By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT No Mercy
Streamed live September 30, 2023 on Peacock
Bakersfield, California at Mechanics Bank Arena
NXT No Mercy Kickoff Show Notes
Megan Morant, Sam Roberts, and Matt Camp were the pre-show panel…
[I didn’t know that there was an hour pre-show, so I’ll update the first half hour after the show]
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes. Williams hyped both men coming out of their matches as champion. Melo noted that it’s not about just Melo tonight but about both Trick and Melo. The panel gave their thoughts on the NXT Championship match…
Megan Morant announced that Shawn Michaels put on Twitter that Becky Lynch vs. Tiffany Stratton will be the main event of No Mercy. A hype package aired for the Women’s championship match. The panel then gave their thoughts and predictions…
Entrances for the pre-show match took place…
1. Blair Davenport vs. Kelani Jordan. Davenport started the match with a side headlock followed by a running shoulder tackle. Jordan did a leapfrog and splits dodge. Jordan hit Davenport with an armdrag, huracanrana, and dropkick. Davenport reversed a Monkey Flip and tripped Jordan off the ropes to ringside. Davenport dragged Jordan back in the ring and hit Jordan with a hip toss and body slam for a two count. Davenport reversed a Monkey Flip into a Boston Crab.
When Jordan went for the ropes, Davenport dug in further. Jordan escaped by flipping out. Jordan got a two count off a rollup. Davenport and Jordan traded B00-Yay punches with Davenport getting the upper hand. Davenport paintbrushed Jordan with boots and some trash talk. Jordan came back with a Tornado Cutter. Jordan took down Davenport with a cartwheel elbow. Jordan hit Davenport with the Overdrive for a nearfall. Davenport yanked Jordan to the mat and followed up with a double stomp to the back.
Jordan reversed a front suplex into a Sleeper Hold. Davenport broke it by slamming Jordan into the buckle. Jordan hit Davenport with a boot. Davenport blocked a Split Legged Moonsault with her knees. Davenport gave Jordan a double stomp to the back. Davenport hit Jordan with a Twisting Front Suplex for the win.
Blair Davenport defeated Kelani Jordan via pinfall in 6:38.
After the match, Gigi Dolin attacked Davenport from behind. Referees ran out to separate both women…
John’s Thoughts: Better than expected match given Jordan’s fresh experience level. Since Jordan is a developmental type, I’m pretty sure this was the largest crowd she’s performed in front of and she did a pretty good job (Davenport has large arena experience from New Japan and AEW). Yes, it was rough at points, but that’s expected from the NIL type of wrestler. She pulled out some cool moves too like that Tornado Cutter (which she has to clean up a bit) and the cartwheel into an elbow. Hope he doesn’t use that Overdrive as a finisher (I have a personal hatred of the Overdrive finisher. Inverse Overdrive is ok). Speaking of finishers, I hope Davenport sticks to the Kamigoye as a finisher because that front suplex looked underwhelming.
The panel recapped, Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin’s show closing brawl from this past tuesday. Matt Camp noted that the car they were brawling on top of was the SUV of NXT Producer and ECW Legend Steve Corino. The panel also noted that Corbin vs. Breakker will open up the show.
NXT No Mercy Main Card Review
The NXT No Mercy intro video aired. It was done in the form of N64’s WWF No Mercy video game. Vic Joseph referenced the “Dig Diggity Dog” song from that video game. The intro video even had custom N64 create-a-wrestler models for modern NXT and WWE wrestlers…
John’s Thoughts: Hey, WWF No Mercy was one of the greatest wrestling games of all time. That intro was very clever. I liked it.
