By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT 2.0 TV
Taped June 9, 2022 in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired June 21, 2022 on USA Network
Before the signature, they aired an “In memory of” graphic for the late WWE Referee Tim White…
Clips were shown of Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes as well as “The D’Angelo Family” approaching the WWE Performance Center. Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer…
Entrances for the opening match took place. During Waller’s entrance, Waller cut a promo about how he thinks he’s the greatest first generation talent in WWE history. Waller talked down to the fans. Waller talked about how he was about to stop censoring himself on the mic, but he was attacked by Solo before the bell, who beat up Waller around the ring…
1. Solo Sikoa vs. Grayson Waller. Solo continued his onslaught and dominance in the ring. Waller turned the tide and worked on Solo with methodical offense. Solo no-sold being slammed in the corner. Solo slammed Waller’s head into several corners. Solo hit Waller with a back suplex. Waller came back with a back elbow. Waller managed to rip off the top turnbuckle off one of the corners while Solo was attacking him. Solo continued to attack Waller with methodical offense.
Solo dominated with methodical offense for over two minutes. Waller made a comeback with a foot stomp and legsweep. Barrett noted that Solo doesn’t wear boots which makes him vulnerable to getting stomped. Solo ducked a baseball slide into a lariat and gave Waller a back elbow. The show cut to picture-in-picture. [c]
Solo hit Waller with a hip toss and a rally of punches. Waller came back with a cross crane kick for a two count. Waller hit Solo with a DDT for a two count. Joseph plugged John Cena returning to Raw this upcoming Monday. Waller soaked in boos while tightroping, which allowed Solo to clock him with a right hand. Solo caught Waller with a right hand at ringside. Solo rallied with a plethora of strikes to ground Waller in the corner. Solo hit Waller with the Umaga Hip Attack.
Waller escaped a Samoan Drop and gave Solo a jawbreaker on the top rope. Solo reversed Waller’s stunner into a Samoan Drop. Waller rolled to ringside to avoid a Uso Splash. Solo caught Waller with a Superkick. Waller dodged a back elbow from Solo causing Solo to back elbow the exposed turnbuckle. Waller caught Solo with the rolling stunner for the victory.
Grayson Waller defeated Solo Sikoa via pinfall in 12:18.
John’s Thoughts: I’m surprised they decided to put Waller over here, but I’m not complaining. Waller is a plucky but dishonorable heel. This is some of the booking WWE needed to do with Miz throughout his run. Seriously, I like the usage of the exposed turnbuckle to give Waller credibility. Solo doesn’t lose anything in defeat and he’s definitely still in the running for a huge push soon. You can call Solo up to the Bloodline right now and it wont’ be a problem.
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Tony D’Angelo who was flanked by “The Family” and Legado Del Fantasma. D’Angelo talked about how he’s going to beat Carmelo Hayes. McKenzie noted that the merger with Legado hasn’t gone as well as he hoped. D’Angelo said things were fine and asked Escobar if things were ensured later on. Santos Escobar acted like he was subservient and he affirmed that he had Tony’s back…
Kayden Carter and Katana Chance made their EDM raver entrance…[c]
A cinematic vignette aired to introduce Jordan Devlin to NXT 2.0. His new name is JD McDonah.
2. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon. Carter gave Leon a superkick for a two count. Leon did a dance and gave Carter a dropkick. Feroz tagged in. Leon gave Carter snake eyes. Leon gave Carter a Sunset Flip after Feroz held held Carter in place. Leon and Carter traded chest slaps. Chance tagged in and tripped Leon. Chance hit Leon with a slingshot senton for a two count. Leon rolled up Chance for a two count. Leon put Chance in a grapevine half crab which Chance broke with a rope break.
Carter tagged in and hit Leon with a facebuster. Carter hit Leon with clinch knees and a corner splash. Chance tagged in and held Leon in place for a Carter dropkick. Leon kicked out at two. Chance hit Leon with a footsie kick combo. Carter tagged in and dragged Leon away from Feroz. Leon hit Carter with an enzuigiri to tag in Feroz. Feroz hit Carter with a hip toss. Feroz slammed Chance to the mat and got a two count. Leon tagged in and hit a modified 3D X Factor on Chance for a two count. Chance reversed a double suplex into a DDT. Carter caught Feroz with a back kick for a two count. Chance and Carter hit Feroz with their 450 Scorpion Death Drop combo for the victory.
