By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Live from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired November 29, 2022 on USA Network
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary…
Roxanne Perez made her entrance for the opening match. Booker T went into Roxanne Perez’s history as a former Reality of Wrestling Women’s Champion and the youngest wrestler in his promotion at 16 years old when she first joined ROW. Booker also talked about Roxanne’s opponent, Indi Hartwell, being another student of his…
1. Roxanne Perez vs. Indi Hartwell. Perez hit Hartwell with a n armdrag. Hartwell shoved Perez into the turnbuckle. Perez locked Hartwell into a sleeper. Hartwell slammed Perez to the mat. Perez hit Hartwell with an armdrag and dropkick for a few narfalls. Hartwell escaped another sleeper by shoving Perez, throat first, into the top rope. Hartwell body slammed Perez multiple times, followed by an elbow drop, for a two count.
Hartwell gave Perez a draping big boot for a two count. Hartwell reversed a rollup by sitting down for a two count on Perez. Perez hit Hartwell with a jawbreaker but Harwell came back with a clothesline for a two count. Hartwell worked on Perez with methodical offense. After being piefaced, Perez rallied with forearms. Perez reversed a suplex with an armdrag and Flying Jalapeño.
Perez hit Hartwell with axe handle strikes and a basement dropkick. Perez rallied with uppercuts in the corner. Hartwell came back with a Back Suplex for a two count. Perez hit Hartwell with a nice suicide dive. Hartwell rolled through a crossbody. Perez came back with an inside cradle for a nearfall. Hartwell recovered and flored Perez with a Big Boot. Perez caught a running Hartwell with a kick while prone. Perez struggled to get over at first, but she hit Hartwell with Pop Rocks for the win.
Roxanne Perez defeated Indi Hartwell via pinfall in 9:07.
John’s Thoughts: Aside from the finish (which was a small nitpick), that was a great match. This was one of the better Indi Hartwell singles matches I’ve seen ever. Perez has great matches with about everyone (oddly enough, she has “average” matches with Cora Jade). I really liked the size difference here as it made for a good story with the counters both women were employing. Booker T was great on commentary too in putting over both of his former students in Hartwell and Perez.
The camera cut to Shawn Michaels sitting at a conference table with Road Dogg, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, Madusa, and Molly Holly…
Andre Chase was chatting with Thea Hail and Duke Hudson. Hudson talked about how he accidentally gave Chase a big boot. He then went on to brag about how good his big boot is. He then said he’s going to go to Shawn Michaels to hand over a petition to get Chase in the Iron Survivor Match. Grayson Waller walked in and mocked Hudson for getting signatures for a man who would never be in Iron Survivor. Thea Hail had to be held back by Hudson, doing her Scrappy Doo routine. Duke said he’ll take care of Waller…
The artist formerly known as T-Bar, Dijak, made his entrance…
2. Dijak vs. Dante Chen. Dijak slammed Chen to the mat. Joseph noted that Dijak is “out for retribution” against Chen (get it!). Chen fought out of a choke with forearms, but Dijak pushed through and shoved Chen to ringside. Chen tackled Dijak into the apron. Dijak grabbed Chen by the boot. Chen escaped by booting Dijak in the face.
Dijak recovered and gave Chen a sitout chokeslam in the ring. Dijak put Chen in a hammerlock and gave him ground and pound clubbing blows. Dijak gave Chen a back elbow. Dijak hit Chen with the Time to Fly Suplex. Chen recovered and swarmed Dijak with strikes.Dijak grounded Chen with a Big Boot. Dijak bout Chen in a Hammerlock Sleeper. Dijak then hit Chen with Feast Your Eyes (Burning Hammer GTS) for the win.
Dijak defeated Dante Chen via pinfall in 3:48.