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer…
Bron Breakker made his entrance. Before taking it off on the stage, he had a wolf headdress on. It either looked like a pelt, or like Bron Breakker was getting into the Furry culture (I kid, I kid). Baron Corbin had a badass entrance where he drove a motorcycle around the ring. He wore a leather jacket and skull bandana on his mouth to look like a biker gang member. The Ameri-Corbin Badass? (Sorry for the bad pun)
Before the bell rang, Breakker hit Corbin with a flip dive. The pre-match brawl spilled to the crowd. Breakker punched out the security guards when they tried to get him in the ring. This allowed Corbin to blindside Breakker when he was working on the security guards. Corbin put Breakker on a table and set up stairs next to it. Breakker sidestepped Corbin’s diving senton and dragged Corbin to the ring. The bell ran once both men were standing…
1. Baron Corbin vs. Bron Breakker. Breakker started the match with a backdrop on Corbin. Corbin recovered and hit Breakker with a diving lariat. For some reason, the commentary feed was cut out. Joseph noted that the technical difficulties were due to the Senton from Corbin. Corbin took down Breakker with a clothesline. Breakker reversed a press slam into a Gutbuster. Breakker gave Corbin forearms to the back of the neck from on the rear mount.
Breakker hit Corbin with a hip attack on Corbin in the corner. Breakker dragged Corbin to the top rope. Breakker was shoved off, but quickly jumped back into a Frankensteiner. Breakker hit Corbin with a Press Power Slam for a nearfall. Breakker kept attacking Corbin in the corner, with Corbin constantly provoking him. Corbin eventually recovered and hit Breakker with punches and a Death Valley Driver for a two count.
Breakker reversed a Half and Half. Corbin blocked a Steiner Recliner by grabbing the bottom rope. Corbin caught a running Breakker with an extra-rotation Deep Six for a nearfall. Breakker and Corbin traded Boo-Yay punches with Corbin getting light Yay’s. Breakker escaped a End of Days attempt into a rollup for a two count. Breakker took down Corbin with a lariat.
Breakker hit Corbin with a tackle and dumped Corbin to ringside with a clothesline. Corbin baited Breakker at ringside and hit him with a Uranage through the table. An NXT chant ensued. Vic Joesph’s candy can be seen on the table (why he always has a bowl of candy? I don’t know). Breakker did the Undertaker No-Sell sit up. Breakker caught Corbin with a Spear.
Breakker took down the straps. Robert Stone showed up out of nowhere and went for a crossbody on Breakker. Breakker caught Stone and dumped Stone on the pile of security guards at ringside. Corbin caught the distracted Breakker with a End of Days for the win.
Baron Corbin defeated Bron Breakker via pinfall in 9:33.
Robert Stone was smiling at ringside. Joseph noted that Stone was out there to avenge Von Wagner…
John’s Thoughts: Very smart to start the show with the heel vs. heel matchup when the crowd is at it’s most excited. Breakker and Corbin delivered enough exciting and high-impact moves to keep the crowd fired up. This was a good match because they did fire up and not lose the crowd. Both guys needed the win here; Corbin fresh off his repackage and Breakker fresh off several big losses. They got the best out of it by giving Corbin the win and protecting Breakker with the Stone spot. Hopefully they move Breakker up soon because it feels like keeping him in NXT is just giving him a lot of high profile losses to wrestlers who need the wins while Breakker spins his wheels.
Different shots of Tiffany Stratton and Becky Lynch were shown arriving “earlier today”. Vic Joseph then recapped Trick Williams becoming number one contender to the North American Championship. They then aired the McKenzie Mitchell interview from the pre-show where Melo and Trick hyped up coming out of both of their matches as champions…
Referee Dragon Lee made his entrance first. Trick Williams made his entrance with the crowd starting up a “Whoop Dat Trick” chant. Booker interjected by tossing in some “uh huh” and “yeah” (s) in while he was vibing with Trick’s theme. Dominik Mysterio made his entrance by himself. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring championship introductions…
2. Dominik Mysterio vs. Trick Williams for the NXT North American Championship with Dragon Lee as special guest referee. Dominik started the match quickly with a dropkick and two count. Dom argued about the count being maybe slow. Trick rallied with right hands while Dom was distracted with Dragon. Trick hit Dom with a dropkick. Dom avoided a body slam and rolled to ringside to ask for the title. Dom tried to leave, but walked right into a lariat from Trick.
Trick hit Dom with a body slam in the ring. Trick hit Dom with a right hand and lariat. Dom rolled to ringside for a breather again. Dom kicked the 2nd rope into Trick’s balls and dumped him to ringside. Dom hit Trick with right hands and a leaping knee for a two count. Dom put Trick in a side headlock. Trick fired up from “Whoop dat trick” chants. Dom put Trick back down with a clubbing blow.
