR POST-SHOW PODCAST
-There was a video hype package for the fairly loaded show. Giulia-Chelsea, Dempsey-Evans, the Jordynne Grace Open Challenge, Ridge Holland vs. Duke Hudson and Trick Williams vs. Pete Dunne for the #1 contendership (in that order) were all promoted. We got social media video from earlier today where Ava talked about the Rascalz not being able to compete (this seems like a storyline given Wes Lee’s online teases). We saw Trick Williams, Giulia, and Jordynne Grace (in separate brief videos) arrive earlier today. Jaida Parker lingered in the background of the Williams video, and I’m not sure if that was supposed to be significant or if she was placed there so it looked more like an organic arrival.
(1) THE STREET PROFIT$ (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. AXIOM & NATHAN FRAZER (c) – NXT Tag Team Championship match
Rather than the champions, the main roster team was introduced second. There was a “welcome back” chant. Vic mentioned that the first half hour will be commercial-free tonight, which is great for everyone except maybe a live recapper.
Ford and Axiom got started slowly. Ford hit Axiom with three waistlock takedowns. Rope run and an arm drag by Axiom, but Ford rolled through and snapped on a headlock, and smirked at the camera. Axiom escaped and hit a dropkick. Dawkins tagged in and blocked Axiom to the mat. Frazer tagged in and hit the same fate. Frazer ran the ropes with incredible speed and nailed a kick that put Dawkins outside, but Dawkins brained him with a right as he charged for a tope suicida. Axiom tagged in again and he and Frazer tried to cut Dawkins down.
Axiom and Frazer hit Dawkins with a series of kicks and strikes and worked him over slowly. Axiom tried to hold off a tag but Dawkins backdropped him. Both guys tagged and Ford nailed Frazer with a lariat. Ford and Frazer exchanged a few kicks. Ford caught Frazer and hit him with a uranage and Vic called it the Book End. Ford flexed and then hit a standing moonsault for two.
Both men tagged again and Dawkins pounced Ford into Axiom for a long two. They tried again but Axiom hit a rana, then superkicked Ford, tagged, and hit a frog splash. Frazer hit the 450 Splash right afterward for a long two. The champs hit high-low and covered, but Dawkins charged Frazer into the pile to break. Dawkins went high, but Axiom hit him with a kick to the head from the mat. Axiom hit a top-rope Spanish Fly, but Ford broke up the finish by knocking Frazer down. Ford hit Frazer with a blockbuster from the top. They were ready to finish but Tama Tonga raced to the ring and attacked Ford for the DQ. Jacob Fatu and Tanga Loa showed up and the Bloodline trio laid out both members of the Street Profits, and then laid out the champs for good measure. They posed together in the ring.
WINNERS: Either the Street Profits by DQ or a no-contest at 7:50.
(Wells’s Analysis: It’s not the first or last time I’ll say this, but when seasoned main roster acts show up, it really drives home how far everyone still has to go in developmental. Enjoyable match that we knew wouldn’t end in a title change, but we didn’t know how they would accomplish that)
-NXT Anonymous still exists, apparently. The social media account caught Tony D’Angelo handing cash to a hooded figure (also behind a window that completely obfuscated his identity) to take out Oba Femi later tonight.
-Giulia hype included some brief video of her work in Japan as well as a Japanese voice-over, leading to video of her pointing at the NXT Women’s Championship held by Roxanne Perez at the last PLE.
(2) GIULIA vs. CHELSEA GREEN
Chelsea backhanded Giulia, though it looked like it didn’t connect. Did Chelsea really just botch a slap? Giulia charged Green to a corner, then another, and hit a hip attack there and exploded out of the corner with a shotgun dropkick for two. Vic mentioned the actual names of the championships Giulia held in Stardom. The two ran the ropes and Green nailed a big boot. Forearm and a spiderweb by Giulia. Green fought her way to a rope to break, and Giulia rolled her up for two. Giulia charged Green with a knee, and Green rolled to the apron. The crowd booed her and she yelled “I wasn’t ready!”