Dijak took the mic and said that was an example of Hard Justice. He said to look his eyes. He said the only thing you’ll see is the infliction of suffering. Dijak said NXT is a place of refuge for most, but not him. He said he’s not reinvintenting himself, but to eviscerate a soft society. He called out the NXT Roster and said it makes zero difference. He said they are all nameless-faceless men that will be brought to justice. “My justice”…
John’s Thoughts: Very cool to see Dijak finally freed from WWE’s version of Dante’s Inferno known as WWE ‘s C-Show, Saturday Night’s Main Event. Fitting that he defeated a guy named Dante. Very happy to see him back and taken seriously. He does look a bit like a 90s action movie villain straight out of a Stallone flick, but I think he can make it work. He needed something other than just being generic Ring of Honor guy, and I think this can work. This guy has the size, look, and talent to be a main eventer in WWE, to the point where I get baffled that he never got a serious look at. I’m ok with Chen getting a bit of offense here too because it seems like there are some people in the back that want to see him succeed based off them giving him some push on the Level Up show.
The show cut to JD McDonnagh taunting Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley. The Creed brothers showed up. JD said he doesn’t think the Creeds are ready for Indus Sher. The Creeds thought they were ready. JD said it’s all about bone density. He took out a training dummy. He said that Indus Sher can take a lot more pain than the Creeds according to science. JD left…
The show cut back to Shawn Michaels, X-Pac, Road Dogg, Madusa, and Molly Holly in a conference room. Shawn, Pac, and Dogg joked about not wanting to base all this on math and numbers. Molly brought up how some NXT roster members have only been wrestling for less than two years. Madusa said she’s been super impressed by the young roster. Road Dogg cut in and said Carmelo Hayes is at the top of his list.
Pac and Madusa agreed. Pac said Melo must be a heat magnet. Madusa said of course Pac would know about heat magnets. Molly and Madusa recommended Tony D’Angelo. Pac and Dogg joked about meatballs. Michaels said that D’Angelo might not be medically ready for the match. Michaels said he knows D’Angelo would agree to be in the match, but sometimes you have to protect the talent from themselves.
X-Pac recommended JD McDonagh. Road Dogg said he’s creepy. Molly talked about JD having a string of great matches. Michaels said that JD is creepy, but a technician in the ring. Madusa said JD is old school. Molly brought up Joe Gacy. The panel talked up Gacy as a leader. Madusa said this match needs someone like Gacy. Road Dogg said even though people don’t give him credit, Von Wagner needs to be in the discussion.
X Pac said as a smaller guy he hates big guys and wants Axiom in the match. Road Dogg said he likes Axiom too and they high fived. Madusa rolled her eyes. Dogg said that Axiom won’t be medically cleared. Dogg brought up Waller. Molly wasn’t a fan, but X Pac liked Waller’s swagger and confidence. Shawn Michaels told everyone to write down the top five wrestlers they want in the match on paper so they can get back to it…
Grayson Waller made his entrance. The show cut to the first commercial 30 minutes in…
John’s Thoughts: Ooof. These “limited commercial” editions of NXT are tough to keep up with. They did this for Raw this week too. Anyways, the Shawn Michaels segment with the legends was well done. Road Dogg and X-Pac in particular were fun in their banter, but they’ve been bantering for years, so that’s no surprise. Molly and Madusa were really good on their ends too and felt like they knew what they were talking about in terms of the young talent. I really like Shawn in the role of sports commissioner and wouldn’t mind if we see him more often. He doesn’t need to be involved in storylines, but his star power will really enhance and add ethos to logistical announcements.
Duke Hudson was already in the ring. Booker T also talked about being a teacher for Duke Hudson…
3. Duke Hudson (w/Andre Chase, Thea Hail) vs. Grayson Waller. Waller worked on Hudson with a side headlock. Hudson tried to pull Waller’s hair but was stopped by Chase, who told him not to cheat. Waller hit Hudson with punches. Hudson came back with a delayed sidewalk slam. Hudson considered getting a leverage pin, but Chase advised him not to do it. Waller dominated for a stretch. Hudson Hulked up and rallied with right hands. Hudson hit Waller with a Chase U version of the Bionic Elbow.
Waller avoided Hudson and Hudson stopped on a dime to avoid giving Thea Hail a Big Boot. Hudson entered the ring and walked right into Waller’s rolling Stunner finisher for the victory.
Grayson Waller defeated Duke Hudson via pinfall in 5:20.