Katana Chance and Kayden Carter defeated Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon via pinfall in 5:15.
Wes Lee was shown heading to the ring. Joseph noted that Lee will address the NXT fans after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: That was a better tag team match than I expected. Chance and Carter have developed good chemistry, but Leon and Feroz looked really really good in defeat. I’ve liked Leon’s powerhouse work in the past, but she did a great job selling in this match. Feroz reminds me of Taynara Conti in NXT. Not only because she’s a Judoka and Brazillian, but because she’s also showing similar rapid progression every time she’ son TV. I wouldn’t mind more of the Mexican-Brazillian duo of Leon and Feroz on NXT 2.0. Also to note, Jordan Devlin is the latest victim of WWE’s renaming. Looking forward to Devlin in NXT 2.0. He’s great in the ring and a great personality too.
Wes Lee made his entrance. Joseph noted that Lee is on a winning streak, but is a bit crestfallen. Lee talked about how he’s happy to still get cheers from the fans. The fans showered Lee with a “You deserve it” chant. Lee said he’s thankful for that after a rough three months. He said he was at the highest of highs as a two time tag team champion. Lee said he did it with his brother, Nash Carter. Lee said the world then exploded under his feet. Lee started to visibly cry.
Lee said he wears his tears proudly. He said under the tears he found pain and anger. He apologized and said he wasn’t acting like himself. Lee said he was just trying to prove himself in his fights with Sanga and Xyon. He said he wanted to prove that he can stand on his two feet. Trick Williams made his entrance by himself and cut off Lee. Williams said no one wants to hear about Lee or how Lee’s brother Exploded or whatever. Trick said Lee might be the one who left Carter in the dust and left Carter behind.
Lee said that Trick has no idea what he and Carter went through to get to the top. Lee said Trick won’t understand that because he’s second fiddle to his homeboy, Melo. Lee said that Trick is a hype man for Melo with probably no hype for himself. Trick called Wes “Afro Thunder”. Trick said he’ll challenge Lee on his own time. Trick said he’s just gonna leave the ring, just like Lee’s friends left him…
John’s Thoughts: Wowzers! That was a nice promo exchange. I’m surprised they referenced Nash Carter so much, but it added to the emotion of the segment. Williams is definitely one of NXT’s best talkers, so he was solid as the foil for Lee. Lee is definitely doing an amazing job making the best of a tough situation (the Carter release). I continue to point out how people have seen Lee as a potential breakout star, a potential world champion. Lee has all the tools. I’m rooting for the guy to pull it all together and make it work.
A promo aired of Tiffany Stratton cutting a promo on Wendy Choo, mocking her…
Roderick Strong and Damon Kemp (Bobby Steveson) made their entrance…[c]
Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro made their entrance. They were ordered around by Stack and Two Dimes (Two Dimes has been released after these tapings). Wilde and Mendoza came out to Tony D’Angelo’s theme…
3. “Diamond Mine” Roderick Strong and Damon Kemp vs. “Legado Del Fantasma” Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde (w/Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, Troy “Two Dimes” Donnovan). Wilde and Del Toro traded tags to dominate Strong with fast offense. Kemp tagged in and grounded Del Toro with an alligator roll. Strong slapped Kemp for getting dominated by Del Toro. Kemp dominated Del Toro with a Suplex and spear combination. Kemp hit Wilde with a Belly to Belly. Strong tagged in.
Wilde hit Strong wtih a slam and took down Kemp too. Strong hit Wilde with a backbreaker and Kemp hit Wilde with a lariat for a two count. Kemp kept the pressure with some ground and pound. Kemp hit Wilde with a Body Slam, but missed an impressive elbow drop combo. Del Toro tagged in and caught Strong with a crossbody and huracanrana after Strong tagged in. Del Toro hit Strong with a missile dropkick. Strong hit Del Toro with an Angle Slam. Wilde broke up the pin. Wilde hit Kemp with a plancha.