Dom avoided a corner splash and slammed Trick to the mat. Dom mocked the crowd with the Eddie Guerrero shimmy. Dom hit Trick with a slingshot senton. Dom worked on Trick with mounted punches. Trick avoided an elbow drop to recover a bit. Trick hit Dom with a boot and series of right hands. Trick hit Dom with body shots and a Booker T crescent kick for a nearfall. Dom reversed a pop up punch into a backslide for a two count.
Both men took each other out with simultaneous lariats. Dom and Trick recovered. Dom surprised Trick with a 619 to the back of the neck. Trick ducked a superkick causing Dom to accidentally superkick Dragon Lee. REF BUMP!!! Trick caught Dom with a neckbeaker. A replacement referee had to run out to count a one and two count. Trick hit Dom with Machine Gun Chops.
Trick hit Dom with a Cyclone Kick for a nearfall. Dom and Trick took each other out by hitting heads while running. Dom accidentally ran into the referee. REF BUMP 2!!! Trick and Dom spilled to ringside. Dom put Trick in the ring and went for a Frog Splash, but no one was home. Trick went for a pin, but no ref was recovered.
Trick went to recover Dragon Lee (who was still knocked out dead for some reason). Trick got Dragon up. Dom tried to hit Trick in the head with the title belt, but Trick ducked it. Trick hit Dom with a running knee. Dragon Lee counted the pin to give Trick the win.
Trick Williams defeated Dominik Mysterio via pinfall in 9:28 to become the new NXT North American Champion.
The replay showed that Trick’s high knee caused Dom’s face to hit the title belt…
John’s Thoughts: Good WWE main roster style of match. Bit too many ref bumps for my taste though (Why when a trained pro wrestler puts on the stripes they die after one strike? That’s beyond me). Interesting dynamic here with Dominik being the veteran against a rookie. Both men were solid and Trick looked pretty good in front of his largest crowd to date. I’m a bit surprised at the title change as Dom was drawing numbers for NXT. On top of that, Trick Williams wasn’t supposed to be in the match and was a last minute replacement due to Mustafa Ali getting his release. Looks like Trick has the rocket strapped to his back. The guy has the gift of gab, and is showing an evolving jab. Doesn’t hurt to see if he can sink or swim because his upside is immense.
A recap was shown of the Italian dinner that set up the Tag Team Title match…
The show cut to footage of Joe Gacy mumbling to himself about everybody being gone. Ava was behind him and told him that she’s still here. Joe Gacy yelled at Ava and told her the Schism was dead. Joe then told himself that he has to go off to find his purpose…
Tiffany Stratton was warming up backstage…
The Creed Brothers were out first. Humberto Garza and Angel Garza were out next with claw marks on their chests, a la Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards (Do we call them the Mexican Wolves?). Bronco Nima and Lucien Price made their GTA San Andreas themed entrance riding some low rider bikes to ringside. Out last were the tag team champions…
3. Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo vs. Julius Creed and Brutus Creed (w/Ivy Nile) vs. Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza vs. “Out Tha Mud” Bronco Nima and Lucien Price (w/Scrypts) for the NXT Tag Team Championships. This was one of those matches where only two men are in the ring legally at a time. Julius and Garza started the match, but eventually all eight men would brawl in the ring. Julius hit the Garzas with a flip dive to ringside. OTM double teamed Brutus in the ring. Carrillo tagged out Nima. Stacks tagged in as well. Carrillo caught Stacks with a springboard crossbody.
Stacks came back with an Atomic Drop and chest stomps. Stacks punted Carrillo in the chest. Tony D tagged in and caught Carrillo in the gut with a knee. Tony D and Stacks gave the Garzas punches to the gut. Tony D hip tossed Stacks into both Garza cousins. Tony D tried to suplex both Garza cousins, but his leg gave out on him. The referee then called for a medic. Stacks came in and took a knee from Carrillo.
Carrillo and Garza went for a double team move. Stacks escaped, but the cousins quickly hit Stacks with a High Low move. Garza put Stacks in a Gory Special and Carrillo hit Stacks with a Blockbuster. Garza immediately hit Stacks with a basement dropkick. Nima tagged out Garza. Nima hit Stacks with a reverse Bronco Buster while Price followed up with a right hand. Price rev’d up and hit Stacks with a lariat.
