By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Houston, Texas at 713 Music Hall
Aired live July 22, 2025, on The CW Network
[Hour One] Separate shots of Fatal Influence, Ricky Saints, Oba Femi, and Trick Williams were shown as they were arriving to the arena…
Vic Joseph and Corey Graves checked in on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer. Vic wondered where Booker T was? Booker T showed up at Gorilla Position with a mic and a camera following him. Booker ran down the advertised segments in his home town of Houston, TX. Booker ended his promo by saying “Can you dig that? Sucka!!!!”…
Entrances for the opening match took place…
1. Sol Ruca, Zaria, Hank Walker, and Tank Ledger vs. “The Culling” Izzi Dame, Tatum Paxley, Shawn Spears, and Niko Vance in a mixed tag match. After a brawl, Niko got control on Hank with a pop up headbutt. Spears and Vance used quick tags to cut the ring in half on Hank. Tank tagged in when Hank tossed Spears into the corner. After a senton, Tank got at two count on Spears. Spears came back with a knee and tagged in Tatum, which mean Zaria had to come in due to mixed tag rules.
Sol tagged in and leapfrogged over Zaria for a X Factor on Tatum. Tatum escaped a press slam. Spears and Tank tagged in. Tank hit Spears with a cartwheel into a clothesline. When Hank and Tank went for their sandwich move, both teams traded hands. The babyfaces hit stereo body slams on The Culling. Sol and Zaria joined in on a four person sandwich with Hank and Tank on Spears.[c]
Back from break, Tank and Vance were trading hands. Vance used a headbutt to take down Tank. Tank dodged a top rope dive from Vance. Spears tagged in to cut Tank off at the pass. Hank used his body to pad Tank from an Irish Whip. Vance took down Tank. Sol and Tatum tagged in. Sol cleaned house with both women opponents. Zaria tagged in. Zaria tossed Sol into Tatum. Sol got on Zaria’s shoulders and did a twisting moonsault on Tatum.
Izzi broke up Zaria’s pin. Tatum hit Zaria with an enzuigiri. Tank took down Vance with a shoulder tackle. Tank flapjacked Hank on Vance. Hank took down Spears with a clothesline. Dame gave Hank a codebreaker and at the same time gave Tank a Senton. Izzi hit Hank and Tnak with crossbodies. Sol hit Spears with a crossbody. Tatum hit a running Zaria with a knee. Zaria saw Spears on the top rope and hit him with an F5.
Tatum rolled up Zaria for a nearfall. Zaria hit Tatum with a Spear. Sol tossed Dame into the steps. Spears gave Tatum a barbie doll. The DarkState light show happened as they appeared in the crowd. The lights then went to normal and Tatum did something to Zaria to pick up the pinfall (Did she hit her with the doll? I missed it).
The Culling defeated Zaria, Sol Ruca, Hank Walker, and Tank Ledger via pinfall in 10:54.
A replay aired of Jacy Jayne winning the TNA Knockouts Championship at Slammiversary…
Fatal Influence were shown walking backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A fun show opener that the crowd seemed very into. I think the catalyst for the crowd being into it is Sol Ruca who is one of the most innovative wrestlers in WWE. Hank and Tank are also good at hyping up the crowd. Can’t say I’m into whatever this program is. On top of that, the finish was ass. I rewinded it to check. Apparently whatever caused the finish was in darkness and presumably had to do with Tatum hitting Zaria with a barbie doll. Ugh. Not to mention, DarkState are as cold as ever, notably eating a clean job to the random TNA tag team on Sunday (I say random, because they took a random heel tag team and turned them babyface for a night just to squash DarkState).
Jordynne Grace tried to enter the arena, but Ava and security guards were there to prevent her from entering due to Grace attacking Ava’s two assistants and being suspended. Grace said she’ll find a way to get her hands on Blake Monroe somehow…
Fatal Influence made their entrance with Mike Rome announcing Jacy Jayne as the new TNA Knockouts Champion. Dueling “Jacy Two Belts” and “Jacy sucks” chants ensued which Jacy hyped up. She brought up people calling her a third wheel and “most vulnerable champion”. She bragged about being the women’s champion in TNA and NXT. Jayne said it wasn’t Grace, Monroe, or any indie darlings, it’s Jayne as champion. She said she did it all by herself with no support, because everyone wrote her off.
