By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Live from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired November 15, 2022 on USA Network
[Hour One] Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer…
The show started off with the NXT Championship entrances and introductions. Alicia Taylor handled the formal championship in-ring introductions
1. Bron Breakker vs. Von Wagner (w/Robert Stone) for the NXT Championship. Robert Stone distracted Breakker to allow Wagner to hit Breakker with a big boot. Wagner manhandled Breakker for the opening sequence. Breakker rallied back with a shoulder tackle and backdrop. Breakker caught Wagner with a standing Frankensteiner. Wagner escaped a submission by dragging Breakker’s arm against the top rope.
Wagner body slammed Breakker. Wagner got a two count after an elbow drop. Breakker recovered and gave Wagner a delayed vertical suplex. After running the ropes for extra momentum, Breakker caught Wagner with a running lariat. The show cut to picture-in-picture commercial.[c]
Breakker had Wagner in a grounded headlock (which may have lasted the entire break, because when I peeked at the PIP, he was in the same headlock). Wagner escaped with a back suplex. Wagner tossed Breakker into the steel steps at ringside. Wagner chokeslammed Breakker on the steel steps. The “holy shit” censoring started to happen (which cuts off commentary). Wagner got a two count off Breakker.
Wagner body slammed Breakker, tossed him into the ringpost, and gave Breakker a fallaway back suplex for a two count. Breakker shoved Wagner off the top rope and gave him a flying lariat. Braekker hit Wagner with shoulder tackles and a spinebuster. Breakker gave Wagner a Steinerizer bulldog. Wagner blocked a spear with a Jackhammer Suplex for a two count.
Wagner started to curse at the ref as Breakker fired up. Wagner ended up knocking Stone off the apron. Breakker’s back gave way off a Military Press attempt. Breakker escaped a suplex and hit Wagner with a spear for the win.
Bron Breakker defeated Von Wagner via pinfall in 13:05 to retain the NXT Championship.
John’s Thoughts: A good television championship match. I’m a bit surprised they didn’t build up to this match with any actual feud because this could have been an opportunity to elevate Wagner instead of just using him as cannon fodder. That said, Wagner was solid in the ring here. He’d be a pretty big star if they could somehow give him a gimmick similar to what Kane used to have where he didn’t talk. What made this match interesting, as Joseph pointed out, we rarely see Breakker wrestle big men so it was interesting to see him being the smaller opponent. Curious where they go for Breakker’s Deadline opponent? Is it as simple as Apollo?
An Alba Fyre sitodwn promo aired where she hyped up her upcoming match against Mandy Rose…
Zoey Stark was shown walking in the parking lot with a smug look on her face…[c]
Bron Breakker was walking past the Gorilla Position while selling back pain. As he sat to rest a bit, he was confronted by JD McDonagh who taunted him a bit…
Zoey Stark made her entrance to the WWE Performance Center ring for a promo. She said her back feels so much lighter now that she doesn’t have to carry Nikkita Lyons. She talked about being on the shelf for 9 months with an injury. She said she came out like a bat out of hell when she came back and earned a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship. She said she was then called to a meeting all of a sudden where everything changed.
She said they called her over to put her in a tag team with Nikkita Lyons. The crowd booed. She talked about how she and Lyons were chosen over people like Toxic Attraction or the Tag Team Champions, Chance and Carter. Stark said she couldn’t compete because she wasn’t medically cleared. She said Lyons showed up and told Stark that it’s ok and she’s not mad at Stark. She said that was condescending. She said she’s not the weak link, she didn’t get injured doing stupid twitter videos, she got injured facing the NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose.
Stark then talked about carrying Nikkita Lyons in a tag team for weeks. She said all Lyons gave her week to week, was endless apologies instead of endless results. Lyons then pointed to the video screen which replayed Stark betraying Lyons at the end of last week’s show. She said she did her best to help a younger athlete, but all she did was cling and leach off her. She said she’s tired of all this. Stark said she wanted to be the solution, but she’s now a part of the problem.