Back inside, Green worked a headlock while on the top rope, and the ref broke it up at the count of four. Giulia walked to the center of the ring, likely setting up an electric chair, but Green broke free and hit a snap German on Giulia, then rolled her up for two quick two-counts. The two exchanged trap pins for two. Green tried a body scissors but Giulia struck her way free. Giulia hit a dropkick and a side suplex. Basement dropkick by Giulia. Green tried to bail but Giulia hit her with a cutter from the apron to the floor. Green entered the ring, then exited out the other side to escape to boos. Giulia followed her and Green tossed her into the announce table, then threw her over it.
Green took Giulia over to the ring and rolled her inside. Green went up for a missile dropkick. Giulia sidestepped it and hit a stiff knee. Giulia hit a Northern Lights Bomb to finish.
WINNER: Giulia at 6:53.
(Wells’s Analysis: Green seems like the person you use to get zero offense, but she mostly cheated to get what she got, so whatever. Giulia looked silky smooth as always. Green takes decent bumps but after all these reps, her offense is still…hard capped.)
-The interviewer whose name I should remember by now interviewed Trick Williams by the lockers, who gave a babyface promo laying out his mission statement and calling Pete Dunne “Butch” before he said he’d be the Last Man Standing.
-Via social media, Jordynne Grace gave an empty-arena promo about tonight’s Open Challenge. She said NXT needed to bring its best.
-Je’Von Evans and corner man Cedric Alexander entered ahead of the Heritage Cup match. As promised, the show went to 31 past the hour before the first commercial. [c]
-Vic promoted the CW two-week debut shows on October 1 and 8.
-Lexis King, in a barbershop getting his obnoxious facial hair done, said a fan put together a supercut of his greatest moments on social media. He even showed him cheating to pin Oro Mensah with his feet on the ropes. He took a look at himself in a mirror, and then Mensah charged and beat him down from behind.
-In the women’s locker room, Kelani Jordan helped Lola Vice spar and prepare for tonight. All three members of Fatal Influence showed up and got into Vice’s face. They almost came to blows but were held apart by the bevy of other young women.
(2) JE’VON EVANS (w/Cedric Alexander) vs. CHARLIE DEMPSEY (w/Myles Borne & Wren Sinclair) (c) – NXT Heritage Cup Championship match
ROUND 1: It got going slowly as the two worked a technical match early. Dempsey would work a lock and Evans met him at every turn, hanging onto a wristlock for probably a full minute. Dempsey escaped and Evans put it right back on. Dempsey charged Evans to a corner and put a knee into his midsection, then flipped him and hit him with a European uppercut. Dempsey tried a leverage pin and Evans put a shoulder up. Evans bridged and hit his own monkey flip and the two rolled through some moves as time expired. They were in one another’s faces but neither threw a cheap shot.
ROUND 2: Evans missed in the corner and Dempsey booted him down. The two picked up the pace and tried some big spots, but each man was able to reverse. Both men went for backslides, and Dempsey ducked and charged Evans into a corner turnbuckle. Dragon suplex by Dempsey scored the pin at exactly one minute into the round. DEMPSEY LEADS 1-0.
ROUND 3: The two broke to their corners before round three and the match went to split-screen. [c]
Action sped up for the last 45 seconds upon return to full-screen. Evans hit a twisting cross-body to score the pin at 2:49 of the round. TIED 1-1.
ROUND 4: Evans got in a leaping forearm and kept up the momentum. He hit a knee to the midsection and then a dropkick that put Dempsey out on the ramp side. He went for a tope suicida and Dempsey hit him with an uppercut. Second time we’ve seen that spot tonight. Back inside, Dempsey covered for two. Dempsey hit a neckbreaker and Evans sold the agony. Dempsey hit a second and covered for two. Dempsey worked a front chancery, trying to put Evans to sleep. He leaped up to add a body scissors, but Evans powered through and hit a suplex to break. Dempsey laid in some uppercuts but Evans did the same. Dempsey hit a double-underhook suplex and got two. Dempsey snapped on a chancery again and wouldn’t let go as time expired, and Cedric Alexander rushed in, drawing Myles Borne. Things settled down as they went to the next round.
