By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live May 13, 2025, on The CW Network
[Hour One] Highlights from last week’s NXT show aired…
Vic Joseph, Booker T, and Corey Graves were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
No Quarter Catch Crew made their entrance. Mike Rome introduced Myles Borne as the number one contender to the NXT Championship. Myles took the mic and talked about how he took the world by surprise by winning the battle royal and going to Battleground. He noted he wasn’t anybody’s first, second, or third pick. Myles talked about how he’s been dancing around it for a long time, but he has a disability, being partially deaf, which affects how he hears and talks.
Myles talked about hearing people go crazy after beating Ethan Page. He said he doesn’t want to be know as “the deaf kid”. He said he wants to be judged on his ability, not disability. Myles said that’s what everyone with a disability wants to be judged by. He said he is the underdog, but he’s fighting for all the kids out there struggling fighting their own fight to prove that you too can achieve success. Myles said they didn’t give him a shot last week, but look what happened. Myles said he’s going to shock the world again.
He said he may be hard of hearing, but at Battleground he’ll hear Mike Rome announce him as new NXT Champion. All Ego Ethan Page made his entrance and said it’s enough with the sentimental crap. Page noted that Myles won a battle royal off a fluke. A “Myles can’t hear you” chant ensued. Page said he agrees and there’s no closed captioning. Page said Myles can read his lips and see that “you can’t beat Oba”. Page said he has a better idea, Myles can put the contendership on the line tonight against Page to prove himself.
Charlie Dempsey cut in and said that going against a former NXT Champion could be a good learning experience. Myles said Charlie is right and that it’s on. NXT GM Ava made her entrance. Ava said she doesn’t think this is the right move, but she sees how important it is for Myles to prove himself. Ava approved of Myles putting his title shot on the line. Ava noted that the match would be scheduled for later and that Charlie’s match against Oba is scheduled for now…
John’s Thoughts: Solid promo with a good amount of Pathos behind Borne. It’s was good for him to finally get his disability out there instead of using it as a running inside joke as he noted. It explains why he hears and speaks differently than the rest of us, but at the same time he’s fairly solid in the ring, looking like one of the smoothest in-ring wrestlers in the world, Randy Orton. I’m okay with him putting the title shot in the line. I expect him to win, but the fact that he came outta nowhere out of a undercard faction, makes him look vulnerable, thus making it feel like he might lose to the upper tier Ethan Page.
NXT Champion Oba Femi made his entrance.
1. NXT Champion Oba Femi vs. Charlie Dempsey (w/Myles Borne, Wren Sinclari, Tavion Heights) in a non-title match. Oba took down Dempsey with a standing switch takedown. The show quickly went to commercial.[c]
Dempsey had Oba in a grounded key lock. Oba escaped, but Dempsey put Oba in a Triangle. Oba deadlifted himself out of the hold. Oba backdropped Dempsey. Dempsey worked on Oba with shortarm chops and tossed him into the turnbuckle. Dempsey worked on Oba’s left arm with holds and stomps. Oba lowered his base and tackled Dempsey into the corner. Dempsey came back with a knee lift for a two count.
Oba deadlifted Dempsey into a body slam. Dempsey surprised Oba with a boot and Bridged German Suplex for a two count. Dempsey put Oba in a shortarm scissors on the left arm. Oba deadlifted Dempsey into a Electric Chair slam. Both men traded right hands with Oba getting a European Uppercut rally. Oba had a uppercut rally, ending in a running Shoryuken. Oba tossed Dempsey and hit him with a pop-up power bomb for the win…
Oba Femi defeated Charlie Dempsey via pinfall in 8:24.
John’s Thoughts: Good showcase for the NXT Champion, but a good showing for the son of William Regal. Regal’s son looked more like Regal here too, looking credible in the forgone conclusion situation. Doing good holds and not looking like a full pushover. I hope they get back to doing something with No Quarter Catch Crew outside of Borne as Dempsey has talent and I think they have a good catalyst in the group in Wren Sinclair. Why did they drop William Regal from WWE television outta nowhere as I thought he was off to a good thing with Lexis King. His strong initial run as the leader of Blackpool Combat Club had me really anticipating him doing more on-air stuff.