Price put Stacks in a headlock. Stacks was trying to tag out to The Creeds. Nile hit Scrypts with a dropkick at ringside. Brutus tagged in and hit Nima and Price with a diving lariat. Brutus then gave everyone pounces. Brutus hit Garza with a flapjack. Brutus then put Garza in the Ankle Lock. Carrillo broke it up with a superkick. Julius then gave everyone Belly to Belly suplexes. Julius even gave the large OTM guys a Belly to Belly at the same time.
Carrillo found his way through to break Brutus’s ankle lock on Garza. The Garza Cousins then teamed up with OTM. OTM held Stacks in place while Carrillo hit Stacks with kicks. Tony D then made his heroic return as Oney Lorcan and security guards tried to hold him back. Lorcan even took a bump after a shove from Tony D. Tony D cleaned house in the ring while selling his limp. The Creeds and Mafia dudes gave their opponents suplexes on all four corners of the ring.
The Creeds and mafia then traded punches. Every one then took turns with strikes with the OTM guys ending up on top. Nima tossed Tony D into Price’s power slam to give Price a nearfall. Julius dumped Price to ringside. The Creeds went for a Doomsday Brutus Ball on Nima, but were dumped to ringside. Brutus dumped the Garza cousins to ringside and hit them with a Brutus Ball. Tony D and Stacks hit Price with a their double team Flapjack finisher to give Tony the pinfall win.
Tony D’Angelo and Stacks defeated Lucien Price and Bronco Nima, The Creed Brothers, and Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo via pinfall in 12:07 to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.
John’s Thoughts: A hectic match which was entertaining due to how hectic it was. My guess is the Tony D injury spot was a work, because it led to him making the heroic comeback. It did work well because the crowd reacted as if it was a shoot. More young wrestlers here looking pretty good on a bigger stage. Here’s hoping they actually put effort into the next tag title program rather than set it up with Spaghetti and meatballs. All three teams here are good enough to start fun stories with…
A vignette aired for a debuting wrestler. It was the same one from this past tuesday where a man was sitting down watching a old CRT television. The TV had clips from the 80s newscasts, old Bengals games, and WCW Saturday Night. They added clips of modern WWE shows. Due to the Bengals and WCW (and I think I might have saw a blond mullet), this is presumably a vignette for Brian Pillman’s son, Brian Pillman Jr…
Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams were celebrating Trick’s title win backstage. Melo said everyone else is beneath them now and they are both Him…
Becky Lynch was walking around backstage with a shopping cart to load up with weapons for her Extreme Rules match…
Vic Joseph thanked the band Ryan Oakes and Loveless for providing the song Heavyweight as the theme for No Mercy. Ryan Oakes was shown in the crowd…
The NXT Heritage Cup match hype package aired…
Butch was out first, accompanied to the ring by his old British Strong Style tag partner and long time rival Tyler Bate. A tweet from Butch was shown by Butch hyping up the British Strong Style reunion (sans Trent Seven). The Meta Four were out next. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring Championship introductions…
4. Noam Dar (w/Oro Mensah, Jakara Jackson, Lash Legend) vs. Butch (w/Tyler Bate) in a Rounds Match for the NXT Heritage Cup. After a collar and elbow, Butch went right into his usual joint manipulation. Dar managed to get to his feet to break it with the ropes. Dar avoided a hand stomp and went to the ropes for separation. Butch hit Dar with an axe handle strike. Dar came back with a low to high kick combo.
Butch turned Dar inside out with a lariat. Butch did his signature shrug. Butch then twisted Dar with joint manipulation. Butch stomped on the right hand of Dar. Butch went to standing joint manipulation. The clock then ticked down to zero. [End of Round 1]
Dar hit Butch with a cheap shot Judas Effect after the round bell. Dar hit Butch with a stinger splash and suplex for a two count. Dar then got another two count after a draping punt kick. Dar worked on Butch with overhead elbows. Butch worked on Dar’s fingers a bit and then gave Dar a running elbow. Butch gave Dar a series of Gamengiris in the corner.