The commentary team noted that Waller might have impressed Shawn Michaels and the selection committee…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Javier Bernal. McKenzie talked about how she dislikes interviewing Javi. Javi said it was time to put aside their differences due to it being the holidays. Javi then hyped up “Big Javi Tuesdays”, with him selling merch. He then brought up a generic yellow baseball bat with the words Big Body Javi. He said “Adam” Judge slipped into his DMs for the bat. McKenzie corrected him by saying “Aaron”. Javi then plugged the “Big Body Pillow”, which was a body pillow with his face on it. McKenzie said “Big Body Pillow” is already trademarked.
He said he’s been sleeping on Body Pillows for 5 years so he knows it’s not trademarked. he then plugged Big Body Cologne. McKenzie said it smells like rotten eggs and ran off. Javi said his BBC smells good. Axiom showed up and challenged Javi to a match. McKenzie showed up and said that Javi gets the match he wants now because he asked for it last week…
John’s Thoughts: The material was cringe, but what I thought made it work was the chemistry between McKenzie and Javi. I got an immature chuckle out of Javi talking about how his BBC smells good. As in his Big Body Cologne.
Entrances for the next match took place…
4. Kiana James vs. Fallon Henley (w/Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen). The show cut to picture-in-picture during the initial collar and elbow lockup.[c]
Henley hit James with a dropkick. James yanked Henley into the ropes and worked on Henley’s left arm joint. James tossed Henley’s shoulder into the buckle. James body slammed Henley and worked on Henley with methodical offense. Henley recovered and both women took each other out in the air mid-ring. Vic Joseph announced that Axiom vs. Javier Bernal was now official.
Henley rallied with right hands and kicks, making sure to protect her injured left arm. James stopped the rally by punching Henley in the injured arm. Henley came back with a shortarm lariat for a two count. Henley gave James a right hand while protecting her left arm. James ran away and grabbed her purse. James tossed the purse at Hanley, who swatted it away. This allowed James to hit the 401k (Tornado Paydirt) for the win.
Kiana James defeated Fallon Henley via pinfall in 9:40.
John’s Thoughts: That match was well wrestled, and told a good story with Henley’s injured arm. What really drags away any interest in this match is the horrible feud over Henley’s property deed. The story just seems so fabricated, forced, and unnatural, that it’s just uninteresting. Throw on top of that, Kiana’s bland presentation. That said, I do like the name of her finisher, “The 401k”
Malik Blade was sadden over his broken sweater vest. Edris Enofe and Odyssey Jones showed up to encourage him. Blade said his anger is boiling up because it was his dad’s sweater. Blade said to use that anger and get into Malik Freak Mode. Blade said he’s going to end this feud with Von Wagner on his terms…
Vic Joseph hyped up a six women tag match after the break…[c]
An ad aired for NXT Deadline and the Iron Survivor Match. Bron Breakker vs. Apollo Crews for the NXT Championship was also advertised for the show…
[Hour Two] Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in from commentary. They sent the show to Shawn Michaels and the legends to discuss the women in the Iron Survivor match. Madusa said she may be biased, but she wants to vouch for Roxanne Perez based off coaching her in her feud against Cora Jade. X-Pac said he can’t believe the stuff Perez can do at 20 years. Pac said you aren’t allowed to say what he’s done at 21. Dogg joked that you can’t talk about what Pac does any year.
Road Dogg recommended Zoey Stark. Madusa said Stark would have been a dream match of her. Pac said he’s surprised Hunter hasn’t taken Stark away from Shawn for Raw and Smackdown. Molly brought up how “The Internet” thinks Indi Hartwell needs to be on Raw and Smackdown. Dogg and Molly agreed that Hartwell is missing something. X-Pac recommended Cora Jade. Molly talked about Jade being very believable now. Madusa said that Jade has guts for throwing a title in the trash (in reference to her throwing the WWE title in the trash).
