By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live November 19, 2024 on The CW
[Hour One] Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
Vic and Booker checked in from ringside with Vic hyping up the Deadline PLE in a few weeks. The show cut to Axiom and Nathan Frazer chatting backstage. Axiom was hyped at all the tag teams beating each other up just to get to them. Frazer was ignoring Axiom because he was more focused on qualifying for the Iron Survivor match…
Entrances for the next match took place. Lucien Price and Bronco Nima were watching the match from the crow’s nest. Hank and Tank were watching the match from the crowd. Luca and Stacks were also watching the match from the crowd…
1. NXT Tag Team Champion Nathan Frazer (w/Axiom) vs. Eddy Thorpe for a spot in the Iron Survivor Match at NXT Deadline. Eddie and Frazer started the match with a stalemate off trading wrist holds. Eddy used a standing switch to get a few belly to back takedowns. Frazer ran circles around Eddy and then nailed him with a dropkick. Frazer slowed things down with a deep armdrag. Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe were watching the match from ringside.
Eddy got to his feet and nailed Frazer with a crossbody and knee to the gut. Eddy nailed Frazer with a few Muay Thai roundhouse kicks in the corners. Frazer flipped out of the corner and used a Flatline to send Eddy’s face into the middle turnbuckle. Frazer hit Eddy with a kick and Natural Selection for a nearfall. Frazer got a two count off a Snap Suplex. Gallus showed up at the ramp. Eddy and Frazer traded quick rollups.
Both men took each other out with stereo crossbodies. The camera focused on the crow’s nest and OTM were missing. Some of the tag teams watching the match started to converge to ringside heading into regular break.[c]
Back from break, Eddy punched Frazer in the gut in an abdominal stretch. The camera showed the various tag teams watching the match all at ringside. Frazer hit Eddy with his signature Lionsault DDT and standing Shooting Star Press for a nearfall. Frazer used back elbows to knock Eddy off the top rope. Frazer was distracted by Tavion Heights and Myles Borne which allowed Eddy to hit Frazer with a Super German Suplex and Brainbuster for a nearfall.
Frazer used a huracanrana to send Eddy to ringside. The tag teams at ringside started to brawl. Frazer hit half the tag teams with a flip dive. Eddy tossed Frazer back in the ring while fending off the tag teams. Eddy caught Frazer with an enzuigiri. Frazer hit Eddy with a Final Cut. Frazer hit Eddy in the face with a Phoenix Splash for the victory.
Nathan Frazer defeated Eddy Thorpe via pinfall in 10:37 to qualify for the Iron Survivor Match at NXT Deadline.
Referees ran out to pull apart the tag teams. The show had to be muted due to the crowd cursing…
John’s Thoughts: A bit of a messy match viewing wise with all the camera cuts to the various tag teams at ringside, but I thought the hectic nature of the match actually worked in that we don’t see it too often. Speaking of messy, that’s how the last two week’s of trying to revamp the tag team division has been, but I like that WWE is acknowledging their fledgling tag team divisions (they are doing the same on the main roster, also messy) and putting in effort to fix them. NXT has an easier time because they have a deep pool of NIL/developmental talent who would benefit from starting as a tag team (and their men’s division might get deeper due to the ID program). Curious to see where they go with Frazer in the tag team too, because he’s been the more heelish of his tag team and always being a pain in Axiom’s ass.
The show cut to this week’s Chase U skit. Andre Chase was talking in his serious voice talking about how Chase U being built about taking risk. He said it started with him and Thea, but then Chase U made a MVP when Duke Hudson joined. Chase said Hail got her first NXT win. Chase apologized for losing the University once, but noted that they sold out calendars to get the money and University back. Chase talked about Chase U helping Thea Hail get Women’s title shots.