Karmen Petrovic was chatting with Thea Hail backstage. They stumbled on Tatum Paxley throwing a fit. Paxley talked about losing her two best friends (the recently released Shotzi and Gigi Dolin). Paxley said that Karmen will soon leave Thea. Paxley was just projecting. Paxley stormed off…
Tony D’Angelo made his entrance by himself…[c]
An ad aired for Evolve…
Ricky Saints confronted Ethan Page backstage about trying to ruin the parade of Ethan Page. Page said he agrees that it’s a positive and he’s about to win the title shot to restore balance in NXT. Page said “good luck with that”…
Wes Lee and his crew made their entrance. A PIP promo aired where Wes Lee hyped up himself…
2. Tony D’Angelo vs. Wes Lee (w/Tyson Dupont, Tyriek Igwe). Wes put Tony D in a side headlock to start the match. Wes avoided a clothesline and gloated in front of Tony D’s face. Tony caught Wes out of the air off a crossbody attempt. Tony D hit Wes with hockey punches. Tony D hit Wes with a flying punch. Tony D hip tossed Wes back in the ring off the apron. Igwe grabbed Tony D’s leg, but Tony D escaped and gave Wes a boot. Tony tossed Wes to ringside, but he was caught by Tyson and Tyriek. Tony D hit Wes, Tyson, and Tyriek with a crossbody heading into break.[c]
Wes worked on Tony D with methodical offense back from break. Tony D made a comeback after Wes tried to get on Tony’s nerves about his family breaking. Tony D took down Tyriek and Tyson at ringside after they braced Wes’s fall. Wes tossed Tony in the ring and got a two count. Wes hit Tony with a Superkick. Tony D came back with an Overhead belly to belly. Tony D suplexed Wes around the ring.
Tony D hit Wes with a big power slam for a nearfall. Wes reversed Tony and hit him wiht a high kick. Tony D used a Spear to reverse a Kardiak Kick. Stacks suddenly appeared on the big screen and noted he was in front of Rizzo’s safe house. Wes hit a distracted Tony with a Kardiak Kick for the win.
Wes Lee defeated Tony D’Angelo via pinfall in 10:15.
Stacks said he’ll pay Rizzo a visit. Tony D headed to the back immediately…
NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer was shown walking backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Yes, I’m numb to the overdone distraction finishes in pro wrestling; but at least it made sense here and was productive in forwarding the Stacks-Tony story while putting a little bit of heat on Wes. I kinda hope they do something with the promising Wes, Tyson, and Tyriek group. Wes is one of the best overall workers in WWE, but that also comes at a detriment in that it puts him first in line to make others look good. I hope they end up putting him in a better spot eventually.
A Out Tha Mud vignette aired where they both talked about their comeback…
John’s Thoughts: Again, I love the concept of OTM, but I think Bronco and Lucien are missing something being underdeveloped developmental wrestlers. Underdeveloped from a character perspective. They feel a bit like the old TNA LAX, but without the sizzle. I feel like they need someone who has the ethos of comin from out tha mud, like a Scrypts, like a Mike Santana.
Stephanie Vaquer made her entrance. Stephanie talked about Grace becoming number one contender to her championship. She said she respects Jordynne’s journey of being at the top of TNA to wanting to be top of NXT. Vaquer lost her self a bit, but got back on track by speaking in spanish. Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley made their entrance to trash talk. Henley said Stephanie is one of a kind, but that will make Steph’s downfall much sweeter. Jacy cut off Henley talking about how she can’t relate to being a North American Champion like Henley and Stephanie.
Henley snapped back at talking about how Steph also beat Giulia for the NXT title. Jordynne Grace made her entrance. Grace said Jacy and Fallon can’t get out of each others’ way and shouldn’t be talking about the NXT Women’s Championship. She said she’s not saving the day, but protecting her investment. Stephanie said she’s not an investment. Jacy and Henley bickered again. Jacy said she and Henley have been holding down the NXT women’s division while Stephanie and Jordynne have been travelling the world.
