By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Live from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired February 6, 2024 on USA Network
[Hour One] Vic Joseph and Byron Saxton were on commentary. Saxton was filling in for Booker T who had a medical procedure recently. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer. Saxton talked about NXT being very important to him (Saxton, Wade Barrett, and Dusty Rhodes were the commentary team back in the day for Florida Championship Wrestling when Saxton and Barrett were in developmental)…
Carmelo Hayes made his entrance in a tactical trenchcoat and carrying a chair to the ring. He opened the chair and sat in the center of the ring. The USA censors kicked in as Melo soaked in “F— you Melo!” chants (which were uncensored at the PLE. Melo then sat up and said “not yet” as he headed to the back without giving the crowd an answer…
John’s Thoughts: Awesome segment! Simple, effective, and blue ball inducing. Simple and effective way at generating heat while also having the viewers clinging in to this story line for more progression. They are and have been really patient with this story. While this may not be as natural as the Tommaso Ciampa heel turn back in the day, it looks like it has the potential to be just as good. I don’t know if it’ll be THAT epic, but Trick Williams has taken to being NXT’s protagonist very well and we haven’t been let down by him yet.
A NXT Vengeance Day PLE highlight package aired…
The show cut to Baron Corbin, Bron Breakker, and the Dusty Rhodes Cup at ringside. Corbin wasn’t to do the announcement, but Breakker called over Alicia Taylor who gave an enthusiastic announcement of Corbin and Breakker being the new Dusty Cup Winners. Corbin asked Breakker how much he paid to have Alicia give that much energy. Corbin then talked about how no one can stop them.
Breakker congratulated Corbin for doing his first flip dive ever on Sunday because he gave Corbin’s big ass a boast. Corbin and Breakker then called out Tony D’Angelo and Stacks for their title shot. Instead, Axiom and Nathan Frazer made their entrance for their advertised match against Malik Blade and Edris Enofe…
The Wolf Dogs joined Saxton and Joseph on commentary. Corbin kept denying that they were going by Wolf Dogs…
1. Axiom and Nathan Frazer vs. Malik Blade and Edris Enofe. Enofe and Axiom started the match with a bit of a feeling out process. Enofe and Axiom traded back elbows. Axiom got a two count off a dropkick, right into a chinlock. Frazer tagged in. Blade caught Axiom with a superkkick. Frazer took down Enofe wtih a kick. Frazer and Blade took down the other two men. Frazer and Blade hit flip dives on Enofe and Axiom.
Blade caught Frazer with a diving lariat. The show cut to regular commercial.[c]
Axiom and Frazer swarmed Enofe with quick strikes back from break with the advantage. They cut the ring in half on Enofe. Frazer got a two count off a Final Cut. After more selling and nearfalls, Enofe got a hot tag to Blade after hitting Axiom with a knee. Blade hit Frazer with a dropkick and hit Axiom with an axe handle. Blade rolled through a crossbody into a flip fallaway slam.
Blade hit Axiom with a power bomb for a nearfall. Blade then got another nearfall out a sitout bomb. Enofe tagged in and hit Axiom with a top rope elbow drop. Frazer broke up Enofe’s pin. Frazer hit Blade with an STO into the buckle. Enofe caught Frazer with a leaping knee strike. Axiom staggered Enofe on the top rope with a gamengiri. Axiom tagged in and hit Enofe with a Super Spanish Fly. Blade tossed Frazer into Axiom to break the pin. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Frazer hit a Brain Buster version of Seth Rollin’s Falcon Arrow spot for a two count. An NXT chant ensued. Axiom tagged in. Blade blocked a frog splash with knees and used boots to block Axiom. Enofe tagged in. Enofe and Blade hit Axiom with Coriolis. Frazer broke up Enofe’s pin with a dive. Frazer tripped Blade off the top rope to ringside. Frazer hit Enofe with a Phoenix Splash. Axiom hit Enofe with a Golden Ratio Superkick for the victory.