She said she entered TNA’s highest attended show in history, and walked out Knockouts Champion. She said people always talk about wanting to put their names in the history books, so much that it’s become cliche. Jayne said there’s nothing cliche about her because she’s standing here in front of you. Lash Legend made her entrance. Lash said she has to give Jayne her flowers. Lash said no one expected Jayne to be the double champion.
Lash said Jayne decided to take the top spot to be that number one girl, so grats. Lash said Jayne’s delusional ass isn’t gonna be up there long because she’s going to downward spiral real fast. Lash said that’s because it’s Lash Legend’s moment to Lash Out. Lash talked about her big night at Evolution where she eliminated Nikki Bella and Nia Jax to prove she’s one of the most dominant forces in WWE. She said if she can can prove she’s up there with Raw and Smackdown girls, it’s time to go after one of Jayne’s belts.
Jaida Parker made her entrance and praised Lash for doing her thang in the Battle Royal. Jaida said in NXT though, Jaida Parker has a direct line to the women’s championship. Jaida said she’s the walking reality check and the face and future of the division. Jayne said she’ll let Lash and Jaida hash it out. Jayne told Henley and Nyx to go get em. Henley and Nyx stood back. Jayne jumped Lash and Parker, to let Henley and Nyx join in. Lash and Parker dumped Fatal Influence to ringside and then jawed with each other…
Ricky Saints asked Je’von Evans backstage what he’s writing on a notebook. Evans said he’s just writing notes on new moves and future plans. Saints praised Evans for his big win over Jasper Troy and how he wants to beat Jasper too. Saints asked Evans if he has notes on Troy. Evans said Troy is a hall of fame crash out, mad all the time. Evans said that all Saints has to do is be Saints. Evans and Saints dapped it up to end the segment…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A fine enough gloating promo from Jacy Jayne, but I think she needs to tone down the lampshading of her always pointing out how people call her a weak champion. Keep saying that, and it only perpetuates into reality, making it hard to change perception. Lash and Parker showing up sets up two future opponents. Jaida’s already finely developed. Lash Legend needs some vignettes to develop her because she’s a bit of a blank slate after being separated from Noam Dar and MetaFour.
Tavion Heights and Charlie Dempsey were hyping up Wren Sinclair backstage for her upcoming match. Myles Borne also showed up to praise Wren. Lexis King was in the background kicking an arcade machine because it didn’t work. He continues to act like a weirdo…
Entrances for the next match took place…
John’s Thoughts: One thing that stood out during those entrances, is that Ricky Saints’s entrance looks really good in a larger venue outside of the Performance Center. They have that ready for his impending main roster callup.
2. Ricky Saints vs. Jasper Troy. Ricky rallied early on with right hands. Troy came back with shoulder tackles in the corner. Saints turned the tables and gave Troy 8 of 10 Punches in the corner before being shoved away. Saints dodged a running splash and put Troy in a side headlock. Troy hit Saints with a Dominator 2 for for a nearfall. Troy dumped Saints to ringside heading into break.[c]
Back from break, Troy ragdolled Saints with a Bear Hug. Saints tossed his wristband away to distract the ref, which allowed him to escape the hug by biting Troy’s head. Saints gave Tory a suicide dive, but didn’t get Troy off his feet. Saints fended off Troy with right hands. Both men traded counters. Saints hit Troy with a crossbody and Tornado DDT. Saints got a two count on Troy.
Saints took himself and Tory out with a shoulder tackle to dump each other to ringside. Troy backed down the referee up the ramp. This allowed Saints to get some blows on Troy. Troy tossed Saints into the video wall. The commentators noted that the referee must be so scared, that he’s not enforcing the rules. A piece of the ramp fell apart when saints was on it. Troy gave Saints a Senton on top of the broken ramp. Troy ended up beating the ten count to pick up the countout win.
Jasper Troy defeated Ricky Saints via countout in 10:45.
John’s Thoughts: Well, they didn’t bury Troy as I expected and instead gave him the biggest win of his very very young career against one of the bigger stars in pro wrestling. Good on Saints for selling for the dude and putting him over. The broken ramp spot was unique. HBK’s creative team tends to like to do unorthodox plot devices like this. Troy still has that elusive pinfall win though. I still think the best thing to do is either take Cutler James or Dion Lennox out of DarkState (because so far those two stand out as not fitting in with the invading group’s image), and put Jasper Troy in to fill in as the Roman Reigns role of this Shield 2.0.
