By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT 2.0 TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live April 5, 2022 on USA Network
[Hour One] Highlights from NXT: Stand and Deliver aired followed by highlights from Bron Breakker defeating Dolph Ziggler for the NXT Championship from last night’s WWE Raw episode…
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer…
The show opened up with the new NXT Champion, Bron Breakker making his entrance in street clothes. Wade Barrett talked about how the weekend was big for Breakker where he got to induct his Father and Uncle, Rick and Scott Steiner, into the WWE Hall of Fame. Breakker took the mic. He said he had quite the up and down weekend. Breakker soaked in the cheers, but noticed they were dueling “We want Ziggler” and “no we don’t” chants. Breakker talked about being at a high point when he inducted his father and uncle into the WWE Hall of Fame but then having a low point of not winning back the NXT Championship.
Breakker talked about witnessing great stars like Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Kevin Owens at Mania. He said that inspired him to want to promise to headline Mania one day, and that he’s not leaving Dallas without the NXT Championship. Breakker said he picked himself back up and challenged Dolph Ziggler on the biggest Raw of the year. He said he beat Dolph Ziggler’s ass and brought the NXT Championship back to where it belongs. Breakker was cut off by Imperium’s theme as Gunther, Marcel Barthel, and Fabian Aichner made their entrances to the new Imperium theme.
Gunther said Breakker had quite the story, but nobody cares about Breakker’s weekend. Gunther said he’s here for the title. Gunther said that the title means you’re the best in NXT and you can’t consider yourself the best unless you get in the ring with the Ring General Gunther. Breakker said if Gunther wants a fight, he’s got it tonight. Breakker’s theme played. The Creed Brothers and Malcolm Bivens were shown heading down the ramp heading into commercial…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Bron Breakker did a decent job handling a first promo as champion. He recapped his weekend well and held his composure. Nothing to breathtaking, but it wasn’t bad and that’s the best you can ask for from the young sensation champ. Breakker vs. Gunther seemed to be a possible direction for Stand and Deliver before Ziggler was thrown into the mix. Are they really going with Breakker vs. Gunther unadvertised tonight? Or will they find a way to delay this (Gunther vs. Breakker should be built up to and built up as the drawing point of a paid show).
Apparently the match was in-progress. The picture-in-picture showed that the Creeds brawled with Imperium as the show cut to break…
1. “The Creed Brothers” Julius Creed and Brutus Creed (w/Malcolm Bivens) vs. “Imperium” Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner. The Creeds had the advantage initially. Aichner managed to turn the table by dragging down Brutus with an armbar. Joseph brought up the point that this was supposed to be the match for the tag titles and somehow MSK got themselves inserted into the Creed’s match. Joseph also announced Breakker vs. Gunther for the NXT Championship.
After Barthel tagged in, Brutus took down Barthel with an Alligator Roll and Neckbreaker. Julius and Aichner tagged in. Julius went for a crossbody, but Aichner caught him and hit him with a Fireman Carry Senton. Barrett noted that Aichner may be the strongest person pound for pound in NXT. Aichner hit Julius with a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Barthel tagged in and Julius turned the tables by hitting Barthel with a knee to the gut. Brutus dumped Barthel to ringside. Aichner caught Brutus by surprise by hitting him with a body slam onto the bottom rope. The show cut to picture in picture.[c]
A replay showed that Brutus caught his leg on the top rope, leading to him selling an injury. Julius and Barthel tagged in with Julius cleaning house. Julius caught Barthel with a chop block. Julius suplexed Barthel. Aichner broke up the subsequent pin. Barthel and Aichner set up for their double team baseball slide, but only Barthel hit the slide on Julius. Aichner ended up leaving Barthel hanging by walking to the back. The Creeds traded quick tags to double team Barthel. Brutus hit Barthel with an Argentine Press Slam. Julius hit Barthel with a basement lariat for the pinfall win.
The Creed Brothers defeated Imperium via pinfall in 11:34.
