By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Cincinnati, Ohio at Brady Music Center
Aired live February 25, 2025 on The CW Network
[Hour One] Shots of Je’von Evans, Ricky Saints, Wes Lee, Tyriek Igwe, Tyson Dupont, Ethan Page, Matt Hardy, and Jeff Hardy were shown as they were arriving to the venue…
Vic Joseph, Corey Graves, and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
NXT Women’s North American Champion Stephanie Vaquer made her entrance. Karmen Petrovic and Ashante the Adonis made their entrance…
1. Stephanie Vaquer vs. Karmen Petrovic (w/Ashante the Adonis) for the NXT Women’s North American Championship. Both women started the match with chain wrestling and quick pin attempts. Vaquer took down Petrovic with a shoulder tackle. Both women traded quick pin attempts again. Petrovic got a two count after a Crucifix Bomb. Petrovic locked Vaquer in a Leg Scissor Full Nelson. Stephanie escaped and put Petrovic in a cradle.
Petrovic escaped and hit Vaquer with a Sling Blade for a two count. Karmen hit Steph with a Rolling Sobat, Sweep, and Shining Wizard for a nearfall. Stephanie counter Petrovic with a Tilt a Whirl Backbreaker and Suplex. Petrovic kicked out at two. Steph paintbrushed Petrovic with boots. Petrovic dodged a meteora and hit Steph with a Codebreaker. Petrovic hit Vaquer with a Suicide Dive. Petrovic and Adonis soaked in boos from the crowd heading into break.[c]
Back from break, Steph hit Karmen with a dropkick and shortarm palm strikes. Stephanie hit Petrovic with a Saito Suplex. Stephanie hit Karmen with Booker T’s favorite modern wrestling move, the Pelvic thrusts headscissors move. Vic said someone better get Booker a cigarette. Stephanie got a two count after a corner meteora. Petrovic hit Steph with a high kick and delayed Frankensteiner in the corner.
Petrovic hit Stephanie with the overhead jumping Kiryu Kick for a nearfall. Steph hit Karmen with a DDT for a nearfall. Steph hit Petrovic with a Superkick and 619. Petrovic caught Stephanie out of the air with a superkick for a good nearfall. Stephanie and Karmen traded Yay-Boo strikes with Stephanie dominating. Stephanie blocked a Rolling Sobat and hit Karmen with a Dragon Screw into a Package Shoulder Breaker for the victory. (Slight update: I had to rewind to check. Stephanie may or may not have flipped the bird during the Dragon Screw sequence. Which I think is pretty bad ass!)
Stephanie Vaquer defeated Karmen Petrovic via pinfall in 11:39 to retain the NXT Women’s North American Championship.
NXT Women’s Champion Giulia made her entrance to confront Stephanie in the ring. Giulia told the crowd to congratulate Stephanie. She said that Steph calls herself the best champion, but “you’re not”. Giulia said “I am”. Stephanie said that “La Primera” means “champion of champions”. Giulia said that they should find out who the best woman is. Stephanie said she’s friends with Giulia, but she’s down for “title vs. title”, “champion vs. champion”…
Ariana Grace was chatting with TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella (who’s her real life father). Santino noted that he likes that “The Hard Boys” are getting a chance to compete on NXT for the first time. Lola Vice showed up and demanded a match on TNA or NXT from Grace and Santino. Grace said she was busy. Vice said that Grace should fight her, unless no one in her family taught her how to fight. Santino acted like he had to hold back his cobra hand strike. Vice said she’ll see Grace later…
NXT Champion Oba Femi ran into Heritage Cup Champion Lexis King backstage. King said that people want to see Oba vs. Moose, but he’ll be champion because he has the home field advantage. Oba smirked as King left…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Petrovic was still rough as usual, but still showing improvement as she’s able to work longer matches. Stephanie did a good job covering up for Karmen’s lack of experience, and thus showing how valuable she is to WWE in the short amount of time so far that she’s been in the company. Looks like they are going with the Title vs. Title dream match route, which I hope is saved for WrestleMania weekend. On top of that, I hope we see Giulia back in her old strong style form that we haven’t seen in WWE yet.
