By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live May 2, 2023 on USA Network
[Hour One] A video package was shown which replayed all the NXT main roster callups via the WWE Draft. The video package included new footage of the NXT callups giving short promos on their callup…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary…
Entrances for the opening match took place…
1. Wes Lee (w/Tyler Bate) vs. Drew Gulak (w/Charlie Dempsey) for the NXT North American Championship. Lee dumped Gulak to ringside early on. Dempsey got on the apron for the distraction which allowed Gulak to get a two count rollup. Gulak reversed a leapfrog into a rollup. Lee recovered and hit Gulak with a double stomp and low kick combination. Gulak blocked a Superplex.
Lee did a backflip to avoid a punch. Gulak hit Lee with a diving uppercut for the two count. Joseph noted that it’s rare you see Gulak dive from the top rope. Gulak dragged Lee to the mat for a snug two count. Gulak tangled Lee like a pretzel in a hammerlock crossface. Lee used his free hand to escape. Both men traded slugging blows. Lee backed Gulak down with a CQC combo and basement shotgun dropkick.
Lee swarmed Gulak with strikes in the corner. Gulak used the corner to drag himself to ringside to recover. Lee caught Gulak with a Suicide Dive. While Gulak distracted the referee, Dempsey dragged Lee to ringside. Tyler Bate gave Dempsey a diving uppercut from the steps. Lee recovered and gave Gulak a Cardiac Kick for the victory.
Wes Lee defeated Drew Gulak via pinfall in 5:22 to retain the NXT North American Championship.
Highlights from last week’s Carmelo Hayes vs. Grayson Waller match were shown, which ended with Bron Breakker spearing Melo through a drywall barricade…
Trick Williams was walking through the hallways backstage heading to the ring…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Short and sweet match. That said, it was almost too short given we’ve seen both men kill it in matches that go over 15 minutes. The match didn’t do much for Gulak, who hasn’t really done much on TV since his return to NXT. I would like to see him show both the in-ring- and the character stuff that he was doing when he was given the ball on 205 Live (during the era where Paul Levesque took over the show from Vince). Lee gains a little bit. A good little bit though as he gets another notch in his belt as the fighting champion. NXT dodged a bullet by not losing Lee to the main roster. Lee’s main roster ready, with plenty of TV experience (via Impact Wrestling). NXT is blessed to have him as an attraction with his “fighting champion” thing.
The show cut to Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre, the NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions, in their dark witchcraft room. Fyre and Dawn talked about being drafted to Smackdown and how this is their last official night in NXT. Dawn talked about how they’re taking the belts to Smackdown and will be changing the fate of all three brands. Fyre said they’ll leave NXT not in light, but in darkness. After playing with an Ouija board and blowing out candle lights, both women laughed…
Trick Williams was in the ring by himself. Trick talked about how Melo is in the hospital due to the spear from Bron Breakker. Trick said that Melo was not only his day-one in NXT, but his day-one in High School. Trick talked about transferring into WJ Kennan High School. He said when he transferred he was looking for the shawtys at first, but then looked out to who he was going to roll with.
Trick said when they met, nasty ass sloppy joes weren’t the first thing being created in the cafeteria, but the Trick and Melo relationship happened. Trick said that da Trick and Melo game will always be here. He said he took a bullet for Melo last week as a knee-jerk reaction. Trick said that Trick and Melo be like Shaq and Kobe, where if Melo misses, Trick will be there for the rebound.
Bron Breakker made his entrance in all black. Bron bragged about putting Melo in the hospital. Trick wondered if Bron was accepting Melo’s battleground challenge. Bron said he’s tired of fighting for the stupid people ever again. Bron said he’s excited to embarrass Melo in front of Melo’s hometown. Bron accepted the match and told Trick to send the message to Melo. Trick told Bron to handle things like men, right now. Bron said there’s only one man in the ring now.