Axiom and Nathan Frazer defeated Edris Enofe and Malik Blade via pinfall in 16:42.
Corbin and Breakker beat up Axiom and Frazer and dumped them to ringside. Tony D’Angelo, Stacks, and Adriana Rizzo made their entrance to confront The Wolf Dogs. Corbin proposed they do the match next week. Stacks raised the title belt and agreed to the match next week. Vic noted that he hopes Ava makes the match official…
John’s Thoughts: A sweet speed vs. speed spot heavy match. WWE doesn’t run these into the ground, so it’s a treat when we get one of these. NXT’s tag team division has been on fire since the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic started and continued with this exhibition. Axiom and Frazer are great singles wrestlers, but if they have nothing creatively, they do make a good tag team. NXT has stumbled on lightning in a bottle with the whole Wolf Dog thing. Corbin and Breakker look like they are legit having fun out there and it’s resonating with the audience. I wouldn’t mind if they take this Wolf Dog thing on the road on Raw or Smackdown. Corbin in particular looks like he’s having the most fun in years with his interactions with Breakker.
Kelly Kincaid interviewed Ilja Dragunov about his thoughts of the end of Vengeance Day. Ilja said he can’t stick by for an interview and he’s off to get answers from Carmelo Hayes…[c]
Booker T, Trick Williams, and Lash Legend were a part of a WWE Black History Month ad (Yes! For the culture!)…
Vic Joseph plugged the WrestleMania press event for this upcoming Thursday…
NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov made his entrance in business attire. Ilja took the mic and hyped up how he and Trick Williams went to war. He said he doesn’t just respect Trick, he likes Trick. He said that doesn’t matter because he couldn’t let Trick slay the mad dragon. Ilja said Trick gave Ilja everything he had. He said if there was one man worthy of beating Ilja, Trick would be a worthy champion. Ilja said as NXT Champion, it’s his duty to call out one person now.
Ilja called out Carmelo Hayes, which drew boos. Ilja talked about Melo showering him with false accusations of manipulating Trick. Ilja said we san all see Melo’s true colors now. He said Melo couldn’t stand seeing his best friend Trick reach new heights. Ilja said the crowd may have chewed up Melo verbally, but Ilja will go beyond breaking Melo “you traitorous son of a bitch”. Ilja asked Melo if he can’t look him in his eyes and only jump people from behind. Ilja said Melo can come out now, or he can find Melo himself.
Instead, he got Dijak making his entrance. Dijak said Ilja can stay in the ring. Dijak asked Ilja why he’s obsessed with Trick and Melo. Dijak soaked in “you suck” chants. Dijak said Ilja shouldn’t be obsessed, because he retained the title. Dijak talked about beating Joe Gacy and theres a couple of winners in the ring now. Ilja said he doesn’t have time for this. Dijak yelled at the crowd to stop heckling him, but they kept showering him with louder boos.
Dijak said Ilja calls himself unbreakable/unbeseigbar, but with a broken nose Ilja looks regular-beseigbar. Dijak said he broke a man who called himself unbreakable in Joe Gacy. A “Shut up T Bar” chant ensued. Ilja asked Dijak to stand out of his way because his business is with Melo. Ilja said he does promise the next time he and Dijak cross paths, Dijak will suffer. Dijak punched Ilja and asked him how his injured nose feels. Security ran out to break both men apart. The segment ended with Ilja bleeding from the head…
John’s Thoughts: Good fire from Ilja. I brought up in the past that Ilja and Trick have a good natural chemistry in promo segments, and even without him here, that connection resonated. Not sure who goes after Ilja for the Mania weekend title match because Trick and Melo are the only made men in NXT at the moment. Dijak is literally next on the depth chart and that guy loses all the time, that why he didn’t feel like more than a stepping stone here (I feel like they should have protected Dijak more because the guy is immensely talented).