Stark said she didn’t do stupid dances on social media like Nikkita, she busted her ass in the ring. Stark said for the people who aren’t cheering her, “screw you”. She said those are people who like those stupid things that are posted. The crowd chanted “oh, Zoey is angry”. She said she’s not angry, because she took care of Lyons. She said you people are the people that look at Nikkita’s pictures online and dream of her at night. Lyons said she’s “Undeniable!” and the hunter, while every other female is the pray…
John’s Thoughts: Good first heel promo for Stark. Stark was decent as a white meat babyface, but there wasn’t much to her act in terms of development. She seems to be sliding into this angry character well (Only thing she did go overboard on was that final line). She talked about having to carry Lyons for weeks as a tag team, but it’s going to be even tougher carrying her in a feud. Maybe Lyons has finally turned a corner, we’ll see. What was another positive with this segment is they didn’t have Lyons attack Stark. It allows her promo to stew for a bit to build the feud.
The show cut to Andre Chase grading tests. Duke Hudson showed up because he was asked to meet with Chase. Chase asked Hudson why he threw in the towel. Hudson said the truth is, it looked like Andre was in pain, and that’s more important than a wrestling match. He said he just did it so Chase can live to fight another day.
Chase said he did it for Chase and to keep the University alive. He said it’s guilty as charged that he bleeds red and black. Thea Hail showed up to talk about a test she took. She commented that Duke Hudson is growing on her…
Sanga and Veer Mahan were shown meditating in preparation for their next match…
Vic Joseph plugged the Undertaker’s one man show…
Bron Breakker was in the locker room. He was approached by Apollo Crews who told him to watch his match later. Crews talked about how his main goal here is to come after the NXT Title…
2. “Indus Sher” Veer Mahan and Sanga vs. George Canon and Ariel Rodriguez. One guy was named George Canon. Sanga tossed around Canon like a bolder. Sanga gave Canon a chokeslam. Veer tagged in. Veer and Sanga ran into Canon. Veer forced Canon to tag in the other guy. The other guy was sandwich by Indus Sher after Sanga tagged back in.
Sanga gave the guy a one armed body slammed. Veer tagged in and gave the guy a leaping elbow drop. He had the name Ariel Rodriguez on his tights so I assumed that’s his name (didn’t he wrestle in MLW?). Sanga hit Canon with a draping big boot. Sanga and Veer hit Rodriguez with a backbreaker legdrop combo.
Indus Sher defeated George Canon and Ariel Rodriguez via pinfall in 2:26.
Veer said he and Sanga have respect for the Creed Brothers. He said the fans also respect the Creeds, but they don’t respect Indus Sher. Veer said in India Indus Sher are treated as celebrities, but in America they aren’t appreciated. Sanga said the only time they’ll get respect is if they destroy the creeds…
John’s Thoughts: Nice reintroduction of Indus Sher to NXT and this was way better than their last introduction. Last time they were generic foreign savages with Malcolm Bivens presenting them in a generic way. They also sold way too much as a monster tag team the last time around. This time they have really raised their game. Sanga is a good wrestler and even better talker. Veer seems to also be developing well now that he’s classy and cerebral. The NXT Tag Team division has a whole lotta beef now in terms of size when you see tag teams like The Creeds and Indus Sher clashing. Throw Gallus into that discussion too.
Julius and Brutus were shown watching the monitor, where they said they’ll step up to Indus Sher’s challenge. Tatum Paxley and Ivy Nile showed up. Nile said she was happy that they don’t have to worry about Damon Kemp. Julius said they can’t leave Veer and Sanga unchecked. Ivy said she thinks the Creeds should be going after the tag titles instead of Indus Sher…
JD McDonagh made his entrance for the next match…[c]
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Wendy Choo. Choo said Jade hurt her by giving her insults she hasn’t heard since high school. SHe said she’s going to give Jade two black eyes…
Apollo Crews made his entrance for the next match…
3. JD McDonagh vs. Apollo Crews. Crews started the match with a belly to back suplex. JD came back with a headlock takedown. Crews escaped with a rollup. Crews jumped over JD and gave JD an armdrag into an armbar. Joseph talked about Crews being in Nigeria recently to recruit stars over there. McDonagh came back with a few armdrags on Crews. Crews rallied back with chops and a lariat. McDonagh begged for mercy, but Crews didn’t buy it. Crews shoved McDonagh to send him to ringside.