He said he already put Melo in the hospital, and he might have to put the “mouthpiece” there. Trick said he has the gift of gab and the jab. Trick said if he steps up he’ll knock the tan off Bron til Bron’s black and blue. Bron said it doesn’t matter what anyone wants. Bron challenged Trick to a match… next week. Bron said that next week will be a preview to battleground, and Trick will be broken in half…
John’s Thoughts: Great promo by Trick here. He really outshined Bron here, which is not surprising given how consistent Trick has been on the mic. Outside of the story, there’s no shame being a strong hype man and mouthpiece. There’s thousands of good wrestlers out there. Good managers and hype men are a dying breed. Trick’s still rough in the ring when we see him, but I hope he really gets a chance to thrive as a talker (Hey, DDP started off as a manager, and eventually became a great wrestler late in his career).
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed JD McDonagh about his last NXT Match being againt Dragon Lee today. JD daid he’s been waiting a long time for “Monday Night McDonagh”. NXT Heritage Cup Champion Noam Dar showed up and asked JD to break one of Dragon Lee’s ligaments. JD said he understands that Noam is slimey. He said that Noam always feared having JD challenge for the cup. JD told Noam to stand back or else he’ll take the Heritage Cup to Monday Night Raw…
Gigi Dolin made her entrance. She high fived her brother who was sitting in the front row…[c]
A TikTok was shown of Dani Palmer hyping up her NXT debut…
Jacy Jayne made her entrance…
2. Gigi Dolin vs. Jacy Jayne. Jayne hit Gigi with a knee to the gut. Gigi dumped Jacy to ringside. Jacy caught a PK and tripped Gigi on the apron. Jacy hit Gigi with a cannonball. Jacy taunted Gigi’s younger brother. Jacy got a two count on Gigi. Booker T talked about how it’s unwise to bring family into this business (says the man that tag teamed with his brother in Harlem Heat… I kid, I kid). Gigi rallied back with superkicks on Jacy.
Gigi hit Jacy with two face wash crescent kicks and a legsweep for a two count. Booker T then compared his time in prison to the dark times that Gigi went through (that’s a better allusion than his family one). Gigi slammed Jacy on the steel steps and gave her Kawada kicks. Gigi’s brother cheered on Gigi. Jacy yanked Gigi into the exposed turnbuckle. Jacy hit Gigi with a Cyclone Kick for the victory.
Jacy Jayne defeated Gigi Dolin via pinfall in 3:20.
Jacy’s face was bleeding and covered in a crimson mask. Jacy dragged Gigi to ringside and slammed her on the steel steps. Jacy put the boots to Gigi while yelling at Gigi’s brother, asking him if this reminds him of his abusive mother. The referees ran out to send Jacy to the back…
Vic Joseph hyped Axiom vs. Scrypts for after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A short match, but way better than their last one which ended anticlimactically (understandable, because Jacy got a minor injury from the match). Jacy Jayne continues to surprise the world as the star to come out of the Toxic Attraction trio, when she was considered the third on the depth chart of that group. WWE usually gets nervous over blood spots, but they allowed it here. When’s the last time we saw a crimson mask on WWE TV? They didn’t even roll out the random medics with gloves. I’m pretty sure this wasn’t a blade job because it wouldn’t have made sense in the context of the match.
Vic Joseph plugged the WWE2K game.
Axiom made his entrance in his white ranger attire. Scrypts didn’t want an entrance, and instead just flipped in the ring from the side to start the match…
3, Axiom vs. Scrypts. Axiom hit Scrypts with a suplex and put him in a Juji Gatame. At ringside, Scrypts ran off the announce table and hit Axiom with the Reggie Side Flip (that was actually impressive). Axiom put Scrypts in a sleeper, which Scrypts escaped. Scrypts hit Axiom with a high hanging moonsault. Axiom rallied back with stiff knife edge strikes. Axiom hit Scrypts with a suplex.
Scrypts caught Axiom out of the air with a dropkick. Axiom blocked a kick and reversed a backflip into a leaping knee for a two count. Scrypts avoided a Golden Ratio and hit Axiom with a corkscrew crossbody. Axiom reversed the Molly-Go-Round with a superkick. Axiom hit Scrypts with a Golden Ratio Superkick for the victory.
