By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live September 3, 2024 on USA Network
[Hour One] Highlights from the NXT No Mercy PLE aired…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
Trick Williams made his entrance. He said he’s not here to talk, he’s here to finish this. Trick called out Dunne. Instead, NXT Champion Ethan Page made his entrance. He said he’s so sorry he’s not Pete Dunne, but he’s NXT Champion All Ego Ethan Page. Page mocked Trick for having to raise Page’s arm. Page talked about deserving to opening the show when defending the title. Page then mocked Trick for only defending his title once.
Trick told Page to put on some clothes and shut up. Trick talked about how he called Page’s match down the middle. He said he’s coming for his title soon, but for now he has unfinished business. Page talked about Trick saying it’s “your” title. Page said he’s the one who’s defending the title in Chicago at the CW debut. Page said he’d be surprised if Trick even makes it on the card at Chicago. Pete Dunne tried to blindside Trick, but Trick saw it coming. Security Guards ran out to pull apart both men…
Hank and Tank were hyping each other up backstage. Gallus showed up to talk trash to Hank and Tank. Referees ran in to get in between both teams. The cameras then showed Jaida Parker arriving backstage. Nyx, Henley, and Jayne showed up to talk smack to Parker…
Trey Miguel and TNA X Division Champion Zach Wentz made their entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Standard open to the show, but it’s always good to give Ethan Page TV time to show how important he is. He’s really good at generating heat, so why not use him as much as possible. Trick Williams is in an interesting spot these days because he’s not even the 1a babyface as WWE has really put the machine behind Joe Hendry as the top protag of NXT.
The show cut back to Gallus in the middle of their entrance. Out last were Hank and Tank…
1. “The Rascalz” Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz vs. “Gallus” Mark Coffey and Wolfgang (w/Joe Coffey) vs. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger. The Rascalz took down Gallus with a stereo kick combination. Hank gave Trey a Snake Eyes. Wolfgang and Mark hit Hank with a Senton combination. Hank gave Trey a back suplex. All three teams broke up each others’ pins. Mark worked on Hank with methodical offense. Trey got rid of Mark with a headscissors.
Trey hit Hank with a draping Meteora for a two count. Trey took down Mark again with a huracanrana. Trey gave Mark a dropkick to the back of the neck for a two count. Mark left Trey and Hank lying. Wentz blind tagged in and caught Mark with a kick and Sunset Flip. The Rascalz hit Mark with the Machine Guns Muta Lock dropkick combo. Hank used Wentz as a battering ram. Tank used Trey as a battering ram.
Hank and Tank hit The Rascalz with stereo World Strongest Slams. Hank and Tank then gave Gallus stereo Atomic Drops followed by a sandwich press. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Mark got a two count off a flying shoulder block on Hank. Wentz, Hank, and Mark traded right hands. Hank took down both other men with clotheslines. Tank caught the hot tag and cleaned house. Tank did a cartwheel into a clothesline on Mark. Tank hit Mark with a spinebuster. Wentz broke up the pin and tagged in Trey. Trey hit Mark with a sweep into a dropkick.
Trey hit Tank with an enzuigiri. Trey hit Mark with a Scorpion Kick and Facebuster which caused Mark to DDT Tank. Joe Coffey got on the apron. Je’von Evans ran out to beat up Joe. Gallows and Anderson distracted Hank and Tank. Miguel hit Tank with a Meteora. Wentz hit Tank with a Swanton for the win.
The Rascalz defeated Hank Walker and Tank Ledger and Gallus via pinfall in 10:58.
John’s Thoughts: A solid triple threat with the most entertaining matchup winning. Hank and Tank were the developmental team of the group, but I thought they looked solid here. Hank did a good job with power moves and doing a bulk of the selling. Tank did a great job with the explosiveness and he kinda reminds me of a young Big E Langston with his explosiveness and energy. We saw The Rascalz vs. Axiom and Frazer two times already in one configuration or another and all were entertaining. Their next match should be fire as well.