The show cut to Thea Hail and Jacy Jayne hanging out backstage and celebrating their successful calendar sales. Thea then said she should go watch Riley Osborne’s next match. Jacy recommends that Thea try not to act too desperate because the thrill is in the chase. Thea said she just really likes him. Jacy said to trust her because she’s never wrong…
Lexis King made his entrance…[c]
Robert Stone and Von Wagner were hanging out backstage. Stone consoled Von about his recent loss to Noam Dar. Both men said they didn’t like how Meta Four attacked Stone’s kids verbally. Von and Stone talked about how great Cash and Carter are and how Von calls them “The Bash Brothers”. Cash and Carter jumped Stone. Cash and Carter called Stone great.
Cash and Carter also got shocked when Von said the work “ass”. Von then just said that Oro got “tabled”. Cash and Carter then said that Stone and Von should tag team. One of the kids said the secret stone needs to learn is to sneak attack their opponents…
Riley Osborne made his entrance, accompanied by Duke Hudson and Andre Chase, who also brought a Chase U calendar to ringside…
2. Lexis King vs. Riley Osborne (w/Andre Chase, Duke Hudson). Lexis cornered Osborne and gave him a chop. Osborne came back with a backdrop and few chops of his own. Osborne dumped Lexis to ringside and hit him with a Fosbury Flop. Osborne caught Lexis with a high kick on the apron. Lexis then tossed Osborne into the announce table. Vic announced Ilja vs. Dijak for later in the show. Lexis caught Osborne with a slingshot double stomp.
Lexis hit Osborne with a Northern Clothesline for a nearfall. Lexis then worked on Osborne with methodical offense. Riley reversed a knee into a small package for a nearfall. Osborne caught Lexis with a body slam for another nearfall. Lexis used a superkick to trip Osborne off the top rope. Lexis caught Osborne with a draping twisting neckbreaker for the victory.
Lexis King defeated Riley Osborne via pinfall in 4:06.
The camera focused on Carmelo Hayes walking in the parking lot heading into break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Decent enough match. Riley is definitely more refined than Lexis at this point. Lexis just needs more reps. Hopefully he’ll get to where WWE wants him. Riley is meanwhile still stuck in the Chase U midcard act. I hope with people like Bron, Melo, and maybe Trick moving up, that Riley is one person considered to be elevated up the card because he’s one of the refined acts that they have in the developmental system.
A Kelani Jordan hype vignette aired. Jordan talked about not being afraid of the competition in wrestling’s best women’s division…
The sow cut to developmental wrestlers praising the Jordan video package. Kiana James and Izzi Dame walked in and called them all losers. Brinley Reece walked in and acted as optimistic as usual. Izzi tried to bully Brin to give her a sip or her coffee thermos. James took the thermos and said she doesn’t like coffee anyway. She spilled the coffee in a trash can and walked away…
[Hour Two]The show cut to Carmelo Hayes sitting in the ring with the lights dark and a spotlight on him. Melo took his sweet time soaking in the loud boos and “you’re not HIM” chants. Melo said “the villain is always the villain when the hero is telling the story”. Melo asked why nobody wants to hear his side of the story. Melo said he’s not jealous of Trick’s success. He said he allowed Trick to succeed, and achieve the highest of highs in the business. He said he wanted Trick to make his parents proud.
He said when Trick reached the high he had to remind Trick who he is and put him in his place. He said he had to show Trick what happens when Trick bites the hand that feeds him. He said Trick broke their agreement of Trick going after the North American Championship while he goes after the NXT Championship. He said Trick then let the fans believe in his own hype and made him think he was at the same level as Melo.
Melo said he only did what he had to do when Trick went behind his back. Melo said the million dollar question is “did I attack Trick Williams?”. Melo soaked in the moment. He said “You damn right I did, and I’d do it again”. Trick’s entrance theme cut Melo off as Melo sat up. The crowd joined in with Whoop Dat Trick chants. Melo then mockingly danced around to show he set up that tease for the fans.