Axiom defeated Scrypts via pinfall in 4:16.
Out of respect, Axiom helped Scrypts to his feet. Scrypts gave Axiom a cheap shot right hand. Axiom knocked out Scrypts with a stronger right hand. Axiom ripped off Scrypts’s mask. Booker said “you know who that is, right?”. The crowd chanted “Reggie”…
John’s Thoughts: On one hand this is weird. NXT over the past few months has been treating Scrypts like he’s the 2nd coming of Shockmaster, which he kinda is. I do like that it makes Axiom look like a powerful badass, which was fun to watch. Axiom did get the best he could out of Reggie, who continues to struggle to have longer matches (because his athleticism is way above any of his opponents, it’s hard to cooperate). I hope the unmasking in the end means we’re getting an evolved version of Reggie. Can we get him his wine bottle back? (In all seriousness, because of his extreme athleticism, he can probably be more of a Jackie Chan-esque babyface. Which we’ve haven’t seen in pro wrestling).
Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen were hanging out with Bartender Fallon Henley at her bar. All three apologized and were happy to be back together. Jensen told Henley that he’s learned business and Henley can actually refinance or do partial investments in the bar. Some shawtys in the bar asked Jensen if he wants to have a drink with them. Jensen said he’ll have to pass because he’s catching up with Briggs and Henley. After the girls left, Henley was impressed by Jensen growing up…
Dragon Lee made his entrance…[c]
WWE Raw wrestler, JD McDonagh made his entrance…
4. Dragon Lee vs. JD McDonagh. JD and Dragon started the match started the match with chain wrestling. Booker T claimed that he personally thinks McDonagh is the best pick in the draft. JD hit Dragon with a chop and put him in a headlock. Dragon hit Lee with a reverse mule kick and got a two count. Dragon hit JD with a slingshot Yakuza Kick. Lee worked on JD with grounded palm strikes.
Lee hit McDonagh with two hesitation dropkicks. McDonagh knocked down Lee when Noam Dar showed up at ringside. McDonagh put Lee in the Tree of Woe. McDonagh sent himself crotch first into the ringpost when he went for a basement dropkick after Lee did a core situp. Lee hit McDonagh with an atomic drop and dumped him to ringside. The show cut to picture-in-picture.
[Hour Two] Noam Dar was shown talking to his inanimate Heritage Cup. McDonagh dragged Lee to the top rope. McDonagh tried to disrespectfully remove Lee’s mask. Dragon shoved McDonagh off the top rope and hit McDonagh with a high crossbody block. Dragon hit McDonagh with a huracanrana. Dragon then hit McDonagh with a Flip Dive. After being given a special camera angle, Dragon Lee hit McDonagh with a Warriors Way Double Stomp for a two count.
McDonagh and Lee traded chops on the apron. Dragon gave McDonagh a high knee. McDonagh recovered and hit Dragon with a Death Valley Driver on the hardest part of the ring. McDonagh recovered and slammed Lee’s face on the annoucne table at the count of 8. Lee quickly rolled into the ring to beat the count. Lee recovered and hit JD with a kick. Lee hit McDonagh with a Snap German, another move, a Poison Rana, all in succession.
McDonagh turned Lee inside out with a lariat. Lee and McDonagh traded strikes in the center of the ring. Dragon hit JD with an elevated Sitout Power Bomb for the two count. McDonagh crotched Dragon on the top rope. Both men traded strikes on the top rope. Dragon put McDonagh in the Tree of Woe, but McDonagh recovered with headbutts. McDonagh hit Dragon with a Top Rope Spanish Fly.
McDonagh hit Dragon with a Brainbuster Suplex. Dragon Lee kicked out at two. Dragon reversed a Devlin Side into a Canadian Destroyer. Noam Dar tried to get a cheap shot in, but took a superkick from Lee. McDonagh yanked Lee in and hit him with the Devlin Side for the victory.
JD McDonagh defeated Dragon Lee via pinfall in 15:00.
