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NXT TV REPORT
APRIL 8, 2025
ORLANDO, FLA.
AIRED LIVE ON THE CW
REPORT BY DAVID MILLER, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Backstage Correspondent(s): Sarah Schreiber, Kelly Kincaid
[HOUR ONE]
-NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer was casually walking in the back when she was asked by Kelly Kincaid whom she would face at Stand and Deliver. She said she would know after this match. Her music played as she made her entrance to sit in on commentary.
(1) JORDYNNE GRACE vs. JAIDA PARKER
The two women immediately went on the offense, tangling up with each other and rolling to the floor. Back in the ring, they continued to trade offense until Grace slowed the pace after a rolling Death Valley Driver. Grace attempted an Alabama Slam on the apron, but Parker reversed the momentum, throwing Grace over her head and back into the ring. That looked a bit messy, but it was effective. The crowd was hot for this one and reacted to every move. Parker remained firmly in control while they cut to a split-screen commercial break. (c)
Back to full-screen, Parker had Grace perched on the top turnbuckle, but Grace escaped by attempting a powerbomb. Grace had Parker in position for what could have been a Styles Clash, but instead, she flipped her overhead and Parker hit the canvas face-first. That looked a bit sloppy. A double-handed chop from Grace almost caved Parker’s chest in. The crowd chanted, “This is awesome,” as Vaquer watched intently.
Grace went for a dive onto Parker outside the ring, but her feet got caught in the rope, and she ate the floor hard. Parker turned her attention to Vaquer at ringside, giving Grace a chance to shake the cobwebs out of her head. However, Grace recovered quickly, and all three women got into it as the referee called off the match.
WINNER: DDQ at 10:08.
The three women continued to battle in the ring until Giulia’s music hit, and she ran in to a big pop from the crowd. She cleared the ring of Parker and Grace, and it looked as if she was going to stand side by side with Vaquer, but after a short pause, she grabbed the champ and dropped her with a Northern Lights Bomb as the crowd voiced their disapproval.
(Miller’s Take: The match was in full force when they cut to the split-screen commercial break, which kind of took me out of the moment. It’s hard to maintain focus on the smaller square on the left when the bigger square on the right is plugging toilet paper or something. Grace and Parker work well together. Giulia’s attack on Vaquer was not totally unexpected, and I’d love to see a heel Giulia challenge the uber-popular Vaquer.)
-They recapped Ricky Starks’s North American title victory last week and the aftermath.
-In the back, Swipe Right approached Hank & Tank and bragged about how they were going to beat Fraxiom tonight. I’m not holding my breath on this one.
-Fraxiom made their ring entrance. (c)
-Back from the break, The Culling were standing in semi-darkness as they begged forgiveness from Shawn Spears for letting him down last week. Spears brushed it off and said it was about them, not about him, and promised great things would come their way.
(2) FRAXIOM (Nathan Frazier & Axiom) vs. SWIPE RIGHT (Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes)
Swipe Right started out hot, looking to make a name for themselves at the expense of the tag champs. Fraxiom quickly recovered with their signature lightning-fast offense and took turns diving at the rookies while they were standing on the floor. After a blind tag, Smokes took over on Axiom with a great spear from the ring apron through the second and top ropes. Super high energy match. The crowd was even more fired up for this match than the last one. With Smokes on the top, Axiom hit the Super Spanish Fly, followed by Frazier hitting his spectacular Phoenix splash on Baylor for the win.
WINNERS: Fraxiom at 5:02.
(Miller’s Take: Swipe Right has potential. They’re not only very fluid in the ring, but they have faces that just make you want to punch them in the mouth, so they have natural, solid heel heat. This match had more action than a Bruce Lee movie on fast-forward.)
-In the women’s locker room, Fatal Influence argued amongst themselves about who was going to be in the next qualifying match. Jazmyn Nyx stepped forward and declared it would be her. (c)
-Back from the break, Fatal Influence were standing in the ring to their entrance music.
(3) JAZMYN NYX (w/Jacy Jayne & Fallon Henley) vs. SOL RUCA (w/Zaria) – Qualifying match for the Women’s North American Title six-woman ladder match at Stand and Deliver
Early on, Ruca somehow stood out of a grounded headlock. I’m nearly convinced that Sol Ruca’s spine is made of rubber. Graves commented on Ruca’s mind-bending athleticism. After some brief offense from Ruca, Nyx took over with some high-impact moves that showed off her own unique style, transitioning from a Perfectplex into a submission hold that had Ruca grounded and struggling. Ruca eventually came back to hit some forearms as she springboarded back and forth off the bottom rope.
