By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT 2.0 TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live May 24, 2022 on USA Network
[Hour One] The show started off with Tony D’Angelo, Stacks, and Two-Dimes backstage. D’Angelo cut a promo about how his feud with Santos Escobar isn’t over. He then hyped up his guys likely beating Edris Enofe and Malik Blade. As D’Angelo and his goons went to the ring, the camera panned back to show that Santos Escobar was watching D’Angelo from a distance…
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer…
1. Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo and Troy “Two Dimes” Donnovan (w/Tony D’Angelo) vs. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade. Stacks dominated the early match and quickly tagged in Two Dimes to dominate Enofe. Enofe rallied back with a dropkick and armdrag on Stacks after Stacks tagged back in. Blade hit Stacks with a top rope armdrag and dropkick. Enofe and Blade traded quick tags to isolate Stacks. Stacks managed to hit Enofe with a uppercut after a distraction from Tony D’Angelo. The picture-in-picture showed that Legado Del Fantasma were watching the match backstage on a monitor.
Escobar decided that he, Wilde, and Mendoza should head to the ring. Enofe and one of the goons had a hockey fight exchange. Blade dumbed one guy to ringside and hit the other with a lariat. Blade hit one of the goons with a high crossbody. Blade got a few rollups off a backslide and sunset flip. One of the goons shoved Enofe into the ringpost. Legado Del Fantasma appeared at ringside. The other goon hit Blade with a takedown lariat. The goons hit Blade with stereo punches and stereo boots to allow Two Dimes (I think) to pick up the win.
Stacks and Two Dimes defeated Blade and Enofe via pinfall in 6:10.
A brawl ensued between Legado Del Fantasma and Tony and Crew. Norman Smiley, NXT trainers, and the referees ran out to pull everyone apart…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Wes Lee about surviving the attack from Von Wagner. Lee talked about not wanting to be disrespected. Lee talked about Sanga disrespecting him. McKenzie tried to say that she doesn’t think Sanga was being disrespectful. Lee talked about he and MeKenzie were friends before WWE (via Impact?), so he wants her to hear him out. Lee said he’s going out to the ring to prove that he’s able to win, for himself…
Sanga made his entrance for the next match…[c]
John’s Thoughts: For now, I can’t tell which guy is Stacks or which guy is Two Dimes. They kinda look like generic cannon fodder goons. The tank tops and slacks make them look like Deuce and Domino 2022. Hopefully we’ll get to tell them apart down the road and they looked decent in the ring. I liked their finisher at least. One of those guys does have a terrible fake Italian accent though. Enofe and Blade, there’s main roster potential already with those guys. I haven’t been into their cosplay skits, but They have shown good chemistry as an athletic team with a good look.
Wes Lee made his entrance for the next match…
2. Wes Lee vs. Sanga. Sanga tossed Wes Lee across the ring like a Shot Put. Sanga worked on Lee with powerful and methodical strikes. This lasted for a minute or two. Lee fought back with fatigued strikes and CQC. Lee hit Sanga with a Liger Kick to send Sanga to ringside. Lee hit Sanga with a front back kick combo. Lee gave Sanga a double stomp to the back. Lee sent Sanga into the steel steps with a dropkick. Sanga ended Lee’s momentum with a chest chop. Lee tried to come back with fatigued jump kicks.
Sanga avoided a double stomp and turned Lee inside out with a lariat. Sanga planted Lee with a Choke Slam for the win.
Sanga defeated Wes Lee via pinfall in 3:51.
Highlights of Sanga’s power moves were shown. Xyon Quinn was wearing a leather jacket and cheering Sanga from ringside. Sanga left the ring and Quinn got in to taunt Lee. Sanga pulled Quinn away. Quinn backed down. Sanga helped Lee to his feet and hugged him. ..