They aired a cryptic instagram post from Dion Lennox and his mystery men attackers (apparently they are on Social Media). It had a picture of their backs and it said that “no one is safe”)…
NXT Heritage Cup Champion Lexis King made his entrance first followed by TNA X Division Champion Moose. Graves joked that King’s Heritage Cup is the closest that this city is going to get to a Super Bowl trophy (LOL… To be fair, Joe Burrow is a damn good quarterback along with Ja’marr Chase at wide receiver). Mike Rome handled the formal in ring championship match introductions (Ah, they should have had Vic’s wife McKenzie Mitchell do the match introductions). King actually got a favorable hometown reaction…
2. TNA X Division Champion Moose vs. NXT Heritage Cup Champion Lexis King for the TNA X Division Championship. King turned the tables on Moose and gave him a chop. Moose turned the tables back and gave King some breathtaking chops. Moose worked on King with strikes while no selling some slaps. King managed to trap Moose in the corner a bit with strikes. Moose no sold a Gamengiri. Moose used his weight to block a Sunset Bomb. Moose hit King with a chop.
Moose showed off his mad athleticism with a high dropkick to the top rope to dump King to ringside.[c]
Moose was dominating King back from the break. King started slapping himself to fire himself up. During the break, Moose backdropped King on the ramp (which was at level with the ring). King hit Moose with a Superkick and FrankenDriver. Looked a bit clunky, but King got a two count. King hit Moose with a Flip Dive at ringside. A “this is awesome” chant ensued. King hit Moose with a high crossbody for a nearfall.
Moose caught King with a pump kick and hit King with a cat leap crossbody, followed by a kip up. Moose hit King with a Jackknife Power Bomb for a nearfall. King blocked a spear with a Superkick. King hit Moose with his finisher, the spinning neckbreaker for a nearfall. Moose backdropped King. King dodged an initial spear, but Moose kept running and hit King with a Spear for the victory.
Moose defeated Lexis King via pinfall in 9:31 to retain the TNA X Division Championship.
NXT Champion Oba Femi made his entrance in street clothes to confront Moose in the ring. Oba said that Moose made it past King, but now it’s time to focus on what’s most important, “this”. Oba noted that Oba Femi vs. Moose is booked at The Theater at Madison Garden in two weeks on the Roadblock themed show in a title vs. title match (?). Vic Joseph plugged the Tuesday night themed show, Roadblock, and only said that the NXT title will be on the line…
A Shawn Spears promo aired. Spears said he’s here to guide individuals and help them find inner light. He talked about hwo Brooks Jensen was almost terminated, but after transforming his mind body and soul, he is who he was searching for all along. A trimmed and clean cut Brooks Jensen was shown.
Spears talked about Niko Vance and how his ferocity is his gift. Spears said the missing piece was Izzi Dame who had premeditated her deception. Spears said some call that manipulation, but he calls it strategy. Spears talked about how his family is now complete. Spears said Tony D never saw it coming and now he’s going to take the North American title next week…
Jordynne Grace was shown walking the hallways…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A good introduction of Moose and given the right amount of time. A bit jarring to see King work babyface this week, but I really am liking his developing babyface in-ring style and it worked here because he got to play the role of local hero for the night. Moose has a good talent of making his smaller opponents look good in defeat. It was very refreshing to see Moose outside of the Impact Zone and TNA as a whole for the night. He looked great in the new setting. He’s been in TNA so long that he’s done everything there is to do there (Maaaaybe they have one last babyface run they can get out of him, but even then, he’s been in one location for so long). I wouldn’t mind seeing him make the move to either WWE or AEW full time, just so the world can see how great this guy is and for the guy to get a fresh start in a new setting.
A twitter video was shown of Ariana Grace and Kelani Jordan on the NXT tour bus heading to the arena “earlier today”. Ariana and Jordan were talking trash about Jaida Parker. Parker was in the back seat and took offense. The women in the bus had to hold both sides apart…
Jordynne Grace made her entrance and soaked in “Jordynne” cheers. She said the moment she stepped foot in a WWE ring for the first time last year, she knew exactly where she belonged. She said that she walked in as an outsider, carrying the weight of an enteire company on her back. She said after spending the time in the NXT locker room, feeling the hunger, she knew she had to be a part of it.
Grace said when time came to put pen to paper, she didn’t hesitate, she wanted to be a champion in what she truly believes is the “best women’s division in the world”. Grace talked about being in the ring last week with two women we’ve never seen before, but she knows that Stephanie and Giulia can feel the shift, feel the foundation crack now that Grace is here. Grace said it’s only a matter of time that she’ll stand, not next to them, but across from them.
