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NXT TV RESULTS
SEPTEMBER 24, 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: Mike Rome
Backstage Correspondent(s): Sarah Schreiber
Check out the latest episode of “PWT Talks NXT” with Kelly Wells and Nate Lindberg discussing this episode, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
–(1) KELANI JORDAN (c) vs. WREN SINCLAIR (w/No Quarter Catch Crew) – NXT Women’s North American Championship
Jordan slapped Sinclair early as a receipt for last week’s slap that set this up. They went to early reversals and Jordan took the early advantage on the mat. Sinclair slammed Jordan’s head into the mat after a rope run for two, then slapped on an armbar. Jordan used the ropes to reverse and the two exchanged near-fall rollups. Jordan hit a dropkick that put Sinclair outside and she hit a twisting plancha heading into split-screen. [c]
Sinclair had Jordan in a head scissors on the mat. Jordan escaped and they reversed until Sinclair had a brief abdominal stretch. They ran the ropes and Jordan blocked Sinclair. Sinclair, when she’s missing a lariat because Jordan ducks, is very slow to nearly the point of unintentional comedy, which is odd since so much of her offense is so smooth. Jordan went up and missed from the top but rolled through. Wren hit a gut-wrench suplex and NQCC got excited on the outside (other than the taciturn Charlie Dempsey). There was a rollup and Wren pushed Jordan to the outside with all of NQCC. Tavion Heights and Myles Borne got in her face, baiting her for a plancha, but Jordan moved and Wren hit the two of them. Back inside, Jordan hit a back kick and then hit the split-legged moonsault to win.
WINNER: Kelani Jordan at 9:45.
(Wells’s Analysis: The two are good and getting better all the time, other than Wren’s slow missed lariats and Kelani constantly calling spots to her opponent fully on camera, even more so than most wrestlers. Good stuff and I hope it gets run back when they’re both even better than they are now)
-There was a (worked) press conference ahead of the move to CW. Ethan Page was first and he put over Trick Williams while also dismissing him, and he said that CM Punk would be a non-factor in Chicago next week.
-The announcers briefly promoted the Roxanne Perez-Giulia match next week, then promoted the Grayson Waller Effect, up next. [c]
-Austin Theory and Grayson Waller were introduced for the Grayson Waller Effect. There was a “Welcome back” chant and Waller, ever the pro, shut it down by saying “that is so cringe – I don’t care what you think and I can’t wait to leave.” Theory said they were the greatest graduates in NXT history. They put over their main roster accomplishments and then introduced “Kurt Cobain and a Power Ranger,” Nathan Frazer and Axiom.
Waller joked about the champs’ attire which was amusing since he, Theory and Frazer all had similarly-styled pre-ripped jeans. Waller threw dust in the Axiom/Frazer house by saying they were having issues, and the champs clapped back by saying they watch SmackDown every week waiting to see which of them backstabs the other. Waller kept laying it on, saying it would be a relief when he and Theory win the championships because Axiom and Nathan Frazer are better singles wrestlers. Axiom named all the teams that they’ve beaten that left the brand, saying they became the “grim reapers of NXT.”
Theory said that each Friday, no matter who it is, they’re putting people down. He told the champs to understand there are “levels to this game.” Waller concurred, saying they perform in front of the biggest crowds, and they’ll “give them the rub” when they finally meet in the ring. Frazer said “I have a question: why is it only the Grayson Waller Effect?” He said Theory’s name should be part of it. Theory said that was a good idea. The heels teased dissension but it was a ruse as they threw fists at the champs and left them laying two weeks ahead of their meeting.
-Earlier today, Lexis King stepped into the Meta-Four lounge (Noam Dar remains out with injury). King tried to psychoanalyze Oro Mensah and said he looks to violence because of his lack of a father figure. King bumped up against the line and said “My father wasn’t around at all, but he would want to be proud of me, so let the best man win.” They shared a tentative handshake and Mensah told King to be sure his father would be proud. Perhaps of note, Brian Pillman’s name still isn’t being said, though they know most of us know.
-Hank and Tank fired up ahead of the next match. [c]
-Ashante Thee Adonis tried to hit on Brinley Reece, who looked like she spent the entire week in a tanning booth. She rebuffed him and mocked him for losing last week. Karmen Petrovic said that was harsh. Adonis tuned his attention to Tatum Paxley, who said her heart belongs to someone else.
