NXT TV results (11/28): Moore’s review of Tony D’Angelo and Channing Lorenzo vs. Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo for the NXT Tag Team Titles, Iron Survivor Challenge qualifiers

By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)

NXT TV 
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live November 28, 2023 on USA Network

[Hour One] Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer…

Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza made their entrance. They were jumped by Tony D and Stacks before the bell…

1. Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo vs. Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza for the NXT Tag Team Championships. When things slowed down a bit, Tony D yelled that they jumped the Garza cousins for jumping them in the past. Garza saved Carrillo from hockey punches and turned the tables in his team’s favor. Garza and Carrillo tried to cut the ring in half on Tony D, but Tony D gave Carrillo a spear and tagged in Stacks. Carrillo and Garza regained control and used tags to cut the ring in half on Stacks. The Garza cousins tossed Stacks off the top rope heading into picture-in-picture.[c]

Stacks made the hot tag back from break to Tony who cleaned house with lariats and suplexes. Garza blind tagged in when Tony turned his back to gloat. Carrillo dumped Tony to ringside after Stacks tagged in. Carrillo tagged in and gave Stacks a Sunset Flip into a missile dropkick doomsday device to give Carrillo a nearfall on Stacks. All four men took turns hitting high impact moves. Stacks Garza with a knee variant of Rollins’s stomp. Garza gave Stacks a low blow while the referee was distracted. Garza hit Stacks with a double Underhook Pile Driver for a good nearfall.

Stacks and Tony D hit Garza with the Bada Bing Bada Boom (Double Team Flapjack). Tony D kissed Stacks and told him he loved him. Tony D hip tossed Stacks on Carrillo. Tony D picked up the pinfall.

Tony D’Angelo and Channing Lorenzo defeated Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo via pinfall in 12:28 to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships. 

John’s Thoughts: Good action with the tag champs looking more dominant than I expected given Carrillo and Garza are fresh off their character repackage (and coming off their loss to the Creeds). Maybe this was a write-off for the Garza cousins as they get put back on the main roster (where a lot of people are assuming they end up with Santos Escobar). If they do get the call-up, I hope Carrillo and Garza don’t get treated like cannon fodder like Del Toro and Wilde did with Santos.

The camera focused on Axiom and Nathan Frazer in a lounge watching the Baron Corbin and Ilja Dragunov vignette from last week. Ilja walked in and got mat at Frazer’s thoughts on Ilja not having the same lifestyle as Corbin. Frazer admitted that he does prefer Corbin’s lifestyle, but he respects Ilja too. Ilja walked off saying he knows how he’ll deal with this little dispute…

Jerry “The King” Lawler announced Bron Breakker vs. Eddy Thorpe and Kiana James vs. Kelani Jordan as this week’s Iron Survivor qualifyers…

Kelani Jordan made her entrance…[c]

Vic Joseph sent the show to a Johnny Gargano North American Championship highlight package in preparation for his match later in the show…

Fallon Henley and Brooks Jensen were congratulating Josh Briggs on qualifying for the Iron Survivor Match. Lexis King showed up and congratulated Briggs while flirting with Henley. King told Jensen that no one choose him to an Iron Survivor Qualifyer like Henley and Briggs. Jensen got in King’s face. Briggs stood up for Jensen and proposed a match between Jensen and King. King said it sounds like a party before leaving. Henley said “yee haw bitch”…

A twitter video was shown of Nikkita Lyons practicing her kicks on a kicking bag. Nikkita Lyons was shown in the crowd…

Kiana James made her entrance…

2. Kelani Jordan vs. Kiana James to qualify for the Iron Survivor Match at NXT Deadline. Kelani ducked some clotheslines early on. James tossed Jordan into the corner and hit her with strikes and a tackle. Kelani leapt out of the corner and gave James a dropkick. Jordan gave James a few tackles in the corner. Jordan gave James a side headlock takedown. James reversed the hold into a headscisors. Jordan used a handstand to get out and put Kiana back in the side headlock. James reversed the headlock by pulling the hair.