Chase talked about how Chase U led them all to tag team gold. Chase said he’d be damned if anyone would take his family away. His unnamed students gave Chase words of encouragement. Chase said tonight he’ll be the number one contender to the NXT Championship. Vic Joseph hyped up the Andre Chase vs. Ridge Holland match…
Jaida Parker made her entrance for her upcoming Iron Survivor qualifying match…[c]
Vic Joseph plugged one of CW’s board game game shows…
A Giulia promo aired where she talked about moving to America for the first time. She said she’s learning the American culture while America learned what the Beautiful Madness was. She talked about how she learned how to fight by scrapping growing up. She talked about how the other women will get a taste of what “Beautiful Madness” is at Deadline. Giulia said once she gets through the Iron Survivor match, she’ll beat Roxanne Perez for the women’s championship…
Kelani Jordan was watching the promo with Robert Stone and Stevie Turner. Jordan was acting nervous. Jordan demanded that Ava’s assistants put her in a match against Giulia to qualify for the Iron Survivor match at Deadline…
Stephanie Vaquer made her entrance. She got a picture-in-picture where she talked about being the best luchadora en el mundo…
2. Stephanie Vaquer vs. Jaida Parker for a spot in the Iron Survivor Match at NXT Deadline. Jaida worked on Stephanie with short-arm shoulder tackles. Vaquer hit Parker with a huracarana into a rollup. Vaquer got a two count off a cross armed bridge for a nearfall. Vaquer put Parker in an illegal armbar on the top rope . Parker caught Vaquer out of the air and hit her with a backbreaker. Parker hit Vaquer with her signature draping Banzai Drop heading into break.[c]
Parker dodged a meteora and gave Vaquer a Backstabber for a nearfall. Parker hit Vaquer in the kidneys to land a reverse suplex for a nearfall. Parker used her thick booty to dig in a Butterfly Stretch on Vaquer. Steph got to her feet and reversed the pressure. Parker punched Vaquer in the back to prevent a comeback. Steph escaped with a jawbreaker and superkick. Vaquer hit Parker with Sole Food and a meteora in the corner.
Vaquer hit Parker with her signature leg-scissors face slams for a nearfall. Parker reversed Steph’s finisher into a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Steph reversed a suplex into a rollup for a two count. Parker hit Steph with a Gourd Buster. Parker went for her finisher, but was distracted by Lola Vice who was holding a brick at ringside. Vaquer hit Parker with a superkick and Package Backbreaker for the victory.
Stephanie Vaquer defeated Jaida Parker via pinfall in 10:53 to earn a spot in the Iron Survivor Match at NXT Deadline.
John’s Thoughts: The finish was a bit wonky and contrived. There was no reason for Parker to stop in her tracks, especially when it took her overshooting Steph to stop the move. Tough to suspend disbelief in those situations. Pro wrestling I guess. Other than that finish, the match was solid. Between Vaquer and Giulia, Vaquer seems to be acclimating to the WWE in-ring style easier. Jaida Parker meanwhile is having good matches with everyone to go alongside her good promos and character work. She was main roster ready months ago, and only improves the more we see her.
Dion Lennox and Brinley Reece were hyping each other up in the locker room, both proudly wearing Oregon State colors. Brinley talked about being hyped about the Pac-12…
Tony D’Angelo and Adriana Rizzo made their entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: I had to look it up. With UC Berkeley and Stanford leaving the Pac-12, I thought the Pac-12 was dead (because being an alum of Cal, I get Atlantic Coast Conference news now). Apparently the Pac-12 D1 is still alive, it’s just being filled with a lot of D2 State schools, with Washington and Oregon State being the Pac-12 OGs. Sorry for the college football digression, I just love my Cal Bears and anything adjacent to them.
A Roxanne Perez Twitter video was shown where she was gloating about being the first Iron Survivor. She was at the beach. Sol Ruca was also surfboarding. Sol taunted Perez before hitting the waves…
Brooks Jensen and Shawn Spears made their entrance. Vic noted that Stacks and Luca weren’t at ringside due to still dealing with the other brawling tag teams in the division…
3. NXT North American Champion Tony D’Angelo vs. Brooks Jensen (w/Shawn Spears) in a non-title match. Tony D worked on Brooks with a few body slams. Jensen hit Tony D with snake eyes on the top rope and a slam for a nearfall. Jensen put D’Angelo in a Sleeper Hold. Tony D tried to fall back to break the hold, but Jensen turned the submission into a Rear Naked Choke. Tony D broke the hold by tossing Jensen over the top rope. Tony D sold a knee injury.
Tony D rallied with suplexes and Belly to Belly suplexes. Jensen countered a spinebuster with a Codebreaker for a nearfall. Jensen hit Tony D with a Big Boot. Tony D came back with a spinebuster for the win.
Tony D’Angelo defeated Brooks Jensen via pinfall in 4:25.