Sarah Schreiber interviewed Axiom and Nathan Frazer. Frazer was excited to get the titles back. Axiom was hard to hear due to his mask. The Rascalz showed up. Wentz said they’ll beat Axiom and Frazer to take the titles to TNA. Wentz bragged about being on the same page, unlike Axiom and Frazer. Frazer had the lame comeback by mocking Wentz for being a singles champion…
Lexis King made his entrance…[c]
Blake Howard interviewed Trick Williams on what he thought about Dunne attacking him. Trick said he’s ready for war. Pete Dunne ran in to attack Trick and referees ran in to pull apart both men…
Oro Mensah made his entrance. A replay aired of the segment from last week where King told Oro that Noam Dar was the father of Meta Four, with Oro coming back by saying that King doesn’t even have a father (King’s character walked into that one)…
2. Oro Mensah (w/Lash Legend, Jakara Jackson) vs. Lexis King. Oro slammed King and hit him with a Northern Forearm. Oro caught Lexis with a Koppu Kick. King tried to run away, but Mensah slammed King to the mat. Oro caught King with a Gamengiri, but King came back by shoving Oro to ringside. King got a two count after his drive by hip attack. King told Oro that Oro’s father should have burned to ashes.
This fired up Oro who pummeled King and had to be pulled away. Lexis King rolled up Oro and picked up the win with his legs on the rope.
Lexis King defeated Oro Mensah via pinfall in 4:47.
Oba Femi confronted Rizzo, Stacks, and Crucifino. Oba talked about how their boss was no match for the ruler. Rizzo said that Oba will lose the title to Tony soon. Oba said that was big words from a small woman. Oba said in some cultures women are meant to be seen not heard. Tony D pulled up and said that in his culture people who talk to women like that get smacked in the mouth.
Oba told Tony to do something about that. Tony volunteered Stacks to go after Oba. Stacks agreed. Tony said nobody talks to Rizzo like that and gets away with it…
Tatum Paxley made her entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A clever finish. I forgot about the Oro story as it pertains to this match. In a way, it was only fair for Lexis King to take the burning dad jab after Oro took the dead Brian Pillman jab last week. Both low blows good for adding fire to a flame.
Charlie Dempsey, Myles Borne, and Wren Sinclair were walking backstage. They walked into Gallus throwing a fit. Wren told Gallus that Charles wants them to quiet down due to Myles having sensitive ears. Gallus talked trash to Wren. Wren got in Joe’s face. Charlie pulled Wren back and told her to think before making random challenges…
TNA’s Rosemary alongside NXT’s Wendy Choo made her entrance…
3. Tatum Paxley vs. Rosemary (w/Wendy Choo). Both women traded standing switches. Tatum hit Rosemary with a Belly to Back. Rosemary slammed Tatum into the rope and hit her with a modified Upside Down. Rosemary took down Tatum with a shortarm clothesline for a two count. Tatum came back with a dropkick and forearm. Tatum hit Rosemary with a enzuigiri and crossbody to the gut in the corner.
Rosemary did a split into an elbow. Rosemary caught Tatum and hit her with a Fallaway Slam and Fisherman Suplex for a nearfall. Paxley hit Rosemary with a knee and hooked knee slam for a victory.
Tatum Paxley defeated Rosemary via pinfall in 3:45
Rosemary and Choo put the boots to Paxley after the match. Lyra Valkyfia ran out and cleared the heels from the ring. Tatum Paxley gave Lyra a loving look and flew into the arms of Lyra…
Sarah Schreiber interviewed Pete Dunne about what he meant by “Figure it out”. Dunne said Trick needs to figure out that actions have consequences. Trick Williams showed up and both men brawled again. Ava got in between both men and demanded that both men deal with it now. After both men left, Ethan Page showed up and told her that things are falling apart as GM for her, huh…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Fun to see Rosemary get a little run in WWE. Would have been more fun if she could pick up some wins, but this at the moment feels like a cameo appearance. Wendy Choo continues to feel very undercooked. They don’t even give her vignettes. Sleepy Wendy Choo got vignettes and promos. Lyra Valkyria showing up makes sense given her history with Tatum via the stalker storyline. Another small note, I don’t think I’ve seen that finisher Tatum used anywhere, and it looked pretty good to me.
[Hour Two] Still shots from No Mercy were shown…
The show cut to an instagram video by TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace. Grace talked about WWE Week next week where Raw, Smackdown, and NXT are all on USA Network next week. Grace said to make things better, Ava awarded her with a chance to give an open challenge for the Knockouts Title next week on NXT…
Trick and Dunne immediately brawled when they saw each other near the ring…
4. Trick Williams vs. Pete Dunne. Trick dominated at ringside. A picture-in-picture showed Ethan Page watching the match from backstage. Dunne hit Trick with his signature elbow stomp. Trick came back with a neckbreaker for a two count. Both men traded strikes. Trick took down Pete with a pop up right hand.