Jordan showed off some agility. James blocked a armdrag. Might have been a botch, because Jordan went right back to the armdrag. Jordan hit James with a huracanrana at ringside. James gave Jordan snake eyes on the announce table heading into picture-in-picture.[c]

Jordan was in the middle of her comeback back from break. Jordan hit James with a cartwheel into an elbow and a flip leg drop for a nearfall. James reversed an Overdrive into a spinebuster for a nearfall. Jordan and James traded elbows. Jordan kicked James in the gut and hit her with the Overdrive for the nearfall. Jordan dragged James to the top rope. James blocked a Superplex and shoved Jordan off. James hit Jordan with the 401K. James was about to go for the Reverse Overdrive, but her attention was caught by Roxanne Perez ringing the ring bell. Jordan caught a distracted James with a handstand roundhouse. Jordan hit James with a Split Legged Moonsault for the win.

Kelani Jordan defeated Kiana James via pinfall in 10:14 to qualify for the Iron Survivor Match at NXT Deadline.

Perez gave James a mean glare from the announce table…

John’s Thoughts: Ugh, not a fan of the distraction for the distraction finish here. Just made James look dumb for selling it. The finish was also totally predictable given how James cost Perez her Iron Survivor qualifyer. Bright side, even though she’ll still miss a move here and there, Kelani Jordan is showing improvement every time she’s in the ring and she looked good here too. Interesting that we have developmental projects Jordan and Lash Legend in the Iron Survivor. Blair Davenport is going to have to do some heavy lifting at Deadline (unless they get another veteran in there).

A Cameron Grimes North American Championship highlight package aired for the four way later in the show…

The Alpha Academy were cutting a promo backstage. Tozawa and Gable talked about Noam cheating in last week’s Heritage Cup match. Maxxine Dupri wanted to get Lash Legend. Horny Otis said he wants to “swim in there” on Lash. Gable challenged Meta Four to a 6 person mixed tag match for next week (not 8 person?)…[c]

A NXT Anonymous spy cam video aired. The video showed Lexis King creeping around corners and following Trick Williams around right before he got attacked. It didn’t show Lexis attacking Trick…

Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in on commentary. Vic sent the show to a Chase U “Press Conference”. Chase was surrounded by his Chase U teammates. Chase talked about how he is keeping strong because of the support from his students. He then said he was going to address Chase U being “under investigation”. He said he’s limited in what he can reveal. Chase said gambling and misuse or University funds are involved, which put the university in debt.

Chase said that’s all true and he apologizes for putting the University he loves so much in debt. He said he’s going to pay everything back as soon as possible. Chase then took questions. A reporter asked how much? Chase didn’t give a straight answer. A reporter that sounded like Jeremy Borash asked Chase what Chase would like to tell the student body. Chase said Chase U is in jeopardy and he apologizes to the students of the University. He said he’ll address the students at the next assembly…

Bron Breakker made his entrance. Eddy Thorpe made his entrance with taped up ribs…

3. Bron Breakker vs. Eddy Thorpe to qualify for the Iron Survivor Match at NXT Deadline. Eddy used light strikes to keep Bron at a distance. Bron managed to get his hands on Eddy and hit him with a body slam. Bron used an Alligator Roll on Eddy. Eddy reversed a suplex and hit Bron with a shotgun dropkick. Bron used a snap Spinebuster to block a crossbody from Eddy. Bron knocked Eddy off the apron to send him to ringside. Bron then tossed Eddy into the barricade.

Bron worked on Eddy with methodical offense in the ring. Eddy shoved Bron off the top rope and gave Bron a crossbody. Eddy sold the ribs after the move. Eddy went for a suplex, but Eddy’s ribs gave out on him. Bron gave Eddy a gutbuster for a nearfall heading into picture-in-picture.[c]

Bron worked on Eddy’s ribs with a Torture Rack. Eddy rolled up Bron with a Sunset Flip for a two count. Eddy tackled Bron for a moment of respite. Both men traded Boo-Yay forearms. Bron reversed a strike combo with a German Suplex. Bron slowed things down by tossing Eddy into the turnbuckles several times. Bron paintbrushed Eddy’s face with slaps with some trash talk. Eddy rallied back with elbows and kicks. Eddy gave Bron a legsweep.