The mystery attackers of Imperium showed up in hoodies. One of the guys had silver hair, so you could tell it was NXT UK’s Pretty Deadly (Sam Stoker and Lewis Howley). In fact it was. They left The Creed Brothers lying with chair shots to the back. They introduced themselves to the Creeds with their new WWE copyrighted names “Elton Prince and Kit Wilson”…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne, who had Mandy Rose with them, about their upcoming match against Kai and Gonzalez. They talked about how they are going to win the titles back and end the careers of Kai and Gonazlez. Rose said Toxic Attraction is mad now and they aren’t just Toxic Attraction, they are “the” attraction…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Pretty Deadly aren’t from Boston are they (as teased by the Creeds getting a call from a Boston area code last week). I haven’t seen a lot from them, but NXT UK has been pushing them for a while as their top tag team so they must be pretty good. Looking forward to this credible tag team being added to NXT US. As for the match, solid power based encounter. Looks like Imperium might be gone in terms of the NXT Tag Division with Aichner walking out on Barthel. Are they thinking of pushing Aichner as a singles act based of his insane athleticism? Or are we seeing all of Imperium being called up to the main roster with them losing here and Gunther maybe losing the main event? We’ll see.
Lash Legend was shown shadowboxing backstage. The show cut to Nikkita Lyons doing a back hook kick and roar backstage…
Alicia Taylor introduced Cameron Grimes as the new NXT North American Champion. Cameron Grimes made his entrance in a suit. Grimes was acting humble and serious on his way to the ring as opposed to his old over-the-top goofball self. Grimes took the mic and hyped the crowd up. The crowd gave him a “You deserve it” chant (for some reason there was a small “no you don’t” dueling chant from a small pack of fans). Grimes said “we did it” together. He said his dad is in heaven and smiling ear to ear because his boy did it.
Grimes said people always talk about climbing the ladder of success, and he did that at Stand and Deliver. He said time stood still when he climbed up the ladder. He said he remembered his father giving his blood, sweat, and tears for the business. Grimes said his father was a single parent and he raised Grimes to be the man he is today. Grimes said he’s busted his ass the past three years to prove that his father was right, that Grimes deserves to be a WWE superstar. He said it’s so awesome for him to now say that Cameron Grimes is your new North American Champion.
Grimes said he’s not going to get complacent, so you don’t have to worry. He said he’s going to make sure that this Championship goes up, down, and all around on different trips “too the moon”. Solo Sikoa made his entrance to confront Grimes. Solo said he came out to congratulate Grimes. He said that Grimes made good promises to his dad and brought it in his performance at Stand and Deliver. Solo said the hard part is now, where you gotta hold on to that championship belt. Solo said he came to NXT to fact the best and championships run throughout his “bloodline”. He said he knows a champion needs a challenger, and “that challenger is me”.
Grimes said he respects Solo. He said he sees in Solo’s eyes and sees a man that’s fought his way all his life to stand in this moment. Grimes said he is what he says he is, a champion. Which means he needs to face people like Solo. Grimes said “Uso (oose)? You’re on”. The segment ended with both men facing off…
John’s Thoughts: A pretty good promo, but at the same time it’s going to take a little bit of time to get used to such a jarring shift in persona from Cameron Grimes. They didn’t really do a slow build here. Grimes just started talking about his late father out of nowhere and now we’re supposed to see him as a different and more serious character. He performed that serious character well, but it’s going to take time and literary character development to get the viewers to acclimate to Grimes under his new persona. Solo Sikoa did a simple and effective job on the mic too. All of Rikishi’s kids seem to have the gift of gab (I had my questions about Jey at one point, but he proved he was good too when he had that random main event push against Roman). I wouldn’t mind one or two more promos from Grimes and Solo for some character development.