Butch gave Dar a leg drop to the right elbow. Butch gave Dar a running front kick. Butch gave Dar 10 Beats of the Bodhran. Lash and Jakara distracted the referee. Oro caught Butch with a kick. Dar then caught the staggered Butch with a Nova Roller Leg Lariat for the pinfall. [End of Round 2}
Noam Dar pinned Butch 2:20 into Round 2 to go up 1-0.
The replay showed the multiple cheating moments that gave Dar the advantage in the last round. Butch dumped Dar to ringside and caught him with a moonsault. The Meta Four tried to distract Butch, but Bate got in their face. Butch went for a moonsault in the ring, but he fell right into a PK from Dar. Butch recovered and hit Dar with the Bitter End to tie things up. [End of Round 3]
Butch pinned Noam Dar 1:58 into Round 3 to tie the match 1-1.
Butch worked on Dar with early ground and pound hammer fist. Dar managed to reverse the strikes into a Rear Naked Choke. Dar then convered the move into a Juji Gatame. Butch reversed the move into his own Juji Gatame. Dar reversed the move into a Triangle Choke. Butch broke free and hit Dar with the X-Plex for a two count.
Butch worked on Dar with shortarm chops. Dar kicked Butch in the ankle to trip him off the ropes for a nearfall. Butch reversed a top rope dive into an armbar. Dar faded away, but after the clock ran out. [End of Round 4]
Butch and Dar traded fatigued kicks, slaps, and punches. Butch gave Dar stiff machine gun chops and clubbing blows against the ropes. Dar used a knee to escape a Bitter End attempt. Dar fought Butch back with a knee combo. Dar caught Butch with the Judas Effect for a two count. Butch caught Dar on the top rope with a gamengiri.
Butch hit Dar with a superplex for a nearfall. A “Bruiserweight” chant ensued. Dar caught Butch with a high kick on the apron. Dar then hit Butch with a Brainbuster on the hardest part of the ring. Lash tossed Dar in the ring. Dar kicked out at two. Butch twisted Dar’s fingers and gave Dar a stomp to the twisted finger. The time ran out. [End of Round 5]
Both men traded shortarm strikes. Butch hit Dar with his signature ora ora ora punches. Dar came back wiht double Judas Effects. Butch came back wiht a German Suplex, hand stomp, and buzzsaw kick. Mensah caught Butch in the back of the head with a gamengiri when the referee was distracted. Dar hit Butch with a Nova Roller Leg Lariat. Butch kicked out at two. Bate hit Mensah with a dive at ringside. Butch hit Dar with Bop and Bang. Butch hit Dar with the Tyler Driver 97 for a nearfall.
Dar reversed a Better End into a heel hook. Butch reversed into a wishbone finger break. Butch hit Dar with the Bitter End. Dar kicked out at two. Butch put Dar in a Finger Manipulation Armbar. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang ran out to beat down Tyler Bate. Butch hit Gallus with a dive. Joe Coffey caught Butch with a discus Lariat when Lash and Jakara distracted the referee. Noam crawled over for the win. [End of Match]
Noam Dar defeated Butch via pinfall 2-1 in 2:36 of Round 6 to retain the NXT Heritage Cup.
John’s Thoughts: One of the better Heritage Cup matches since they brought the cup to the US. I still think they should have ran the Global Heritage Invitational with Rounds Matches instead of time-limit matches, because this style still gets some getting used to (That’s how HBK booked the cup initially in UK). The finish was dirty, but it looks like we might get a Butch vs. Joe Coffey feud coming out of it, so I’m not complaining there. The Bitter End at one point was pretty protected, so Dar kicking out did give him some credibility. I do hope they take the cup off Dar soon because the Cup needs a more “pure style” champion to get the match style over, while Dar relies on chickens*it finishes.