Trick hit Dunne with a running neckbreaker. Dunne trapped Trick in the apron and gave him a boot. Dunne then stomped Trick’s head into the steel step heading into the break.[c]
Dunne was working on Trick with methodical offense. Trick came back with a right hand and flying clothesline. Trick worked on Dunne with Crescent Side Kicks and a Flapjack. Dunne came back with a DDT. The PIP showed Page watching the match again. Trick caught Dunne out of the air and hit him with a Book End for a two count. Dunne came back with a German Suplex.
Dunne gave Trick a boot. Trick came back with a right hand. Dunne dragged Trick off the top rope and gave him a Power Bomb. Trick reversed a Bitter End into a Inverted Suplex. Trick mocked Dunne’s shrug and hand stomp. Trick gave Dunne a Torando Boot. Dunne dodged Trick and dragged him up to the barricade behind the announce table.
Trick recovered, but Dunne twisted the fingers of Trick. Dunne hit Trick and took himself out too with a Russian Legsweep through the announce table. The referee counted both men out.
Trick Williams vs. Pete Dunne ended in a double count-out in 11:19.
Trick and Dunne continued to brawl after the match with security trying to pull both men apart. Extra referees and guards ran out to get them apart…
John’s Thoughts: Both men did a good job switching gears here and they did a good job throughout the how building to this match. Both men treated this as personal and it came off as more of a fight than a contest. A smart way to drag this on. They showed two Ethan Page picture-in-pictures, so I wonder if this is setting up a triple threat between Page, Trick, and Dunne at the CW debut.
The show cut to a Ridge Holland promo. He talked about how Chase University brought him in at his lowest point. restored his confidence, gave him a sense of belonging. He said then why would he destroy Mr. Chase and put him in the hospital? He said Chase failed. He said they were Champions, but they did what Chase U does, win the big one and then fail. He said he brought them to prominence, new look, new classroom.
Holland said Duke Hudson criticized every move he made. He said that Hudson was a smug and arrogant asshole. He said that Riley is no the same. Ridge talked about helping Chase and Hudson getting a title shot due to his help, them sending Ridge home, and failing without Ridge. Ridge said he finally became a champion and it got ripped away due to mediocrity.
Ridge said NXT is going to get the man he fought so hard not to be. Ridge said the step by step destruction of Chase U begins next week and from then he’s going to love every second of it. Ridge left the classroom and stepped on Hudson’s MVP trophy…
Je’von Evans vs. Joe Coffey was hyped for after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Another awesome promo by Ridge. While I was annoyed by his sad dad days, he did show us that he had the hidden gift of gab. Now that he’s a monster, this look like it can be pretty fun. Holland cut a good and logical promo here and I’m looking forward to his warpath. Who knew? The guy’s a great talker, and we saw in recent matches that he can be good in the ring when he wants to.
Shawn Spears was in an arm sling and he caught up with Brooks Jensen. He said he wanted to say something to Brooks that nobody has said to him, thank you, for helping him last week and breaking Edris’s arm. Spears said he thought he had to save Brooks, but Brooks saved him. He said he’s not going to leave Brooks.
Brooks asked Spears why does everybody think that Spears is manipulating him. Spears said it doesn’t matter what anybody thinks, only what Brooks thinks. Spears pat Brooks on the shoulder and thanked him before leaving. Dion Lennox showed up and told Brooks that Spears is gaslighting him with psychological manipulation…
John’s Thoughts: Better work by Spears as a manipulator. When Spears returned to NXT he was cutting those melodramatic Emperor Palpatine promos that were a turn off. Here he sounded more human and manipulative, It works, and we saw some of that early in his AEW run.
Entrances for the next match took place…
5. Je’von Evans vs. Joe Coffey (w/Mark Coffey, Wolfgang). Evans showed off his speed and gave Joe a few huracanranas. Evans caught Joe with a dropkick followed by a Tope Suicida. Vic joked that everyone was knocking down his candy. Joe dropped Evans and hit him with a Vader Bomb for a nearfall. Evans hit Joe with a flip kick. Joe dumped Evans to ringside and distracted the referee. Mark and Wolfgang tried to hit their finisher on Evans, but Cedric Alexander ran out for the save.