Crews reversed McDonagh from tripping him and then gave him a release back suplex on the announce table. The show cut to regular commercial.[c]
[Hour Two] Crews tried to break a sleeper by falling on his back but McDonagh kept the hold. Crews reversed the suplex, but McDonagh reversed Crews into a back suplex. Apollo backdropped McDonagh to ringside and gave him a moonsault from the apron. Crews sold shoulder pain. Crews took down McDonagh with a lariat. McDonagh avoided a senton. Crews hit McDonagh with a Tiger Driver and Power Bomb combo for a two count.
Crews and McDonagh brawled to the top rope. JD crotched Crews and gave Crews an elbow smash. McDonagh pulled the top rope to send Crews to ringside. McDonagh hit Crews an Asai Moonsault. Crews caught McDonagh on the top rope with a Super Angle Slam. Both men traded tired strikes. McDonagh and Crews traded Small Cradle attempts. McDonagh caught Crews with a Spanish Fly.
Crews gave McDonagh with a knee, McDonagh came back with a headbutt. McDonagh hit Crews with a strong Sunset Bomb for a two count. A “This is Awesome” chant ensued. JD gave Crews a jawbreaker on the top rope. Crews avoided a moonsault and and gave McDonagh an elevated Uranage for the victory (though it looked like McDonagh kicked out after the three).
Apollo Crews defeated JD McDonagh via pinfall in 10:14 of on-air time.
Bron Breakker showed up on the ramp to confront Apollo…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Mandy Rose about her upcoming match against Alba Fyre. Rose talked about how people keep voting against her and saying she can’t carry the title. Rose said she has proved everyone wrong by still standing as NXT Women’s Champion. She said she’s not a cliche, but a one in a billon superstar. She said the title will stay with her by the end of the night…
Vic Josephy hyped the contract signing between Wes Lee and Carmelo Hayes for after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Great match as expected between Crews and McDonagh. I totally expected Crews to go over, given that JD has been in the title picture for a good few months. JD could use a few feuds away from the title before going back at it. Kudos to JD though, who has arguably been NXT’s in-ring MVP over the last few months. Looking forward to Crews vs. Breakker, presumably at Deadline. Hope they attempt to give Breakker some character development because he’s been a bit stale in that department for a while.
Javier Bernal was interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell. Bernal said he’s going to be making the challenges instead of people challenging him. He challenged Axiom. McKenzie said Axiom is hurt. Javi then challenged Ilja Dragunov. McKenzie said Ilja is in Germany, not cleared to wrestle. He challenged any Gallus member. McKenzie said Gallus was suspended. Javi blamed McKenzie for holding him back…
Booker T was in the ring to moderate the North American Championship Contract Signing. Booker introduced Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams first. Booker then introduced Wes Lee. Booker said he’s a fan of both the champion and challenger. Melo said as a lower case G to a real G, he’s honored to be in Booker’s Fave Five. Lee pointed out that Melo is on longer the A-Champion, he’s the Ex-champion.
Booker said that if Melo wins, he’ll be the three time, three time, NXT North American Champion. Melo said he knows Lee will go to the limit to defend the title, but Lee’s limit is where Melo pulls up and starts from. Melo said next week Lee’s 15 minutes of sympathy will be over. Trick said Wes is an athlete, but he ain’t no Melo. He said there is no ladder this time and this will be Lee’s last title defense. Booker asked Lee what will Lee do to still be Champion.
Lee said everyone knows how hard he worked. He said if you told him that he’d be a singles champ last year, then he wouldn’t believe it. He said he went through a lot, and found some peace by knocking out Trick. He said he’s going to prove that he’s the new standard of North American Champion and he’s going to retain the title next week.
Booker handed Melo the contract to sign first. Lee signed 2nd. Booker said it’s on! Trick taunted Lee by reminding him of him smashing Lee’s head in the locker. Booker T got in between the argument by saying that both men can save their drama for they momma, and saving the physicality for next week. Booker asked, Can You Dig That, Sucka!!!
John’s Thoughts: Good contract signing to set up next week’s match. Booker could have done without the Shucky Ducky line, but everything else he did was pretty good. I can see Booker being Divisive, but I’ve been a fan of his since his NXT return. Key thing, is he’s really doing a good job putting the spotlight on the newer wrestlers and coming off as a mentor, rather than try to hog the spotlight.