John’s Thoughts: A good and efficient match. Over his last three appearances, Sanga has shown potential to be a rising star in WWE. The guy had good matches against Grayson Waller and Wes Lee. Sanga was really cool and composed on the promo end last week and came off as a cool and nice guy. If WWE is looking for that next big Indian star, even though Veer Mahan has a Disney movie about him starring Jon Hamm, Sanga might be WWE’s best bet to breakthrough in the Indian market. Wes Lee, I also like what they’re doing with him. He’s doing a great job selling depression after what happened to Nash Carter. This has the potential to set Lee up to be a big time singles star. Seriously, I think Lee is a blue chipper and I’m not the only person that’s been high on him for a long time (It just gets forgotten how great he is as a singles because he, Carter, and Trey Miguel were so fun to watch as a team).
Cora Jade and Roxanne Perez were hanging out backstage talking about how they were messed with on the indies by someone named Jenna Waters and how Jade hit her with a skateboard. Jade said she’s heading out to ringside to watch the Elektra Lopez vs. Alba Fyre match…[c]
Footage from Earlier Today showed Bron Breakker looking for Joe Gacy backstage. Two developmental wrestlers said that they saw Gacy in a random locker room. Breakker barged into the locker room. Breakker picked up a Steiner family picture which Breakker noted was from 20 years ago…
John’s Thoughts: Ugh, please end this feud. This is the most public access horror tale ever. Gacy isn’t being presented as a threatening villain (He was when he threatened to shove Brian Kendrick down the stairs and have Harland chuck Andre Chase off a roof from back in the day). Gacy is just mildly annoying and Bron Breakker is forced to oversell it.
Entrances for the next match took place. Alba Fyre has a new look to match her fire motiff. Cora Jade was eating popcorn at ringside…
John’s Thoughts: For some reason, with the lighting, Fyre looked a bit like Selina De La Renta from MLW there. Where has Selina been? Didn’t Dario Cueto have the Lucha Underground mafia kill her? I digress.
3. Alba Fyre vs. Elektra Lopez. Fyre sent Lopez to ringside with a dropkick. Lopez took down Fyre with an armbar. Fyre avoided a boot and hit Lopez with a shortarm superkick. Fyre’s injured arm prevented her from landing a Gory Bomb. Lopez tossed Fyre around. Fyre rolled up Lopez for a one count. Fyre came back with a kick and palm strike. Fyre hit Lopez with a Swanton Bomb for the win.
Alba Fyre defeated Elektra Lopez via pinfall 2:53.
Lopez slapped away Cora Jade’s popcorn after the loss and walked away…
John’s Thoughts: I can give or take the name. It’s fine. I do really like the soft reboot of Kay Lee Ray though. I’ve always felt like Ray was missing something from a presentation standpoint and she’s been in the same spot going back to her time in TNA British Bootcamp. This new fire motiff and new music is giving her a new start and so far I’m liking the presentation. I even think the flaming bat works (Hopefully they don’t set the ring on fire with that gimmick.
Damon Kemp told the Creed Brothers and Ivy Nile that Roderick Strong rolled his ankle in practice and can’t make the match against Pretty Deadly. Julius said that Strong’s injury better be a big one because in Diamond Mine they fight through injury. The Creeds talked about how they showed in their recent matches that they can fight through injury. Kemp said he’s just here to follow orders. Kemp walked away. Brutus said that Pretty Deadly always get lucky. Julius said that their luck will run out at In Your House…
Lash Legend vs. Roxanne Perez was hyped for after the commercial…[c]
Vic Joseph hyped up the WWE Crown Jewel show in Saudi Arabia…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Fallon Henley and told her that she has a bye to the finals due to Nikkita Lyons getting injured. Fallon said she wishes the best for Nikkita. Briggs and Jenson were there. Briggs talked about how Jensen’s hand is still injured. Tiffany Stratton showed up and said that it’s not fair that Henley isn’t earning her way to the finals. Fallon said she’s totally down to fight her way to the finals and would fight Stratton…
Roxanne Perez got a televised entrance for the next match…
4. Roxanne Perez vs. Lash Legend in a semi-final match of the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament. Lash blocked Roxanne’s two armdrags and put Roxanne in a delayed vertical suplex. Lash hit Perez iwht an axe kick for a two count. Lash hit Perez with a chop and knee. Lash hit Perez with a Butterfly Backbreaker for a two count. Perez put Lash into a sleeper to escape a Side Torture Rack. Lash broke it by running into the buckle.