Stephanie cut in, saying Grace will fail. Grace said she will beat Stephanie at Battleground, and nothing is going to stop her, not even Fatal Influence. Grace said she’s here to make sure Stephanie makes it to Battleground in one piece. Jayne teased Fatal Influence getting involved in the title picture before they left…
Tavion Heights and Wren Sinclair were helping prop up a battered Charlie Dempsey. They all hyped Myles up for his upcoming match…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Jazmyn Nyx was randomly gone outta nowhere, and not even brought up. Anyways, a bit of a weird segment to promote the women’s championship match at Battleground. I still expect it to be one hell of a match, and that match should have been the headline match of Stand and Deliver (any one on one combination of Grace, Vaquer, and Giulia should have been the Stand and Deliver match). All this segment told me is that they are going to shoehorn Fatal Influence into the match somehow to cause some shenanigans.
Bully Ray Dudley and Undertaker were shown hyping up the finalist women from LFG. Bully talked about how only one of the two women will get an NXT contract to wrestle in the best women’s division in the business. Izzi Dame and Nikkita Lyons showed up to talk smack to the rookies. Lash Legend and Lola Vice showed up to do the same. Taker said that the two rookies have their work cut out for them…
Tony D barged over to a van and told the driver to head over to Rizzo’s safe house…
Myles Borne was already in the ring. All Ego Ethan Page got a televised entrance. Vic plugged Money in the Bank and World’s Collide in Inglewood, CA…
3. “All Ego” Ethan Page vs. Myles Borne. Borne started the match with some Randy Orton like methodical chain wrestling. Borne did a leapfrog and armdrag. Page came back with methodical strikes. Borne came back with a suplex and some Randy Orton looking Uppercut combos. Page took down Borne and gave him mounted punches. Borne broke a headlock with a back suplex. Page went right back into a chinlock. Borne slammed Page into the buckle to escape the hold.
Borne hit Page with a right hand combination and corner splash. Borne jumped over Page, but ate a boot. Borne dumped Page to ringside heading into break.[c]
[Hour Two] Borne hit Page with a Orton Power Slam. The crowd chanted “RKO”. Borne rallied with right hands and a Belly to Belly into a kip up. Borne hit Page with a Stinger Splash and Angle Slam for a nearfall. Page used a double arm block to a dropkick for a nearfall. Page dragged Borne to the top rope. Borne escaped and hit Page with a flying clothesline. Page stopped on a dime. Both men traded counters. Bourne hit Page with a dropkick and got a jackknife pin for the win with Page kicking out after the 3.
Myles Borne defeated Ethan Page via pinfall in 11:08.
John’s Thoughts: A big win for the developmental Borne. Expected that he would win, but Page’s credibility did make this meaningful. Page kicking out after the three made Borne look plucky while protecting Page somewhat. I think it’s time to take Page off NXT television and just scoot him to Raw or Smackdown. I think he’d be good on Smackdown as an up and coming heel. I don’t want to see him in the “spinning wheels” position that Bron Breakker was in for the longest time. The position we see Roxanne Perez kinda in now.
A Sean Legacy Twitter promo aired where he talked about all the hype he got after last week’s battle royal. Legacy then called out Je’von Evans for a match…
The show cut to Je’von Evans and Ashante the Adonis in the locker room. Adonis said that Evans is too big of a star to worry about an indie wrestler. Evans said he won’t forget where he came from. Adonis said he’d smoke Evans and Legacy for real for real. Ricky Saints cut in and hyped them to go after his title…
A teaser aired for “Stephanie’s Places” featuring The Undertaker as Stephanie’s guest…
Thea Hail made her entrance to her non-Eddie Edwards, but Metal Gear Revengence sounding theme…[c]
A replay aired of Stacks talking about being in front of Rizzo’s hiding spot…
Tony D was approaching Rizzo’s safehouse and was kicked to the ground by Stacks. Stacks trash talked Tony D, talking about being a step ahead of Tony. Stacks said at Battleground he’ll put an end to the D’Angelo Family once and for all…
Tatum Paxley made her entrance. Paxley was selling the sadness over Gigi and Shotzi being released. Even having tears messing up her eye shadow…
4. Thea Hail vs. Tatum Paxley. Hail dominated early on, but was popped up into a gut Punt. Jaida Parker was shown watching the match on a monitor. Hail rolled up Paxley for a nearfall. Paxley hit Hail with a Liger Kick to the back for a nearfall. Paxley continued to cry about Gigi and Shotzi. Both women traded counters. Hail hit Paxley with a shoulder breaker. Hail rallied with running axe handles and a bulldog.
