By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida, at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live July 8, 2025, on The CW Network
[Hour One] Separate shots of Hank and Tank, Joe Hendry and Santana, and Ava and her Assistants were shown…
Vic Joseph, Booker T, and Corey Graves were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
Ricky Saints made his entrance for the opening Gauntlet Match.
1. Ricky Saints vs. Ricky Smokes, Brad Baylor, and Jackson Drake (w/Ethan Page) in a gauntlet match. Saints started the match against Brad Baylor. Saints beat up Baylor in the corners. Saints caught Baylor with a Missile Dropkick and backbreaker. Baylor tried to beg Page for help. Baylor managed to hit Saints with a Ushigoroshi for a nearfall. Baylor hit a Saints with strikes and a Underhook Final Cut for a nearfall.
Saints dodged a knee drop. Saint rallied with right hands and clotheslines. Saints backdropped Baylor and followed up with a running elbow. Saints hit Baylor with a Tornado DDT for the pinfall.
Ricky Saints defeated Brad Baylor in 3:09 to advance in the gauntlet.
Ricky Smokes hit Saints with a twisting suplex for a nearfall heading into break. During the break, Saints suplexed Smokes from the ring to the ground. While the referee was checking on Smokes, Jackson Drake tossed Saints into the barricade. Back from break, Smokes hit Saints with a Ushigoroshi for a nearfall.
Saints reversed a chothesline with a Bossman Slam follwed by an overhead toss. Smokes rolled up Saints for a close nearfall. Saints hit Smokes with an Atomic Drop and Jack knife pin for the pinfall.
Ricky Saints defeated Ricky Smokes via pinfall in 8:38 of total match time to advance in the gauntlet.
Drake put Saints in a Deathlock while stomping on him. Drake then put Saints in a bow and arrow. Drake hit Saints with a basement dropkick right into a Buzzsaw kick. Drake got a two count after a slam. Saints came back with a desperation Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Drake came back with an enzuigiri. Drake missed a Claymore like move. Drake hit Saints with a Superkick. Saints used knees to block a slingshot Swanton. Saints hit Drake with Roshambo for the victory.
Ricky Saints defeated Jackson Drake via pinfall in 12:13 of total match time to run the gauntlet.
Saints took the mic to pick his stipulation. Saints said that he wants his match against Ethan Page at the Great American Bash to be a Falls Count Anywhere match….
John’s Thoughts: A bit questionable to feed Evolve’s big heel faction to a babyface on NXT, but at the same time not too many people watch Evolve and you won’t see these guys every week anyway, so they’ll have time to reboot. The vanity project guys did look good. That Jackson Drake guy is really expressive in his selling, which will be a good asset to him. Saints vs. Page should be fun as usual as those guys always make an effort to put on different and creative matches. I don’t expect a bloodbath like we’ve seen from Saints in AEW, but I know that both men can put on a good match without excessive violence.
Sol Ruca and Zaria were hyping each other up for their matches this upcoming weekend at GaB and Evolution. Lainey Reid showed up to talk trash. Kelani Jordan talked about Reid getting all up in peoples business for no reason. Reid said she’s the future of the division. Jordan said to show her…
Vic Joseph hyped Tavion Heights vs. Charlie Dempsey for after the break…[c]
Jordynne Grace was shown pumping iron in the gym. Blake Monroe called on the phone. Monroe called Grace’s workout boring and they need to have a “glamor workout”. Grace reluctantly agreed and got in Blake’s SUV. Grace got out of the car and said “you gotta be kidding me”. To be continued…
NQCC made their entrance together for the next match…
2. Charlie Dempsey (w/Wren Sinclair) vs. Tavion Heights. Heights started the match with some Judo tosses on Dempsey. Dempsey dumped Heights to ringside with a European Uppercut. Heights dumped Dempsey to ringside with a dropkick. Dempsey dragged Heights around with a cravate. Heights escaped the Cravate with a Body Slam and armdrag. Dempsey ripped off Height’s injury mask and clocked him in the face.
Heights no sold the punch and fired up, hitting Dempsey with a spear and around Dempsey. Dempsey got a moment of respite after hitting Heights with a headbutt at ringside.[c]
During the break, Dempsey used a suplex to dump Heights out of the ring. Back from break, Dempsey was trying to put Heights in a Chickenwing, but Heights reversed it with a rebound Gutwrench Suplex. Heights rallied with Judo tosses and a release Belly to Belly. Heights and Dempsey had a ugly spill to ringside. Dempsey tripped Heights which trapped his leg between the steps and ring.
Dempsey kicked at the steps while Heights writhed in pain. Dempsey dug in on a Single Leg Crab. Dempsey managed to keep Height in the center of the ring. Dempsey converted the move into a modified camel clutch. Heights wouldn’t quit. Wren Sinclair threw in the white towel for the forfeit.