Melo mocked the fans for falling for that. Melo said that Trick isn’t coming back because he’s shacked up in a hospital bed with Booker T doing that stupid entrance song. Melo said he’s a two year North American Champion while Trick was a two day North American Champion. Melo said nothing happens on this brand unless it gets run by Carmelo Hayes. Melo said Trick wanted to be Melo so bad, wearing the glasses like Melo, sliding in the ring like Melo, and wearing the same gear as Melo, but all Trick was the same trick. Melo said Trick was Melo’s hype man, that’s how it is, and that’s how it ever will be. Melo ended the segment doing a T-Pose on the chair…
The cryptic graphic aired about the three faces of a man aired again. The one from this past Sunday…
Vic Joseph hyped up how Ticket Sales for NXT Battleground in March have gone on sale and they have the next two PLE’s on sale at the moment…
A replay of the backstage brawl between Roxanne Perez and Lola Vice aired from this past Sunday…
Roxanne Perez made her entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Solid first heel promo from Carmelo Hayes. I actually wasn’t sure how good he was going to do solo since we’ve seen his strongest promos usually have Trick Williams around him. This was a first good solo one from him. Simple heel logic that sets up Melo as the top heel and top villain of the brand.
A highlight package aired showing the dominance of NXT North American Champion Oba Femi…
Riley Osborne met up with Thea Hail and Jacy Jayne backstage about being a bit sad Thea didn’t watch his match. She said she was busy doing grown ass women stuff. Riley asked if they were still up for a Valentines date. She then acted over eager and said yes. After Riley left, Jacy said she’ll help make sure that their date goes well…
3. Lola Vice vs. Roxanne Perez. Perez ducked a kick and gave Lola a double leg takedown and punches. Perez gave Lola a suicide dive at ringside. Perez gave Lola a crossbody for a two count. Perez then gave Lola mounted forearms. Lola reversed a leg sweep into a knee. Lola gave Perez rapid TKD knees. Lola yelled “I’m a Latina” (Perez is a Latina too right?) and gave Perez a hip attack in the corner for a two count.
Perez came back with knees and a running Uppercut. Perez gave Lola a diving shoulder smash. Perez used a sunset flip for a two count. Lola and Perez traded kicks. Lola gave Perez a chambered Gamengiri heading into regular break.[c]
Back from break, Vice had Perez in a Cravate. Perez fought out with right hands. Lola gave Perez a few short-arm knees. Perez used a school girl for a two count. Perez rallied with alternating clubbing blows. Perez rallied with axe handle smashes. A “be aggressive” chant ensued from the crowd for some reason. Perez hit Lola with a springboard moonsault for a two count. Lola rolled up Perez to break up a crossface. Perez got a two count off a wheelbarrow slam.
Lola put Perez in a Rear Naked Choke. Perez got to her feet and slammed Vice to the buckle to break the hold. Perez got a two count off an inside cradle. Lola reversed a Pop Rocks and hit Perez with a back fist for a nearfall. Tatum Paxley ran out and “tried to cash in” her breakout contract to mock.
Roxanne Perez defeated Lola Vice via pinfall in 9:50.
John’s Thoughts: Okay match with Lola Vice showing improvement in what may be her longest singles match so far in NXT. She’s still a bit rough around the edges, but she seems like a hard worker and shows progression every match. I would really recommend she check out Speedball Mike Bailey matches so she can see what someone with the same skillset as her can do at a high level. My guess is that Perez is set up to face Lyra at the Mania weekend show, possibly with Lyra being a heel that accepts Tatum Paxley’s assistance.