An ad aired for the NXT Deadline PLE in December…
Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in from the commentary table. Vic Joseph announced that the Iron Survivor match will return at Deadline. Joseph also noted that the NXT Halloween Havoc themed show will be a two week event the week before Halloween and Halloween day…
A Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov hype package aired…
Different shot were shown of Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov heading to the ring. Ilja Dragunov made his entrance first. Before Melo’s entrance, a Carmelo Hayes monologue played. Jersey graphics were shown in the video wall with the names of opponents that Carmelo Hayes defeated. The last jersey was “Dragunov 2” to represent this current match. Carmelo Hayes then made his entrance. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in ring championship introductions…
5. Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship. Ilja quickly stared the match with a stiff lariat. Ilja pummeled Melo in the corners with strikes. Ilja took down Melo with a stiff knife edge chop. Ilja continued to work on Melo with a plethora of stiff strikes. Melo lowered his weight to block a German Suplex. Ilja came back with a clubbing blow to the back. Ilja knocked Melo off the apron with a Yakuza Kick. Ilja yelled “this is my ring!” to taunt Melo. Melo came back wiht a double leg takedown and ground and pound.
Melo gave Ilja his own stiff chops and clubbing blows. Melo pummeled Ilja with his own strike variations. Ilja ducked Melo and hit Melo with a Constantine Special (Tiger Feint Lariat) to turn Melo inside-out. Ilja gave Melo Kobashi machine gun chops. Ilja worked on Melo with methodical strikes, including a few face wash boots. Ilja and Melo knocked each other to the mat with stiff strikes. Ilja paintbrushed Melo with chops.
Ilja chopped Melo in the shoulder blades. Ilja then gave Melo stiff Kobashi Machine Gun Chops in the corner. Melo blocked a reverse chop and forced Ilja to the corner with stiff chops. Ilja stumbled into a right hand of a stumbling Melo to leave both men lying for a moment of respite. Both men traded strikes while on their knees. Both men then traded standing strikes.
Melo hit Dragunov with a enzuigiri and springboard bulldog for a nearfall. The replay showed Melo being out of position for a DDT to the point where he converted it to a bulldog. Ilja reversed La Mistica into chained German Suplexes. Ilja worked on Melo with overhead elbows. Melo hit Ilja with a Reverse La Mistica for a nearfall. Melo stomped a mudhole on Ilja’s head with shortarm boots. Ilja blocked a Bicycle Boot. Ilja hit Melo with clinch knees.
Ilja hit Melo with a running knee. Ilja hit Melo with a Jackknife Power Bomb to give himself a breather. Ilja went to the top rope. Melo tried to counter the dive into a Codebreaker, but Ilja got back to his feet to hit Melo with a deadlift Death Valley Driver into the bottom buckle. Ilja hit Melo with a Coast to Coast Dropkick for the nearfall. Melo gave Ilja a headbutt and climbed to the top rope.
Ilja got to his feet to punch Melo off the top rope. Ilja hit Melo with a deadlift Superplex while Melo was on the apron. Melo reversed Torpedo Moscow into a Codebreaker. Ilja fell right into an H Bomb (Falling Forearm) for a nearfall. Ilja went to the top rope and hit Melo with a Top Rope H Bomb for a close nearfall. Ilja was bleeding from the forehead at this point while selling his shock. Ilja went for Torpedo Moscow, but Melo blocked it with a Superkick.
Ilja kicked out at two. Both men sold fatigue on the apron while on their back and trading slow strikes. They then both traded snug right hands. After they got to their feet, Melo hit Ilja with an Avalanche Final Cut from the apron to ringside. Back in the ring, Melo went for Nothin’ But Net, but Ilja caught Melo mid-air with a right hand to swat him down. Ilja hit Melo with a Super H Bomb for the victory.
Ilja Dragunov defeated Carmelo Hayes via pinfall in 21:04 to become the new NXT Champion.
After grabbing the title, Ilja helped up Carmelo Hayes to his feet. Ilja asked for a handshake, but instead pulled Melo in for a hug. Ilja then yelled what sounded like “You’re Amazing!” to Melo. Both men then stumbled to sell the fatigue…
John’s Thoughts: What a war. This was your NXT Black and Gold main event classic style of match with false finishes a plenty. They teased Trick getting involved on NXT TV, and I’m glad they didn’t have that happen to interfere with the war story these men wanted to tell. Looks like the NXT creative team is really high on Ilja at this point to the point where they took the title off their golden boy Melo. Will we get a rematch? Might we get tension between Trick and Melo now that Trick is the champion of the duo? We’ll see.