Evans took out all three Gallus members with a flying dive. Je’von Evans hit Joe Coffey with a Corkscrew Mero Sault for the victory.
Je’von Evans defeated Joe Coffey via pinfall in 2:34.
John’s Thoughts: A Cedric and Evans pairing can be fun, along with the subsequent feud if they want to go that way. NXT has done a good job building up one of their youngest and most talented roster members. Meanwhile, Joe Coffey continues to be the fall guy of Gallus for some reason, despite being the best overall wrestler of the group.
Tatum Paxley thanked Lyra Valkyria and said she has Lyra’s back on Raw. Lyra said Tatum wouldn’t let her have friends. Lyra told Tatum that Tatum should have made friends, not make toy friends. Lyra said she wants to help Tatum show people how weird she is. Lyra and Tatum hugged and jumped…
John’s Thoughts: Can they finally find the secret sauce to get Lyra that connection with the crowd? I hope so?
Oba Femi made his entrance…[c]
An ad aired for the NXT CW debut, featuring CM Punk…
Sarah Schreiber interviewed NXT GM Ava about the all night brawling between Pete Dunne and Trick Williams. Ava said he understands that the referee did his job, but there needs to be a winner. Ava booked Pete Dunne vs. Trick Williams next week in a Last Man Standing Match for a title shot against Ethan Page on the CW Debut…
The D’Angelo Family made their entrance…
6. NXT North American Champion Oba Femi vs. Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo (w/Tony D’Angelo, Luca Crucifino, Adriana Rizz0) in a non-title match. Stacks rallied with right hands. Stacks got Oba to the corner and went for the ten punches, but was quickly tackled to the other buckle. Oba tossed Stacks across the ring. Oba hit Stacks with a shortarm clothesline. Oba worked on Stacks wile also glaring at Tony D. Stacks dropkicked Oba to ringside.
Oba took out Stacks with a clubbing blow to the chest. In the ring, Oba caught Stacks with a few Northern Lariats. Vic noted the bruises on Stacks. Oba body slammed Stacks’ legs on the ropes. Oba got distracted by Tony D for a bit, which allowed Stacks to roll aside. Stacks rallied with right hands. Stacks managed to use strikes to get Oba to a knee. Oba finally got Oba on his back with a dropkick.
Stacks went for a dive, but his knee buckled after a dodge. Oba tossed Stacks across the ring. Oba hit Stacks with a pop-up power bomb for the victory.
Oba Femi defeated Channing Lorenzo via pinfall in 4:34.
Karmen Petrovic and Brinley Reese were chatting and worried about Edris Enofe. After creeping around the corner, Ashante Adonis showeed up to offer Brinley a shoulder to lie on and a rose. Eddy Thorpe showed up and told Brinley not to take the rose.
Fatal Influence made their entrance (Uhm? Their entrance looks exactly like Toxic Attraction’s with Fallon Henley in the Mandy Rose role)…[c]
Je’von Evans was chatting with Wren Sinclair about how he’s coming after the Heritage Cup. Wren asked him what qualifies him for a title match. Evans said he did well in his recent Speed match, main evented Heatwave, and spinning the block on Joe Coffey. Evens said this sounds like a job interview, and he’s never had a job before.
Wren said it looks like Evans deserves a cup match. Evans ran away happy. Dempsey showed up and was shocked to hear Wren gave away a title shot. Wren said she just took Charlie’s advice. Charlie yelled at Myles Bourne who had his back turned and didn’t hear the interview (a continuation of the reference that Bourne is the first deaf WWE wrestler)…
Jaida Parker made her entrance…
7. Jaida Parker vs. Jasmyn Nyx (w/Fallon Henley, Jacy Jayne). Parker dominated early on. Henley got on the apron which allowed Nyx to get control with a sweep kick. Nyx hit Parker with a dropkick. Nyx hit Parker with a grounded Liger Kick for a two count. Nyx put Parker in a bodyscissors submission. Parker got to her feet and put Nyx in a fireman carry. Nyx escaped and punched Parker in the back.
Parker caught Nyx and hit her with a Samoan Drop. Parker rallied with shoulder tackles and a body slam. Parker hit Nyx with her signature draping Banzai Drop. Nyx got a two count off an Inside Cradle. Nyx missed a kick. Parker hit Nyx with Hip-notic for the victory.
