By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV Spring Breakin’
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live April 25, 2023 on USA Network
[Hour One] The show started off with WWE developmental wrestlers hanging out at a spring picnic/cookout. Hank Walker was disappointed that Tank Ledger couldn’t make it. Ivy Nile defeated a male developmental wrestler in an arm wrestling contest.
The various developmental wrestlers previewed the upcoming card. Big Body Javi was acting cocky while getting a burger, and was chased off by Dabba-Kato. Nathan Frazer was teaching Wendy Choo and Valentina Feroz on how to play cornhole, and how to use cornhole as a motivational exercise. Dabba Kato ended the segment by tossign Big Body Javi into a water fountain…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer. Vic Joseph gave a special introduction for the car being used in the Trunk match, which he claimed was donated by Stacks’ parents…
1. “Pretty Deadly” Kit Wilson and Elton Prince vs. Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo in a “Trunk” match. There were various weapons at ringside, along with a random kiddie pool filled with balls for a ball pit. Pretty Deadly ended up getting the upper hand during the initial brawl. Booker compared this match to a Texas Tornado match wrestled by the Von Erichs.
Tony D and Stacks got the upper hand with hockey fight strikes. Tony D dumped Wilson to ringside. Prince took a uppercut from Stacks. Tony D gave Stacks a hip toss to send him on Prince. Both teams brawled to a concourse area. Tony D and Stacks beat down Pretty Deadly at ringside with trash can lids. Tony D and Stacks set up a table to please the crowd. Pretty Deadly sent their opponents into the ringposts.
Pretty Deadly carried the table to Gorilla Position to take it out of play to the dismay of the crowd. Tony D tackled Prince in the shin with a wheelbarrow. Tony backdropped Wilson onto Prince into the ball pit. Stacks got a random float board and used it to hit Pretty Deadly with a running senton in the ball pit. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Wilson and Prince did the Charlie Brown and Lucy football spot with Prince giving Stacks a PK to the face. They yelled “it’s good!”. Tony D recovered and hip tossed Stacks into a chair set on Wilson. Prince recovered and shoved Tony to the mat. Pretty Deadly recovered and put Stacks in a Tree of Woe. Prince pummeled Tony with a steel chair. Pretty Deadly hit Tony with a double suplex onto a trash can. Stacks escaped the Tree of Woe, but lost out on the numbers advantage.
Pretty Deadly hit Stacks with Spilled Milk at ringside. Pretty Deadly put Stacks in the trunk. Joseph noted that they needed to put both opponents in teh trunk. They were about to put Tony in, but Stacks sprayed Prety Deadly with a fire extinguisher. Tony D hit Wilson with a crowbar to put him in the trunk. Tony D and Stacks gave a blinded Prince a double team spinebuster through a table. Both Pretty Deadly members were put in the trunk for the loss.
Tony D’Angelo and Stacks defeated Pretty Deadly in 12:31 via closing the trunk.
Tony D and Stacks drove off with Pretty Deadly in the trunk…
John’s Thoughts: A fun gimmick match that also had dimensions of being a solid brawl. Tony D and Stacks have already wrestled one variation of the casket match (via the Prison cell match) and this was just as fun with a Tornado Tag dynamic. Despite the goofy mafia gimmick, both mob dudes are really good brawlers and make the most out of the goofy situation. Pretty Deadly continue to prove why they are one of the best overall tag teams in WWE with their sports and entertainment versatility. Given how they technically lost a casket match, that’s usually a sign that they are “leaving the territory”. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few losers tonight end up getting hauled to Raw or Smackdown via the upcoming draft.