Paxley came back with a knee to Hail’s face. Hail reversed Paxley into a kimura. Paxley grabbed the bottom rope for a break. Paxley rolled up Hail for a break. Hail hit Paxley with a Underhook Slam into a rough transition into a Kimura. Paxley jabbed a thumb into Hail’s eye for an extended time for a DQ.
Thea Hail defeated Tatum Paxley via DQ in 4:32.
Mike Rome made the formal DQ announcement. Referees ran out to pull Paxley off Hail…
John’s Thoughts: HBK and the NXT crew haven’t shyed away from using real life releases as a part of NXT storylines. Hey, they did that with Zach Wentz after his unfortunate thing and he’s found his way back as a regular now. I’m actually intrigued to see where this leads to Paxley, as she showed a bit of a progression in character here. She’s been a bit stagnant coming off her run as Lyra Valkyria’s stalker. She is very talented so I hope this leads to bigger and better things. If anything, I do like the different DQ finish as we don’t usually see DQ’s from a thumb to an eye.
The show cut to Jaida reveling at Hail getting whooped. Kelani Jordan stormed into the locker room to confront Sol and Zaria. Zaria said Jordan can bitch all she wants, the result will all be the same. Jordan said if she can beat Zaria next week, she’ll face Sol Ruca for the title. Sol agreed. Zaria didn’t like Sol randomly setting up that match…
Trick Williams, TNA Champion Joe Hendry, and NXT GM Ava were shown meeting at a table backstage for the upcoming contract signing…
Vic announced Tony D vs. Stacks for Battleground…
The show cut to backstage where NXT GM Ava was moderating the Joe Hendry vs. Trick Williams contract signing. Ava hyped up TNA lasting for 23 years. She also hyped up AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, LA Knight, and Bully Ran as former TNA Champions. Trick said he’ll take what’s important to Joe, the TNA title. Trick said Battleground is his house. Joe said he knows that Trick does more to be more, but Trick has forgotten about that and has resorted to bitching.
Both men stood up, but Ava told them to sit down because security was outside. Joe said TNA has been hottest than it’s been in years. He said he wakes up every day to keep that hot, by being champion. He said he’ll put down TNA and NXT stars. He said the title will be on the line on a WWE PLE and that’s a big deal. Trick said it’s a big deal because of him. He said he’s bigger than TNA. He said he’s Hollywood.
Trick said every man has their 15 minutes of fame, except Trick. He said he’ll take Joe’s fame, title, and brand. Ava shoved the contract over and Trick signed it. Joe said noone is more confident than Trick Williams. Joe said Trick main evented Stand and Deliver two years in a row, so Battleground isn’t the biggest match of his career, but it might be the most important due to Trick being at a crossroads.
Joe said Trick can’t get back to the NXT title, and after Battleground he can’t get to the TNA title. Joe said as fast as Trick’s star can rise, it’ll fall down just as fast. Joe signed the contract…
John’s Thoughts: Different, but simple and effective. No brawls, just teaser. What it should be. Given the fact that I thought that Frankie Kazarian should be TNA Champ now for proper box office, I think they kept the title on Joe to lose to Trick. Not sure how the public sees it, but I review and watch TNA Impact every week, and that’s how the tea leaves predict. It should be clear that Mike Santana will challenge for the TNA title in New York at Slammiversary and he needs a strong heel to go against. Why not have it be the evil WWE guy?