TNA Champion Trick Williams was hanging out with the High Ryze stable backstage. Wes Lee said that High Ryze has Trick’s back. Trick said he’ll face Undertaker by himself. Je’von Evans was laughing at Trick in the background. Trick left and Evans ran after him because he has to see this…
The commentary team checked in and talked about how the legendary Ozzy Osborne has passed away…[c]
[Hour Two] TNA World Champion Trick Williams made his entrance. A lot of wrestlers this week have been coming out in cowboy themed gear to match being in Texas. Trick said the man carrying two brands has arrived. He said he’s here to spit facts, like how he went to Slammiversary to main event the biggest show TNA has had to this day. He said it’s a fact that he faced two of TNA’s best. He said he defeated the average joe and the loud and proud Mike Santana. Trick said that makes him the greatest TNA champion of all time.
Trick said he doesn’t blame the TNA roster for not liking him. He said he’s dropping records, diss tracks, and dropping anyone in his way. He said the LFG rookies stood in his way last week for some reason, and he told them to get out while the champ is in the room. Trick said those kids snitched to their coach, Undertaker.
Trick praised Undertaker for being a hall of famer, but said that Undertaker never held down two brands at the same time. Trick said LFG got Taker tweeting, but ultimately “soft”. Trick said he has no problem being the man who has the cajones to call out the dead man. The Undertaker’s gong sounded. Undertaker’s Kid Rock entrance theme played as American Badass Undertaker made his entrance walking to the ring.
John’s Thoughts: By the way? The Kid Rock Undertaker theme sucks! Ain’t finna lie. Bring back the Limp Bizkit theme! Keep Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’, What?
Taker soaked in cheers from the crowd. It became dueling “Undertaker” and “Whoop dat trick” chants (or do they want Taker to whoop dat trick?). Taker asked what do we have here? Taker said we have a dead man walking. Taker said that Trick has a nice TNA title, bling, and genuine cowhide jacket. Taker said he was asking if it was genuine for a friend. Trick said it was real. Taker said Trick has it all, but he doesn’t have respect.
Taker said Trick has swagger. Taker said he keeps up with everybody, and Trick isn’t the same guy with the TNA title as he was when he was NXT Champion. Taker said that guy with the NXT title scratched and clawed to the top. That guy had that dawg in him. Taker said Trick isn’t that guy anymore. Taker said Trick can have the whole package and all the talent in the toolbox, but with that attitude, it’s only a matter of “when” he’ll lose the title.
Taker said that attitude will be Trick’s downfall, when the walls come tumbling down. Taker said that Trick’s attitude is rotten, and exactly what he tries to teach to his LFG team. Trick said he doesn’t care about Taker’s LFG team. Trick said nobody on the LFG team is a superstar like Trick. Trick said nobody in the NXT or WWE roster is a superstar like Trick Williams. Taker said that he’ll give Trick one more piece of advice, Trick is a little too light in the ass to step up to an OG.
Taker said if Trick wants to dance with the devil, Taker can flip that switch real quick. Taker said when he does, he will make Trick famous. Trick tried to punch Taker, but got choked and Chokeslammed. Taker stood tall to end the segment…
Blake Monroe was shown walking backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: An okay segment. Nothing to really write home about. Sorta just Uncle Mark Calloway showing up to spank a young un. Good to see the legend in Taker, even though he’s more in ojisan Uncle mode now. What this segment didn’t do was sell me on LFG. They did feel the need to plug it, but this Taker cameo didn’t really connect to selling viewers on the A&E show. There’s a part of me that wishes that Taker makes his cameo appearances
Jacy Jayne was sulking backstage with Fallon Henley and Jazmyn Nyx wondering which one of them will face Lash and Jaida. Undertaker’s wife Michelle McCool showed up and recommended that Nyx face Jaida and Henley face Lash. They ended up agreeing…
Wren Sinclair was already in the ring with Texas themed gear for her hometown. Blake Monroe made her entrance with a beauty mirror set up at the top of the ramp…
3. Blake Monroe vs. Wren Sinclair. Monroe dragged Wren across the ropes and buckle. Wren rolled up Monroe a few times for some two counts. Wren hit Monroe with a nice hook kick. Blake came back with a kick and missile dropkick. Blake hit Wren with a Slingblade for a nearfall. Wren fought out of a resthold with an armdrag an punches. Wren rallied with strikes and axe handles.