Perez gave Lash a series of dropkicks and an Axe Handle strike. Perez hit Lash with a Thesz Press. Perez went for a legsweep, but Lash reversed it with a legsweep of her own. Lash went for a power bomb, but Perez reversed it with Pop Rocks (Code Red) for the win.
Roxanne Perez defeated Lash Legend via pinfall in 3:19 to advance to the finals of the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament.
John’s Thoughts: An ok match and Legend didn’t look horrible today. It would help her to work with more experienced wrestlers on a regular basis so she can improve. She improves every time we see her, so at least she’s making progress. Where they shouldn’t give up on her is her mic ability and charisma, which she’s shown a lot of (despite giving her the horrible talk show gimmick). I’m curious as to where they go with the winner of the Tournament now that Lash and Nikkita are out? Will they pull a Ring of Honor and have Rok-C win their inaugural Women’s Breakout Tournament? Or will they presumably go with the heel Tiffany Stratton winning and having what they set as NXT’s Money In the Bank Contract, which Carmelo Hayes established.
Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin, and Jacy Jayne were cutting a promo to mock Indi Hartwell. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance showed up and attacked Dolin and Jayne, the trainers showed up to separate everyone and tell Rose to head to the ring for her match against Hartwell…[c]
Entrances for the next match took place. Vic Joseph noted the tough year that Hartwell has gone through due to her “family” all leaving her (Johnny Gargano, Austin Theory, Candice LeRae, and Dexter Lumis)…
5. NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose vs. Indi Hartwell in a non-title match. Hartwell dominated early on, but Rose got control after an Irish Whip. Rose got a two count after a PK to the back. Hartwell rallied back with Snake Eyes and a series of shortarm lariats. Hartwell hit Rose with a sidewalk slam for a two count. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
[Hour Two] Rose hit Hartwell with a right hand punch for a two count. Rose continued to do her whole “I’m prettier than you” gimmick. Hartwell rallied back with axe handle strikes. Hartwell’s back gave away when she went for a fireman carry. Hartwell hit Rose with a Face Wash kick for a two count. Rose hit Hartwell with a jawbreaker and rollup for a two count. Hartwell hit Rose with a spinebuster for a two count.
Dolin and Jayne limped to ringside. Chance and Carter followed and attacked Toxic Attraction. Hartwell caught Jayne with a Big Boot. Rose caught a distracted Hartwell with a running knee for the victory.
Mandy Rose defeated Indi Hartwell via pinfall in 9:18.
Dolin and Jayne continued to brawl with Chance and Carter. Wendy Choo appeared and hit Mandy Rose with a sack of athletic balls (my guess is someone wanted to make a ball sack joke there). Choo poured the balls over Mandy. Wendy Choo danced to her theme as she stood over Rose with the NXT Women’s title…
McKenzie interviewed Bron Breakker about Joe Gacy showing him a personal picture earlier. Suddenly some random High School Football footage aired on the NXT monitor which Breakker noted that the footage was of him in High School. He noted that he was a bit sad that Rick Steiner couldn’t make it to that successful game. Breakker said he’s not letting Gacy get in his head. Breakker walked away looking a bit depressed…
Tiffany Stratton made her entrance for the next match…[c]
John’s Thoughts: NXT’s a good show these days, but the two worst things on the show are the Wendy Choo act (not the wrestler) and the Gacy vs. Breakker feud (again, not the wrestlers). Just get those three talented wrestlers out of bad-creative hell. Rose vs. Hartwell was okay for what it was, but Rose isn’t really clicking in the ring as a heel. I feel like she was way more emotive as a babyface when she was in that story with Otis and in the feud with Sonya Deville. She’s talented, but she isn’t really getting anything out of the one-dimensional “I’m prettier than you” gimmick, which we’ve seen other wrestlers do better with. They just have to give Rose more to do other than reiterate the same lines.