ROUND 5: The two exchanged stiff-sounding shots. Dempsey wanted his double-underhook again but Evans escaped and nailed him. Evans hit a cross-body from the top but Dempsey rolled to the ropes. Borne helped put Dempsey’s leg on the rope. As the ref got into his face, Alexander sailed over and took Borne out. Evans dumped Dempsey, who went out off of a corner, and Evans hit a plancha over everything. Evans rolled Dempsey inside, but the returning Tavion Heights rushed and hit Evans with a belly-to-belly on the floor. He rolled Evans inside, leaving him prone to Dempsey’s cover and win at 2:08 of the round.
WINNER: Charlie Dempsey at a combined ring time of 11:57.
(Wells’s Analysis: A good match, though they’ve been promoting the fact that Heights would return tonight so he was conspicuous by his absence until he showed up. These two worked well together and the match was a lot of proof that Evans is more than just a spot machine and he’s starting to look like a star with his technical work also)
-There was a creepy video of doll heads, narrated by Rosemary and starring both Rosemary and Wendy Choo. It was keenly scripted but Rosemary’s voice-over was just okay.
-Oba Femi walked through the back ahead of his defense. [c]
-Sarah Schreiber interviewed Ethan Page about the main event, but he made it about himself. He wouldn’t commit to cheering for one man or another. He said Trick Williams won’t catch lightning in a bottle twice. He said that the person he was cheering for was himself, because all he has to do is pick up the scraps after the Last Man Standing match.
[HOUR TWO]
-On social media today, Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair committed to Shawn Michaels that they’d show up on the CW premiere episode of NXT on October 1st.
(4) Mystery Opponent HAMMERSTONE vs. OBA FEMI (c) – NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
(Alex) Hammerstone entered to a pretty decent reaction and a bit of a chant of his name. Femi took Hammerstone to a rope, where Hammerstone looked annoyed and pushed Femi with his fingers. Femi took offense and threw rights. Hammerstone hit Femi with a hip toss, then booted him in the face and went north and hit a missile dropkick. Hammerstone put Femi out of the ring with a lariat, but Femi chopped a charging Hammerstone to the mat.
Back inside, Femi hit some elbow drops and then a corner uppercut. Booker T said that Femi reminds him of Goldberg in terms of exploding on the scene. I really like Femi so I’ll withhold comment. Femi gorilla-pressed Hammerstone and covered for two. Femi dropped an elbow but Hammerstone moved. Femi missed Hammerstone with an attempted corner block as well. Hammerstone laid in some forearms, then ran the ropes and hit a leaping lariat. Belly-to-belly, and another, by Hammerstone. Hammerstone hit a chokeslam and covered for two.
Femi caught and tossed Hammerstone, then tossed him again. He hit his powerslam to finish.
WINNER: Oba Femi at 5:25.
(Wells’s Analysis: Though I don’t watch TNA, I’ve seen a decent amount of Hammerstone here and there over the years, mostly in MLW. This was a perfectly good use of the talent exchange, as Hammerstone is past the point where WWE would consider adding him to the roster but he can be a decent bit of stunt casting to add a little sizzle to a foregone conclusion)
-Stevie Turner and Robert Stone talked to Hank & Tank. Stone made promises to them about a match and they got excited and carried him out.
-As the shot continued, Duke Hudson, flanked by Riley Osborne and Thea Hail, gave a fiery babyface promo about giving Ridge Holland a Chase U-sized ass-whoopin’. [c]
-Back into the women’s locker room, Jordan, Sinclair and Vice talked about the coming night. Jaida Parker walked in with a baseball bat (she had the bat in her background shot at the beginning of the show, so maybe it was just meant to be an Easter egg) and she was looking for Fatal Influence. Vice tried to get them on the same page, but Parker said she wasn’t looking for help, she was looking for Fatal Influence. After she took off, Jordan tried to consider ways to get all three of them together.