Tiffany Stratton pulled into the Performance Center via an SUV. She hyped up the triple threat women’s title match and how she was looking at winning…
The show cut to Andre Chase and Duke Hudson alone at the Chase U set. Hudson tried to encourage Chase, while Chase was being introspective. Hudson said he’s going to be Chase’s support in his match against Bron Breakker. Hudson said Chase is the pillar of Chase U and a beacon of hope for the students of Chase U. Chase fired up and said he’s going to give Bron Breakker a Chase U sized ass whooping…[c]
The show cut to tweets being exchanged Dijak and Ilja Dragunov…
Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in from the commentary table. Andre Chase and Duke Hudson were already in the ring. Bron Breakker made his entrance. his entrance now has more dog graphics and dog barking sounds, I guess because he’s a heel now…
2. Bron Breakker vs. Andre Chase (w/Duke Hudson). Chase got the early upper hand with strikes in the corner. Breakker went for a choke slam, but Chase escaped. Breakker gained the advantage after tackling Chase into the corner. Breakker tackled Chase into the corners. Breakker manhandled Chase with suplex variations. Chase managed to sidestep Breakker and send him into the ringpost. Chase dropkicked Breakker into the turnbuckle.
Chase hit Breakker with a Russian Legsweep. Breakker broke up the Chase U boots at the “H”. Breakker hit Chase with a Dominator Power slam. Breakker put Chase in the Steiner Recliner for the submission win.
Bron Breakker defeated Andre Chase via submission in 2:19.
A hype package aired to hype up NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes…
John’s Thoughts: A simple and sweet win to showcase Bron Breakker’s new heel persona. Him as a heel is a bit of uncharted territory, but he was getting stale as a babyface, so fresh start. Chase is teflon and we’re used to seeing him make his opponents look good.
McKenzie Mitchell was in the parking garage wondering where Tony D and Stacks drove Pretty Deadly off to. Ilja Dragunov was entering the garage, but was jumped by Dijak. Dijak tossed Ilja on all the productioin stuff and tools. Dijak asked Ilja if he feels alive now due to all the pain. Dijak slammed a garage door on the chest of Ilja. Referees and trainers ran out to send Dijak away and save Ilja who was writhing in pain under the garage door…
Lyra Valkyria made her entrance. Cora Jade made her entrance with her signature black Kendo Stick…
3, Lyra Valkyria vs. Cora Jade. Lyra worked on Cora with open palm strikes. Lyra hit Cora with a hip toss and flying crossbody for a two count. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Cora had Lyra in a butterfly stretch. The replay showed that Cora got the upper hand after folding Lyra like a pancake off a high kick. Cora hit Lyra with a high knee in the corner for a two count. Lyra rallied with an axe kick combo after Cora tried to showboat. Lyra hit Cora with two chained Northern Lights Suplexes. Cora blocked a third suplex with a knee. Lyra spilled Cora to ringside with a high backdrop.
Lyra hit Cora with a wrecking ball dropkick. Vic Joseph plugged the WWE Draft. Booker talked about how he wasn’t a huge fan when he was drafted one year. Lyra hit Jade with a Perfect Plex for a two count. Cora got a two count off a Small Package. Lyra took down Cora with a handstand into an enzuigiri. Cora rolled to ringside to avoid a crescent kick.
Cora hyperextended Lyra’s arm on the 2nd rope. The referee prevented Cora from using the black kendo stick. Cora used the ref as a human shield to prevent from getting hit by a crescent kick. Cora hit Lyra with a Dirty Deeds DDT for the victory.
Cora Jade defeated Lyra Valkyria via pinfall in 8:19.
Grayson Waller was shown walking through the hallway alongside a shawty holding a shoeie. Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams were shown at a different hallway…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Decent match. Would have liked to have seen more of it outside of the picture-in-picture. While they protected Lyra a bit, I’m surprised they gave Cora a definitive win this early in the feud. I’m not complaining, because Jade should definitely be the one being pushed out of these two. I’m just a bit surprised because Lyra seems to be one of HBK’s favorites since he’s always giving her TV time. Lyra is missing something. She has the cool Lucha Underground style cinematics and good look, but nothing much more than that.
The show cut to Tony D and Stacks in the car. There was a dashboard camera. Tony D and Stacks were gloating while we could hear noises of Pretty Deadly struggling in the trunk. Stacks went to the back to slam the trunk door a few times to shut up Pretty Deadly…
Entrances for the NXT Championship match occurred at the top of the hour. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring championship introductions. Melo was wearing Lakers colors and Kobe Bryant’s 8 on his knee pad (GO LAKERS!!!)…
John’s Thoughts: As long as Melo wears those Laker colors, I can’t help but be biased in favor of Trick and Melo. Kobe!