Grace’s promo was interrupted by Roxanne Perez making her entrance. Perez told Grace welcome back. Perez said it only makes sense that Grace outgrew where she came from and figured out that NXT is the place to be. She said in different sports, raw, smackdown, everyone wants to be in the place Perez made famous. Perez talked about how she carried NXT on her back.
Perez said Grace was a big fish in a small pond, but is in her division now, going for Perez’s title. Grace said if this is Perez’s division, where is Perez’s title. Perez bragged about defending that title against Grace at Battleground and Grace better not make Perez send her back to TNA. Perez said she’ll win the Elimination Chamber and become the Women’s World Champion. Perez said then she’ll go after the NXT title again to become Roxy two belts.
A “roxy two belts” chant ensued. Grace acted like she was going to say something, but then threw a right hand at Perez…
Trick Williams was on his phone egosurfing, checking out people talking about him on social media being in a slump. Je’von Evans tried to encourage Trick, but Trick snapped at Evans. Trick said that Evans better stay in his lane. Evans said he might have to take care of Trick because Trick is crashing out now. Ricky Saints showed up and tried to introduce himself to Trick. Trick said he knew who Ricky was. Trick walked off. Saints talked about everyone in NXT being angry all the time…
Separate shots of the NQCC and Hardy Boyz were shown…[c]
John’s Thoughts: The segment was a bit rough at the end. Perez isn’t the most refined promo yet. Other than that, it was solid. I think Grace has improved a lot on the mic since she started delivering promos. Back when she first cut promos she felt like a dear in the headlights, and now she looks confident and well spoken. With Perez pointing out the loss Grace has against her, makes me think they’ll give Grace her win back now that Grace is in WWE (by the way, one Vince McMahon-ism that I didn’t mind was changing people’s name to not match others. I’m already having a hard time having to make sure I don’t type Ariana or Jordynne in terms of the two Grace’s in the promotion).
Sarah Schreiber interviewed Jaida Parker who talked trash about Kelani Jordan…
A POV instagram video was shown of the mystery attackers watching the show from the nosebleeds…
[Hour Two] No Quarter Catch Crew made their entrance first. Vic plugged that NXT now has a standalone YouTube channel. Matt and Jeff Hardy, the Hardy Boyz made their entrance to their classic “Loaded” theme. Vic noted the strong crowd reaction and Graces said Matt and Jeff are back where they belong. A “holy shit” chant ensued… Vic Joseph noted that the last time The Hardyz competed in a WWE ring as a tag team was April 9th, 2019…
3. TNA Tag Team Champions “The Hardy Boyz” Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy vs. “No Quarter Catch Crew” Tavion Heights and Myles Borne (w/Charlie Dempsey, Wren Sinclair) in a non-title match. Heights dominated early on, but Jeff turned the tables. Matt tagged in and gave Heights “delete” arm wrenches. Jeff tagged in and hit Tavion with a tandem leg drop for a nearfall. Borne tagged in and slowed down the action. I think the crowd was chanting “you’re not Randy” at Borne (who kinda looks like Randy Orton).
Matt dodged Myles, who went for Poetry in Motion. Jeff jumped off Tavion’s back to hit Myles with a Poetry in Motion. The Hardys dumped Borne to ringside. Jeff slapped hands with fans and hit Borne with a Poetry in Motion from the ring-level ramp. Borne recovered and hit Jeff with a Power Slam heading into break.[c]
Axiom and Nathan Frazer sat down at ringside to watch the match. NQCC cut the ring in half on Matt. Matt managed to get a window of opportunity by hitting Borne with a jawbreaker. Jeff hit Heights with a Cannonball and tagged in, hitting Borne with his double leg drop combo. Jeff hit both NQCC members with Whisper in the Wind. Heights and Borne hit Jeff with a Modified Magic Killer for a nearfall.
After a counter, the Hardys hit Borne with a Plot Twist. Tavion broke up Jeff’s pin. Matt dodged a dropkick and hit Borne with a Twist of Fate. Jeff hit Borne with the Swanton Bomb to give Matt the pinfall win.
The Hardy Boyz defeated No Quarter Catch Crew via pinfall in 11:11.
Axiom and Frazer confronted Matt and Jeff Hardy in the ring (this seems to be a pattern tonight). Axiom welcomed Matt and Jeff to NXT. Matt said he likes NXT so far. Matt said he’s been watching Axiom and Frazer defend the titles in TNA and they are on one hell of a run. Frazer said he’s stoked being in the best tag team in teh world today, standing across from the best team in history. Jeff said they should have a match.
TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella made his entrance to his old WWE music. Santino got a strong reaction from the crowd. Santino said he’s been chatting with “Avah” in the back and they are booking Fraxiom vs. The Hard Boys at Roadblock for the TNA Tag Team Championships…
John’s Thoughts: I can’t unsee it. Borne tweaked his look and he legit looks like a less-tan Randy Orton. Thank you Cincinnati for creating that image. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. The Hardys are a strong nostalgia draw, from their classic entrance theme, to their greatest hits moveset. I also like that they aren’t killing their bodies these days either and still having strong matches against the best tag teams around. Hardy’s vs. Fraxiom! Daym! They are really booking that MSG show strong.
The show cut to Luca Crucifino, Stacks, and Adriana Rizzo recapping their losses at their Italian Restaurant. Tony D Angelo showed up and joined them. Stacks apologized to Tony for losing. Tony said you can’t win them all and it’s no big deal. He said he had to lay low last week to recover.
He said he was beaming with pride seeing Stacks take control of the Family when he was out. Stacks wondered if Tony D should recover more given his condition. Tony D said he appreciates Stacks, but he has to handle business. Rizzo said that Tony has got this…
A clip from WWE LFG was shown where a bunch of random developmental wrestlers were trying to do a dorky dance in front of Bully Ray Dudley…[c]
Sol Ruca was taping up Zaria’s injured wrist backstage. WWE Women’s United States Champion Chelsea Green and her secret service Piper Niven showed up. Sol talked smack to Green and pointed out that Green and Niven don’t win much. Niven pulled out and turned on a taser that scared the women. Niven agreed to face Ruca and Zaria next week. Green yelled at Niven because she didn’t know they were booked in a match…
Ariana Grace was already in the ring. Lola Vice got a televised entrance…
4. Lola Vice vs. Ariana Grace. Grace managed to surprise Vice with right jabs. Vice came back with TKD rapid kicks and a chop. Vice hit Grace with her I’m a Latina hip attack. Grace recovered at ringside and tossed around Vice. Grace caught Vice with a flying elbow Grace hit Vice with a swinging neckbreaker.
Grace put Vice in a Cravate. Grace missed an elbow drop. Vice hit Grace with nice looking quick tornado kicks followed by an Axe Kick. Lola Vice hit Grace with the spinning backfist for the win.
Lola Vice defeated Ariana Grace via pinfall in 2:27.
The camera quickly cut to backstage where everyone was laid out. We can see the backs of some of the mystery attackers still putting boots to random people…[c]
John’s Thoughts: The match only got about 2 mintues, but both women actually looked improved since we last saw them. Grace has been out of the ring more, serving as the co-authority figure on TNA with her dad where she has shown some good personality (the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree). She looked decent in her short flurry. I continue to mark out over Vice being a Tae Kwon Do practicioner and I really liked the way she introduced a lot of Tae Kwon Do into her moveset. It didn’t feel forced here too, like those snap spin kicks.
Vic Joseph ran through the Elimination Chamber weekend live events…
The show cut to a Eddy Thorpe vignette. He talked about how his people stood proud near the Ohio river once, until they were forced out west to be displaced and ignored. Eddy talked about doing exactly what he said he’ll do, and beat the golden child in NXT, Trick Williams.
He said he tried to do things the right way, and got called a bad guy. He said he beat Trick fairly with a strap, and is still called a bad guy. Eddy said if Trick wants to face him, he’s down, Trick just needs to name a time and place…
Vic Joseph, Booker T, and Corey Graves checked in on commentary. Vic clarified that Oba vs. Moose will be for the NXT title…
The show cut to Sarah Schreiber at a balcony who was interviewing NXT GM Ava. Ava announced, for the Roadblock themed show, The Hardyz vs. Fraxiom for the TNA Tag Titles, Oba vs. Moose for the NXT Title, and Vaquer vs. Giulia for both women’s titles.
The following matches were advertised for next week: Tony D’Angelo vs. Shawn Spears for the NXT North American Championship, Kelani Jordan vs. Jaida Parker, Sol Ruca and Zaria vs. Piper Niven and Chelsea Green…
Wes Lee, Tyriek Igwe, and Tyson Dupont made their entrance first, followed by All Ego Ethan Page…[c]
Giulia vs. Stephanie Vaquer in a title vs. title match and Oba Femi vs. Moose for the NXT Championship were hyped for the Roadblock show…
They used Je’von Evans’s entrance to promote the WWE 2K game. The lights went out and Ricky Saint’s theme played for the first time. It sounded a bit basic at first, but then got better once that beat kicked in (Like his name, it will take getting used to since he did have a memorable theme in AEW). Saints made his entrance to a good reaction. Graves noted that Cody compares Ricky to Barry Windham and that Cody thinks of Ricky as his only and true friend left. Graves talked about CM Punk telling him that Saints has a natural charisma that most people wish of having..