JD posed on the corner, soaking in “Thank You JD” chants. Dragon Lee gave Noam Dar a suicide dive and they brawled to the back…
John’s Thoughts: Wonderful Takeover Level match, and strong sendoff for JD McDonagh. NXT usually sends off callups with a loss (see: Pretty Deadly and Grayson Waller last week), but my guess is this is Shawn Michaels tipping the cap to one of his proud proteges. JD took that cap tip and ran with it by putting on a great match against one of the top wrestlers in the world in Dragon Lee. If JD is like a son to HBK, I would argue that Alba Fyre is like a daughter. I wonder if we’ll see Fyre and Dawn get a similar sendoff later.
Kayden Carter and Katana Chance were warming up in the locker room. Katana talked about how the women’s tag team match is a Raw vs. Smackdown match. Katana talked about how they are the longest reiging women’s tag team champions in all of WWE. Kayden said that they are going to go out of NXT with the titles.
The Schism were watching Joe Coffey working out, with Gallus’s theme in the background. Joe Gacy told Reid and Fowler that he’ll win them their tag title shot. Reid and Fowler thanked Gacy. After the Dyad left, Ava told Gacy that while Gacy is doing this for The Dyad, Gacy needs to look out for himself sometime and do something for himself soon…[c]
A video package was shown that replayed some of the mystery attacks that happened inthe most dangerous place in all of WWE, the NXT Parking Lot…
John’s Thoughts: I still say that the attackers are the same ninjas that attacked Samoa Joe at the Universal Studios, Orlando parking lot that one time.
Entrances occurred for the battle between two guys named Joe…
5. Joe Coffey (w/Mark Coffey, Wolfgang) vs. Joe Gacy (w/Jagger Reid, Rip Fowler, Ava). Coffey and Gacy pummeled each other with stiff strikes in the corner. Coffey got a two count off a crossbody. Coffey blocked a senton with a knee lift. Gacy hit Coffey with a Uranage for a two count. Coffey hit Gacy with a Flying Shoulder Tackle and Saito Suplex for a two count. Gacy came back with a Punch and Saito Suplex for a two count.
Coffey hit Gacy with a Southpaw Punch. Coffey hit Gacy with a Flying Pounce. Fowler put Gacy’s leg on the bottom rope for the break. The Dyad and Gallus brawled at ringside. Ava got in the ring for the distraction. This allowed Gacy to hit Coffey with a handstand lariat for the two victory.
Joe Gacy defeated Joe Coffey via pinfall in 3:22.
The Creeds and Ivy Nile were watching the match, shaking their heads. Ivy Nile left saying that she’s sick of The Schism always winning like that.
John’s Thoughts: Ugh, I’m not a fan of this. Joe Coffey just got here, and he’s already losing matches. Yes, they went with the overbooked protection, but that’s what it was, overbooked. I don’t think it was worth sacrificing Joe Coffey, in order to try again with the crap ass Schism faction. Joe Coffey should be protected because he’s a main event player. He’s a good talker, and very good in the ring. The guy needs to be set up as a NXT Championship contender.
Dany Palmer was stretching backstage by doing the splits. She was talking to Sol Ruca on facetime. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger showed up and cheered on Dani for her next match. Oba Femi walked through the room, looking intimidating…[c]
Eddy Thorpe was interviewed in the Performance Center about his workout. He was describing his workout. Damon Kemp showed up and told Thorpe to throw away his water bottle because he’s the new guy. Thorpe said that’s a funny joke. Kemp said the joke will be Thorpe thinking he can hang with Kemp in the ring. Thorpe said he’ll take that bet. Kemp called Thorpe a “young boy” and told him to not make him end Eddy’s hype…
Dani Palmer made her entrance to some generic 70s rock music. She did backflips to the ring. Tatum Paxley was “already in the ring”…
6. Dani Palmer vs. Tatum Paxley. Dani and Tatum traded standing switches. Both women then traded methodical chain wrestling. Dani flipped out of the corner and hit Tatum with a frankendriver. Dani put Tatum in a grounded headlock. Tatum landed a clubbing blow to the back of Dani.