4. Carmelo Hayes (w/Trick Williams) vs. Grayson Waller (w/unnamed sexy lady) for the NXT Championship. Melo dominated the initial sequence with a dropkick. Melo and Waller traded rapid rollups. Waller told Melo to suck it. Waller hit Melo with a straight right. Melo came back with a springboard crossbody. Waller avoided a fadeaway kick. Melo dragged Waller in the ring with a neckbreaker. Waller tripped up Melo from the top rope.
Waller tossed a chair in the ring. The chair distracted the ref which allowed Waller to hit Trick with a chair shot at ringside. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
[Hour Two] Waller put Melo in a Half Crab. Vic noted that Trick was escorted to backstage after the attack from Waller. Melo managed to escape and hit Waller with a Fadeaway Leg Drop. Joseph noted that Waller recovered because Melo was favoring a leg injury. Melo hit Waller wiht a jawbreaker. Melo came back with a discus forearm. Waller and Melo took each other out with stereo strikes.
Waller got the two count by putting his hand on Melo. Melo hit Waller with a pump kick combo. Melo hit Waller with a high hangtime springboard back elbow. Vic and Booker were super hyped for that springboard move. Waller rolled to the apron to avoid Nothing But Net. Waller gave Melo a right hand. Melo blocked Waller’s stunner finisher. Waller hit Melo with a crescent kick and Sitout Bomb for a nearfall.
A “this is awesome” chant ensued. Melo went for a springboard, but he fell right into Waller’s rolling stunner finisher. Melo rolled to ringside to avoid the pinfall. Waller cleared the announce table and put Melo on it for a viral moment. Waller hit Melo with an impressive Froggy Bow through the table. Waller dragged Melo’s dead weight in the ring. Melo kicked out for a good nearfall.
Melo nailed Waller with a Codebreaker once he recovered. Waller rolled at ringside to recover. Melo was yanked throat first into the bottom rope. Waller botched the roll on his rolling stunner. Melo recovered with a kick. Melo hit Waller with the Nothin’ But Net scissors kick for the win.
Carmelo Hayes defeated Grayson Waller via pinfall in 12:03.
John’s Thoughts: Similar to the Bron Breakker match earlier, this match was here to present Melo under his new character alignment. Great title defense. We’ve seen both men work heel-vs-heel before, so there was a slightly different dynamic at play here. So far so good with Melo, but I can’t wait until his first full program against a rival. I had it almost guaranteed that Melo was going over in his first title defense. “Almost” since NXT has historically made weird-abrupt booking decisions when the WWE draft and callups are involved. Waller’s loss here has me thinking that he’s “leaving the territory” along with Pretty Deadly. Maybe we get no callups, but I’m just getting that feeling. Great showing from Waller here too. The guy is definitely ready to be called up.
Trick Williams returned to the ring to celebrate with Melo. Melo took a mic and challenged Bron Breakker to a match at NXT’s Battleground PLE. Bron Breakker’s entrance theme played. Trick and Melo looked a bit dumb for waiting for Bron to show up from the ramp. As expected, Bron attacked Trick and Melo from behind. Bron stretched Trick with a Steiner Recliner. Bron then speared Melo through a plywood barricade at ringside. Carmelo Hayes got the stretcher treatment…
John’s Thoughts: Simple and effective from Bron’s perfective. Trick and Melo did look a bit dumb waiting for Bron to blindside them.