An ad aired for NXT’s Florida house shows…
Pretty Deadly, Kit Wilson and Elton Prince, cut a promo backstage. The talked about Diamond Mine being too injured to wrestle this week. They then hyped up how they’re going to beat the Creed Brothers. They worked in their Yes Boy catchphrase several times…
Entrances for the next match took place…
6. Fallon Henley (w/Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen) vs. Tiffany Stratton in a semi-final match of the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament. Stratton leapt over Henley in the corner. Henley and Stratton traded chest chops. Stratton and Henley traded slaps. Stratton gave Henley a boot. Henley came back with a back elbow, knee, and leg lariat. Henley hit Stratton into a baseball slide forearm. Stratton gave Henley a Dragon Screw into the bottom rope. Wade Barrett reminded everyone that Brooks Jensen is a virgin and needs help finding a girl. Stratton hit Henley with a slingshot senton for a two count.
Joseph noted that Stratton is an Olympic-level gymnast. Stratton hit Henley with a Chop Block. Stratton hit Henley with four backflips into an elbow and a double stomp. Stratton put Henley with a Figure-8 Deathlock. Henley escaped by slapping Stratton’s gut. Henley hit Stratton with a face buster and series of strikes. Henley planted Stratton with another facebuster. Henley had momentum, but crumpled due to her leg giving up on her. Stratton hit Henley with a slingshot stomp. Stratton then hit Henley with a Corkscrew Vader Bomb for the win.
Tiffany Stratton defeated Fallon Henley via pinfall in 5:02 to advance to the finals of the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament.
Grayson Waller ran out to celebrate with his friend Tiffany…
John’s Thoughts: Color me mildly impressed. Tiffany Stratton was good there. This was her best showing in WWE from her end. She was dynamic, quick, and stringed the moves together well. I believe these two have wrestled before, but Stratton’s improvement is showing. I like the new attire too. Nice little cosmetic touch, Stratton is being extra cakey with her makeup, which really fits into her daddy’s girl gimmick. This is similar to the whole MJF-EC3 situation from back in the day too, where MJF separated himself from being an EC3 clone. Tiffany is starting to come into her own and not come off like a Taya Valkyrie valley girl knockoff.
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Katana Chance and Kayden Carter. They talked about how they are fed up with not getting a chance at the tag team titles. They challenged Toxic Attraction to a title match against them. Wendy Choo showed up and talked about how she hit Mandy Rose in the face with a sack of balls. She talked about how she’s going after the NXT Women’s Championship. McKenzie Mitchell sent the show to a hype package to hype Von Wagner vs. Ikeman Jiro…[c]
A Thea Hail vignette aired. She talked about how she’s graduating High School tomorrow. She said her friends want to be teachers, nurses, or marketing executives, but she wants to be in WWE. She said she got accepted to schools like UCLA, Dartmouth, Princeton, and Brown. She said she’s up to the challenge of attending college while also being able to train at the Performance Center. She said she’ll choose her College on NXT next week…
John’s Thoughts: Thea Hail will become my favorite wrestler if she got accepted and attends UC Berkeley. Go Bears!
Duke Hudson met with Bron Breakker backstage and said he wasn’t behind the mind games. Hudson talked about how a man is most dangerous when they have nothing to lose. Hudson said Breakker needs to grow a pair and stop having daddy issues. This caused Breakker to pin Hudson into the lockers. Hudson said Gacy was right and that Breakker is predictable…
John’s Thoughts: Yo. Hudson really needs to get a good push. He was solid there and I kinda wish this were a Breakker vs. Hudson feud instead of Gacy vs. Breakker.