Road Dogg said that he thinks Fallon Henley is a dark horse pick due to being gritty. Pac said Kiana James has his pick for winning. Molly picked Alba Fyre due to being the best worker on the roster and she would be champion if not for Isla Dawn. Road Dogg said he’d like to see Fyre in the match, but Fyre needs to move past Isla Dawn. Pac said Dogg is just afraid of Dawn putting a hex on him. Shawn asked everyone to write their top picks on a paper…
John’s Thoughts: Another fun segment with the legends. Road Dogg and X-Pac have been fun in particular with their banter. I wouldn’t mind seeing X-Pac back on TV. Pac was great with his fun insert comments.
The show cut to a Cora Jade TikTok where she mocked Wendy Choo for crying last week…
Kayden Carter and Katana Chance made their air cannon raver entrance. Nikkita Lyons came out by herself doing a Tae Kwon Do kata. In the middle of the kata, Zoey Stark showed up and gave Lyons a chop block. Referees ran out to drag Stark to the back. Medics showed up and said that Lyons needs to head to the medics. The medics dragged Lyons to the back while Toxic Attraction laughed at Lyons being injured…
A cinematic vignette aired. A woman was training in the woods, talking in a foreign language, which sounded native american. She talked about leaving her native land for a new challenge. Her name is Lyra Valkyria…
[Writer update: After the fact, I found out she’s Irish and speaking in Gaelic. She’s Aoife Valkyrie of NXT UK. I haven’t seen any of her work due to her showing up while I was piecemealing the show, but I have heard good things about her. If anything, I really like her introduction with the Lucha Underground-style vignette]
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Elektra Lopez about going after Indi Hartwell. Lopez said that Hartwell comes off as a fan favorite heart of the division, and she needs to destroy that heart. Lopez talked about how you can bet against her or else go broke…
Entrances for the next match took place. Axiom made his entrance in what looked like Green Super Sentai gear. A section of the crowd picked up on this and chanted “JDF” for the late Jason David Frank…
John’s Thoughts: RIP Jason David Frank. At pretty young age too. That guy was a hero to a lot of us too as the Green Dragon, Red Zeo, Red Turbo, and Black Dino Ranger. May he be playing his Dragon Flute in heaven to protect the earth. Very fun to see a lot of wrestlers paying tribute to him. He was a huge part in the lives of future martial arts and stunt practitioners.
5. Axiom vs. “Big Body” Javier Bernal. Axiom dumped Javi to ringside. The show cut right to Picture-in-picture.[c]
Javi tossed Axiom leg first into the ringpost. The commentary team noted that Axiom might have a bullseye on his injured leg. Javi focused his attack on Axiom’s injured leg for a stretch of the match. Axiom managed to catch Javi in a Kimura Lock. Javi reversed with a power bomb for a two count. Javi put Axiom in a Figure Four.
Axiom reversed the pressure to put the lock on Javi. Javi escaped and hit Javi with a drop kick. Axiom hit Javi with a slingshot lariat. Joseph noted that Axiom didn’t get as much air due to the injury. Javi dodged Axiom’s finisher and hit Axiom with a spike DDT for a two count. Axiom caught Javi with a Superplex. Axiom then sliced Javi with a Golden Ratio Kick (Jumping Superkick) for the win.
Axiom defeated Javier Bernal via pinfall in 9:03.
Joseph joked that Javi needs a Big Body Bag now…
John’s Thoughts: Good match with Javi getting some offense in due to Axiom’s “injury”. Big Body Javi is starting to grow on me with how much he’s getting into his corny character. He reminds me a bit of Heath Slater and might have a similar career development. I also believe that Javier didn’t have wrestling experience before WWE because he was a Running Back recruited straight out of College.
A medic was checking on Nikitta Lyons. Lyons said she felt okay. The medic cleared Lyons. Chance and Carter looked concerned that Lyons weren’t ready…
Mckenzie interviewed Pretty Deadly who were excited about Christmas. They said they were off to tell a Pretty Deadly Christmas Story. Booker T said he hates Christmas (Whyyy! Booker?)…
JD McDonagh made his entrance…[c]
Bron Breakker met Apollo Crews at the diner he eats at. He said he was eating a breakfast of future champions, Scrambled Eggs and Toast. Breakker talked about how it took a while for Crews to name drop him, even dealing with Grayson Waller first. Breakker got his coffee. Breakker talked about how Crews coming back to NXT inspired him to put in more work in the gym. Crews talked about doing the same knowing the man that Breakker is.