Del Toro and Strong traded strikes. Two Dimes “accidentally” (?) tripped up Del Toro with a crowbar. Strong hit Del Toro with a leg lariat for the victory.
Diamond Mine defeated Legado Del Fantasma via pinfall in 4:57.
John’s Thoughts: Definitely a “fun while it lasted” type of match. Strong is entertaining as usual. You usually expect a good match out of Legado and they didn’t disappont here. Damon Kemp really shined in a good way. Kemp is the lesser known brother of the much hyped Gable Stevenson, but he has improved every single time we’ve seen him on NXT 2.0. He was really solid with his Suplex combinations. Having a shoot background doesn’t always translate into pro wrestling success (see: Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir), but Kemp is transitioning very very well.
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Giovani Vinci. Vinci talked about being a supreme athlete and he said he does things “in style”. He said he’s a top tier talent who walked through the door “in style”. Ikeman Jiro showed up and asked Vinci if he’s “Style strong”. Vinci was confused…
John’s Thoughts: Ooof. Someone get this man a manager of valet. ASAP!!! 😬
Toxic Attraction were shown heading to the ring…[c]
The show cut to this week’s latest Apollo Crews cinematic vignette. He’s still writing in his diary. He talked about how he’s trying to confront his fears. While he was writing in his diary he passed by some guys mugging an innocent bystander. They do the gimmick where we see within Apollo’s “thoughts” again. In his thoughts, Apollo beat up the thugs and helped the guy to his feet. Back in “the real world”, Crews ended up approaching the muggers. The show cut back to Wade Barrett and Vic Joseph…
John’s Thoughts: Uhm? So, Crews can see into the future? There’s a part of me that wants to have Crews’s “futures” end up being lame where he gets beat up. Just to contrast the weirdo supernatural stuff…
Toxic Attraction made their entrance. Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett joked about Sex Panther cologne, from Anchorman, where Joseph compared Barrett to Brian Fantana, the Paul Rudd character. Mandy Rose talked down about Roxanne Perez after Perez won her Sorta-Money-In-the-Bank contract. Gigi and Jacy also taunted Perez. Jayne talked about Cora Jade falling under the pressure when she went after the Women’s Championship.
Roxanne Perez made her entrance to interrupt Mandy. Cora Jade flanked Roxanne. Rose tried to discourage Perez from cashing in her contract. Perez said she feels like she’s on top of the world and she feels she’s earned the spot she’s in. Perez said while she wants to eventually become Women’s Champion, she would love to become women’s tag team champion with her best friend. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance showed up. Carter said she and Chance weren’t done in their pursuit of the tag team championships. Jade said they looked done after In Your House. Chance said that Jade and Perez can’t cut in line just because they’re the flavor of the month. Chance and Carter brawled with Perez and Jade. Toxic Attraction watched at the brawl from the ring…
McKenzie interviewed Trick and Melo. Melo brought up Trick taunting Wes Lee. Melo said he’s taking care of business against D’Angelo. Melo talked about how D’Angelo was going to take an L to the A Champ…
Cameron Grimes made his entrance for the next match…[c]
John’s Thoughts: I feel like Carter and Chance showing up was a way for them to keep the contract in the hands of Roxanne Perez. They did this when they teased Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams cashing in Melo’s not-Money in the bank contract on the tag titles instead of on Swerve Strickland. I hope they do a storyline around Perez being conflicted over who she cashes in her contract on. That could lead to either some fun character development with Cora Jade, or even a heel turn from Cora if Perez decides to go after her Women’s Championship dreams.
McKenzie Mitchell tried to interview Indi Hartwell, but she was interrupted by Kiana James, who did her secretary gimmick, talking about stats and whatnot. This would lead to a Hartwell vs. James match next week (which Hartwell will probably win). Hartwell called James a “bitch” in the end of the promo…
4. Cameron Grimes vs. Edris Enofe (w/Malik Blade). Grimes worked on Enofe with chain wrestling to start. Enofe rallied back with an armdrag and a rollup for a two count. Enofe came back with a few pin attempts himself. Enofe got a two count off a dropkick. Grimes caught Enofe with a kick and Frankendriver. Grimes hit Enofe with a PK. Grimes hit Enofe with a crossbody for a two count. Grimes worked on Enofe with some Daniel Bryan roundhouse kicks. Enofe asked Grimes to “bring it” while showing his fighting spirit.