Entrance for the next match took place…
6. Von Wagner (w/Robert Stone) vs. Ikeman Jiro. Jiro had an initial flurry of offense, but Wagner gained control after a power slam. Wagner worked on Jiro with methodical offense. Jiro hit Wagner with a low dropkick but Wagner regained control after tripping Jiro off the top rope. Wagner put Jiro in a bear hug. Jiro got to his feet and hit Wagner with jacket punches. Jiro caught Wagner with a running enzuigiri to send Wagner to ringside.
Jiro hit Wagner with a missile dropkick and Asai Moonsault. Jiro hit Wagner with a Tornado DDT for a two count. Wagner dragged Jiro down with the jacket. Wagner then tangled Jiro in his jacket for hockey punches. Wagner hit Jiro with a twisting Death Valley Driver for the victory.
Von Wagner defeated Ikeman Jiro via pinfall in 4:13.
Sofia Cromwell showed up on the stage and pointed at the announce table. Wagner was about to military press Jiro on the announce table, but Josh Briggs showed up and cleared Wagner from the ring…
Tony D’Angelo and his goons were interviewed. D’Angelo talked about how Legado and his mob are at war and will settle it at In Your House. D’Angelo talked about how he’s going to bring the fight to Legado’s turf and how he’s going to give Santos Escobar a offer he can’t refuse…
A Carmelo Hayes barber shop segment was hyped for after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Good establishing win for Wagner who has finally hit his stride after a rough start in NXT. The former Robbie E, Robert Stone, is also starting to shed his old quirky Bro Man character finally and coming off as a decent manager. Josh Briggs is great in the ring and Von Wagner is a bit of a natural. That has the potential to be a good In Your House match if that’s where they’re going. This can also be a breakout moment for Josh Briggs at the same time if handled right.
Stone, Cromwell, and Wagner were backstage. Stone hyped up Von Wagner and said that Wagner needs eyes in the back of his head with everyone coming after him. Cromwell said that Wagner is ruffling feathers and that Von can handle anything…
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett checked in from ringside. Joseph tried to hype up In Your House in two weeks. Mandy Rose interrupted from the backstage Toxic Lounge. Rose talked about how Wendy Choo is a grown up kid while Rose is a grown ass woman. Jacy Jayne called Chance and Carter munchkins. Jayne said Toxic Attraction make it look easy and Chance can’t keep up with her Ninja Warrior skills. Dolin said next week they’ll make title matches against Choo and Chance and Carter official next week…
Joseph sent the show to a Carmelo Hayes barber shop segment. Melo and Trick were chatting with random patrons. Trick said they have a lot of gold bling, but they’re missing the gold title belt. Melo said it’s unnatural to not have the title. Cameron Grimes showed up to the Barber Shop. He said he’s just there to talk. Grimes sat in a barber’s chair to talk with Melo. Grimes talked about how he and Solo crushed Trick and Melo last week, and Melo saying it was just Grimes being lucky.
Melo said Grimes doesn’t deserve the championship. Melo said Grimes doesn’t hold or rock the title the way that Melo holds and rocks the title. Melo said that Grimes isn’t the A Champion. Grimes said that Melo is right, he was “a champion”. Melo said that Grimes is just a “title holder”. Grimes hyped up a match between him and Nathan Frazer for next week in preparation for the match against Melo. Grimes left as Melo ended up getting his haircut…
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett ran through advertised matches at In Your House…
Bron Breakker made his entrance for the next match…[c]
A vignette aired to introduce Giovanni Vinci. This person was European and I think he was speaking in Italian? He talked about being about his culture and fashion…
John’s Thoughts: That was a cool vignette! Reminded me a bit of the Vincenzo series on Netflix with the style it was produced in. I’m not Italian, but this seemed like better representation of Italian people than Tony D’Angelo’s cartoony-ass gimmick. In fact, they could have made this Vinci guy a mafia dude and he would come off better than D’Angelo’s dry presentation (the performer in D’Angelo’s case is overcoming the dry gimmick).