Spears entered the ring and shook hands with Tony D. Jensen came from behind and chop blocked Tony D in the injured knee…
Ashante The Adonis and Karmen Petrovic were warming up backstage. Petrovic was in her Washington States colors. Petrovic and Adonis complemented each other for their fit. After Petrovic left, Ashante was lookin’ a bit “parched” when looking at Petrovic from behind…
Brinley Reece and Dion Lennox made their entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: I’m a huge fan of the developing romance and sexual tension between Petrovic and Adonis. Good for Adonis for starting to finally click from a character standpoint. Petrovic seems more interesting now that she’s in more of a soap opera wrestling story. Back to the match, good dominant win for Tony D with Brooks losing nothing playing a Kohai/Young Boy character for Spears. I like the development of giving Tony D an injury angle to give him vulnerability heading into his encounter with Spears.
Lexis King was looking introspective backstage, talking about how he’s turned a new leaf. He said people have been taking notice at his changes. The camera panned over to show him chatting with NOAH star Yoshiki Inamura. Inamura told King he understands. Josh Briggs showed up and wondered whtat Yoshiki and King were talking about.
Yoshiki said that NXT is a crazy place. The camera panned over to show the many tag teams brawling backstage. Inamura said that this was his kind of crazy…
[Hour Two] Ashanti the Adonis and Karmen Petrovic made their entrance…
4. Ashante the Adonis and Karmen Petrovic vs. Dion Lennox and Brinley Reece in a mixed tag match. Ashante and Karmen were trading some flirtatious tags which annoyed their opponents. Reece went for some quick rollups on Petrovic to end the tagging. Petrovic put Reece in a deep armdrag. The men tagged in with Dion dominating with a few hip tosses on Adonis. Adonis came back with a front kick and dropkick. Vic noted that Lennox was a former LA Ram.
Lennox came back with a backdrop and dropkick. Dion stopped in his tracks when he almost ran into Petrovic. This allowed Adonis to send Lennox’s throat into the top rope. Both men took each other out with clotheslines. Reece and Petrovic tagged in with Reece landing a flip into a clothesline. Reece rolled up Petrovic for a two count. Adonis asked Reece for a kiss and got a slap to the face. The distraction allowed Petrovic to nail Reece with a high kick for the victory.
Karmen Petrovic and Ashanti the Adonis defeated Brinley Reece and Dion Lennox via pinfall in 3:48.
Adonis and Petrovic high-fived, but the hand holding led to some more sexual tension…
Sarah Schreiber interviewed Ridge Holland about his upcoming match. Ridge talked about Chase going through memory lane earlier. Holland talked about how Chase U are wearing the new colors he gifted them. Ridge talked about how after tonight, Riley, Duke, and Thea will have no more father figure. Ridge said he’s going to Deadline, while Chase U dies…
Zaria was shown walking backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Is it just me, or does Dion Lennox look like a EC3’s long lost black twin brother? I kid. Anyways, a short and sweet match with a handful of developmental wrestlers (Adonis being the in-ring veteran of the group). Reece is starting to do better character work to separate herself from just being a generic cheerleader (though she has a long way to go). She got some good reps in at TNA Bound for Glory. Adonis and Petrovic’s budding romance is a guilty pleasure of mine from NXT. I’m locked in on this story.
Vic Joseph plugged this week’s ACC and Pac-12 games (I still think it’s weird that there are Pacific Coast schools, like my alma mater, in the “Atlantic” Coast Conference)…
Wren Sinclair and Charlie Dempsey made their entrance first. Zaria made her entrance to Karrion Kross’s awesome Impact Entrance Theme. Wren sold fear at Zaria…
5. Zaria vs. Wren Sinclair (w/Charlie Dempsey) for a spot in the Iron Survivor Match at NXT Deadline. Zaria got a Belly to Back off a Standing Switch. Wren rolled up Zaria for a nearfall. Wren ran to the corner in fear, with Dempsey hyping up Wren to get back in the match. Wren went for a Sunset Flip, but Zaria used her weight to block it and send Wren into the corner. Zaria hit Wren with chained delayed vertical suplexes for a nearfall.
Zaria dodged a dropkick. Wren reversed a suplex into a Small Package for a two count. Zaria took herself and Wren out to ringside with a clothesline. Zaria taunted Dempsey, which allowed Wren to hit Zaria with a Suicide Dive. Wren rallied with right hands in the ring. Wren took down Zaria with a clothesline, blockbuster, and dropkick into the turnbuckle. Zaria came right back with a short-arm Clothesline.
