By John O’Connor, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@thereal_JOC)
NXT: Level Up (Episode 87)
Taped in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Streamed October 13, 2023 on Peacock/WWE Network
Ivy Nile made her way to the ring as the broadcast team of Blake Howard and Byron Saxton welcomed us to the show…
1. Ivy Nile vs. Kiyah Saint. Nile worked for a headlock on Saint as the match started. Saint rallied and kicked Nile off but Nile shrugged off Saint’s brief offense. The two women traded and powered out of pinfall attempts. Both women looked for crossbody blocks but collided center of the ring.
Saint began to work over on Nile driving her knee into the back of Nile working for an attempted submission hold. Saint dropped Nile with a dropkick and looked to finish but Nile clipped Saint with an enziguri, a release German suplex and soon followed up with the dragon sleeper for the submission.
Ivy Nile defeated Kiyah Saint via submission in 6:47.
After the match, Nile helped Saint back to her feet and the two embraced…
The commentary team hyped the main event as Axiom vs. Riley Osborne for after the break…[c]
2. Axiom vs. Riley Osborne. Axiom gained an early near fall with a backslide and helped Osborne to his feet and both men shook hands. Osborne looked for a rollup of his own for a two count. Osborne indicated that he was that close to victory which Axiom to exception to and chopped Osborne across the chest as the match picked up pace. Axiom hit a dropkick which sent Osborne to the outside.
Back in the ring, Axiom grabbed the leg of Osborne but was sent into the bottom turnbuckle as Osborne took control. Osborne and Axiom traded chops and Axiom rocked Osborne with another dropkick. Axiom climbed to the top rope but was caught on the way down by Osborne who followed up with a snap hurricarana for a two count.
Late in the match both men tumbled to ringside and Osborne was caught with a kick by Axiom. Axiom rolled back in the ring as the referee started the count. Osborne rolled back in the ring at the count of 9 and as he was on the mat, Axiom hit a top rope splash. Axiom covered Osborne and Osborne looked to have kicked out at two but the referee called for the bell and declared Axiom the winner.
Axiom defeated Riley Osborne via pinfall in 8:19.
John’s Ramblings: Wowza. That main event was going great and the always reliable Axiom and Riley Osborne were cooking up one of the better Level Up matches… until the finish. I don’t want to say it was a definite botch as there may be a bigger story in play (the announcers throughout did continually point out that Osborne was getting increasingly frustrated at the battle wore on), but it took the wind out of what was a really enjoyable encounter that deserves to be seen. Let’s have a rematch with a cleaner finish next time, please.
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