[Hour Two] Eddy gave Bron a few Saito Suplexes. Eddy hit Bron with a German Suplex. Bron no-sold the suplex and speared Eddy for the win.

Bron Breakker defeated Eddy Thorpe via pinfall in 10:13 to qualify for the Iron Survivor Match at NXT Deadline. 

Bron posed at the top of the ramp…

John’s Thoughts: Good match with Eddy getting a chance to shine a bit in a longer match than usual for him on NXT TV. One thing I’m not the biggest fan of is how NXT lays it on thick with the Kinesio tape or rib tape to make an excuse for the person that loses. It almost telegraphs the finish. Bron’s high enough on the food chain for a clean win that makes Eddy look plucky and good in defeat.

Trick Williams was pacing in the locker room. Trick was mad that Lexis was revealed as his attacker by NXT Annonymous. Carmelo Hayes was mad Lexis cost him his match. Both men talked about how they were going to get their lick back. Trick said he’ll give Lexis what he deserves, but he has to focus on the Iron Survivor Match. Melo said he didn’t even get a chance to get into Iron Survivor. Trick talked about how his and Melo’s problems have now passed. Melo acted like he didn’t think things were over between them…

In the women’s locker room, Ava told Roxanne Perez that HBK booked a “second chance” match. Perez was happy she was getting a 2nd chance.  Tiffany Stratton noted that Kiana James also gets a second chance. Perez attacked Stratton and a brawl ensued in the women’s locker room, with James also jumping in…

A Bronson Reed North American Championship highlight package aired…

Ilja Dragunov made his entrance…[c]

Nathan Frazer made his entrance…

4. NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov vs. Nathan Frazer in a non-title match. Ilja aggressively gave Nathan a Yakuza Kick and boots to start off the match. Ilja then tossed Nathan into some corners and gave him some chops. Ilja got Frazer to crumple in the corner with Machine Gun Chops. Ilja hit Frazer with two chain German suplexes. Frazer managed to pry away the hands a bit, but Ilja clasped them and hit Nathan with a third German Suplex. Frazer reversed a power bomb with a huracanrana. Frazer hit Ilja with a knee.

Frazer swatted Ilja out of the air with a leaping thrust kick for a nearfall. Frazer chopped Ilja in a few corners. Frazer hit Ilja with a Gamengiri and Slingshot Dropkick. Ilja blocked a suplex and hit Frazer with a chop to the back. Frazer landed on his feet during a German Suplex. Frazer reversed a Constantine Special with a Springboot Moonsalt DDT.

Frazer crash and burned off a Phoenix Splash attempt due to Ilja rolling to the side. Ilja hit Frazer with a power bomb and H Bomb. Ilja got the visual pinfall, but he broke his own pin. Ilja hit Frazer with two more H-Bomb’s for the win.

Ilja Dragunov defeated Nathan Frazer via pinfall in 5:25. 

Ilja was about to respectfully help Nathan to his feet, but Baron Corbin appeared on the screen to mock Ilja and Ilja’s family. Frazer talked about how Ilja beat his friend just because his friend said Corbin’s life was better. Crobin said the only thing missing from his life is the NXT Title. Corbin said he’ll take the title and Ilja will have nothing left, while Corbin will have everything.

Corbin said he’ll give Ilja a first class plane ticket to Deadline as an early Christmas present. Corbin talked about how he’ll meet Ilja next week face-to-face. Corbin ended the segment by saying “enjoy your lonely night, champ”…

John’s Thoughts: A good match that made Ilja look fired up and pissed off, while also allowing Frazer to get enough offense in to not look like fodder. I really liked Ilja showing a mean streak in feeling like his family was dishonored. Good work by Baron Corbin two weeks in a row in contrasting the lifestyles of him and the Champion. Corbin has shown that WWE has been wasting him for years with goofy ass gimmicks. The guy definitely making the most of finally being treated as a serious threat instead of a clown.

McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Lyra Valkyria who was excited for the person that wins the Iron Survivor Match. Lyra praised the wrestlers in the match already. Fallon Henley showed up and said she’ll try her best to get in the Iron Survivor Match via the 2nd chance qualifyer. Lyra said she doesn’t doubt in Henley’s ability and is looking forward to face her for the title. A random lady was creeping around the corner saying that if Henley wins, Henley will just lose to Lyra for sure. Henley asked Lyra if she knew who that was? and Lyra said she didn’t…

A Karmen Petrovic vignette aired where she was doing Karate and Katana Katas. She hyped up her upcoming match against Ariana Grace…[c]

The Meta Four were sitting in a lounge backstage. Noam was in a very thick winter coat. All four of them addressed Alpha Academy challenging them. Noam talked about how much of a survivor he is for surviving Gable’s ankle lock. Noam accepted Gable’s challenge for a 6 person tag…

John’s Thoughts: Ah! I get it. I was confused earlier why Gable would choose a 6 person tag. I forgot that both Jakara Jackson is injured and Meta Four have two women. Hey, if Jakara wasn’t hurt, I think the powerful Lash Legend could take down Akira Tozawa. Keep her away from horny Otis though.

Joe Gacy was cutting one of his depressed and deranged promos. He revealed that he’s been hiding under the ring for the whole show while people were wrestling. This was probably filmed during the Ilja vs. Frazer match. He said being below everyone is where he’s wanted. He said he’s dealing with this new perspective in life.

Ariana Grace got a televised entrance while Karmen Petrovic was already in the ring. Vic wondered if Joe Gacy was still under the ring. Booker dared Vic to go check…

5. Ariana Grace vs. Karmen Petrovic. Grace got Karmen to a knee during the collar and elbow. Karmen got back to her feet and slammed Grace to the mat. Grace begged for mercy while Karmen chambered a kick without releasing. Karmen then put Grace in a elbow hold into a Juji Gatame. Grace broke the hold by slamming Karmen to the corner. Karmen used an Akido wrist slam to get a two count on Grace. Grace slammed Karmen to the mat and put the boots to her.

Joe Gacy ran out from under the ring and stole the ring bell. This distracted Grace as the show cut to commercial as Gacy ran to the back. [c]

John’s Thoughts: Uhm? Has Joe Gacy found his inner Hornswoggle?

Back from the break, Grace had Karmen in a cravate. Grace slammed Karmen to the mat for a two count. Karmen got to her feet and took a knee to the gut. Karmen reversed a suplex and rallied back with right hands. Karmen hit Grace with a double chamber kick followed by a spinning overhead kick. Karmen used a single legged mule kick for a nearfall.

Petrovic put Grace in a sleeper. Grace escaped and claimed her eyes were hurt. The referee separated the women and Grace gave Petrovic a thumb . Grace hit Petrovic with a Wasteland for the win.

Ariana Grace defeated Karmen Petrovic via pinfall in 9:05. 

Alicia Taylor was confused at first due to the ring bell being gone, but Gacy showed up and rang the bell many times for some reason…

John’s Thoughts: Well, Gacy went from looking suicidal last week to looking like a goofball this week. Weird. The match part of the match was fine. Both women are still pretty green, but again, they are showing improvement. Grace in particular has been looking way better after coming back from injury. I continue to be very impressed with Karmen Petrovic’s strike based offense. I’m happy some strike based martial artists are getting a chance to shine in NXT with Lola Vice and Karmen Petrovic (same reason why I like Speedball Mike Bailey’s Tae Kwon Do based offense).

McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Wes Lee about having to face 3 former North American Champions. Lee hyped up his opponents and talked about it being a though hill to climb. Lee said he’ll have to win tonight. McKenzie said if Wes doesn’t win he won’t get a chance to get the North American Title again. Wes said he’s fine because it’s high risk reward. Lee high fived McKenzie before leaving…

Briggs, Jensen, and Henley made their entrance. Lexis King made his entrance…

6. Brooks Jensen (w/Josh Briggs, Fallon Henley) vs. Lexis King. Jensen sent King to ringside with a nice looking spinning heel kick. Jensen gave King a crossbody at ringside. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]

A picture-in-picture showed Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes watching the match from the back. Melo left and said he was going to handle something. Back in the ring, King worked on Jensen with methodical offense. Jensen rallied back with chest slaps. King took Jensen back down into a chinlock. Jensen rallied to his feet and slammed King into the turnbuckle. Jensen hit King with a Belly-to-Back suplex for a moment of respite.

Jensen hit King with a few elbow strikes, an atomic drop, and a superkick. Jensen deadlifted himself to the top rope and hit King with a Missile Dropkick for  a nearfall. King caught Jensen with a back elbow. Carmelo Hayes got up on the ring apron and was pulled down by Josh Briggs. The distraction allowed King to hit Jensen with a reverse Cross Rhodes for the win.

Lexis King defeated Brooks Jensen via pinfall in 8:17.

Melo jawed at King from a distance while the referees pulled him to the back…

John’s Thoughts: A good match while it lasted and I liked what I saw from the two second generation wrestlers. Jensen in particular has improved leaps and bounds since the early days of NXT 2.0. It was weird that they took him, Briggs, and Henley off TV for so long after they looked good coming off that goofy romance storyline, which they actually made entertaining. King was also good here in employing a methodical heel moveset.

An Iron Survivor match rules video package aired. The video then hyped next week’s two “last chance” qualifyers for next week…

Vic Joseph hyped Alpha Academy vs. Meta Four in a six person tag team match for next week…

Wes Lee made his entrance. Dominik Mysterio joined the commentary table. The rest of the former North American Champions made their separate entrances. The match started with five minutes left at the top of the hour…

John’s Thoughts: If I’m hearing the stipulation right from tonight and last night, Grimes, Gargano, and Reed don’t get a shot if they win right? Only Wes has a shot? Weird stip if that’s the case.

7. Wes Lee vs. Bronson Reed vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Cameron Grimes. Reed gave Lee a front hip attack to start the match. Reed then took down Grimes and Gargano. Reed caught a diving Lee, put him on the top rope, and used the rope to launch him on Gargano and Grimes. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]

Back from break, Reed hit Gargano with a long delayed vertical suplex. Lee used a dropkick to help Grimes escape a Razor’s Edge. The three smaller guys took turns hitting Reed with strikes. Gargano and Grimes tossed Lee into Reed for a Hesitation Dropkick that sent Reed to ringside. Lee and Gargano then sent Grimes to ringside with a double dropkick. Lee and Gargano soaked in the cheers and shared a respectful handshake.

[Overrun] Both men showed off agile dodges to leave the match at a stalemate. Reed recovered and took punches from Gargano and Lee. Reed gave Lee a Uranage right into the chest of Gargano. Grimes worked on Reed with kick, but was slammed to the mat with a Uranage. Grimes escaped a suplex and hit Reed with a Question Mark Kick. Reed blocked a Sunset Flip. Gargano used a catapult to send Cameron’s face into Reed’s balls for the accidental low blow.

Grimes took down Lee with a kick and gave Gargano a basement dropkick combo. Grimes hit Lee and Gargano with a double Frankendriver. Grimes hit Lee with a corner lariat. Lee hit Reed with a Suicide Dive. Grimes hit Lee with a PK from the apron. Gargano hit Grimes with a Gamengiri. Gargano hit Reed, Lee, and Grimes with consecutive suicide dives. Gargano rested to soak in the cheers.

Gargano caught Lee with a Slingshot Spear. Lee broke up the pin. Lee hit Gargano with a CQC combo. Lee jumped off Gargano and hit Grimes with a Meteora for a nearfall. Lee went for a Meteora on Reed, but Reed caught Lee out of the air and hit him with a Death Valley Driver for a good nearfall. Grimes worked on Reed with boxing punches and a few kicks. Grimes took down Reed with a high crossbody for a nearfall.