Thew show cut to this week’s T-Bar/Donnovan Dijak vignette. He was in a dark room drinking whiskey. He said the truth is never simple, until he sits at the table. He said then you can give him the truth, or he’ll beat it out of you. He said that NXT is a soft society, but that’s going to change soon. He said he’s not a product of his environment and hard justice is on it’s way…
Briggs, Jensen, and Henley made their entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: So Dijak’s a wrestling lawyer now? Someone call Stephen P New. I kid, I kid. I don’t expect him to be a lawyer, but more of a person with a law motiff, which can work. These vignettes have been cool and I’m excited to see how they repackage Dijak. Ultimately, I’m also so happy for the guy for having to live in T-Bar Hell for the last year. This guy has main event world champion ability, and i’m intrigued to see how high he can rise now that he has the machine behind him.
Odyssey Jones, Malik Blade, and Edris Enofe were backstage. Odyssey wondered why Blade wears the sweater vest. He talked about his dad being a preacher who always dressed nice. He said the first fancy clothes his dad brought him was a sweater vest. He said he wears the sweater vest in honor of his Dad…
The Schism made their entrance. Fowler and Reid have new ring tights…
4. “The Dyad” Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid (w/Joe Gacy, Ava Raine) vs. Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen (w/Fallon Henley). Jensen got a two count off an armdrag. Reid tagged in and worked on Jensen with elbows. Briggs came in and gave Reid a shoulder tackle. Jensen put Reid in an armbar. Briggs and Jensen tripped up Reid and hit him with their signature baseball slide punch. Reid got a tag to Fowler and tripped up Jensen. Raine got in Jensen’s face. Reid hit Jensen with a Suicide Dive which smashed Jensen into the announce table (Ouch, hope he’s ok).
Jensen fought out of the corner and tagged in Josh Briggs. Briggs cleaned house. Briggs hit Fowler with a shoulder tackle and hit Reid with a rebound lariat. Briggs hit Fowler with a standing splash. Kiana James showed up to confront Fallon Henley. Henley punched James which caused her to fall. Jensen helped James get up. The Dyad hit a distracted Briggs with a double Paydirt for the victory.
The Dyad defeated Briggs and Jensen via pinfall in 4:09.
Vic Joseph hyped up Shawn Michaels making a big announcement after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: There goes good ol’ Jensen, thinking with his pants instead of his brain. Anyways, good match for story development. They continue Kiana James trying to buy Henley’s bar, while also giving the Schism another win after their reboot. I liked the new ring gear all of them seem to have now. They all wear wrestling tights now instead of their church clothes. It also helps that Zack Gibson has his new name written on his tights because I always get their new names mixed up.
Vic Joseph sent the show to a Shawn Michaels pre-recorded video. He introduced the “Iron Survivor Match” concept. The rules are the match is 25 minutes, the wrestlers will come out in 5 minute intervals, every win gives you a point, and every loss sends you into the penalty box…
John’s Thoughts: Ehhhhh… Ok? Did Shawn Michaels lose a bet to Jeff Jarrett and now he’s obligated to book a King of the Mountain Match? Maybe they find a way to make this less goofy, but the whole Penalty Box stipulation screams King of the Mountain. At least they don’t have to hang a title belt instead of taking it down. If they were going to bring this concept, why not just keep it simple with them just scoring pinfalls? Maybe penalize losses?
5. Indi Hartwell vs. Tatum Paxley (w/Ivy Nile). The lights flickered at the start of the match, presumably from Scrypts. Tatum hit Hartwell with a dropkick. Hartwell reversed an overdrive and gave Tatum a lariat. Hartwell got a two count. Hartwell worked on Tatum with methodical offense. Tatum tripped up Hartwell and hit Hartwell with a forearm. Paxley hit Hartwell with a standing moonsault. Hartwell ripped off Paxley’s mask and stomped her to the mat. Hartwell tossed the mask to Nile. Hartwell hit Paxley with a basement forearm for the victory.
Indi Hartwell defeated Tatum Paxley via pinfall in 3:59.
The show cut to the transcript of another answering machine message from Scrypts. Scrypts talked about how he easily got past WWE Performance Center security. Scrypts said they are faster than lighting. Scrypts asked “who wants to play a game”…
John’s Thoughts: So Scrypts is Jigsaw?