Charlie Dempsey defeated Tavion Heights via forfeit (throwing in the white towel) in 9:37.
John’s Thoughts: A very fun and gritty match. This match had those “good ugly” moments that made the match look grittier. Heights has a bright future and the main roster can definitely benefit from his Olympic and catch style. This was one of Dempsey’s better performances too because there wasn’t a pretense of comedy. The finish was wonk, but I expected them to stretch this story a bit.
Je’von Evans was psyching up Hank and Tank backstage. Jasper Troy showed up and tossed Evans into the garage door to leave him lying…
Mike Santana made his entrance through the Performance Center crowd. Say his name and he appears! I believe in Joe Hendry! Clap clap! Joe Hendry made his entrance. High Ryze made their entrance…
3. Mike Santana and Joe Hendry vs. “The High Ryze” Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe (w/Wes Lee). Hendry and Igwe started the match. Hendry got an early takedown. Dupont and Santana tagged in. Dupont tackled Santana to his corner. Santana escaped and hit both opponent with kicks. Hendry picked up the large Dupont and hit him with his Signature Fallaway Slam. Hendry did the Zoolander turn directed at Santana.[c]
Back from break, Hendry rolled up Dupont for a nearfall. Dupont came back with a spinning shoryuken for a nearfall. Igwe hit Hendry with a cannonbaall. Dupont hit Hendry with a standing splash. Igwe hit Hendry with a standing moonsault for a nearfall. Maxxine Dupri and Natalya were shown arriving at the Performance Center. Hendry fired up and didn’t fade from a Guillotine.
Hendry got a window of opportunity after hitting Igwe with a Suplex. Mike Santana rallied after the hot tag. Santana hit Dupont with the Rolling Buck 50 and hit Igwe with a Sitout Gourd Buster. Santana hit Dupont with a flip dive. Hendry dumped Igwe to ringside and hit him with his signature Senton Plancha. Dupont blocked Spin the block.
Santana planted Dupont with a side slam. Trick Williams tossed Hendry into the steel steps when Wes Lee distracted the ref. Santana knocked Wes off the apron. Santana hit Dupont with Spin the Block for the win.
Mike Santana and Joe Hendry defeated The High Ryze via pinfall in 8:43.
Trick Williams stormed the ring. Santana and Hendry were left lying due to the numbers advantage of Trick and The High Ryze…
John’s Thoughts: Another good taste of what Santana and Hendry can do to viewers that aren’t too familiar with their weekly work on Impact. I feel bad for High Ryze because every time it looks like they are in line for a push, they get pushed back in to that good hand role. High Ryze looked good here, especially Dupont who has good hops for a big man. They are a team WWE can look towards adding depth to the tag division. I would recommend NXT viewers check out last week’s Impact because it was a good standalone episode to hype what they are building towards at Slammiversary.
Highlights aired of Yoshiki Inamura defeating Jasper Troy to become number one contender to the NXT Championship. The show then cut to Great Muta who was hyped telling Inamura to go get that belt. Naomichi Marufuji, Ulka Sasaki, WWE Women’s Champion Iyo Sky, Kaito Kiyomiya all were saying “Gambatte” (You can do it) one way or another…
Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura were shown walking backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Simple and effective “gambatte” video package to hype up Inamura. It was smart to have his Japanese countrymen rally him to fight for the honor of Japan.
DarkState were cutting a promo in s smokey room. Dion Lennox talked about how they left Matt Cardona (a.k.a. Zack Ryder) lying last week on Impact. Saquon Shugars said they’ll be doing more in TNA down the road. Cutler James said they’ll be looking at the tag title match later. Dion yelled about how you won’t see DarkState coming…
[Hour Two] Yoshiki Inamura and Josh Briggs made their entrance. Inamura was in a dress suit. NXT Champion Oba Femi then made his strutting entrance. Inamura said Oba wanted to see if Inamura was worthy and has grit. Inamura said he earned his title shot and he’s ready. He said the fans, Briggs, his friends and family and Japan all support him. He said he wants to make them proud. He said he’ll fight with honor at Great American Bash.
Inamura said he’ll be the new NXT Champion. Oba said he sees Inamura has a lot of supporters, who can pick up the pieces when Oba breaks him. Oba asked Inamura if he can lose with honor. Oba said the truth will prevail and Inamura can’t take the title from him. Briggs said Inamura is being polite after destroying Jasper Troy. Briggs said Inamrua will destroy Oba. Briggs said Inamura will beat Oba’s ass.