Enofe responded to a boot with punches. Enofe got Grimes to the mat with a jumping knee. Enofe hit Grimes with an Uppercut and running Knee. Enofe then hit Grimes with a nice Tope Con Hilo. Grimes avoided a 450. Grimes hit Enofe with a Black Hole Slam. Grimes hit Enofe with a Cave In for the win.
Cameron Grimes defeated Edris Enofe via pinfall in 5:37.
Grimes got in Enofe’s face after the match, but then shook hands with him for a good match…
John’s Thoughts: Good match while it lasted, but good character development for both guys. Enofe has a good look and he definitely someone who has potential as a singles star once the tag team is over. I like Grimes finally getting character development now. He’s not firmly a heel. They’re going to tell a natural story with him.
Thea Hail showed up to her dorm room. Apparently she’s dorm mates with Bodhi Hayward. Hail was excited that there were Co-Ed dorms. Hail said she wanted to make the best of this situation and how she wants to be bros with Hayward…
John’s Thoughts: Lucky Bodhi! Just sayin’
Von Wagner and Brooks Jensen were shown heading to the ring from different parts of the PC. Joseph reminded viewers that everyone will be banned from ringside in the upcoming match…[c]
A Nikkita Lyons vignette aired. She’s returning soon…
Entrances for the next match took place…
5. Von Wagner vs. Brooks Jensen. Jensen rallied early on with punches. Wagner came back with powerful strikes and lariats. Jensen came back with a spinning heel kick. Wagner hyperextended Jensen’s arm over the top rope. Jensen came back with a back elbow. Wagner took down Jensen with a Big Boot. Wagner punched Jensen’s hand into the hole in the turnbuckle bar. Wagner focused his onslaught on Jensen’s injured left hand, which lasted for a few minutes. Jensen made a comeback with right hand punches and lariats.
Jensen hit Wagner with a springboard DDT for a two count. Wagner swatted Jensen out of the air. Wagner hit Jensen with a Death Valley Driver for the win.
Von Wagner defeated Brooks Jensen via pinfall in 4:45.
Robert Stone and Sofia Cromwell celebrated with Wagner on the stage while Josh Briggs and Fallon Henley checked on Jensen in the ring…
John’s Thoughts: A good win for Wagner and I’m glad they didn’t decided to get cute with things and have Jensen win. This was a solid match between two 2nd generation wrestlers. The sons of Wayne Bloom and Bull Buchanon. One negative though. Jensen sold his hand injury well to start, but for some reason he ended up “forgetting” that he had an injured arm. Hopefully he watches this match on tape and fixes his selling.
Bron Breakker met with Cameron Grimes backstage and said that he likes what he saw in the ring wtih Grimes. Grimes said that if this Grimes shows up to the Great American Bash, then Grimes will become the new NXT Champion…
Alba Fyre made her very cool looking fire themed entrance (Interesting note: Fyre’s entrance theme was actually the theme Madcap Moss was using before he feuded with Baron Corbin)…[c]
Joe Gacy cut a promo backstage in his dark room with his druids. He was hyping up his two random ass druid dudes…
6. Alba Fyre vs. Lash Legend. Fyre dominated the match with strikes. Fyre rolled up Legend into the buckle. Fyre hit Legend with a dropkick for a one count. Lash caught Alba with a shortarm back kick. Legend grinded Fyre into the bottom rope. Legend countered a Gory Bomb into a Butterfly Suplex. Fyre came back with a Shortarm Superkick and Tornado DDT. Legend countered roundhouse kicks with a sidewalk slam for a two count. Fyre countered a bicycle kick into a Gory Bomb. Legend avoided the Swanton Bomb. Legend grabbed Fyre’s bat and jabbed Fyre in the throat for the DQ.
Alba Fyre defeated Lash Legend via DQ in 3:31.