Jaida Parker defeated Jasmyn Nyx via pinfall in 6:40.
Parker managed to fend off Fatal Influence, but the numbers advantage overcame her and Fatal Influence stood tall…
Pete Dunne vs. Trick Williams in a last man standing match was hyped for next week’s NXT…
NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez was shown walking through the hallways…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Jaida Parker really killed it at No Mercy and showed that she was at another level above the rest with her surprisingly proficient match against Roxanne Perez. In a way, she was too cool to keep heel so it looks like she might be settling in as a popular babyface. Looks like her first feud coming off her breakout performance will be to overcome the numbers of the heel Fallon Henley group. Fatal Influence. With them, they feel like NXT trying to salvage the Toxic Attraction gimmick? Only difference here is so far they don’t have the plot armor that Mandy Rose had in that group.
The women’s locker room were all watching the monitors backstage. Jayne, Nyx, and Henley showed up to gloat. Kelani Jordan talked about how NXT has the best women’s division in wrestling because of what they do in the ring, not things like Fatal Influence. Jacy Jayne scoffed and the trio walked off…
A tweet was shown of Duke Hudson responding to Holland’s challenge…
Axiom and Nathan Frazer vs. The Rascalz, Charlie Dempsey vs. Je’von Evans for the Heritage Cup, Ridge Holland vs. Duke Hudson, and Trick Williams vs. Pete Dunne in a Last Man Standing match, and Jordynne Grace’s open challenge were announced for NXT next week. Vic continued to plug “WWE Week”…
[Overrun] NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez made her entrance in street clothes. Perez joked that the fans must be sick of her taking care of another opponent, but she isn’t. Perez said Parker may have slapped her, but a loss hurts more. Perez bragged about smashing all of Asuka’s and Iyo Sky’s records. Perez talked about how even people on the main roster can’t stop talking about Roxanne Perez. A mild Giulia chant ensued. Perez said Parker proved that Parker was the future of the division.
Perez said she proved what she can do can’t be taught, producted, or touched. She talked about how she’s the fantasy match constant. She said nobody can take the title away from her. She said nobody will take the title from her. She said it doesn’t matter if you’re the hottest prospect, former champion, or hot free agent from Japan. Perez said when the smoke clears, it’ll only be her holding the title in the air.
The lights went out, and Chelsea Green made her entrance. Green joked about how Perez expected someone else. Green joked that the crowd smelled like mildew and BO and advised them to use deodorant. Green then talked about how she is adored by the WWE Universe. This invoked a Chelsea chant. Green said she would do anything for her fans, except the creepy ones.
She said that caused her to interfere. She then said none of the GMs can stop her from being number one contender. The lights went out again as Giulia made her entrance. Green got in Giulia’s face. Giulia blocked a slap and gave Green a high knee. Giulia took a mic and said “Me, you, CW”. Giulia and Perez then stood face to face to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: Simple and effective way to set up the highly anticipated “dream match” between two of the best in-ring women wrestlers in the world today. Always fun to have Chelsea Green get TV time because she makes the most of any mic and in-ring time given. If I remember correctly, between her time in TNA and Lucha Underground, she may have spent time in Stardom. If she did cross paths with Giulia, that would make Green a good TV opponent to acclimate Giulia to US television. If they headline the Chicago show with the NXT Title match, then they’ll probably headline the St. Louis show with Perez vs. Giulia.
The match outcome I don’t think should be a complete slam dunk (with Stephanie Vaquer in the wing, but who knows how they are doing with her work visa), but all signs point towards Giulia as a prime candidate to take the title off Perez, especially if they want to bring in Giulia to be a buzzsaw. This week’s NXT was a solid fallout to No Mercy. I’m a bit tied up at the moment and will record the NXT audio late tonight. Expect my audio review to be around tomorrow morning for the Dot Net Members and Patreon Patrons.
Yep,
I was thinking the same thing that Fatal influence is basically a Toxic Attraction rip off.
Chealsea Green was in Stardom for 2 tours in 2016, Giulia didn’t debut as a wrestler until 2017 and didn’t join Stardom until 2019, so they’ve never crossed paths.
Ah, got it, thanks!
I wasn’t sure of the timing…