Wren hit a rough looking blockbuster for a nearfall. Blake dragged wren into the middle rope and hit her with a standing headbutt. Blake hit Wren with a Future Shock DDT for the victory.
Blake Monroe defeated Wren Sinclair via pinfall in 2:56.
Jordynne Grace jumped the guardrail and gave Monroe some ground and pound. Grace started punching and slamming the security guards. Monroe hit Grace with a headbutt in the commotion and then laid out Grace with a Future Shock DDT on a chair to stand tall…
Ethan Page was shown walking backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Solid squash match for Monroe in her debut as a heel. She’s a very natural heel and we saw her successfully pull the character off when she turned on Toni Storm and became AEW Women’s World Champion. I think given Blake Monroe’s toolkit, she can give WWE what WWE developed and wanted from Mandy Rose before she had to leave. Monroe gives WWE that sex appeal, charisma, talking ability, and strong in-ring. In fact, Monroe has better facial acting than Mandy did (though Mandy did improve during her great Toxic Attraction run).
All Ego Ethan Page as in the ring with a podium and flags set up. Page said this is the 56th day where the greatest North American is holding the North American champion championship. He said 17 American’s held the championship before him, but he’s going to hold the belt with more honor, dignity, pride, and class than all 17 of those Americans combined. He said he’ll do that because of where he came from.
He said his family came to North American as immigrants from Yugoslavia. He said they led him to traveling bingo halls and companies coast to coast. He said if his family made different decisions he’d end up like all of you. He said he didn’t because he grew up here. Page pulled the covers off the flags to reveal Canada flags. He said this championship will no longer represent North America, because that’s a lie.
He said this championship will represent Canada’s dominance of The US, Mexico, and every company in it. Page said he was born in Canada, but made in America, which makes him the best American alive. Page said that gives him the privilege to do this, he chucked the title. Page then unveiled a new North American title which had a Canadian Flag strap. He said he’s proud of Canada, and now the title will have the Canadian standard of excellence.
He bragged about how great their athletes are. He said their food is healthier and better. He said their women are hotter. He said Canada’s air is cleaner, and Houston air stinks. Page said he owns Texas because it’s in his North America. “Ass hole” chants ensued. Page said he takes pride in holding this, but that pales in his Canadian pride. A “shut the F*ck up” chant ensued. Page told the crowd to rise to the Canadian National Anthem, Oh Canada (where is Petey Williams when you need him?).
Page said he doesn’t have a great voice, but he’ll sing it himself. Page started to sing Oh Canada, but he was cut off by TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella, who came out to his WWE entrance music. Santino soaked in a good reaction from the crowd. He said Ethan Pa-gae has a big mouth. Santino said he came from Italy which has combat athletes like Bruno Sammartino and Rocky Balboa.
Santino said he actually raised his family in Canada, and they don’t think like Ethan. Santino said people in Mexico and the US are hard working people. Santino said Page is a bum hole boy. Page told Santino to go back to TNA. He said he is friends with Ah-va, and she let him come out. Santino said he does agree that the title should be held by someone with dignity, honor, and pride.
Santino said he has all that and will see Page next week. Page said they should do this right now. Page was about to walk into Santino with Santino’s cobra sock, but then ducked away to end the segment…
Trick Williams ran into champions Oba Femi and Jacy Jayne backstage. Jayne walked away. Oba smirked at Trick and walked away…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Really good Anti-USA promo from All Ego. This guy can do it all, and do it all seamlessly. Good old school foreign heel gloating. Very easy cheap heat, but cheap heat done well. Fun to see Santino back, who was overexposed at the end of his WWE run, but absence makes the heart grow fonder (Why can’t he use his WWE theme in TNA as it’s way better than his generic gumshoe theme?). If they go through with it, and as much as I hate Santino’s finger poke of doom, next week’s presumed match should be fun. Santino’s injuries have caught up to him, but he can wrestle part time. He had a fun match tag teaming with his daughter a few months ago. He also had a surprisingly good match against Josh Alexander 3 or 4 years ago on an Impact Plus show (which most people didn’t see because it was on one of those gawd awful TNA old school wrestling throwback shows which I suffered to get that one good match).