The competitors for the next match were shown heading to the ring from backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Rough at points as expected from a Lash Legend match, but Fyre carried Legend to her best match so far in WWE. Legend look good in defeat and showed that she has potential to be a big time star in WWE. She definitely has the gift of gab, and I have a feeling she might be able to pick up the in-ring well too. Not sure why NXT wants to have Fyre feud with Legend though. I thought it would have been ok having Legend look good in loss, but the DQ loss means we’ll get another match between the two.
Entrances for the main event took place. Alicia Taylor (off screen) handled the formal in ring championship introductions…
7. Carmelo Hayes (w/Trick Williams) vs. Tony D’Angelo (w/Stacks, Two Dimes, Wilde, Mendoza, and Escobar) for the NXT North American Championship. D’Angelo shoved Melo and taunted Melo to start the match. They showed a reluctant Escobar rolling his eyes at ringside. D’Angelo took down Melo with a shoulder tackle. D’Angelo avoided some of Melo’s quick moves. Melo taunted D’Angelo. All of the corner men got up on the aprons. Melo rallied with punches. D’Angelo came back with gut punches. D’Angelo hit Melo with a high flapjack for a two count.
Melo came back with a lariat. Melo tripped up D’Angelo at ringside, right in front of Legado and the D’Angelo family. D’Angelo tossed Melo into the steel steps. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
D’Angelo had Melo stuck in an abdominal stretch back from the break. Melo rallied back with right hands. Melo caught D’Angelo with a Springboard Sling Blade followed by ground and pound. Melo hit D’Angelo with a La Mistica slam for a two count. D’Angelo blocked a pump kick and came back with a T Bone Suplex for a two count. Melo managed to trip up D’Angelo into the bottom buckle. Melo hit D’Angelo with a Codebreaker for a two count.
D’Angelo crawled away from Melo’s finisher and used an amateur wrestling roll to hit Melo with a high angle backdrop. Stacks distracted the referee and D’Angelo asked Escobar for brass knuckles. Escobar passed the knuckles to Melo instead. Melo clocked Tony with the power of the punch brass knuckles for the victory.
Carmelo Hayes defeated Tony D’Angelo via pinfall in 10:38 to retain the NXT North American Championship.
Melo winked at Escobar in approval of his help. Legado Del Fantasma walked up the ramp while D’Angelo and his goons yelled at them to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: It’s always tough when you have a heel vs. heel matchup, but it made sense here with D’Angelo going for the title, Melo being champion, and the Legado trio being the sympathetic babyfaces to add interest into the match. All of that played well into the match. As for the match, I really liked it. Tony D’Angelo is slowly becoming one of my favorite single’s up-and-comers. They guy’s a pro wrestling savant. I looked up his work before WWE. He was just an amateur wrestler with no pro wrestling experience. Despite the lack of experience, the guy is a complete natural. What helps is he’s a real fighter, and he makes sure that his offense looks good. I feel bad that they’re making him have such an uphill battle with the cartoon gimmick, but he’s definitely exceeding expectations.
This week’s NXT was solid. There was no Wendy Choo, so that’s a plus (I hear she’s popular with the kids, but she does detract from the show when the wrestlers have to sell her “pranks” like they’re getting shot with acid). Joe Gacy’s crappy druid gimmick was also isolated to a harmless segment too. Extricate the Joe Gacy stuff and this was a good show with good live character development.
Sikoa and Waller have a real chance to be stars on the main roster in the very near future.
Perez & Cora vs The Future Endeavor Express does nothing for what WWE is trying to build. That feels like a shitty IWC wet dream that HHH would have booked.
Wes Lee is surprising me quite a bit. He seems like a better plucky babyface than I expected and I hope the hints towards Carter Nash mean that WWE is going to do the right thing and hire him back.
Grimes v Enofe was indyriffic trash, complete with a moronic striking exchange.
Von Wagner is Van Hammer with 4000x the talent. Jensen is solid in his role as well, and that was a logically worked match where both looked good.
I was completely underwhelmed by Kay Lee Ray after years of hearing so much about her. Alba Fyre is an upgrade in every area of the character and she now feels like someone who could be a useful main roster act.
Tony D looks like he was dressed by Wendy Choo for this match.