Briggs said Inamura is a man of honor, but he isn’t. He said he’s a man of mayhem and will make sure Inamura leaves GaB as champion. Oba told Inamura to get out of his face before his face gets broken. Oba and Briggs brawled. Oba dumped Briggs to ringside. Inamura gave Oba a body slam. Referees ran out to separate both men…
The show cut to a cinematic with Blake Monroe and Jordynne Grace at the nail salon. Grace said she wants to Uber back to the gym. Monroe called Grace her “muscle muffin” and said that this is like training too. Grace reluctantly agreed. A montage aired. Monroe forced Grace in a bathrobe. Grace took off the sleeves to make it like a Judo robe. Grace and Monroe got massages. Grace talked about how she can’t feel it.
Grace and Monroe then were getting their makeup done. Grace said this isn’t her vibe. Blake said you can lift your self esteem in addition to weights. Grace said this is starting to grow on her. Grace said that after they beat Fatal Influence at Great American Bash, she’ll beat Jayne for the title at Evolution…
John’s Thoughts: A bit campy, but a good showcase of what Blake Monroe can bring to the party in terms of character work. She’s really going to shine in cinematics given her strong camera presence. I wonder if Grace comes out of Evolution with the title. Reason being, is at Slammiversary they are doing a Women’s vs. Knockouts Title match and I wonder if the plan is to put both belts on Jordynne Grace given her history with both companies, NXT and TNA. Either that, or I don’t mind Masha Slamovich winning the NXT Women’s Championship to get more of her on NXT (but where does Blake Monroe fall in all of this as it look like she’s being fasttracked to the top).
Lainey Reid made her entrance…
4. Kelani Jordan vs. Lainey Reid. Jordan dominated the match while showing off agility. Reid tripped Jordan on the apron and then slammed her leg into the apron. Reid focused her offense on the left knee of Jordan. Jordan rolled up Reid for a two count. Jordan rallied back while selling the injured knee. Reid hit Jordan with a Spinebuster. Zelina Vega was shown arriving to the PC. Reid put Jordan in a Boston Crab.
Jordan escaped by sending Reid into the turnbuckle. Kelani rallied with axe handles while selling the knee. Jordan hit Reid with a handstand elbow. Jordan’s leg gave out on her initially, but Jordan was able to hit Reid with Wasteland. Reid hit Jordan with a Gamengiri. Kelani slapped Reid off the top rope. Jordan hit Reid with One of a Kind for the victory.
Kelani Jordan defeated Lainey Reid via pinfall in 4:24.
Thea Hail ran out and jumped Lainey Reid. Reid and Hail brawled to the back…
A medic was checking on Je’von Evans in the medical room. Jasper Troy ran in and attacked Evans some more. Medics dragged Troy away…[c]
The show cut to a cinematic. Stacks, Tony D’Angelo, and Luca Crucifino were standing around a table. Adriana Rizzo showed up and told them to sit down. Rizzo said she didn’t want to see the family burn. She said while she was in the safehouse, she watch Tony D, Luca, and Stacks not living up to what the family stands for.
She talked about all the good times they had at the Italian restaurant and dropping people off bridges. She said there’s no saving this. Rizzo said they have one last piece of family business. Rizzo said she knows Stacks thought he deserves better, that Luca hopes Tony D approves of him, and Tony D is always paranoid about someone stabbing him in the back.
Rizzo said she talked to Ava and she booked the Stacks, Tony D, and Luca in a triple threat. Stacks said this sounds like a setup. All three men started to bicker. All three men got up and glared at each other. Stacks told Tony D to watch his back. Luca talked about how he just wants to do things by himself now…
John’s Thoughts: The last couple of segments from the Tony D Family Civil War were better than the previous, but this story is dragging out too much. I hope what Rizzo said was true and the triple threat will be the end of their story.
The commentators tried to check in, but Jasper Troy was in the ring demanding that Ava book Jasper Troy vs. Je’von Evans at the Great American Bash. Je’von Evans stormed the ring, but crumpled when Troy hit him in the injured ribs. Security tried to keep both men apart. Evans recovered and hit Troy and a bunch of security with a dive. Security dragged Evans to the back…
Tatum Paxley joined The Culling in their dark room. Izzi thanked Tatum for getting Niko and Spears a tag title match. Niko said he put Hank and Tank once, and he’ll do it again. Spears brought up how Hank and Tank are just making assumptions that he and Niko jumped them. Tatum said she hopes all four of them have gold to match the color of their hearts…
Back at the ring, The Culling made their entrance…[c]
Vic Joseph plugged all the events WWE has going this weekend…
Hank and Tank made their entrance and quickly brawled with Spears and Vance…
5. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger vs. “The Culling” Shawn Spears and Niko Vance (w/Izzi Dame, Tatum Paxley) for the NXT Tag Team Titles. Spears slowed things down after hitting Hank with a Snapmare. Niko and Shawn cut the ring in half on Hank. Tank tagged in and hit Vance with a Pounce. Hank hit Vance with a Piggyback Splash to give Tank a nearfall. Vance hit Tank with a headbutt and tagged in Spears.