Joe Gacy and Harland were standing in front of a brick wall. Gacy cut his usual menacing promo…
The show cut to Draco Anthony shaking nervously after watching the Gacy prom. Xyon Quinn tried to cheer Draco up, but Draco snapped at him. Xyon said that Draco needs to be taught a lesson in respect…
The show cut to Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett recapping the whole InDex and DuSia cowboy clothes contest from Stand and Deliver where Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis won the fan vote…
Duke Hudson and Persia Pirotta were shown walking backstage. The show cut to Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis also walking backstage….[c]
Still shots from NXT: Stand and Deliver aired…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Tiffany Stratton. Tiffany said it may be WrestleMania Weekend, but people should be talking about the travasty of some schoolgirl costing her a match. Mckenzie said a “warrior of the sun” cost her the match. Tiffany continued to rant and yelled that she was not a loser…
Entrances for the next match took place. Wade Barrett claimed that Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell only won because he did an IP address trace and noted that all the votes came from North Korea and that North Korea doesn’t even have TV to watch NXT…
2. Dexter Lumis (w/Indi Hartwell) vs. Duke Hudson (w/Persia Pirotta). Lumis worked on Hudson with methodical offense. Persia tried to distract Lumis, but Lumis ended up rolling up Hudson. Hudson ended up turning the tables with a Uranage on Lumis. Hudson took down Lumis with a clothesline. Hudson worked on Lumis with methodical offense. Lumis got a moment of respite after hitting Hudson with a back suplex. Lumis hit Hudson with a kip up legdrop.
Lumis hit Hudson with a corner splash, bulldog, and spinebuster. Lumis pinned Hudson. Hudson got hit foot on the bottom rope, but Hartwell pushed Hudson’t foot off the bottom rope. Hudson ended up kicking out anyway. Hudson and Lumis ended up yanking each other’s arms against the ringpost. Hartwell and Pirotta pulled at the backs of their partners pants to turn it into a weird tug-o-war. Both men ended up getting counted out.
Dexter Lumis vs. Duke Hudson ended in a double-countout in 4:55.
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed NXT WOmen’s Tag Team Champions Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez. They hyped up defending their titles agaist Jacy and Gigi in the next match…
Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin made their entrance (on queue, they’re throwing Toxic Attraction at the top of the hour again)…[c]
John’s Thoughts: This Lumis vs. Hudson feud is doing nothing for me. It seems like NXT creative is having too much fun with the minor social media buzz they’re getting from the makeout sessions this feud is producing, to the point where it’s at the detriment of telling a coherent or good story. Why is WWE so erratic with pushing Brandon Vink? They had him right coming out of the Cameron Grimes feud, but then they go back and implant yet another character shift in him with this whole ladies man guy?
An ad aired for next year’s WWE WrestleMania in Hollywood (or more like WWE WrestleMania in Inglewood, CA, which is about 45 minutes away from Hollywood).
Marcel Barthell was ranting in German to Gunther. Gunther told Barthel to calm down and how he’s going to bring honor back the sport later on when he beats Breakker for the NXT Championship. Barthel ended up calming down…
[Hour Two] Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez ended up making their entrance. A replay aired of Kai and Gonzalez winning the tag titles at the Stand and Deliver pre-show with some help from Wendy Choo. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring introductions for the championship match…
3. Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez vs. “Toxic Attraction” Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship. Gonzalez slammed Dolin, tagged in Kai, and tossed Kai onto Dolin for a two count. Kai took down Dolin several times and got pin attempts in. Dolin and Kai had an awkward huracanrana or power bomb exchange. Jayne tagged in and punched down Kai. Jayne tagged back in Dolin after taunting Gonzalez. Dolin and Jayne cut the ring in half on Kai with quick tags and methodical offense.