A hype video aired to hype package aired for the Women’s Breakout Tournament. The following women were announced for the tournament: Jakara Jackson, Karmen Petrovic, Lola Vice, Jaida Parker, Izzi Dame, Dani Palmer, Kelani Jordan, and Arianna Grace…
Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in on commentary where Vic plugged WWE Fastlane for next Saturday. Vic then recapped the NXT No Mercy kickoff match between Blair Davenport where Davenport picked up the win and was attacked by Gigi Dolin after the match…
Gigi Dolin vs. Blair Davenport and Tyler Bate and Butch vs. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang were announced for the next episode of NXT TV…
Tegan Nox was shown in the crowd to watch the main event. Vic Joseph noted that Nox will challenge the winner of the Lynch vs. Stratton match for the NXT TItle on Raw. The Lynch vs. Stratton hype package aired…
Tiffany Stratton made her entrance first. Vic noted that if Tiffany wins, she’ll join Shayna Baszler and Charlotte Flair as the only two-time NXT Women’s Champions. Becky Lynch had a video package before her entrance which showed her heading to the ring. There was B-roll footage of her early NXT run as well as her main roster highlights. A graphic had the words “N-Bex-T” on it.
Becky Lynch made her entrance. Becky had the names of people she fights for on her white shirt, like her husband Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt. Becky brought over shopping cart with weapons while Tiffany had brass knuckles. The bell rang when both women brawl at ringside.
6. Becky Lynch vs. Tiffany Stratton in an Extreme Rules match for the NXT Women’s Championship. Becky dominated the brawl. Becky put a construction hard hat on to give Tiffany headbutts. Becky then chased Tiffany to over the barricade with Kendo Stick shots. Tiffany and Becky brawled up the steps of the crowd. Tiffany got the advantage, but a “fan” handed Becky what looked like a plastic chain necklace to beat up Tiffany with. Becky beat down Tiffany back to ringside. Tiffany caught Becky in the gut with a home run swing when Becky went for a dive.
Tiffany gave Becky a snap suplex on the mat. Tiffany was bleeding from the head. Tiffany gave Becky a double stomp for a nearfall. Vic Joseph noted that the man that handed Becky the chain was her stylist. Tiffany hit Becky with a tool box to the gut. Tiffany then hit Becky in the gut with a wrench. Tiffany then hit Becky with a crowbar to the back. Tiffany punched Becky with a chain covered fist. Becky recovered, but Becky missed a hammer shot to Tiffany.
Tiffany reversed a huracanrana into a sidewalk slam for a two count. Tiffany hit Becky in the back with a chair and set up a chair in the corner. Becky blocked a whip into the chair and hit Tiffany with a crossbody. Tiffany rolled through the crossbody. Becky pushed Tiffany into the chair and hit Tiffany with an Exploder Suplex. Becky hit Tiffany with a missile dropkick. Tiffany hit Becky with a diving forearm at ringside.
Becky crashed a shopping cart into Tiffany and tossed Tiffany into it. Becky slammed the shopping cart into the steel steps. Becky brought a black bag in the ring. Instead of thumbtacks, there were broken Barbie Dolls in it. Both women traded reversals. Becky gave Tiffany a DDT onto the pile of Barbie dolls for a two count. Tiffany then used a trash can lid to block Becky tossing Barbie dolls at her. Tiffany caught Becky with a lid shot to the shoulder.
Becky dodged a flying trash can flying at her. Becky put a draping Tiffany in a trash can and hit her with a guillotine leg drop. Tiffany still had the can on her, but avoided a dive. Tiffany hit Becky with can shots to the gut. Tiffany hit Becky with a spinebuster through the trash can for a nearfall. Tiffany tossed a bunch of chairs into the ring. Becky reversed a Power Bomb into the chair pile and gave Tiffany a hip toss into the pile of chairs.
Becky put Tiffany into an armbar. Tiffany rolled to ringside and power bombed Becky into the steel steps. Becky kicked out at two. Becky recovered to block a Prettiest Moonsault Ever. Tiffany tripped Becky off the top rope. Becky recovered at ringside and gave Tiffany an Exploder Suplex into the barricade. Becky was about to set up a table, but was tossed into the barricade by Tiffany. Tiffany finished up setting up the table in between the announce table and steel steps.