With Ruca distracted by Zaria’s interaction with Jayne and Henley on the outside, Nyx hit the Nyx Kick for a two-count. Ruca recovered and hit a Sol Snatcher out of nowhere for the victory.
WINNER: Sol Ruca at 5:06 to qualify.
(Miller’s Take: Short but sweet match. They did their thing and got to the point. Nyx is no slouch, but Ruca is just mesmerizing to watch. If you tell me that you’ve never replayed her Sol Snatcher on slow motion to see how she does it, I’m going to question your honesty. As I said last week, I’m 100 percent about anything that results in Sol Ruca being in a ladder match.)
-Sara Schrieber conducted a locker room interview with Je’Von Evans, who stumbled his way through a promo about his match tonight with DarkState and the upcoming NXT Title match at Stand and Deliver. Evans is a supreme talent in the ring, but his mic skills leave much to be desired. (c)
-Giulia was seen leaving the building when an unseen male interviewer asked her why she had attacked her friend, to which she replied, “Stand and Deliver… no friends… rematch.”
(4) HANK WALKER & TANK LEDGER vs. THE CULLING (Niko Vance & Brooks Jensen)
Graves talked about Hank and Tank’s identity crisis as they started the match by heavily thumping on their opponents. The Culling quickly turned it around and tried to slow the pace down, but a hot tag was made to Tank, who went on a rampage. Hank clotheslined Niko over the top rope and climbed to the top turnbuckle for a huge swanton bomb, but Jensen rolled out of the way, and Hank came crashing down hard. The Culling took advantage and hit a double-team knee off the top rope for the quick win.
WINNERS: The Culling at 3:25 (c)
(Miller’s Take: Another quickie to advance the storyline of Hank & Tank trying to find their way. They could really get some mileage out of this. I’d love to see them take advice from legendary teams like the Rock & Roll Express, The APA, DX, or Rick & Scott Steiner.)
[HOUR TWO]
-New North American Champion Ricky Saints made his ring entrance. He posed with the belt and soaked up the crowd’s adoration. He said the minute he set foot in NXT, he told everyone he would turn the place upside down. He said he proved it because he’s standing there now as the new North American champion. He said he does, however, have a bitter taste in his mouth because of “All Ego” Ethan Page. He said he couldn’t blame him for being jealous of seeing someone come in and do things better than him, then called Page out.
Heritage Cup Champion Lexis King came out instead. He brought his painted beard into the ring as fans jeered. He barely got a sentence in before Eddy Thorpe came out to stake his claim to the North American belt, equating Saints holding the belt to his people having their land stolen from them. Wes Lee, entourage in tow, joined the party and touted his credentials as a former North American champion. As they all quarreled about who would challenge for the belt, Ethan Page sneaked up behind Saints and hit him with his version of a Twist of Fate. With Saints laid out, the eager challengers all grabbed the belt at the same time in a four-way tug of war before simultaneously letting go of it and engaging in a wild slugfest.
-Stephanie Vaquer approached Ava in the back and told her she made her decision…she wants all of them. (c)
-Sarah Schreiber interviewed Trick Williams, asking him if he was concerned about the upcoming six-man match. He said he was and Oba and Je’Von should be at their best, but he is going to whip both their asses at Stand and Deliver.
(5) WES LEE (w/Tyriek Igwe & Tyson Dupont) vs. YOSHIKI INAMURA (w/Josh Briggs)
Quick, short strikes were traded in the opening moments. Lee missed a 450 splash and proceeded to be backdropped into the next county by Inamura, who followed up with a high vertical suplex for a two-count. Inamura charged Lee in the corner, but ate the turnbuckle as Lee tripped him. Inamura came back with a spinning slam. After some outside-the-ring shenanigans distracted Inamura, Lee nailed a Cardiac Kick to the back of the neck and scored the pin.
WINNER: Wes Lee at 3:55
(Miller’s Take: Short and sweet seems to be the theme for the night. Everything has seemed rushed, like they’re trying to squeeze a two and a half hour show into two hours. I’d prefer they slow it down a bit and tell more of a story. I know the challenge was made by Inamura last week, but this seemed pointless.)