(5) DUKE HUDSON (w/Riley Osborne & Thea Hail) vs. RIDGE HOLLAND
Slugfest to start. Holland took control in a corner but Hudson bounced out of the corner with a boot. Action spilled outside, where Hudson charged Holland’s head into the announce table. Hudson charged Holland legs-first into the steps. Back inside, Hudson leapt over the ropes and hit a German suplex. Holland started escaping to any side he could. Hudson wanted to hammer Holland with his trophy, but Hail took it away so he wouldn’t get disqualified. Holland charged Hudson into Osborne, and they removed Osborne for injury after he ran into the barricade, leaving just Thea out there in the corner.
Holland took over with power offense inside. The two then exchanged a series of reversals before each hit a forearm. Holland hit a cross-body awkwardly as they were right at the ropes. Holland hit the Redeemer to finish.
WINNER: Ridge Holland at 4:09.
After the decision was rendered, Holland kept up the beatdown. Hail screamed for him to stop as he tossed Hudson into a barricade, then used the busted barricade piece to beat down Hudson. He hit the Redeemer on the barricade. Hail cried and screamed some more as the story was about how Holland convinced Hail to believe in herself before he broke bad.
(Wells’s Analysis: I always think Hudson will get more time in there before he loses, but not this time. The segment got its minutes, though, as the story – you can’t call it a feud – simmers between Holland and Hail)
-Jordynne Grace walked backstage ahead of the Open Challenge. [c]
-Pete Dunne backstage promo. He revealed his eye injury from last night’s four-way on Raw. He said tonight after Trick Williams is hauled out on a stretcher, he’ll realize he just couldn’t figure out Dunne. He said he’s the Bruiserweight, and he’s NXT’s Last Man Standing.
-The Miz (who wasn’t appearing tonight) was announced as also being part of the October 1st NXT show.
-Recap of the Bloodline showing up after the opener.
-Wes Lee charged in and grabbed Vic’s headset. He revealed that he took out Trey Miguel ahead of this match (there may be a genuine injury, but they’re using it if so) and he said that he’ll finish it with Zach Wentz in a street fight on October 1st. Okay, there’s why Lee didn’t win the singles match they had already.
(6) JORDYNNE GRACE (c) vs. SOL RUCA – TNA Knockout Champion
“NXT/TNA” dueling chant; many were chanting both. Grace acted pleased with Ruca answering the open challenge, nodding and saying “Okay!” Grace overpowered Ruca early but Ruca charged her to a corner. Vic mentioned that the record for Knockouts Championship defenses is 17 and this would make 15 for Grace. Ruca dumped Grace and hit her with a standing moonsault. Back inside, Ruca hit a slingshot splash for two. The match went to split-screen. [c]
After some jockeying, Ruca escaped and went at Grace with combo punches. Ruca hit slingshot cross-bodies against both sides of the ring, then went up and hit another, but Grace rolled through and lifted Ruca. Ruca changed momentum and hit a DDT for two. Jordynne hit Grace Under Pressure for two. Ruca countered Grace’s finisher and rolled her up for two. Grace hit a backfist and took up Grace and hit her with an SOS. The lights went out, though, and when they came up, Rosemary and Wendy Choo attacked Grace for the DQ (or no contest).
WINNER: Jordynne Grace by DQ or No Contest at 9:00.
(Wells’s Analysis: I guess we’re going full protection mode tonight. They had something nice going when it became time to end it and work toward the tag team match)
-Backstage, Tatum Paxley was excitedly playing with dolls as Lyra Valkyria was weirded out. She said Paxley had so many cute little…coping mechanisms. Paxley accidentally took the head off of one of the dolls and said everything was falling apart. Valkyria said they’ll take the two weirdos on next week. It’s likely that this was pre-taped as Valkyria wouldn’t have had to travel in that case.
-Funaki translated as Ava congratulated Giulia on her first match. Roxanne Perez showed up and told Giulia she couldn’t just have her division. Funaki prepared to translate but Giulia said “I’ve got this,” then turned to Perez and said “I get it. You’re scared. You should be.”