Backstage Kelly Kincaid interviewed Meta Four. She mentioned Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson facing Wren Sinclair and Fallon Henley later. Lash and Jakara hyped up how they’ll take down their opponents. Kelly then asked Noam about Von and Stone challenging he and Oro to a match. Noam called Von a Flintstone. The No Quarter Catch Crew walked in to try to intimidate Noam. Lash yelped and said she had to go to handle her match…
Fallon Henley and Wren Sinclair made their entrance…[c]
Vic Joseph talked about a tweet from Shotzi Blackheart about praising the Lyra Valkyria vs. Roxanne Perez match from the last PLE…
Tony D and Stacks vs. Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin for the Tag Team Championships was advertised for next week…
The Meta Four made their entrance…
4. Fallon Henley and Wren Sinclair vs. Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson (w/Noam Dar, Oro Mensah). Henley and Legend started the match. Legend gave Henley a forearm. Henley put Lash in a sleeper. Lash tagged in without Lash knowing. Lash used her strength to catch Wren’s crossbody, but Fallon helped it out with a dropkick. Wren got a two count. Lash tagged in Jakara. Jakara worked on Wren with strikes in the heel corner. Jakara knocked Henley off the apron. [c]
Wren got a two count off a rollup. Lash came in and hit Wren with a forearm. Lash draped Wren and allowed Jakara to leapfrog her and land on Wren. Lash hit Wren with a standing frog splash for a two count. Lash and Jakara used tags and methodical offense to cut the ring in half on Wren. Wren managed to get a rollup on Jakara for a two count. This allowed her to bring in Fallon for the hot tag. Henley hit Jakara with a running facebuster for a two count.
Lash yanked Jakara to smash Henley’s face into the 2nd rope. Wren and Lash tagged in. Lash hit Wren with a Choke into a Power Bomb for the victory.
Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson defeated Wren Sinclair and Fallon Henley via pinfall in 5:02.
Henley yelled to Wren after the match that it wasn’t Wren’s fault for the loss, while Wren looked sorry…
The show cut to Josh Briggs and Brooks Jenson backstage hanging out. Jensen talked about being proud of Briggs and Henley doing their own thing. Briggs smiled and was about to walk away but Briggs yelled that he’s lost without Briggs and Henley. Briggs put a shoulder around Jensen and told him that he isn’t a kid anymore and the world doesn’t revolve around him. Briggs shoved Jensen into the locker.
Briggs dropped his accent and yelled at Briggs to learn form Fallon and him, to stop living in the past and walk on his own two feet. Briggs said theres a whole performance center ready to take Jensen’s spot and theres’s two things he can do; either sit and cry like right now, or grow some damn balls and wake up!
NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov made his entrance for the next match…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A decent tag team match that continues to show that Lash Legend is finally starting to get it in the ring. Her time off TV since the NXT 2.0 days has done her wonders and I like that she’s finally able to look decent on TV. She has a great look and gift of gab so she has big star potential all over her. I’m glad they’re setting her up to succeed. That Briggs and Jensen segment was also really good with Briggs getting on Jensen’s ass to grow up. We haven’t seen Jensen in the ring in a hot minute either and with some call-ups happening Briggs and Jensen are some acts that could sniff the top of the card now. Briggs is already being set up to be WWE’s next strong big man.
Jaida Parker was chatting with NXT general manager Ava backstage where she requested a one-on-one match with Adriana Rizzo. Ava noted that since Tony D and Stacks will be distracted with a tag team match, she’s also banning OTM from ringside for her match. Parker agreed and left. Ridge Holland walked in and requested a three on one match against Gallus again. Ava said she can’t do that, but she can give Holland a gauntlet to run where if he loses to one member, he can’t get the next one the following week. Ridge said, “I can do that”…
Vic Joseph advertised the following matches for next week: Tony D and Stacks vs. Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin for the tag team championships, Oro Mensah and Noam Dar vs. Robert Stone, and Kiana James vs. Brinley Reece…
A replay aired of the end of the Carmelo Hayes promo from earlier where Melo talked about Trick being nothing more than a hype man…
Dijak made his entrance…
5. NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijak in a non-title match. Both men traded loud chops and slaps to start the match . Ilja grounded Dijak with a few German Suplexes. Dijak called Ilja a bitch while eating the Suplexes. Dijak blocked a third German with alternating elbows. Dijak then worked on Ilja with stiff forearms and elbows. Ilja fought back with strong knife edge chops. Ilja gave Dijak a knee to the chest and diving knee to the lungs. Vic Joseph talked about Ilja suffering from a nose injury.