Wren got a nearfall off a Victory Roll. Wren hit Zaria with a back elbow. Zaria surprised Wren with a Spear. Zaria lifted up Wren and hit her with an F5 for the victory.
Zaria defeated Wren Sinclair via pinfall in 4:11 to earn a spot in the Iron Survivor Match at NXT Deadline.
A graphic aired to show the three women who have already qualified for the Iron Survivor Match at NXT Deadline. Vic Joseph then hyped up Andre Chase vs. Ridge Holland for later in the show…
The Fatal Influence Trio were shown walking backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Wren Sinclair got a lot of offense here, but it was done in a plucky enough way to make Wren come off as Plucky while Zaria maintains her invincibility. The F5 automatically brings Brock Lesnar comparisons, and Zaria is coming off as “the next big thing” in the WWE’s women’s division. Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia came into WWE with a lot of hype and fanfare, while Zaria (Delta) was pretty unknown to most wrestling fans. WWE has done a great job with the vignettes and presentation to really make Zaria out to be a big deal. Zaria is powerful and has a badass enough look to make her stand out amongst the rest of the WWE women’s roster. In a way, they can almost get out of Zaria, what they wanted to get out of Awesome Kong back in the Kharma days.
A medic was checking on Tony D’Angelo’s injured leg with Tony D arguing out of anger. NXT GM Ava showed up to check on Tony D. Tony D demanded a match with Shawn Spears. Ava said Tony D can have a match with Spears if he gets medically cleared. After Tony D left, Eddy Thorpe showed up saying that the tag teams cost him the match. Eddy accused Ava of favoritism by giving Tony D what he wants but not him…
Fatal Influence were in the ring. All three women were bragging about being above the champion, especially with Fallon Henley as North American Champion. Henley said she can stand at the top by herself, or hold an open challenge. Henley said the challenge will have to be next week because it takes time to find an opponent for her. Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson made their entrance to cut off Henley. Lash said if there’s an open challenge, the Meta Four girls want a piece of dat.
Nikkita Lyons showed up and told Lash and Jakara to get to the back of the line after losing the tag title match at Crown Jewel. Adriana Rizzo ran out and a brawl ensued with the women’s developmental roster clearing out to brawl. The developmental women brawled to the back with Henley alone in the ring. Tatum Paxley crawled in the ring from behind her and nailed her with a modified Lightning Spiral. Tatum Paxley stood tall in the ring to end the segment…
Shawn Spears was praising Brooks Jensen backstage for a good match. “Niko” showed up and said that he got Shawn’s requested match approved by Ava. The camera panned over to Karmen Petrovic telling Ashante Adonis that they had good chemistry. Ashante wondered if that counted out of the ring. Petrovic was about to get all up on that, but Nikkita Lyons showed up and claimed that Ashante slipped into her text messages. Petrovic left nervously. Ashante claimed that he didn’t text any other shawtys., notably Nikkita. Ashante was left blue balled…[c]
Highlights from last year’s Iron Survivor match was shown…
A sponsored Ethan Page promo aired where he talked about being excited for the Iron Survivor match. He said the fans don’t want to see him challenge for the title again, but that fires him up. He talked about picking his opponents and picking his spots. He said it doesn’t matter when he clocks in, he’ll have the most falls at the end of the match. He said he first has to qualify for the match…
Nathan Frazer and Axiom were chatting about Ethan Page in Iron Survivor. Frazer sid that Page is formidable. Axiom said Page won’t advance, because he’s Page’s opponent. Frazer gave Axiom a somewhat condescending praise for being in the match. Both men then contemplated both going against each other in Iron Survivor…
Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in on commentary. Vic announced Tony D’Angelo vs. Shawn Spears for the North American Championship for next week. He also announced that Tatum Paxley was awarded the open challenge to face Fallen Henley for the Women’s North American Championship next week. Kelani Jordan vs. Giulia and Ethan Page vs. Axiom were announced as Iron Survivor Qualifying matches for next week…
The show cut back to the Chase U classroom with Chase continuing his lecture. He said he’s been hard on the students. Clips were shown of him snapping on students. Chase said he was going to apologize… for absolutely nothing (which led to the class cheering). Chase said he’s going to give Ridge Holland a Andre Chase University sized ass whooping and also f—ing get the NXT Championship. Chase and his students cheered…
NXT Champion Trick Williams made his entrance to join the commentary team for the main event…[c]
An ad aired for WWE Raw’s Netflix debut at the Clippers’ Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA (Oh! I kinda want to see if I have time to attend this down in my homehood)…
Entrances for the number one contenders match took place. Mike Rome actually handled formal in-ring introductions for the match (I like this as the possible disbanding of Chase U does make this high stakes)…
6. Andre Chase vs. Ridge Holland to become number one contender to the NXT Championship (If Andre Chase loses, the Chase University stable must disband). Chase rallied early on with right hands. Chase caught Ridge with a high knee and then tossed Ridge into the corners. Ridge came back with a ripcord Belly to Belly suplex rally. Ridge got a one count after a lateral press. Ridge sent Chase flying with a few overhead belly to belly suplexes. Holland got another one count.