A Roxanne Perez sitdown promo aired. She talked about how her friends were into makeup and stuff, but she was into WWE. She said the women’s wrestlers were her inspiration. Roxanne talked about wearing bows in her hair to represent the girls seeing her as inspiration now…
A replay aired of last week’s bar segment where Brooks Jensen and Kiana James challenged Josh Briggs and Fallon Henley to a mixed tag match. Highlights from their soap opera story aired…[c]
An ad aired for the upcoming WWE draft…
Joe Coffey was on the phone with Mark Coffey. Joe Gacy showed up to propose a match. Ava showed up and asked for a Gallus vs. Dyad match for the tag team titles. Gacy challenged Joe to a match where if Gacy wins, the Dyad get their title shot and if Coffey wins, the Dyad don’t get any more title shots as long as Gallus are champions…
Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in from the commentary table. Vic was using his somber voice to sell Breakker’s attack on Carmelo Hayes. The broken barricade was boarded up. Joseph noted that Carmelo Hayes was sent to a “local medical facility”…
Josh Briggs and Fallon Henley were in the ring. Kiana James and Brooks Jensen got their own customized video wall. It was dubbing them as “KJensen”…
5. Josh Briggs and Fallon Henley vs. Brooks Jensen and Kiana James in a mixed tag match. Briggs refused to attack Jensen early on. Briggs got his first offense with a shoulder tackle and atomic drop. Jensen hit Briggs with a chop lariat in the corner. Booker kept talking about how Brooks was motivated by his horniness. Brooks was retreating to ringside to recover. James and Henley tagged in. Henley hit James with a Thesz Press.
James came back with a knee strike. Fallon hit James with a slam off a standing switch. James avoided Fallon’s jump kick. James tackled Fallon into the corner. Fallon came back with a jump kick. Jensen prevented Fallon from hitting the baseball slide punch. Briggs hit Jensen with a baseball slide so Fallon can hit James with a punch.
Jensen lifted James and shoved her feet into the face of Henley. Henley and Briggs gained the upper hand and dumped the heels to ringside heading into picture-in-picture.[c]
Briggs and Jensen traded boo-yay forearms. Briggs got the upper hand. Horny Booker T gave Vic Joseph a lecture about love and pheromones. Joseph asked Booker “What’s love got to do with it”. Henley and James tagged in. Henley hit James with a blockbuster. Jensen tagged in and James ordered him to attack her, which was not legal in a mixed tag. Briggs hit Jensen with a Pounce and rapid strikes.
Briggs hit his standing splash combo on Jensen. James distracted Jensen. Henley tripped James off the apron and sent her into the steel steps. Jensen hit Briggs with a spinning heel kick. Jensen and Briggs went back to the boo-yay punches. Briggs took down Jensen with an axe kick. Jensen came back with a superman forearm. Jensen caught Briggs with a Northern and Southern Lariat. Jensen hit Briggs with a Brainbuster for a two count.
James tossed down Henley and handed Jensen the designer bag. Jensen missed hitting Briggs with the bag shot. Jensen accidentally knocked James off the apron. Briggs hit Jensen with a Clothesline from hell for the victory.
Josh Briggs and Fallon Henley defeated Brooks Jensen and Kiana James via pinfall in 11:43.
Jensen helped James to her feet and said they were at least still together. Jensen blocked a slap. Jensen sand he thought James loved him. James said she never loved him. James left. Briggs put a hand on Brooks’ shoulder to console him. Briggs and Jensen hugged it out…
John’s Thoughts: Decent enough match. Jensen is still a bit green in the ring, and it showed when he was up against the more experienced Briggs. Jensen did get better by the end of the match though. Is this the end of the horny virgin cowboy saga? Speaking of horny, Booker was weirdly extra horny in his lecture to Vic Joseph.
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Dragon Lee. Lee addressed Noam Dar scouting his matches. Lee set his sights on the Heritage Cup Championship…
A random video started playing. It was Scrypts (Reggie) acting like a gargoyle and cutting one of his lame promos. He’s going to face Axiom one of these days (Can we just give him back his wine bottle and make him a Sommelier again?)..
The show cut to the Oba Femi vignette where he’s chucking furniture across a field…[c]
An Indi Hartwell promo aired where she was talking to herself in the mirror. She talked about being champion being a dream come true. She addressed how people see her as a vulnerable champion. She said she always dreamed that she would be women’s champion, and it took years. She said even though she’s the champ now, it can all go away in 3 seconds. She smiled and said “not tonight”…
Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in from the commentary table. Vic plugged the NXT Battleground PLE. He then sent the show to another NXT Anonymous video. Sol Ruca was dragged behind a door and beat down. The cameraperson ducked before we can see the culprit…
Oba Femi made his entrance. A stat graphic aired to show his impressive fitness feats. His opponent was Oro Mensah (poor oro)..