5. Ricky Saints and Je’von Evans vs. Ethan Page and Wes Lee (w/Tyson Dupont, Tyriek Igwe). Dupont and Igwe distracted Evans which allowed Lee to get a cheap shot in. Lee blocked a springboard RKO, but Evans came back with a dropkick combo for a nearfall. Saints tagged in. Lee hit Saints with a right hook. Saints fired up and hit Wes with a flurry of strikes. Evans and Saints dumped Page to ringside with dropkicks. They also dumped Lee to ringside.[c]
Page hit Evans with a nice looking backbreaker on the top buckle, which drew “holy shit” chants from the crowd. The heels cut the ring in half on Je’von for a few minutes. Page actually showed off some cool looking power moves while on offense. Evans got a window of opportunity after nailing Page with a flip kick. Lee and Saints tagged in with Saints having the momentum, cleaning house.
Saints hit Page with a Tornado DDT. Saints hit Wes with a tilt-a-whirl gut buster. Saints hit Wes with a jumping Spears for a nearfall. Evans hit Page at ringside with a Suicide Dive and tossed him over the barricade. Page and Evans brawled to the back. Wes fended off Saints with kicks and tossed him into the barricade. Saints hit Wes with a Bossman Slam. Saints dumped Dupont and Igwe to ringside.
Wes hit Saints with a running meteora for a nearfall. Wes worked on Saints with grounded strikes. Saints struggled off the Kardiak Kick counter, but recovered with a deadlift into The Roshambo (Dominator) for the win.
Ricky Saints and Je’von Evans defeated Wes Lee and Ethan Page via pinfall in 12:48.
The commentary team ran through the advertised matches for next week again. The show closed with Saints doing his signature pose as the executive producer credits flashed on the screen…
John’s Thoughts: A solid introduction of Ricky Saints to the NXT audience. Nothing to nuanced. Basic and effective with Saints coming off like a big star with solid production values in his presentation. It was smart to have Evans and Page tornado out of the match to continue their feud and set the stage for Ricky. I’m curious to see what his first feud will be as a lot of things are settled heading into Stand and Deliver (but it would have been even harder to try to integrate him in a main roster storyline heading into Mania season).
What about Dion Lennox and his little band of bucklers (Bad joke. A buckler is a mini-shield). It looked like they wanted to set them up to be the next Shield or Nexus, but so far they kinda just feel like minor annoyances to the backstage staff, a la The Retribution. That aside, this was actually a solid and efficient show that was focused on booking the Madison Square Garden Theater show. It was a simple formula. TV match, confront in ring, book match. It worked for the most part.
Much better to take this simple approach as opposed to their weird convoluted booking they did to book Vengeance Day (which made Ava look incompetent as an authority figure). With some of the TNA and NXT crossover, and Heartbreak Kid being here, I wonder if they will do what they did with NXT and NXT UK by putting together a “Worlds Collide” show? TNA kinda is WWE’s replacement for NXT UK too, which was where HBK would send NXT 2.0 wrestlers for on excursions.
Moose has a long term contract with TNA right?I agree he should definitely be in WWE or AEW at this point.
I remember them making a big deal of him signing some sort of “largest contract” back when he was due to be a free agent. I think that might have been during the D’Amore time and we’ve already seen Anthem restructure things to fit their current business model…
I do think that TNA should get the most they can out of Moose though (like I said, maybe a run as a top babyface to make up for when he was brought into TNA as the dumbest babyface in all of wrestling).
Personally I just want to see him in a new setting because he has been in one place for so long. I’d think he’d actually help AEW if he joins there because his athleticism would fit in well with their upper mix (as long as they don’t “Brian Cage” him, and have him sell and lose too much)
Oba said “Titan vs Titan” in the ring but his accent got a lot hearing Title vs Title.
Looked like Temu Shield laid out NQCC… hate for that to be their first feud, since they need to win to be established but NQCC is great and deserves pushing higher rather than jobbing to make the new crew..