Tiffany was then confused as she couldn’t find Becky. Tiffany looked under the ring and was sprayed with a fire extinguisher. Becky hit Tiffany in the leg with a barbed wire bat. Tiffany gave Becky a huracanrana and discus lariat at ringside. Tiffany did some nice backflips into a back elbow which sent Becky through the barricade into the timekeeper area. Becky recovered and put Tiffany on the announce table. Tiffany escaped a Manhandle Slam attempt and put Becky on a chair.
Tiffany hit Becky with a Cannonball on the announcer’s chair. Tiffany put Becky on the table at ringside. Tiffany hit Becky with a beautiful Swanton. The table didn’t break (“I am the Table” moment!). In the ring, Tiffany hit Becky with another Swanton Bomb for a good nearfall. Both women rested to soak in “this is awesome” chants. Becky rolled to ringside. Tiffany missed a Triangle Prettiest Moonsault Ever. Becky hit Tiffany with the Man-Handle Slam.
Tiffany kicked out at two. Tiffany blocked a Disarm-Her attempt with a rollup. Tiffany hit Becky with a Rolling Senton on Chairs. Becky blocked a Prettiest Moonsault Ever. Becky hit Tiffany with the Man-Handle Slam on the chairs for the win.
Becky Lynch defeated Tiffany Stratton via pinfall in 20:19 to retain the NXT Women’s Championship.
Becky posed with the title belt. The camera also showed Tegan Nox hyping herself up for a title match on Monday.
After the credit graphic aired on the bottom of the screen the show cut to Trick and Melo backstage. Carmelo Hayes apologized to Trick for losing his title and both of them not leaving as champions. Trick said it was alright because Melo fought like a champ. Trick said that Trick-Melo will always be here. The show closed with both men hugging each other in support…
John’s Thoughts: Strong hardcore main event. Becky Lynch may be the queen of WWE PG Hardcore matches with two great hardcore matches in a row against Trish Stratus and Tiffany Stratton. Tiffany Stepped up to the plate herself with a main roster main event level performance. Sometimes it feels like wrestlers are holding themselves back due to WWE PG limitations, but this was close enough to a normal hardcore match sans a crimson mask (Tiffany did get a little color hardway though). Tiffany has had her own series of hardcore matches herself with a sleeper hit being her hardcore match with Wendy Choo from over a year ago.
Tiffany’s performance here showed that she definitely can be a big star once she’s called up. Tiffany is good in the ring, better then a handful of callups we’ve had in the past. In that, she’s ready. Where she’s still rough is on the mic, so hopefully she tightens that up (because her look and presentation is great too). A good NXT PLE. The show started off relying on a bunch of the green 2.0 projects from early in the day, who gained experience and were able to put on a main roster style of PPV. The final two matches gave that Black and Gold type of flava with false finishes and drama. I’ll be by in a bit with my audio review for the show for the dot net members and Patreon Patrons.
That Trick Williams match was as overbooked as I would expect a match that supposed to put over talentless crap like Williams.
Who is that Italian guy’s tag partner, that “sticks” guy, he kinda looks like a dollar store version of MJF.
Decent show so far, until that Heritage shitfest. Hopefully the final two matches live up to the hype.
A bit much on spamming finishers late, but that dog will hunt. We’ve got to be near the time for Melo to go to the main roster.
The poll has the women’s match blocked from clicks.
I always thought we’d get the Brawling Brutes vs Gallas at some point I just didn’t think it would happen this soon. It didn’t occur to me that Butch participating in that tournament would be the catalyst for it. Not to mention both teams wear rugby jerseys for street clothes.
I thought it was The Killer Bees coming out there for a minute!
Just call him PETE DUNNE again dammit!!
That Tiffany’s a damn star!I know she was in there with Lynch,but Stratton showed out tonight and she’s been doing it for awhile too in such a short amount of time.I almost don’t care how she sounds on the mic as long as she’s this entertaining in the ring.
I’m hoping we get Stratton vs Ripley sooner than later. Two tremendous talents with such starkly different looks are just begging to be pitted against each other. That could be the top women’s feud for a few years while the next group is found and trained.