(2) HANK WALKER & TANK LEDGER vs. LUKE GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON
Gallows & Anderson had an inset promo, but they played a bunch of replays at the same time, and the replay audio largely drowned out the promo. Whoops.
Gallows & Anderson dominated Hank early with basic team offense until Tankmade the tag and the two fired up like the second coming of the Hype Bros and sandwiched Gallows. Anderson briefly interfered to allow Gallows the upper hand. Anderson tagged in and kept up the offense with whips and headbutts. Gallows tagged in and went at Tank with kicks and then a chin lock. Gallows & Anderson were wearing camo shorts, and somehow the cutoff shorts made them look much leaner. Anderson in particular looked very small compared to what I’m used to. Hank tagged in and hit Anderson with a Bossman Slam for two. Gallows interfered briefly and Anderson hit a superplex. The two teamed up for a spinebuster and Anderson covered for two. Gallows tagged in and the heels attempted a Magic Killer, but Hank tripped up Anderson, then held him at bay as Tank scored the pin. Again, there was no post-match to give anything to Gallows and Anderson. They’re just jobbers to the stars right now.
WINNERS: Hank & Tank at 4:50.
-Je’Von Evans and Cedric Alexander talked ahead of Evans’ match against Randy Orton in two weeks. He put over Orton as one of his favorites ever. Waller and Theory showed up and wondered why he was talking about the match when he had no chance. Evans pretended he saw Kevin Owens behind the two of them to mess with them.
-Lexis King entered ahead of the next match. [c]
(3) ORO MENSAH (w/Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson) vs. LEXIS KING
King kept up the probable ruse before the match, making with another handshake. Early reversals led to a slam and an exploder suplex by Mensah. King got into it with some chops as we got a (silent) inset of Ava “addressing the media” in her part of the CW press conference. Mensah covered King with an inside cradle for two. King charged Mensah to a corner, then hit him with a backbreaker. King yelled down “what have you got?” to Mensah. Mensah fought from underneath, then missed a kick and got laid out by one for two.
King hit another backbreaker and held Mensah in place, pushing him down on both ends. Mensah escaped and went at King with some chops and a springboard moonsault. Mensah beat King’s head into the buckle and then hit him with a bicycle kick for two. King rolled up Mensah and put his feet on the ropes, then said he wasn’t winning like that. Mensah snatched King and then he put his legs on the ropes for the dirty win. King was left incredulous.
WINNER: Oro Mensah at 4:40.
(Wells’s Analysis: Finally, King is doing something that’s pretty interesting. I don’t know if it results in a double-turn, a single turn, or just a reestablishment of roles, but it’s something. Adequate but not overly exciting stuff, as is par with King)
[c]
[HOUR TWO]
-The Family met in a home gym. Stacks, Adrianna Rizzo and Luca Crusifino tried to pump him up. They cheered him on as he got into shape ahead of his next match with Oba Femi. They’re putting some doubt on this match simply by laying this journey on so thick, so I guess that’s something, as Femi seems genuinely unbeatable right now. Tony boxed with a large Black man, perhaps a PC guy, as part of his training. The man got the better of him early but Tony stormed back Rocky-style.
(4) RILEY OSBORNE (w/Thea Hail) vs. RIDGE HOLLAND
Osborne hit Holland with a tope con giro during his entrance, then struck early and often once the match officially started. Holland got in a lariat thirty seconds in and finally removed his entrance jacket. Hail shrieked as Holland dominated Osborne with knees and strikes. Osborne got in some rollups for brief hope spots and then hit a standing Phoenix(?) splash for two. Holland dumped Osborne shortly afterward and stalked him on the floor. Osborne reversed a charge and blew Holland through a barricade. “NXT” chant. I thought it was a tailor-made commercial toss but apparently they’re not doing that here. Osborne reversed a couple of quick moves in the ring, but Holland caught him with the Redeemer out of relative nowhere.
WINNER: Ridge Holland at 3:06.
After the decision, Ridge stomped on Riley as Thea screamed for him to stop. It’s amazing she can do this every week and not completely lose her voice. Holland grabbed a piece of the barricade but Osborne booted him, then hit him with a flying cross-body from the steel steps. The two had to be pulled apart. “Let them fight” chant.
(Wells’s Analysis: I think Osborne is one of the underappreciated guys on the roster, and I’m glad to see him get some fire after the defeat rather than just be a stepover guy.)