Kai managed to escape the corner and tag in Gonzalez who tossed around Jayne. Dolin distracted Gonzalez so Jayne could put Gonzalez in a Tree of Woe. Jayne hit Gonzalez with a cannonball. Gonzalez sold her previous leg injury heading into regular commercial.[c]
Gonzalez was still selling the leg injury. She fended off both opponents and managed to tag in Kai. Kai hit Dolin with a snapmare buster and Face Wash boot against the bottom buckle. Kai hit Dolin with a Yakuza Kick for a two count. Gonzalez tagged in. Kai hit Dolin with a double stomp. Gonzalez hit Dolin with a corkscrew Vader Bomb. Jayne broke up González’s pin. Jayne caught Kai with a neckbreaker when she thought Dolin was the legal woman. Jayne hit Kai with a kick for a nearfall. Jayne tagged in Dolin and hit Kai with a codebreaker. Dolin hit Kai with a lariat. Gonzalez broke up the pin attempt. All four women ended up leaving each other lying with strikes.
Dolin countered Gonzalez’s power slam into a Stunner. Wendy Choo walked to ringside, but was blindsided by Mandy Rose who shoved her into the steel steps. Gonzalez went for a Chingona Bomb on Dolin, but Jayne caught Gonzalez in the injured knee with a chop block. Dolin hit Gonzalez with a Question Mark Kick. Jayne Tagged in. Jayne and Dolin hit Gonzalez with a High-Low Kick combo to give Jayne the pinfall win.
Toxic Attraction defeated Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai via pinfall in 8:31 of on-air time to become the new NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Rose, Jayne, and Dolin posed with their title belts, taunting the babyfaces in the ring…
Tony D’Angelo was shown walking backstage, heading to the ring…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A good women’s tag match and better work than their Stand and Deliver pre-show match. There was simply better back and forth combined with some good storytelling. The running thread of Gonzalez’s leg injury was a good lingering story thread. Weird decision to put the belts on Kai and Gonzalez out of nowhere and then immediately going back to the status quo by reverting the belts back to Toxic Attraction? Did they do this to give Gonzalez and Kai a gold watch final moment in NXT while also packaging them back together as a tag team for a main roster run? I wonder if this and the weird things they’re doing with Imperium are leading to some callups on Smackdown? Maybe not, but maybe yes? Who knows what WWE is planning to boost up Smackdown’s roster?
Joe Gacy and Harland were still standing in front of a brick wall. Gacy is still acting menacing (without really saying much)…
AJ Galante of Netflix’s Untold: Crime and Penalties was in the ring. Galante introduced Tony D’Angelo to the ring. A table with wine and wine glasses were set up in the ring. D’Angelo made his entrance. D’Angelo said people thought Tommaso Ciampa was going to walk right through D’Angelo. He said what he did at Stand and Deliver was unbelievable. Galante said that there was a Card on the table with D’Angelo’s blood on it which means that D’Angelo agreed to be a don. Galante laid out the rules as to what it means to be a don. The crowd chanted “boring” at Galante’s ceremony. Galante took a ring from a pedestal and put it on D’Angelo’s finger. Galante kissed D’Angelo on the cheeks and christened him the Don of NXT. The Titantron had a graphic that said that D’Angelo is the don of NXT…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Wes Lee and Nash Carter about winning the NXT Tag Titles for a 2nd time. They recapped their tough last few months and noted that the titles are home now. Lee said there are a bunch of teams are coming after them and they’re just saying to come and get it. Carter said they told everyone that they didn’t attack the Creeds. Grayson Waller and Sanga showed up. Waller had his arm in a sling. Waller talked about going viral at Stand and Deliver. Lee taunted Waller for crying with an injured arm after elbow dropping a ladder. Sanga cut in and said that Lee and Carter won’t be champions for long. Lee said he and Carter are willing to face Waller and Sanga in a title defense. Waller refused because he’s not medically cleared….
Nikkita Lyons made her entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Decent delivery by Galante, but the content is still the most on-the-surface and bland mafia stuff ever. D’Angelo’s really talented and a fast learner in terms of in-ring and promos, but WWE is really putting an anchor on this guy with all of the bad scripting they’re doing for him.