Tatum hit Dani with a Gutwrench German for a two count. Tatum hit Dani with a standing corkscrew elbow drop for a nearfall. Tatum put Dani in an abdominal Stretch. Dani reversed it and dodged an elbow drop. Dani hit Tatum with a few flying back elbows. Dani hit Tatum with a neckbreaker. Dani hit Tatum with a Shiranui. Dani hit Tatum with a Frog Splash for the victory.
Dani Palmer defeated Tatum Paxley via pinfall in 3:58.
John’s Thoughts: Not a great match. This reminded me of some of the early NXT 2.0 matches where you have two developmental wrestlers struggling to go bell-to-bell. To Dani’s credit, she was the better looking one her. I don’t want to dis Tatum, but she hit a progression wall while ago (I think she’s better served being kept off TV and putting in reps on the House Show loop). What they should have done, is find a local Florida enhancement talent with indie experience.
The show cut to the Chase U classroom. Thea Hail was nervous because Andre Chase didn’t make it to class. Duke Hudson volunteered to be the guest teacher. Hudson taught the students about the WWE draft. One student asked Duke if there was going to be a pop quiz today. Duke told everyone to lift up their quiz papers and ripe it. Duke got cheers. Duke said that Duke University has a nice ring to it. Vic said “Isn’t there already a Duke University” (nice line)…
The wrestlers in the women’s tag team title match were shown heading to the ring…[c]
Robert Stone and Von Wagner were sitting down going through the Beau Beverly family photo album. Wagner talked about Beau competing in Wembley Stadium for the WWE Tag Team Championships. They flipped to Von Wagner’s baby photo, which he was embarrassed by. Wagner walked off, not wanting to open up. Stone opened the album and saw a Baby Von, with a lot of medical implements on him…
Entrances for the women’s tag team title match took place. Vic plugged the NXT Battleground ticket sales. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring championship introductions. Vic Joseph wondered if the winner of this match will have to do double duty on Raw, Smackdown, and/or NXT. There was 15 minutes left at the top of the hour and some overrun time allocated…
7. Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn vs. Katana Chance and Kayden Carter for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships. Both tag teams brawled before the bell. Carter and Chance got control when Dawn tagged in. Chance and Carter hit their opponents with plancha dives to ringside. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Chance hit Fyre with chops and a Liger Kick to the back for a two count. Chance and Carter traded tags to cut the ring in half on Fyre and keep a numbers advantage. Fyre caught Chance with a foot lift and caught Carter with a Jawbreaker. Fyre and Dawn hit Chance with their Backstabber Swanton finisher. Carter shoved Fyre onto Dawn to break up the pin.
Carter hit Fyre with a Cross Rhodes. Chance rolled up Dawn for the two count. Chance hit Dawn with a Codebreaker. Chance and Carter hit Dawn with their Deathdrop 450 finisher. Fire shoved Carter on Chance to break the pin on Dawn. All four women tagged in for a hockey fight. Fyre gave Carter a superkick and PK. Chance shoved Dawn into the ropes to crotch Fyre.
Carter tagged in and brawled with Fyre to the top rope. Chance and Carter hit Fyre with a double Spanish Fly to give Carter a nearfall on Fyre. Chance and Carter went for their finisher, but Chance had to hit Dawn with a crossbody. Fyre recovered and used Chance as a batering ram on Carter. Dawn and Fyre hit Chance with a double team Gory Special. Dawn picked up the victory on Chance.
Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre defeated Katana Chance and Kayden Carter via pinfall in 9:12 to retain the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships.
The commentators wondered if the women’s tag team titles will be exclusive to Smackdown because of Dawn and Fyre saying that the spirits told them that?
John’s Thoughts: Not quite the “takeover level” match; but that was one hell of a effort. Both teams stuffed a lot of moves into a short-ish amount of time. Not all of it looked great, but the effort definitely shined. I almost feel like we would have gotten a more epic match if Dawn and Fyre had more of a “workrate” team to work with because Chance and Carter are more “spot”/lucha based.