-Via social media, The Miz promoted Oba Femi and Tony D’Angelo on MizTV.
-Vic promoted the Wes Lee vs. Zachary Wentz Street Fight for next Tuesday. They’ll have a split-screen interview segment next. [c]
-Oba Femi’s part of the conference was next. He said he had no reaction to being on MizTV. He also said he could tell that Tony D’Angelo was a broken man, and he could see it in his eyes. He cut off questions. It’s a little odd that NXT promoted this as the selling point of the show, given how threadbare it is.
-Vic and Booker got all serious and said there was supposed to be an interview segment between Wes Lee and Zach Wentz, but then…this transpired. I thought they were going to announce the death of a former wrestler and it was just Lee and Wentz going at it verbally “ahead of” the planned interview segment. They swore over and over, dropping f-bombs and more, and Wes Lee even mentioned Wentz’s fiance, Gigi (apparently Gigi Dolin; I don’t follow that kind of news so it always takes me by surprise). They each left their posts and started looking for one another.
-Vic and Booker thanked USA for the chance to host NXT for the last several years. It wasn’t lost on me that this segment aired immediately after they had two wrestlers swear a ton, given USA’s silly proclivity for muting the crowd during Holy Shit chants. They threw to a video package of memorable moments on NXT since the move that was a lot of fun. Joe Hendry was seen, albeit very briefly, for those still holding onto hope that he’ll be back.
-Wendy Choo and Rosemary were introduced ahead of their tag team match. [c]
-Lola Vice and Jaida Parker each had time with Ava. They bickered until Ava said they’d both get their hands on Fatal Influence…in a tag team match. Ava had to shut down the bickering again.
(5) KARMEN PETROVIC & BRINLEY REECE vs. WENDY CHOO & ROSEMARY
Choo and Reece started. Choo got creepy with Reece, crawling at her. Reece tagged and Petrovic got in a back kick for two. Petrovic tagged Rosemary and the heels went for a double suplex, but Petrovic flipped through and rolled up Rosemary for two. An inset showed Kelani Jordan talking to the media. Choo and Reece became legal again and Choo dominated with headbutts. Rosemary tagged and hit a tarantula until she had to break. Rosemary took a cheap shot at Karmen on the apron, and instead of eating the shot and dropping to garner heat, Karmen ducked the shot and then they didn’t really know what to do.
Reece and Choo took each other out. They were reaching for tags when Ashante Thee Adonis showed up and gave his rose to a plant in the front row. Petrovic jumped off the apron to ask Adonis why he was out there, leaving Reece prone. Rosemary hit As Above, So Below to finish.
WINNERS: Wendy Choo & Rosemary at 4:01.
(Wells’s Analysis: Choo and Rosemary have been a winning combination. I wonder what the endgame is there; I assume a split and a one-on-one that Choo wins?)
-Sol Ruca was talking to CM Punk in the pantry when Ethan Page showed up and ran off an annoyed Ruca. Page said he wasn’t thrilled about Punk inserting himself into this match. They had the standard heel-special referee interactions. Hopefully that was previously recorded, because it wouldn’t be a great reason for Punk to travel again.
-Cedric Alexander & Je’Von Evans were introduced. [c]
-Sarah Schreiber introduced Fatal Influence for their conference. One of the unseen interviewers asked if they had decided which two would face Jaida and Lola next week. She said “Yep!” Then they overexplained the joke, of course. Oh well. Parker and Vice showed up and crashed the conference and were held back to end the segment. These segments, by the way, are almost all dreadfully acted. Somehow what these people do isn’t translating to this backdrop. Henley was fine, but the rest tonight were pretty stagey.
(6) CEDRIC ALEXANDER & JE’VON EVANS vs. A-TOWN DOWN UNDER (Grayson Waller & Austin Theory)
Evans and Theory got it started. Evans was early face in peril as the heels double-teamed him after they mauled Alexander on the outside before the bell. Evans missed a shot on the illegal man and Theory rolled him up for two. Waller tagged in and Evans dropkicked him. As Waller went to a corner, Alexander yanked him to the outside from the floor to finally even the score. Theory remained on the offensive as he trapped Evans in a headlock. Evans managed an inside cradle for two. Alexander made the tag and the babyfaces hit an assisted blockbuster for two. Theory took control again and tagged Waller, but Alexander hit him with a dragon screw. The heels got dumped to the ramp side and Evans hit them with a tope con giro. As the heels were regrouping, Alexander did the same. The match went to split-screen. [c]
Theory was in control of Alexander. Waller tagged in and kept it slow with a cravat. He put the knees to Alexander and took a long look at Evans to boos. Alexander hit a small package for two, but Waller cut him down with a side kick. Booker T weirdly took offense to this and said “What the hell?” three times and Vic asked why he was asking this. I guess he wanted the heat segment to be over? The hot tag was right afterward. Evans dumped the heels. He hit a tope suicida on Waller. He would’ve missed slightly and eaten the announce table, but Waller kept him safe. Evans ran in and hit a plancha on Theory on the other end of the ring.