Toxic Attraction and Choo, Carter, and Chance “Championship Summit”, Cora Jade vs. Elektra Lopez, and Cameron Grimes vs. Nathan Frazer in a non title match…
Duke Hudson made his entrance. Joe Gacy and his druids were at the crow’s nest…
7. NXT Champion Bron Breakker vs. Duke Hudson in a non-title match. Breakker hit Hudson with a Frankensteiner. Hudson came back with an axe handle strike and got a one count. Breakker came back with a walking delayed vertical suplex. Hudson came back with methodical strikes. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Hudson dumped Breakker to ringside where Gacy’s druids were. Hudson tossed Breakker into the steel steps. Hudson got a two count after some ground and pound. Hudson went for a Steiner Recliner, but Breakker escaped. Hudson used a throat punch to escape Breakker’s Steiner Recliner.
[Overrun] Breakker backdropped Hudson for a moment of respite. Breakker hit Hudson with a series of shoulder tackles and a power slam. Breakker dumped Hudson to ringside with a lariat. Breakker glared at the druids for a bit. Breakker beat up the two druids. Breakker stole a steel chair from Hudson. Joe Gacy got on the apron and ducked a chair shot. Hudson tapped Breakker on the back and Breakker hit Hudson with the chair for the DQ.
Duke Hudson defeated Bron Breakker via DQ in 11:02 in a non-title match.
Joe Gacy said he was right and that Breakker can’t control his rage. NXT closed two minutes into the overrun…
John’s Thoughts: To give them a bit of credit here, this was the best bit of storytelling in the whole Breakker vs. Gacy feud, but that’s almost like complementing the sweet cherry in a crap sundae. That said, I wish they went more in this direction with treating Gacy like a cerebral villain as opposed to a lame horror movie villain. Key word “lame” because he’s only mildly-inconveniencing Bron Breakker and not doing anything that feels threating. Not to mention, he has Druids just for the sake of having Druids (I wonder if the druids are the Grizzled Young Veterans because NXT planted that seed around a month ago where they “quit” NXT).
Good win for Hudson though. The dude finally got to win something despite it being a DQ. I’ll take it. This guy has been losing since he was called up to the main roster as a part of the proto-Hurt Business with MVP and Shane Thorne. I think they have Hudson’s character right, the way it is now where HE comes off as a great cerebral villain (Hey, I was starting to like the Hudson and Lumis tag team before they abruptly pulled the plug with that due to “budget cuts”). He does remind me of Wade Barrett at his best when Barrett was being pushed as a sure-fire world champion (injuries ended those pushes). NXT overall, a good show. Just please do away with the Druids story and Wendy Choo being a kid. Can we get Mei Ying back? I’ll take that, as cheesy as it is.
There’s no excuse for jobbing out a potential star like Legend to a pathetic, no talent and no charisma midget like Rok-C.
So much potential on this show now. Lyons, Legend, Stratton, Henley, Enofe, Blade, Sanga, Creed 1 & 2, Waller, Breakker
Hello Aspiring Johnny Ace (ey, and to Ace’s credit, I liked his People Power run and how he invented the RKO/Diamond Cutter),
We using the jock “midget” term now? Here’s the fun thing, only use those terms when ya have substance or ya have cred behind it. And hey, to Ace’s credit, from the hard hits I’ve seen him deliver, that dude does have some cred, ethos, and substance behind some of his judgements (even though he may be a bit of a suck up).I’m partially kidding, but I laugh at peeps online sometimes using their keyboards to imagine that they are a part of the jock crew.
Key word “imagine”… A.k.a. pretend… (^_~)
Stay frosty!
“Tiffany is starting to come into her own and not come off like a Taya Valkyrie valley girl knockoff.”
She never came across that way. She’s been infinitely better than the old fat chick from day 1.
Man this guy must have been rejected by so many different types of women over the years.