Holland pulled over the mat at ringside to expose the concrete floor. Chase held on to the ropes to block a powerbomb on the concrete. Chase hit Holland with a few kicks and a cannonball from the apron. Chase went to celebrate with fans in the ring.[c]
Chase got a window of opportunity after dodging a Ridge Holland diving headbutt. Holland lowered his weight to block a Power Bomb. Holland came right back with a clothesline, high knee, and Bitter End looking move for a nearfall. Holland brought a chair in the ring. The referee took the chair away. Holland punted Chase in the Balls when the ref was distracted putting the chair away. Holland hit Chase with the Redeemer DDT.
Thea Hail, Duke Hudson, and Riley Osborne ran out. Hail pulled the referee to ringside to break the pinfall. REF BUMP. Holland tackled Ridge through the wall holding up the Crow’s Nest. Riley Osborne hit Ridge with a flip dive, also accidentally taking out Hail. Holland recovered in the ring and then press slammed Osborne to ringside.
Chase recovered and got his second wind. Chase side slammed Holland to the mat and then hit him with the Chase U Boots. Chase hit Holland with a Side Effect for a nearfall. Holland fought out of the corner and hit Ridge with a sit-out power bomb for a great nearfall. A “this is awesome” chant ensued. Chase hit Holland with a High Fly Flow, but Holland rolled through and hit Chase with the Redeemer DDT for the win.
Ridge Holland defeated Andre Chase via pinfall in 11:53 to become number one contender to the NXT Championship.
Andre Chase must sever his ties with Riley Osborne, Duke Hudson, and Thea Hail. The camera panned over to the three fallen Chase U members at ringside with Andre Chase showing sadness in the ring. The camera also showed some audience members crying at ringside. The camera showed Andre Chase crying to close the show. Paul Levesque, Shawn Michaels, and Lee Fitting being credited as Executive Producers…
John’s Thoughts: That was some awesome professional wrestling. We get tied up so much in bangers, workrate classics, dream matches, and the such; so much that we forget the essence of good professional wrestling: “Great storytelling with characters that we care about leading to fights that play with our emotions”. We didn’t need 50 flip dives, destroyers, and false finishes here. This was viewers, fans, watching and praying that this evil man doesn’t take away something beloved to them, Chase University in this case.
In order to have compelling television, thou must taketh away, thus playing with your emotional heart strings. Good stuff. Even bigger, this was the biggest match in Ridge Holland’s career and I’m really happy to see where he’s ended up. They called him up way too soon, with that cheesy Peeky Blinders look. He looks like a pro wrestlers now, wrestles like a pro wrestlers, walks like a pro wrestler, and talks like a pro wrestler. Low key, WWE’s most improved wrestler over the past year, and he’s flying a bit under the radar.
I hope that they don’t overturn this disbandment stipulation too soon as they really need to make sure their stipulations have credibility. I hope that this leads to an evolution for all the Chase U characters involved, weather it be parallel or separate storytelling. Interested to see Ridge Holland vs. Trick Williams too. Two athletes WWE pulled off the American and European gridiron and molded into solid WWE superstars. This week’s episode of NXT was a step up from the last few weeks. The Iron Survivor qualifiers even felt a step up. I also was a fan of the cute Adonis x Petrovic rom com weaved in. Next week’s NXT looks pretty hot on paper with the matches they advertised in advance.
At the end of the show, there was also an audible “Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye” chants from some fans.
I noticed that, but also thought it might have just been a pocket of fans trying to be smartasses (which isn’t a big deal, just wrestling fan culture)
Is Chase U going to the main roster or what?