Ilja caught Dijak with a Yakuza Kick. Dijak crotched ilja on the top rope with a kick and dumped Ilja to ringside with a superkick. Dijak then acted a bit paranoid, wondering if Joe Gacy was under the ring. Dijak punched Ilja in the face with Ilja selling an injured nose. The show cut to picture-in-picture. [c]
Dijak and Ilja traded stiff strikes. Ilja blocked Feast Your Eyes and then traded chops with Dijak. Both men traded standing boot variations with Dijak getting Ilja down with a big boot. Ilja came back with an enzuigiri. Ilja was bleeding from the face. Dijak tried to grab at Ilja’s injured nose to break a fireman carry, but Ilja fought through it and gave Dijak a Death Valley Driver. Ilja gave Dijak a diving senton for a nearfall.
[Overrun] Ilja paintbrushed Dijak wtih boots on the bottom rope, with the last one having a running start. Ilja was fired up with “Whoop Dat Trick” chants. Ilja gave Dijak machine gun chops in the corner. Dijak yelled “sit out Bitch!” and gave Ilja a South of Heaven for a nearfall. Dijak gave Ilja chest slaps while smothering the injured nose of Ilja. Ilja got to his feet and gave Dijak a triple chop combo. Dijak blocked a Constantine Special with his own lariat.
Dijak hit Ilja with an impressive slingshot elbow, but sold the worst of the pain. Joseph noted that Dijak’s elbow got legit swollen and injured after his match with Joe Gacy. When Dijak crawled to the apron, Joe Gacy appeared from under the ring and hit him with a red boxing glove on a stick (what?). Ilja hit Dijak with the H Bomb for the victory.
Ilja Dragunov defeated Dijak via pinfall in 12:56.
While Ilja was posing with the title, Carmelo Hayes ran in and caught Ilja with a chop block. Melo grabbed the NXT Championship and smashed it over Ilja’s face. The crowd chanted “Meloooo… Trick’s comin’ for you”. NXT closed with Melo posing with the NXT Title….
John’s Thoughts: Dijak and Ilja have good chemistry as we’ve seen in the past so their match was fun. Less drama around this one because Ilja’s the top champion, while Dijak is still pushed as a mid-card heel. A step down in terms of drama compared to that war they had on a PLE (the coming off their weird BDSM segments in Dijak’s dungeon). Not a huge fan of him selling for clownshoes Joe Gacy. I kinda want to see Gacy elevated to more than clownshoes too, especially with Trick, Melo, and Breakker on the cusp of a callup. NXT needs a new upper card.
The thread throughout this week’s NXT was the fallout of Carmelo’s heel turn and I think they did a good job getting that across. Ilja still being in Trick and Melo’s orbit on top of them building a injury angle for Ilja around his nose makes me think that Trick vs. Melo will happen at the March theme show, while the Mania show ends up being a Triple Threat. There, I think they’ll have Trick pin Melo to payoff the Trick-Melo feud. That’s the only route I see because NXT doesn’t have any other wrestlers “made” at the top of the card (seriously, Dijak is like third on the depth chart and no one sees him as a valid threat to any top titles).
Just a suggestion, but install Grammarly on your browser. There were so many spelling errors and mistakes in this recap. It was hard to read. Grammarly can catch the majority as you are writing, so you won’t lose track of getting the information down. Then you can go back and make the changes in a few seconds.
Believe me, it’s worth it.
Booker T, Trick Williams, and Lash Legend were a part of a WWE Black History Month ad (Yes! For the culture!)
OH boy….was this needed?
Was this post needed?