6. Oba Femi vs. Oro Mensah. Oro tried to swarm Oba with quick strikes. Oba chucked Oro across the ring. Oba hit Oro with an European Uppercut in the corner. Oba hit Oro with shortarm shoulder tackles. Oro escaped Oba’s shortarm slam. Oba took down Oro with a chop. Oba dumped Oro to ringside with a uppercut. Oro adjusted his weight to block a suplex. Oro worked on Oba with gut shots.
Oro rallied with right hands and a Liger Kick. Oro hit Oba with a springboard jump kick. Oba kicked out at two. Femi was favoring his arm. Oro gave Femi’s arm a PK. Oba recovered and hit Oro with a discus forearm. Oba hit Oro with an impressive power bomb for the win.
Oba Femi defeated Oro Mensah via pinfall in 3:35.
John’s Thoughts: Wowzers! This guy has future world champ written all over him. The guy looks like a million bucks. He moves extremely well in the ring. He has amazing strength. Great first impression. They did allow Oro to get a bit of offense in, but HBK and crew seem to be a bit high on him. They’re on-and-off with his whole clubber persona, and it looks like Oro is in “Level Up” mode right now. Anyways, the right guy went over and I’m looking forward to see how Oba Femi develops in the ring. Eye test wise, he’s passed!
Gigi Dolin showed up and took Vic’s headset to cut a promo. Gigi called out Jacy for berating her for abandoning her family. She said she’s been fighting to get her brother out of an abusive household. Gigi said she’s going to kick Jacy’s ass and Gigi’s brother will be at ringside to see it all..
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Charlie Dempsey and Drew Gulak about Charlie’s last loss. Dempsey said nobody knows about the last loss, but the last win. Gulak said that Charlie exposed Wes Lee’s weaknesses and inferiority complex. Gulak said that he’ll beat Wes Lee for the North American title because it’s a marathon, not a sprint…
Tiffany Stratton made her entrance…[c]
An ad aired for the WWE Draft episodes of Smackdown and Raw…
Wes Lee was chatting with Tyler Bate in the locker room. Bate noted that he’s worried about Wes Lee wearing himself out. Lee was confident that he’ll take care of Drew Gulak next week. Bate offered to be in Lee’s corner to offer a bit of “balance”. Lee accepted it to help cancel out Charlie Dempsey. Bate offered to give Lee some breathing exercises before the match…
The rest of the entrances for the main event took place with 5 minutes left at the top of the hour. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring championship introductions…
7. Indi Hartwell vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Tiffany Stratton for the NXT Women’s Championship. Perez and Hartwell alternated strikes on Stratton. All three women traded rollups heading into the picture-in-picture.[c]
[Overrun] Tiffany had Roxy in an armbar while Hartwell was off to the side resting near the ramp. Perez rolled up Tiffany into a bridge for a two count. Perez dropkicked Hartwell off the apron. Stratton blocked Roxanne’s huracanrana with a handstand. Hartwell took down both opponents with a lariat. Indi body slammed both opponents. Perez got a two count off a victory roll on Hartwell.
Perez hit Hartwell with a shortarm strike combo. Perez hit Stratton with a back kick. Perez hit both opponents with a rough looking double armdrag. Stratton tossed Perez onto Hartwell. Perez dumped Stratton to ringside. Perez hit Hartwell and Stratton with low suicide dives. Perez caught Hartwell with another dive. Perez caught Hartwell with a crossbody for a two count.
Hartwell reversed Roxanne’s guillotine choke. Perez rolled up Hartwell for a two count. Hartwell rallied with shoartarm lariats. Perez got a two count on Hartwell which Stratton broke up with a double stomp. Hartwell reversed Stratton’s stomp into a rollup for a two count. Stratton dumped both opponents to ringside with a dropkick. Stratton took out both opponents with a Swanton Bomb to ringside.
A trainer ran out to check on Indi Hartwell. Tiffany worked on Roxanne with methodical offense. It felt like the air was taken out of the room as the crowd went silent due to the injury at ringside. Perez and Stratton were brawling in the center of the ring, but the crowd seemed distracted by Hartwell. Perez hit Stratton with a jawbreaker. Stratton came back with a knee.