Hank and Tank met up with Josh Briggs to console him about losing Inamura as a tag partner. Josh talked about how Inamura had Josh’s back when he was on excursion in Japan. He said he feels guilty about pushing Inamura away. Shawn Spears showed up to tell Briggs that Briggs should have done things differently. Spears called Briggs a cancer in his previous two relationships. Briggs said he has a good idea how he can clear his head. Spears walked off…
Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors confronted Ava to ask for a random match to show people what the new Chase U is all about. Ava granted both of them a debut tag team match next week. Andre Chase showed up. Ava said Uriah and Kale will face the returning OTM. Chase yelled “What the F*ck”…
A Joe Hendry Rock Concert and a Trick Williams Rap performance was announced for next week’s NXT…
Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne were already in the ring (no mention of Jazmyn Nyx). Jordynne Grace made her entrance followed by Stephanie Vaquer…
5. Jordynne Grace and NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer vs. “Fatal Influence” Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne. Grace gave Henley a backbreaker and stiff shortarm lariats. Stephanie tagged herself in and gave Henley a slingshot crossbody. Henley tripped Steph off a tightrope. Jayne tagged in and talked smack to Steph while isolating her. Vaquer and Jayne traded rapid rollup pin attempts. Vaquer teased Booker T’s favorite horny move, but put Jayne in a cravate.
Henley tagged in. Vaquer escaped a double suplex and hit Henley with a Codebreaker while giving Jayne a Senton. Jane pulled Grace off the apron to prevent the hot tag. Henley dropped Grace and Vaquer with running strikes. Henley hit both opponents with a Triangle Crossbody heading into break.[c]
Back from break, Vaquer tried to fend off both opponents with right hands, but was taken down with a lariat from Jayne for a nearfall. Jayne hit Vaquer with a Yakuza Kick. Vaquer hit Jayne with Cheeky Nandos. Grace caught the hot tag after Henley also tagged in. Grace hit both opponents with rapid strikes. Grace hit Henley with a Cartwheel DVD and clothesline. Jayne broke up Grace’s pin.
Henley planted her feet and hit Grace with a nice suplex. All four women traded hands. Jayne took down both opponents with superkicks. Fatal Influence went for a Meet in the Middle on Vaquer, but Grace took the bullet. The commentators pointed out Grace “protecting her investment”. Grace gave both opponents backfist. Grace hit Jayne with the Grace Driver for the victory.
Jordynne Grace and Stephanie Vaquer defeated Fatal Influence via pinfall in 10:54.
The commentators ran through the advertised NXT Battleground Card. Grace grabbed the Women’s Title and handed it over to Stephanie. Grace and Vaquer posed in victory…
The camera cut to backstage, where Ethan Page was standing over Ricky Saints after slamming him into the garage door…
The show then cut back to the ring where Vic hyped up Grace and Vaquer to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: The usual formula of having the challengers team together before facing each other. Solid stuff. Hey, we didn’t get Stephanie’s horny-male fan favorite move. No need, as it didn’t take away from the match. Booker didn’t seem disappointed. They don’t have to do much to hype this match anyway as it should be a banger given both women’s track records. Give these women 20+ minutes. They probably won’t but I sure as damn hell know that both women can deliver if given that time.
Is Myles supposed to be carrying the LFG mic or is that a mistake I wonder?
I have to say this – speaking as a person with a disability myself (I’m Autistic – ASD1) – good for Myles Borne! When I was a referee locally in Melbourne, Australia, we had a guy who was totally deaf and still did good. Myles was absolutely right – don’t judge a person on their disability. Judge them on their ability. Us Autistics have been fighting for that for decades. I salute Myles, and I salute WWE for giving him the voice to say that.
Gigi didn’t leave you Tatum she was released.
Lol
TKO COO Mark Shapiro has revealed WWE has cut live events by 75 percent due to losing money.
Nothing worth anyone saying a word about here, of course…
Here’s what he actually said. “We cut those house shows down to where now we’re doing 200 events a year. We cut them 75 percent, the number of house shows that we do. We feel that’s a good place to be and we’ll continue to prune as we go through. WWE has tremendous upside on global partnerships. Tremendous upside on ticket pricing. Tremendous upside on site fees, dynamic pricing, yield management. All areas we’re really focusing and pushing in on as it related to live events. As you saw on our first quarter, our margins significantly expanded as it relates to WWE live events.”