The show cut to a Dijak promo where he was recording himself with a voice recorder. He talked about smashing the ribs of Ilja Dragunov. Dijak said Ilja looked helpless instead of being a mad dragon. He said he can break any man and he’ll break Ilja next week…
NXT Women’s Champion Indi Hartwell was shown walking through the hallway with her title belt and walking with crutches…[c]
Vic Joseph hyped up the WWE Backlash Press Conference, featuring Bad Bunny, for this Friday…
Trick Williams was in the parking lot, where he gave Apollo Crews a congratulatory dap for getting called up to Raw. Crews said he sees a lot in Trick and thinks Trick can take over this place. He said that Trick is the definition of a superstar. He told Trick that if he keeps busting his ass, he’ll be called up next year. Trick said that means a lot. Both men shared a dap hug…
Dijak vs. Ilja Dargunov and Gallus vs. The Dyad for the NXT Tag Team Championships were advertised for next week…
Indi Hartwell was in the ring with new entrance music. She soaked in “you deserve it” chants. Indi talked about joining WWE at 23 years old, 1330 days ago. She said she had a hope and a dream, and was a fan of the Black and Gold NXT. She said NXT produced legends like Bayley and Asuka. She said women like that made the NXT Women’s Title one of the top titles in the industry. She said she never thought she could be a champion until she found, “the way”.
She said she found Papa Johnny, Candice, Austin Theory, and Sexy Dexy (Dexter Lumis). She said she was shocked that her WWE wedding had no interruptions. She said she was also shocked that she won the title at Stand and Deliver. She said everyone says they want to be a fighting champion, but not everyone can. She talked about how she was dragged to the medical room with a high angle sprain, but she dragged her self out saying hell no.
She soaked in “Indi Wrestling” chants. She talked about defending the title with one leg and then getting drafted to Raw the next few days. She said she can’t believe her new home is Raw. She said that starting next week, they’ll be a tournament to crown a new champion and the new champion will be crowned at Battleground. Indi wished the competitors luck.
She said she wanted to share a quote she lives by: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”. An “Indi Wrestling” chant ensued. Indi kissed the title and laid it on the ground. Indi joked that she needs to figure out how to get out of the ring with one leg. When Indi left, Dexter Lumis popped up from under the ring with a thumbs up.
Dexter carried his “wife” to the back. Tiffany Stratton entered tthe ring and took the belt. Cora Jade showed up and played tug-a-war. The women’s locker room cleared and the show closed with a locker room brawl…
John’s Thoughts: Wowzers. I would have never thought that Indi Hartwell’s NXT departure would be so “Hart”-felt. She may not be the smoothest in the ring, but she’s a low key master at the character work. It’s very subtle. She’s not over-the-top. She’s… natural. Sucks that she never got to finish the story of her title run, but I give NXT and her credit for making the most of the little time she did have as the “beatable” champion trying to shed that stigma. Her winning the match on one leg was one of those moments like Cody Rhodes wrestling with a bloody boob, or Kurt Angle winning a gold medal with a broken freakin’ neck (badass). I’m actually intrigued to see if they can do some solid work now that “The Way” are mostly together on the main roster (though the Way did struggle a bit when they lost Austin Theory playing the role of Johnny Gargano’s 8 year old son. So far, Baby Theory is best Theory!)
A really good episode of NXT at multiple levels. The primary level seemed to be focusing on a few of the farewells of the show. The Women’s Title match was good. What stole the show was JD McDonagh’s farewell match against Dragon Lee. NXT is going to be interesting, because if the evil moustache meddler Vince sticks around, NXT might be the safe haven for good pro wrestling on WWE and national TV (I say this because AEW does have a lot of pacing and personnel issues they have to fix, and I want AEW to succeed!). One thing that would help is whenever WWE starts hiring again. They haven’t even signed people from their Mania weekend College recruit tryouts. (YO! If WWE can find SOMEWAY to sign Speedball Mike Bailey? Yo!)
Absolutely hate blading ! Blading is clearly barbaric !
Women do not need this type of horrible toxic masculinity.