More still shots aired from the NXT Stand and Deliver show…
Dakota Kai was randomly tossing around backstage equipment. Kai got in the camera and said “Mandy Rose! You are not safe!!!”…
Lash Legend made her entrance…
4. Nikkita Lyons vs. Lash Legend. Legend powered Lyons to the ground. Lyons tripped Legend. Both women stood up with a kip up for a stalemate. Lyons took down Legend with a lariat. Legend avoided a kick in the corner and hit Lyons with a pump kick. Legend hit Lyons with a running elbow drop for a two count. Legend locked Lyons in a headlock. Joseph noted that Legend was a credible WNBA player. Legend took down Lyons with a knee. Legend hit Lyons with a flip into a moonsault for a two count. Lyons turned the tables and hit Legend with a German Suplex.
Lyons took down Legend with a Tae Kwon Do kick combination. Lyons dragged Legend to the top rope. Lyons hit Legend with a Superplex for a nearfall. Legend rolled up Lyons with a Jackknife for a two count. Lyons kicked Legend to the mat. Lyons hit Legend with her signature Splits Leg Drop for the victory.
Nikkita Lyons defeated Lash Legend via pinfall in 4:40.
John’s Thoughts: A bit of a rough match given the inexperience of both women (Lyons being more experienced, notably from her run in WOW). That said, this wasn’t as bad a match as I was afraid of given how bad Lash Legend’s matches have been on NXT Level Up and 205 Live. Legend was passable here and didn’t look really bad. Both women focused on performing a few power moves and it worked. Legend definitely has the talent on the mic, so hopefully they don’t rush her to having weekly matches so her in-ring can catch up with her promo ability. Nikkita needs to get better on the mic (but she might just be struggling with WWE’s awkward scripting). She’s pretty decent in the ring, and definitely catches the attention of social media. I like her integration of Tae Kwon Do into pro wrestling (as a fellow TKD via WT practitioner).
Tony D’Angelo and AJ Galante were chatting in the parking lot of NXT. Santos Escobar and Legado Del Fantasma were there. Escobar gave D’Angelo a handshake to congratulate D’Angelo on becoming NXT. He said he’s also issuing a warning to D’Angelo, to keep his business out of Legado’s business. After Legado Del Fantasma all left, D’Angelo asked Galante “who’s this guy?”…
Gunther made his entrance for the NXT Championship match…[c]
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett checked in and announced the following match for next week’s NXT show: Cameron Grimes vs. Solo Sikoa for the NXT North American Championship, Mandy Rose vs. Dakota Kai for the NXT Women’s Championship, and MSK vs. Grayson Waller and Sanga for the NXT Tag Team Championship.
Bron Breakker made his entrance for his title defense. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring introductions for the NXT Championship match. Vic Joseph noted that Breakker is coming off short rest, having to travel from Dallas to Orlando after winning the NXT Championship…
5. Bron Breakker vs. Gunther for the NXT Championship. Breakker and Gunther started the match at a quick stalemate during a Test of Strength. Gunther got the upper hand after the collar and elbow. Breakker escaped with a hammerlock. Gunther pressured Breakker to the ropes for the break. Gunther took down Breakker with a side headlock, but Breakker quickly countered into his own side headlock. Breakker and Gunther no-sold each others’ Shoulder Tackles. Gunther took down Breakker with a Big Boot. Gunther worked on Breakker with methodical power strikes. Breakker got a breather after tackling Gunther into the corner.
Gunther tried to leap over Breakker, but Breakker pulled Gunther down and planted him with a spinebuster. Joseph noted that this is Breakker’s third title match in the past four days. Breakker countered Gunther and hit him with a spear. The ref checked on Breakker who was selling a shoulder injury. Gunther slapped Breakker to send him to ringside. Gunther tossed Breakker into the steel steps heading into the picture-in-picture.[c]
Gunther dominated Breakker with his signature methodical offense back from the break. Breakker tried to fight back with shortarm punches, but Gunther came right back with his signature chops to send Breakker to the mat. Gunther hit Breakker with a German Suplex. Breakker got to his feet quickly to nail Gunther with a German Suplex. Breakker got a moment of respite after grounding Gunther with a clothesline. Gunther blocked Breakker’s suplex and clubbed Breakker in the injured shoulder. Gunther put Breakker in a chickenwing, keeping Breakker under control with knees to the gut.