-Oba Femi cut a backstage promo about his upcoming title defense at Stand and Deliver. (c)
(6) IZZI DAME (w/Niko Vance & Brooks Jensen) vs. WREN SINCLAIR (w/Charlie Dempsey & Tavion Heights, & Myles Borne) – Qualifying match for the Women’s North American Title six-woman ladder match at Stand and Deliver
Dame bullied Sinclair into the corner, but soon fell victim to Sinclair’s speed and agility. After a flurry of offense, Dame took charge with some power moves. Spears was shown watching the monitor in the back. Sinclair slowly fought her way back into control and managed to get a two-count. Dame hit a sitout powerbomb, but the finish went horribly wrong as Dame released the pin at the count of two, but the referee continued to count to three and called for the bell.
WINNER: Izzi Dame at 4:30 to qualify
(Miller’s Take: That ending was a complete mess. I’m not sure who’s to blame here. The wrestlers, fans, and announcers were all clearly very confused, as was I. A referee’s count should always be consistent. If they go to the planned finish and the wrestler being pinned kicks out, then it’s up to the combatants to improvise the finish. It’s not the referee’s job to cover for a botched pin. This was even worse than the Rousey/Lynch botched pin at WrestleMania several years ago.)
-A plug for Stephanie’s Places aired.
-In Ava’s office, The Meta Girls, Fatal Influence, and Roxanne Perez were pulling Ava in every direction, pleading their cases for why they should be a part of Stand and Deliver. As Ava contemplated what to do with them all, Perez said it better not be a tag match because she didn’t even have a partner and stormed off. (c)
-Andre Chase’s groupies were in the back critiquing their work. An unkempt Chase started to give them advice, but then started to walk away and told them they didn’t want his advice. They begged to differ, and the three men began collaborating. A dejected Hank and Tank entered the room and were met by WWE Tag Team Champions the Street Profits, who encouraged the duo to just be themselves. They gave Hank and Tank a spirited, way-over-the-top pep talk.
-The announcers hyped next week’s matches.
-Je’Von Evans started to make his ring entrance, but was bigfooted by Trick Williams, whose entrance was bigfooted by Oba Femi. None of them looked thrilled to be there. (c)
(7) JE’VON EVANS & TRICK WILLIAMS & OBA FEMI vs. DARKSTATE (Dion Lennox & Cutler James & Saquon Shugars w/Osiris Griffin)
DarkState rushed the ring to jump-start the match and immediately took over on Femi. Williams tagged in and took over briefly, but succumbed to some good DarkState teamwork. Williams finally caught a breather but, to Evans’s dismay, chose not to make the tag. He eventually made a reluctant tag to Evans, who went to work with some hard chops and picture-perfect, sky-high dropkicks. Femi and Williams double clotheslined Shugars over the top. Femi, Williams, and Evans stood mid-ring, appearing to finally be on the same page. The six men had a staredown as they cut to a split-screen commercial break. (c)
Back to full-screen, Evans soared off the top with a flying bodypress onto Shugars, but he couldn’t sustain the momentum and got planted with an explosive spinebuster. They continued to cut the ring off, not allowing Evans to get near his corner. A desperation enziguri kick allowed Evans to make the tag on Femi. Williams looked insulted. During the ensuing melee, Femi inadvertently collided with Williams, which led to a confrontation before both teammates started brawling with each other. Williams and Femi continued fighting toward the back, leaving Evans alone in the ring, where he was easily triple-teamed and defeated.
WINNERS: DarkState at 13.22
(Miller’s Take: This was pretty much what I expected it would be. You knew that Femi, Williams, and Evans couldn’t coexist peacefully. Evans is the Iyo Sky to Femi’s and Williams’s Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley. He’s fighting from underneath to be respected as an equal to the champ and former champ.)
-As DarkState celebrated in the ring, Stacks Lorenzo appeared on the big screen and challenged them to meet the D’Angelo family in the parking lot next week as the show went off the air.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Whew! Lots of things happened tonight. We had the surprise return of Giulia. Even though it wasn’t a popular move with the fans, I think it made sense for her to take out Vaquer. It’s too early to tell if it’s going to be a full-fledged heel turn. Hank & Tank continue to entertain. All of the title pictures are heating up. My only criticism is that I feel like they tried packing too much into a two-hour show tonight.
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