Vic Joseph hyped the women’s championship match for after the break…[c]
Roxanne Perez confronted Indi Hartwell to say it was a bit rough to take off Paxley’s face mask. Hartwell said Paxley wouldn’t care if she broke Hartwell’s nose. Hartwell said she’ll do anything to get into the Iron Survivor match, even if it takes breaking a nose…
The following matches were advertised for next week: Wes Lee vs. Carmelo Hayes for the North American Championship and Wendy Choo vs. Cora Jade…
Entrances for the main event match took place. Rose made her entrance wearing a red backwards cap (looking like she’s cosplaying as Nikki Bella). Alicia Taylor handled the formal in ring championship introductions. The match started with 5 minutes left at the top of the hour (with 8 minutes allocated for Overrun)..
6. Mandy Rose vs. Alba Fyre in a Last Woman Standing Match for the NXT Women’s Championship. Rose retreated to ringside and was dove on by Fyre. Fyre cleared the announce table. Rose escaped a Gory Bomb attempt. Fyre tossed Rose around ringside. Rose reversed a body slam and gave Fyre a body slam on a steel chair. Fyre beat the count. Rose used kicks to block a chair shot. Rose went for a Kiss from a Rose, but Fyre blocked it with a chair. Fyre put Rose in a wrench assisted Boston Crab. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
[Overrun] Rose had Fyre fish hooked wit a wrench. Fyre escaped and hit Rose with a Front Suplex. Fyre gave Rose kicks and a Tornado DDT. Fyre caught Rose with a Cannonball to Ringside (glad she got full rotation on that because she almost hit her head on the ground). Fyre hit Rose with a ladder to the gut. Rose gave Fyre a whip into the ladder. Fyre avoided the ladder dropping on her. Fyre ended up pulling herself with the barricade to beat the count.
Fyre gave Rose a Death Valley Driver into a trash can (though she didn’t go through it). Rose sold her knee buckling and beat the ten count at around 9. Rose backdropped Fyre to ringside, causing Fyre to sell a hurt knee. Rose and Fyre brawled in a balcony area. Rose shoved Fyre off the barricade. Fyre beat the 10 count. Fyre hit Rose with a superkick when Rose dove at her. Fyre gave Rose a Gory Bomb into the apron.
Rose got up quickly (no selling the finisher) and took a baseball bat to the gut. Fyre put Rose on the announce table. Fyre climbed a ladder and was about to go for a Swanton Bomb. Suddenly, NXT UK wrestler Isla Dawn showed up and gave Fyre a mist, which sent Fyre falling through the table. Mandy Rose beat the double count to win the match.
Mandy Rose defeated Alba Fyre in a Last Woman Standing Match in 11:58 to retain the NXT Women’s Championship.
Mandy Rose limped her way to the back. Isla Dawn was doing manic poses on the top of the ladder as the video walls glitched and NXT closed…
John’s Thoughts: Hard work for both women, but at the same time we’ve seen more epic hardcore matches on NXT that were more creative (one of my favorite NXT hardcore matches being the Tiffany Stratton vs. Wendy Choo one). This was fine, but it felt like they tried to squeeze a 20 minute match into 10 minutes, therefore everything was rushed. Fyre and Rose haven’t had the most epic matches because it seems like they go above and beyond to protect Fyre while also having Rose eek out wins. Too much parity. Criticisms aside, I continue to praise Mandy Rose for being on a streak of putting in good in-ring performances and she was good here. It was the parity that hurt both women here.
Cool to see Isla Dawn in America, but at the same time she’s never really impressed me much in NXT UK. The most I get from her is that she’s a witch that studies witchcraft, and she’s ok in the ring. Maybe she’s improved since I stopped watching full shows. If anything, her coming over adds more depth to WWE’s women’s roster. I do think they need to be developing more faces and Dawn is seemingly coming in as a heel. This week’s show was a step down from last week, but still solid. Last week had some epic in-ring matches and this week’s matches were more for storytelling.
“Last week had some epic in-ring matches and this week’s matches were more for storytelling.”
That’s why this week was so much better. Nobody except the most hardcore dirtsheet fans gives a shit about “epic matches.” Tell good stories with interesting characters instead of doing 20-30 minute snorefests with people that nobody will every care about.
Can someone on any wrestling site please recognize how Bernal was doing Bret Hart’s “iconic” El Dandy promo almost verbatim? Well, he at least attempted to. Is it really that obscure these days that none of the reviewers have ever seen it?