Crews said it’s that determination that will lead him to being the only man who can beat Breakker. Crews talked about how he’s seeing the grind wear on Breakker. He said that it was different seeing Breakker not have a strength advantage against Von Wagner. He said that he won’t have a speed and strength advantage against Crews. Breakker talked about having similar skills as Crews in terms of Speed and Strength.
Breakker was about to leave, saying that it looks like Crews didn’t finish his diary entry. Crews said he’ll finish it at Deadline. Breakker said it’s going to be interesting not having one of Apollo’s visions come true…
John’s Thoughts: These Crews diner segments are hit or miss, but I did like that Bron Breakker is continuing to sound more like his own man as opposed to being Uncle Scott Steiner’s biggest fan.
Vic Joseph hyped up the WrestleMania weekend events at Staples Center (again, I refuse to call my hometown arena the Crypto Center, or whatever it’s called)…
6. Julius Creed (w/Brutus Creed) vs. JD McDonagh. JD worked on Julius with grounded chain wrestling. JD gave Julius a chop and then dumped him to ringside with a dropkick. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Veer Mahan and Sanga showed up while JD had Julius locked in a body scissors. Julius escaped and gave McDonagh a Body Slam. McDonagh got Julius to his knees during a delayed vertical suplex attempt. Julius recovered and completed his delayed vertical suplex. Julius hit JD with a Cartwheel DVD. JD rolled to ringside and ate a lariat from Julius. Julius sent JD flying with a Belly to Belly toss.
McDonagh dumped Julius to ringside by pulling down the ropes. McDonagh hit Julius with a PK from the apron. JD held on to the ropes to block a German Suplex from the apron. McDonagh hit Julius with a high Asai Moonsault. JD caught Julius with a chop block in the ring. McDongah cranked on Julius’s leg like he did to Axiom.
Julius sent McDonagh to ringside by shoving him with boots. McDonagh slammed Julius’s leg into the apron. Joseph noted that McDonagh’s specialty is targeting a body part. JD was about to hit Julius with a chair shot. Sanga shoved Julius to the floor and no sold a chair shot to the back. Alicia Taylor called Julius the winner due to taking the shove.
Julius Creed defeated JD McDonagh via DQ in 10:33.
Sanga yelled at Julius that he wants to face Julius at 100%…
John’s Thoughts: Good match while it lasted. JD has been NXT’s in-ring MVP over the last few months. Booker T in particular has seemed to take a natural liking to JD from a teaching standpoint. The finish made sense, but I didn’t think it helped JD much because it was a bit random for him to go for a chair shot to the back. The overbooked finish did more to build towards the Creeds vs. Indus Sher as opposed to put heat back on JD.
An Alba Fyre vignette aired, where she responded to Isla Dawn targeting her. She talked about how it’s not going to be “fun” when they face each other…
Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo called Dijak over in the parking lot saying that Tony D’Angelo wants to talk. D’Angelo welcomed Dijak back to NXT and thanked him for attacking Wes Lee. Tony talked about how he’s returning to the ring next week. He said his goal is to see Lee’s title reign end. D’Angelo asked Dijak if they have an understanding. Dijak said “something like that…”…
Entrances for the next match took place…
7. Von Wagner (w/Robert Stone) vs. Malik Blade. Wagner shoved Blade away and gave him a body slam. Blade tripped up Wagner and Wagner retreated to ringside. Blade rallied with strikes. Wagner went for a power bomb in the ring. Blade escaped and fell on his neck during the Sunset Flip attempt (ouch). Blade ended up giving Wagner a Body Slam. Wagner blocked a Frog Splash by getting the legs up. Wagner hit Blade with an elevated Death Valley Driver for the win.
Von Wagner defeated Malik Blade via pinfall in 2:43.