Breakker escaped by deadlifting Gunther into a Body Slam. Breakker hit Gunther with a Belly To Belly overhead suplex. Breakker continued to sell the shoulder. Gunther hit Breakker with a shotgun dropkick. Gunther hit Breakker and put all his weight behind the pin. Breakker kicked out. Gunther hit Breakker with his finishing Splash for the two count. Gunther went back at Breakker with clubbing front and back blows. Gunther hit Breakker with another lariat for a two count.
[Overrun] Gunther went for another splash, but Breakker caught Gunther mid-air with a spear. Breakker went for a suplex, but Gunther went and Breakker with his signature chops. Breakker tried to come back with fatigued strikes. Gunther put Breakker in a sleeper. Breakker escaped and got another respite after a jawbreaker and lariat. Breakker powered up and hit Gunther with the Military Press Power Slam to pick up the clean win on Gunther.
Bron Breakker defeated Gunther via pinfall in 13:06 to retain the NXT Championship.
Highlights from the match aired. Bron Breakker posed with the title belt. The WWE signature flashed on the screen to close the show…
But wait, there’s more. WWE Hall of Famer Rick Steiner appeared on the TitanTron to congratulate his son for being NXT Champion. Steiner said he’s proud of his son. The camera panned back to show that he was tied up and trapped in a shark cage. Joe Gacy and Harland were around the cage. Harland had a pipe and chain that he banged on the cage lightly. Gacy said he told Bron that family is everything, and he wants to see if he and Harland can teach this old dog, Steiner, some new tricks. The show closed…
John’s Thoughts: Good Gunther-style match between big men. Interesting they rushed through the clean finish, given there was about 6 more minutes in their allotted overrun time (as designated through the TV guide/DVR). Weird night overall for Imperium. They rushed to the Breakker vs. Gunther match that they seemingly wanted to put Young Breakker through. They got there, in rushed fashion. Then they awkwardly tore apart Imperium in the same night. Is Gunther getting the callup? What does this mean for Marcel and Fabian, who got broken apart awkwardly too (I hope one of them aren’t getting released, because awkward wrap-ups like this give you that feeling). Credit to rookie Breakker though. As Joseph noted, this was Breakker’s third World-title level Championship match in the last four days.
Hey, a Rick Steiner cameo too. Looks like he’s being set up as the lynch pin for a Bron Breakker vs. Gacy and Harland feud. We’ve been waiting for them to stop meandering with Gacy, and here’s their chance. There’s always the possibility of Gacy going the Bray Wyatt route of WWE not knowing how to handle his mythos. Here’s hoping they get it right to some extent. I also hope they decide to go with Breakker feuding with Gacy instead of Harland, because Harland isn’t ready for the main event picture just yet and can be better utilized as an enforcer.
As for this week’s NXT, I really liked the pacing of this week’s show. I wouldn’t assume Hunter is back in charge or anything, but the show was better laid out in terms of content. Usually NXT 2.0 tried to shove 7 to 8 matches with a good portion of those matches being experimental with the developmental types. They still got some developmental in there, but they also took aside some time for some extended promos for character development.
It’s time to let Indi and Dexter go play somewhere else.
Hit or miss show so far, with a good opening tag and then fixing the mistake of putting the women’s tag belts on Kai and Gonzalez, but enough of the rougher edges and bad gimmicks to keep it from being an overall good show so far.
I wonder if Walter is going to Smackdown after tonight.
So they rushed Bron vs Gunther to get to a Gacy feud? Ugh.
Kai and Gonzalez originally held the NXT belts for 1 show so I see this as a call-back to that.