Everyone got involved and it was chaos on the outside on the ramp side. Waller had one of the tag team championship belts. Frazer came to grab it, and Axiom held him back. Frazer tried to get involved and Axiom tried to hold him back, and Axiom accidentally knocked Frazer from the top where he hit the rope and Alexander went sprawling. It could’ve been a mess but the spot went off pretty well. Theory hit his facebreaker finisher on Evans.
WINNERS: A-Town Down Under at 11:36.
(Wells’s Analysis: A very good, crisp formula tag match that forwarded important stories without sacrificing A-Town Down Under ahead of their championship match.)
-Trick Williams was next up for the conferences. He said he had to be the man on top for this next chapter of NXT. He said he had to be confident and control his emotions. He said if he does that, he guarantees you’ll have a new champion this time next week. Sarah Schreiber threw to the ring, “where the final part of the press conference will take place in the ring,” that being Giulia and Roxanne Perez. Roxy walked alone backstage and Giulia walked with Funaki elsewhere. [c]
[OVERRUN]
-It’s a little thing, but I really hope the move to CW coincides with no more overrun (it’s almost always exactly eight minutes, so it’s not like it feels like an organic sports show coming to a natural close anyway).
-Vic promoted the matches and happenings for next week in Chicago. I dare say they’ve built these shows about as well as they build any NXT PLEs.
-Byron Saxton moderated the Giulia-Roxy segment. The first question was for Giulia, asking if she was impressed or intimidated ahead of her first title shot. Perez cut in and demanded to know if the interviewer was just assuming she’d take the championship. Byron cut her off and said this was Giulia’s time. Giulia cut a fairly long interview in Japanese before Funaki translated. There should have been more short bits of dialogue, as I’ve been studying Japanese for over a year, and I still only got 10% of it. She said she had watched Roxy become a star at 20 and carry the brand, and meanwhile she became the Beautiful Madness and it was time for Roxy to pass the torch.
Roxy said she had been a Giulia fan since before all the fans in attendance. She said this was a dream match…for Giulia. She said Giulia went looking for Roxanne, not the other way around. Roxanne said it was all about herself, who built the brand from the ground up. Giulia, in English, asked Roxy if she ever thought about what would happen when she beats her. Another interviewer asked Giulia about her translation. She said moving to the States has been incredible. A couple of goofs tried a “USA” chant. She said NXT finally gets to feel the Beautiful Madness. She went to Japanese again, and someone cut in, in Spanish.
Byron threw to the big screen because he didn’t know where the audio was coming from. Of course, it was Stephanie Vaquer on the screen. Her question for Giulia was: “What happens when you have to meet me on the other side of winning that championship?” Vic said the women were lining up for a shot at the NXT Championship. It was an odd coincidence that the final shot of a wrestler on NXT on USA was the wrestler’s first-ever appearance on NXT.
(Wells’s Analysis: Bringing in Vaquer before Giulia’s first story is complete is a very interesting way to muddy the waters. Vaquer is also an excellent wrestler who I’ve only gotten to see a handful of times (once against Giulia, so I know how much there is to look forward to). For those who feel a Giulia championship win is inevitable, now there’s a secondary hook for the match. The bigger question is where this will leave Roxanne, who’s doing such inspired heel work)
FINAL THOUGHTS: That’s a wrap on NXT on USA. They certainly saw their share of brand changes over the last handful of years, and I’ll be interested to see if the move coincides with a new look (the first two shows will be on the road, giving them ample time to rework the set at the CWC if they so desire). The road shows have been very interestingly booked and they’ve brought in some strong main roster talent to augment it without it looking too much like shameless stunt casting. Nate and special guest Jobin will cover tonight’s action on PWT Talks NXT, and I’ll be back healthy (I assume) a week from now for the Chicago show.
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