Our WWE NXT results for tonight include Wes Lee taking on Tony D’Angelo, NXT Champion Oba Femi battling Charlie Dempsey, Trick Williams and TNA Champion Joe Hendry signing the contract for their historic Battleground title match. Here’s our review and grades for tonight’s show, live from the WWE Performance Center in Florida.
WWE NXT Card:
- TNA Championship contract signing between TNA Champion Joe Hendry & challenger Trick Williams
- NXT Champion Oba Femi vs. Charlie Dempsey
- Wes Lee vs. Tony D’Angelo
WWE NXT Results:
Myles Borne and the NQCC
Borne says he was the last man standing last week, and now he’s going to Battleground. The crowd cheers. Borne notes that he knows he wasn’t anyone’s first or second pick. Borne says they have been dancing around this for a while, but yes, he has a disability; he’s partially deaf, and it affects his hearing and speech. Ultimately, Borne wants to be judged by his ability, not his disability. He may be hard of hearing, but at Battleground, Borne will hear himself announced as the new NXT Champion.
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Ethan Page interrupts. Page dumps on Borne for not being good enough. The crowd chants that Borne can’t hear Page. Page says they are correct, so he will speak slowly so Borne can read his lips: Borne can’t win. Borne can’t beat Oba Femi, and he can’t beat Page. Page wants Borne to put his title shot on the line. Charlie Dempsey tells Borne he should do it because he is a hater. Borne agrees. NXT GM Ava walks out on the stage and says she’ll allow the match to happen later tonight. In the meantime, Dempsey’s match against Femi starts right now.
Grade: B-
Borne’s promo was good. It was about time that they gave us more of Borne’s backstory. That will provide us with more reasons to care about Borne beyond his in-ring work. Page predictably interrupted here, leading to another predictable match in which the underdog puts their title shot on the line. They need another gimmick. This is old.
NXT Champion Oba Femi vs. Charlie Dempsey
Dempsey tries to work Femi’s arm. Femi counters and works over Dempsey’s shoulder. Dempsey takes Femi down and works over his joints with submission after submission. German suplex by Dempsey. Femi kicks out. Triangle by Dempsey. Femi lifts Dempsey and slams him to the mat. Dempsey and Femi trade strikes. Waterwheel drop by Femi. Dempsey eats a nasty roaring uppercut. Femi lands the Fall From Grace for the win.
Winner- Oba Femi
Grade: B
This match was short and sweet and accomplished its goal. Dempsey got just enough time to shine before getting smashed by Femi. Good stuff.
Wes Lee vs. Tony D’Angelo
D’Angelo tosses Lee all over the ring. D’Angelo launches Lee over the top. Dupont and Igwe catch Lee. D’Angelo dives off the apron onto all three men. After the break, Lee is working over D’Angelo. Lee jaws at D’Angelo. D’Angelo knocks Lee on his butt. Lee falls out of the ring. D’Angelo rolls out and takes out Igwe and Dupont. Lee tries the Kardiac Kick, but D’Angelo spears Lee mid flip. D’Angelo fires up. Stacks appears on the ‘tron. Stacks says he’s standing in front of Rizzo’s safehouse, and he’s going to pay her a visit. While D’Angelo is distracted, Lee lands the Kardiac Kick for the win.
Winner- Wes Lee
Grade: B
It was a solid match. Lee turned heel and has been floundering since, so this win was needed. The match itself was a good TV contest. The spear/backflip spot was solid, but it was hard to see based on some off-timing and weird camera work. Would Stack actually attack Rizzo? Stacks may start inching towards the super-heel category depending on which direction this goes next.
Number One Contender’s Match: Myles Borne vs. Ethan Page
Page and Borne trade headlocks. Borne fires up. Page goes low and works over Borne. Borne lands a powerslam. Angle slam by Borne. Page kicks out. After a series of reversals, Borne lands the dropkick of Destiny for the win.
Winner- Myles Borne
Grade: C+
Nothing of note to see here other than Borne winning a match with a dropkick. When was the last time that happened on WWE TV?
Thea Hail vs. Tatum Paxley
Paxley is… not doing well. Her makeup is smudged, and she is rambling (more than usual). Hail tries a wheelbarrow, but Paxley boots her in the gut. Paxley favors her injured arm. Paxley lands a front flip leg drop for a near fall. Hail locks in the Kimura. Paxley gets to the ropes. Butterfly suplex into a Kimura. Paxley screams in pain, then starts laughing. Paxley tries to rip Hail’s eye out of the socket. The referee disqualifies Paxley
Winner- Thea Hail
After the match, Paxley goes after Hail’s eye again. Referees and officials break it up.
Grade: B+
This match was great. Between Hail’s top-notch submission skills and Paxley’s spiraling mental state led to a fun contest. Paxley is losing it and seemingly tries to Black Christmas (the remake, not the original, silly Hail). If Paxley losing her partners leads to her turning into the NXT Women’s Division’s Mankind, sign this writer up. Paxley has something.
TNA Championship Contract Signing
Backstage, Ava presides over the singing. Williams tells Hendry that he should have stayed in his lane. Now, Williams is going to take everything from Hendry. Hendry tells Williams he needs to stop b*tching. Williams and Hendry both bow up. Ava threatens to call in security. Both men go back and forth. Hendry tells Williams after Battleground he’ll know what its like for his 15 minutes of fame to expire. Both men sign the contract.
Grade: C+
It’s nice to have a contract signing in an environment other than the ring for once, but the contract signing trope needs to go away. If there is a contract for every match, shouldn’t there be a signing that has to take place before each match? Also, the random out-of-nowhere matches that happen on weekly TV shouldn’t happen, you know… because there was no contract signed. Make it make sense!
Fatal Influence vs. NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer and Jordynne Grace
Vaquer and Grace jaw at each other. Henley and Jayne take control and work over Vaquer. After the break, Vaquer surprises Jayne with a head-trapped superkick. Vaquer manages to tag in Grace, who clears the ring with suplexes and strikes. Jayne and Henley set up Meet in the Middle. Grace pushes Vaquer out of the way and eats the double knee strike from Jayne and Henley. Grace kicks out. Grace hits the Grace driver on Jayne for the win.
Winners- Stephanie Vaquer and Jordynne Grace
Grade: C+
Solid main event. Vaquer and Grace worked well as a team. Fatal Influence seemingly loses every tag match they’re in, so the winner here was never in doubt. Unfortunately, in this case, it took away from the match. It’s hard to get invested when you know what’s going to happen, and the action is just solid.
Grade: B-
Solid main event. Vaquer and Grace worked well as a team. Fatal Influence seemingly loses every tag match they’re in, so the winner here was never in doubt. Unfortunately, in this case, it took away from the match. It’s hard to get invested when you know what’s going to happen, and the action is just solid.
WWE NXT Review:
This show hovered in the -good but not great- category. A couple of strong performances and one really fun character-focused match kept things interesting, but a reliance on recycled storytelling patterns and a predictable main event kept it from being something special.
Rating: B-
This event is ongoing. This information will be updated as the event progresses.
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