-Brooks Jensen tried to ask Dion Lennox what he meant by gaslighting. Shawn Spears showed up and said he didn’t know why they were friends. Lennox took off. Spears continued to manipulate Jensen and…well, gaslight him.
-The scene continued. Ashante Thee Adonis jawed with Eddy Thorpe, who now had five PC women in tow (including Karmen Petrovic this time). Again they moved toward an imminent match.
-Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton will be in attendance next week. HBK, via socials, told him to be careful in the parking lot.
-Vic promoted next week’s show.
(7) TRICK WILLIAMS vs. PETE DUNNE – Last Man Standing match to determine Ethan Page’s challenger for the October 1st CW Launch
Alicia Taylor handled formal intros, a la a singles championship match. Action was hard and heavy early, but started at eight to the hour, so unless this is a bigger than usual overrun, this isn’t going to go the usual length of a Last Man Standing match. They spilled to the announcer side early, and Dunne beat Williams around the ring into the steps and the barricades. Williams turned it around and chopped Dunne against the barricade. “Whoop that Butch” chant. Williams took Dunne to an apron for a piledriver, but Pete deftly hooked a boot and hit a back bodydrop. Dunne stalked Williams as the match went to split-screen. [c]
Williams turned it around as the break ended and he hit some of his power stuff on Dunne. Uranage by Williams. Dunne bailed and suckered in Williams for a forearm. Dunne grabbed a chair and stomped Trick’s hands into it. Dunne leapt again but Williams moved and put the chair to Dunne. Dunne was down until an 8 count. Williams moved in and Dunne hit him with a snap suplex. Dunne slapped down at Williams a few times, then set up a chair between ropes in a corner and charged Trick into it. They went back outside and Dunne kept it up, using the steps against Williams. Dunne peeled back one panel of the mat and tried a suplex, but Trick blocked. After some jockeying, Dunne managed a DDT. Williams didn’t get up until the count of 9.
[OVERRUN]
The two went back into the ring. Dunne put down Williams again and got 9 again. Dunne charged in but Trick popped him up for an uppercut. Dunne quickly caught Trick with the Bitter End and got yet another 9 count. Williams ducked a chair shot and hit his own at Dunne went down for 9. Williams hit the Trick Shot and Dunne sold it like death until he popped up out of nowhere at 9.
Trick went outsid eand took th hood off of the barricade and set it aside against a barricade, and Dunne almost immediately snatched Trick and powerbombed him through it. Dunne took Williams through the crowd and to the perch, where he beat Williams with the piping there. The two teetered at the edge, where a table was set up below. Dunne set up a Russian leg sweep through the tables. The two took a moment to get into the right position on the dangerous spot, then busted through the table below to a muted “holy shit” chant (there have been several of those tonight). The referee counted both men down. Ethan Page showed up and tried desperately to get Dunne to get up, clearly favoring one opponent after all. At 8, it looked like Trick was going to get up, so Page charged him. Trick back-dropped Page through the announce table and stood tall to win the match.
WINNER: Trick Williams at 14:16.
(Wells’s Analysis: Indeed, that was brief for an LMS match, but on the long end for an NXT match in this era. The two worked a nice snug match that at times almost felt chippy in a real-life sort of way, but I think they were just performing at a high level. Page’s inclusion worked as well, as it proved he was all bluster and wanted no part of Trick Williams again)
-In Ava’s office, she got off the phone with someone and then announced to Stone and Turner that CM Punk would be in attendance next week, as he had something to announce about the show on October 1st. That appearance is a nice touch for NXT loyalists who go to all the shows, who may have felt slighted about the stunt casting on the traveling shows.
-They threw one more time back to the ring, where Williams continued to celebrate getting his rematch against Ethan Page.
FINAL THOUGHTS: A very busy show as they spent it promoting next week’s show, the October 1st show, and somehow managed to run seven matches equaling around an hour of ring time with a ton of short scenes to boot. It was a bear to recap, but outside of that, an enjoyable ride in general. Nate Lindberg and I will cover it on PWT Talks NXT in a few minutes. Check it out on YouTube tonight or stream tomorrow. Cheers.
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