Ivy Nile was shown arriving to the PC. Spears and Niko cut the ring in half on Tank. Hank managed to tag in and give Vance a Bulldog. Tank hit Vance with a Senton. Vance dodged to ringside to avoid a dive. Izzi and Tatum distracted Hank. Vance gave Hank a Pounce and sent him right into Booker T, causing Booker to take a bump.[c]
A “you hit Booker” chant ensued during the break. Hank shoved Vance off the top rope and hit him with a diving clothesline. Tank got the hot tag and hit Spears with an Atomic Drop. Tank hit Vance with a Suicide Dive. Spears caught Tank with two superkicks. Vance tagged in and hit Tank with a diving headbutt. Hank flew into the ring to break up Vance’s pin.
Tatum got on the apron to distract the referee. Izzi hit Tank with a big boot. Spears hit Tank with an Impaler for a nearfall. Sol Ruca and Zaria ran out to fight with Izzi and drag tatum to the back. Hank and Tank took their shirts off and fired up. Spears took the bullet for Vance by taking Hank and Tank’s sandwich move. Hank and Tank dumped Vance to ringside. Hank and Tank hit their High Low Power Slam on Spears for the victory.
Hank Walker and Tank Ledger defeated The Culling via pinfall in 10:50 to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.
Tank had got a cut and was bleeding near the eye…
The commentators ran through the Great American Bash card…
NXT GM Ava was shown walking backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A really fun tag team match that had the crowd fired up by the end. Hank and Tank looking like two normal dudes (Hank looking like Seth Rogen’s long lost son) make you underestimate how good of a tag team they have become from a in-ring perspective. Not sure why Spears took the bullet for Vance in the end, but that might lead to something they say in a backstage promo. The kickout after that Impaler DDT was a great nearfall near the end given how they’ve been building up Tatum as an X Factor.
The show cut to Kale Dixon backstage saying he’s nervous and has high blood pressure. He told Andre Chase that he was freaking out and can’t wrestle today. Chase agreed and told Kale and Uriah that they’ll figure something out… weird?
NXT GM Ava was in the center of the ring with a podium. Ava talked about being in high school during the first Evolution. She talked about Iyo Sky being on that show. Ava then talked about the various women who were on that card. Ava then said as the first women’s GM in NXT she’s happy about what NXT is going to do at Evolution. She said that Sol Ruca and Zaria have a chance at tag team gold. She said six NXT women will be at the Battle Royal.
Ava announced Jaida Parker, Lola Vice, Kelani Jordan, Lash Legend, Izzi Dame, and Tatum Paxley being in the Evolution Battle Royal. She said NXT has the deepest women’s division in the world. Fatal Influence interrupted. Jacy Jayne asked if Ava forgot about the NXT Women’s Champion? Jacy said Ava keeps talking about everyone else, when she’s going to be the star of Evolution. Jordynne Grace interrupted. A “muscle muffin” chant ensued.
Grace said Evolution is about the women who paved the way, but when Grace becomes champion she will steer the division to the future. Lash Legend made her entrance saying everyone can fight over the NXT Women’s Championship while she’s going after the WWE Women’s Championship when she wins the battle royal. Stephanie Vaquer made her entrance to a huge pop.
Stephanie said Jacy is the NXT Champion and she respects that she beat her, but Grace is going to leave Sunday as champion. Stephanie said she’s going to win the battle royal. Maxxine Dupri and Natalya made their entrance. Maxxine said you are forgetting to talk about the BOAT Natalya. Natalya said the Dungeon Dolls are here to win. Various WWE main roster women showed up around the ring.
Jaida Parker came in from the crowd and said she’s going to throw all ya’lls little asses over the top rope. After Jaida dropped the mic, all the women brawled in the ring. Izzi Dame and Tatum Paxley kept their distance and watched up the ramp. The show closed with the brawl continuing…
John’s Thoughts: Welp. That felt weak and pointless. So they flew in a huge chunk of the main roster’s women’s roster just to give them about a second of screen time? Maybe bring in Stephanie because her pop felt effective, but everyone else felt like they didn’t need them there. I think I even saw WWE Women’s US Champion Giulia just kinda standing there in the corner? This segment probably would have been more effective if it was just the NXT women brawling.
While the show closing segment felt missable, the rest of the show was pretty solid. One flaw about the show is focus, but that’s WWE’s fault for booking too many PPV level events on a single weekend. On top of that, they are also booking towards TNA Slammiversary. I would recommend NXT viewers check out last week’s Impact as it was a much more focused show than NXT, and features multiple NXT storylines. This week’s NXT didn’t even announce the Masha Slamovich vs. [Jordynne Grace or Jacy Jayne] in a Title vs. Title match yet, and that’s a huge match! (But again, that goes into WWE booking too many big shows together).
You didn’t give your thoughts on Kelanivs.Lainey.
It looked like Kelani might’ve been injured unless she was selling.