Gargano ran off Lee and Grimes, but Reed blocked the ensuing DDT. Reed lifted all three opponents at the same time and hit all of them with a single Fallaway Slam. A “holy shit” chant ensued while all three men were recovering. A “fight forever” chant ensued. Vic noted that the show will continue until we get a winner. Reed dragged Grimes to the top rope. Reed blocked a Sunset Flip. Gargano and Lee joined in to hit Reed with a Triple Shield Bomb.

More censored “Holy Shit” chants ensued. Grimes, Gargano, and Lee traded fatigued right hands. Grimes took down Gargano with a kick. Lee hit Grimes with a crossbody for a nearfall. Lee caught Grimes with a Savate Kick. Grimes hit Lee with his signature Spanish Fly Power Slam for a nearfall. Gargano blocked a Cave in with a enzuigiri. Gargano ducked a Cave in and put Grimes in a La Mistica Garga No Escape.

Lee broke it up with a Koppu Kick. Reed gave Lee a buckle bomb. Reed gave Gargano and Grimes consecutive running sentons. Lee staggered Reed on the top rope with a Gamengiri. Reed recover and gave Lee a Military Press slam on Gargano and Grimes. Hey, Holy Shit indeed. Dammit. Ivar ran out to attack Reed. No DQ because it’s a Triple Threat. Ivar caught Reed with his signature spinning crescent kick.

Ivar and Reed brawled to the back. Vic noted that this was a continuation of their post-match brawl from the prior night. Lee rolled up Gargano for  nearfall. Lee hit Grimes with a crucifix rollup for a nearefall. After trading kicks, Grimes hit Gargano with a Cave In. Wes Lee flew in and hit Grimes with a Cardiac Kick for the victory.

Wes Lee defeated Cameron Grimes, Johnny Gargano, and Bronson Reed via pinfall in 17:17 to earn a North American Championship Title Shot at NXT Deadline. 

Dominik Mysterio got on the announce table and jawed with Wes Lee from a distance. The camera then cut to the NXT Parking Lot where Kiana James and Roxanne Perez were brawling. The show brawled with security guards failing to break apart the brawl…

(Random post show note: USA censors the NXT “Holy Shit” at the end of the match, but 10 seconds after the show ends Mila Kunis and a 10 year old girl drop 3 consecutive uncensored F-bombs. Ugh. Oh look, the little girl dropped a 4th F word.)

John’s Thoughts: Holy random barnburner match, Batman! Triple H. Mr. Paul Levesque? Take notes. Book yo boyz like this on Raw and Smackdown. More than Mr. Paul, all of ya’ll should go out of your way to see this. This would have stood out in a great way on a NXT Takeover or an AEW PPV. Great stuff with everyone looking good and some wrestlers showing us that they still have greatness even though they can’t show it off on Raw and Smackdown. Grimes and Gargano in particular got to show us their old great selves. Bronson Reed looked like a BEAST with all the crazy stuff he was doing and he was elevated by this match as well.

Only thing that made me roll my eyes a bit was the Ivar interference. I guess we can excuse that because this is a TV match, but distraction finishes are overdone in pro wrestling. I guess we can also excuse it a bit because it was a continuation of their big man bumpin’ meat feud from last night on Raw. If Paul Levesque did check this out, I wouldn’t be surprised if he both pulls Grimes out of the jobbing hole, and promotes Wes Lee because they put on some promotion quality material tonight.

This was a tale of two shows tonight. I had to scroll up to remember what else happened. There were some quality matches tonight (along with some developmental matches and character development segments). The rest of the show was a typical solid episode of weekly NXT. Good, but nothing too “epic”. The main event though. That was some standalone NXT Black and Gold, New Japan Pro Wrestling, AEW PPV type of stuff. If you don’t have time, definitely make time for that main event. Maybe even check out the Ilja vs. Frazer match for a short, sweet, and efficient five minutes.