Enofe ate a big boot from Wagner when Enofe ran in to save Blade. Odyssey Jones ran out and took down Wagner with a few clothesline shots…
Vic sent the show back to Shawn Michaels and the selection panel. Michaels announced Carmelo Hayes, JD, and Grayson Waller for the men’s Iron Survivor Match. He then announced Zoey Stark, Cora Jade, Kiana James, and Roxanne Perez for the Women’s Match.Michaels said that both matches will have a 5th wrestler, and they will have qualifying matches for those spots next week…
Toxic Attraction made their entrance…[c]
Vic Joseph hyped up the “Real Christmas Story” by Pretty Deadly for next week…
Lyons, Chance, and Carter came out together this time…
8. Katana Chance, Kayden Carter, and Nikkita Lyons vs. “Toxic Attraction” Mandy Rose, Jacy Jayne, and Gigi Dolin. Jayne tossed around Chance early on. Chance came back with a dropkick. All six women entered the ring and brawled. Toxic Attraction were dumped to ringside. Lyons knocked Rose off the apron with a kick from the injured leg. Chance and Carter hit Jayne and Dolin with dives. Jayne staggered Chance with a forearm.
Rose tagged in and took a jawbreaker from Chance. Carter took down Rose for a two count. Carter missed a roundhouse but hit a hook kick for a two count on Rose. Jayne and Dolin distracted Carter to cause Rose to club her in the back. Jayne and Dolin caught Carter with knees. Dolin tagged in and worked on Carter with methodical offense. Toxic Attraction traded tags to cut the ring in half on Carter.
Rose planted Carter with a nice spinebuster for a two count. Carter used rollups to try to escape the Toxic Attraction corner. Carter managed to tag in Chance. Chance hit Dolin with a facebuster and rapid chops. Dolin caught Chance’s crossbody and hit her with a backbreaker for a two count that Nikkita broke up. Carter caught Lyons with a superkick.
[Overrun] Chance and Dolin traded right hands. Dolin hit Chance with a lariat for a two count. Carter slammed Chance onto Dolin for a nearfall. Jayne dragged Carter away to prevent Carter’s finisher from happening. Dolin tagged in Rose. Rose hit Chance with a tilt a whirl back suplex. Chance rolled up Rose during a Kiss from a Rose attempt for a two count. Chance tagged in the injured Lyons. Lyons cleaned house.
Lyons hit Jayne with a knee and snap suplex. Lyons hit Jayne with a splits drop. Dolin broke up the pin. Dolin tossed Carter into the steel steps. Chance dove on Dolin. Rose hit Chance with Kiss from a Rose. Lyons went for a spin kick on Rose, but her leg gave up on her. Jayne gave Lyons a rising palm. Toxic Attraction hit Lyons with a High-Low combo to give Dolin the win.
Toxic Attraction defeated Nikkita Lyons, Katana Chance, and Kayden Carter via pinfall in 8:54.
Vic Joseph stressed that Lyons loss due to a leg injury. Zoey Stark showed up on the crow’s nest to taunt Lyons as NXT closed…
John’s Thoughts: Decent enough main event. It seems like NXT really wants to build up Nikkita Lyons as both a sympathetic figure and potential title contender against Mandy Rose. That said, I don’t think Lyons has enough credibility, experience, and character development to the audience to warrant such a push. We’ll see where she goes coming off this feud with Stark, which I assume she wins. I kinda hope Lyons does dethrone Rose, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she does given the initial plot armor Lyons developed.
This was a decent episode of NXT. There were a few good matches. The show was actually carried by the WWE legends bantering over various NXT wrestlers. Speaking of Lyons, I don’t think she was mentioned by the panel? Which has me wondering what they actually think of her given that the rest of their thoughts matched the pushes of the various other wrestlers they mentioned. As for tonight’s commentary, Booker’s style isn’t for everyone, but I personally like what he brings now that he’s really getting into what he’s watching. Some people may have a bad taste from his old Smackdown days, but I think he’s improved a lot now that he’s putting over the young talent, especially the wrestlers that came out of Reality of Wrestling.
Lyra Valkyria is Aoife Valkyrie from Ireland via NXT UK. The language she was speaking is Irish/Gaelic.