Perez and Stratton traded methodical offense. Perez rallied back with right hands. Stratton rolled through a crossbody. Perez rolled up Stratton for a nearfall. Stratton and Roxanne traded forearms at the top rope. Perez hit Stratton with a Top Rope Frankendriver for a two count. The match was 10 minutes into the overrun. Perez rolled up Stratton for a nearfall.
Perez hit Stratton with a back kick. Perez hit Stratton with a Russian legsweep for a two count. Hartwell limped to the ring and got nearfalls on both opponents. Hartwell hit both opponent with light draping boots. Hartwell hit Stratton with a spinebuster for a two count. Hartwell continued to sell a injured leg. Stratton hit Perez with a body slam. Stratton hit Perez with a Mero Sault. Hartwell broke up the pin. Hartwell hit Perez with a basement forearm for the win.
Indi Hartwell defeated Roxanne Perez and Tiffany Stratton via pinfall in 15:12 to retain the NXT Women’s Championship.
The show cut to Tony D and Stacks dumping someone into the lake, presumably Pretty Deadly. Tony said they were setting their sights on the Tag Team Titles. Tony D and Stacks drove off to celebrate. The show closed…
John’s Thoughts: The match was good until the awkward Swanton spot. I can’t tell if it was the NXT Creative team going into work-shoot mode, or if there was a legit pop in Indi’s knee after she contorted during Tiffany’s flip. What made it look legit was the way the announcers were selling it, the crowd going silent, and Tiffany and Roxanne seemingly putting a match together on the fly. My work-shoot suspicions stem from it feeding into Indi’s “vulnerable champ” persona, but to me this seemed legit because it led to awkwardness.
A pretty good themed episode of NXT with some good matches, a good debut by Oba Femi, and solid action. The only real downside was whatever happened to Indi Hartwell at the end. Hopefully it was just a minor pop or dislocation and that it wasn’t anything huge. Hartwell going over means she was the one pegged to win, and they thankfully didn’t have to come up with a new finish on the fly. If Hartwell lost, I would have assumed she was getting called up. Now I think of the three Tiffany Stratton is most likely to be called up if any of these three are getting the call.
Shit… I couldn’t even make it past the first 10 mins – I was barely hanging on through that crapfest of an intro. Every month or two I try to watch this show to see if anything has changed but its still the same 2.0 bullshit with the same 2.0 scum as before with a few exceptions, particularly the UK’s (minus Isla Dawn, she still SUUUCKS and Gallus is just plain boring). 30 mins is the longest I can stomach it before I’m turned off by some form of shit stain like Nikita Lyon, Gacy, Breakker, Hayes and his excruciating torture device (Trick), that over-Italian, Dangelo guy, Indi Fartwell (and I thought the bar couldn’t be set any lower after Mandy), those inbreds, Brooks and Jensen and the list goes on. Moore, I gotta give you credit for sitting through this mess to review it and actually finding any positives, you really, really deserve a raise.
I usually find NXT the most entertaining show of the week (granted not always the smoothest) but this show tonight has been not good at all. Waller and Melo was 90% of a fun match but something was off at the end (Waller looked like he hurt his knee when his foot got caught in the ropes). The rest has been a solid F at the 9:55 mark
For what I am about to say I expect to catch a lot of sh!t but I have to say it
Can promotions please please please stop trying to get the women wrestle the same style as the men!
That main event was one of the worst matches I have ever seen on television. Indi might have broken her ankle and I have no idea how Roxy didn’t end up being taken out on a stretcher and a neck brace. That wasn’t funny botch stuff that was seriously close to bad injuries
I had the same complaint during that stupid AEW woman’s hardcore match so I am not picking on NXT or WWE here. I am also not saying that I don’t like women’s wrestling. I just simply don’t know why promotions insist upon booking women at the same level because most of them just don’t have the same skill level.
I’m not hating on women’s wrestling. There is no reason why they can’t be booked for more of a ground approach (like Rhonda and Shayna usually work) and still be very entertaining. But almost none of todays female wrestlers are equipped for these high risk moves. It makes the matches appear over choreographed, slow and dangerous.
(Steps off the soapbox)