A preview for WWE Unreal aired…
Yoshiki Inamura walked up to Je’von Evans for advice. Evans joked that he’s only 21. Inamura asked if he’s been a back friend for wanting to fight with honor instead of what his friends wants. Evans said he’s not wrong. Inamura said he loves Briggs, but doesn’t like what Briggs does. Evans said you can love someone, but not like what they do, “ya feel me”. Inamura grabbed Evans shoulders and gave him a serious look, and said “I feel you”. Inamura said what’s next for him is the NXT Championship…
John’s Thoughts: I kinda hope Inamura gets signed to a WWE, NXT, or TNA contract. He’s different, has that “it” factor in terms of connecting with the audience, and can go in the ring with offense that we don’t even seen from Japanese pro wrestlers. He also seems to understand and speak English well too (Yes, it’s broken English, but you can tell he has understanding and delivery down. My mother is Asian with broken English, but spoke and Understood it well too, so I can tell).
Wren, Heights, and Dempsey were backstage with Myles Borne. Dempsey tried to shoo away Myles. Bully Ray Dudley showed up and told Myles to stay. Bully looked serious, and then gave Wren a cheesy hug and said he’s proud of her. Bully then said that he’s going to talk to Ava to re-book Tavion Heights vs. Charlie Dempsey for Tavion’s freedom, but if Tavion loses, he stays in NQCC with a smile on his face. After everyone left, Lexis King approached Myles Borne. King claimed Borne was faking his deafness for sympathy. Borne clapped back by saying that everyone wishes that King was mute…
A Roman Reigns twitter video aired he talked about confronting Bron Breakker at Raw. Reigns said if kids like Bron want to be the future, they have to handle business at PLEs. Reigns then asked Jey Uso to team with him to face the two Brons, Bron and Bronson, at Summerslam…
Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura made their entrance…[c]
NXT Champion Oba Femi made his entrance…
4. Oba Femi vs. Josh Briggs vs. Yoshiki Inamura for the NXT Championship. Oba backdropped Briggs and Inamura early on. Briggs gave Oba a slam and running splash for a nearfall. Inamura and Briggs gave Oba alternating strikes. Oba shrugged both of them off. Inamura managed to hit Oba with a Helicopter Body Slam. Briggs “accidentally” stepped on the ref’s hand to break the count. Oba recovered and gave both opponents a double chokeslam heading into break.[c]
During and back from break, Inamura and Briggs were working on Oba with methodical offense. Oba dragged Briggs by the hair to prevent a Doomsday Device. Briggs and Oba kicked out of Inamura’s pin attempts. Briggs accidentally gave Inamura a back elbow. Briggs gave Oba a Northern Lariat and Chokeslam for a two count. Inamura went for a pounce on Oba, but Oba leapfrogged and Inamura gave Briggs a Pounce.
Inamura gave Oba an overhead chop and Spear. Inamura hit Oba with a Sitout Delayed Bomb. Briggs broke up two of Inamura’s pin attempts, which Inamura didn’t like. Inamura fired up and gave Briggs a diving Shoulder Tackle. Inamura gave Oba a Uranage. Inamura hit Oba with the Charged Up Frog Splash. Briggs broke the pin up with a Moonsault. Oba kicked out of the Briggs pin at two.
Briggs and Inamura traded fighting spirit strikes. Briggs hit Inamura with a Clothesline From Hell. Oba hit Briggs with a pop-up power bomb for the victory.
Oba Femi defeated Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamiura via pinfall in 9:34 to retain the NXT Championship.
Briggs yelled at Inamura at ringside…
The show cut to backstage where Undertaker approached Je’von Evans and wondered if Evans figured out what to do next with his notes. Taker told Evans to go after the biggest dog in the yard. NXT closed…
John’s Thoughts: A solid TV main event that served as an angle to set up the presumed Josh Briggs vs. Yoshiki Inamura feud. The match was fun for the television format. Oba looks strong having to face the tag team. Briggs was fun as the dopey and manipulative best friend. Inamura was good at trying hard to believe his buddy has good in him, but ultimately greed caught up with the buddy. The closing nearfalls were fun. Finish was rushed, but that’s the case with having to race off due to Late Night News (Goldberg knows how this works).
The Taker cameo at the end was while simple, more effective than the Trick glorified LFG ad. Going after the biggest dog, presumably sets up Evans to go up against Oba Femi, who has run through the entire roster and running low on opponents. There’s a part of me that hopes that at Bound for Glory in October, that we somehow get Je’von Evans vs. Leon Slater (due to both men being similar age and having similar childhoods. I got to watch both two months back-to-back at PLEs and those guys are INSANE to watch live). I’m also hoping they take their time telling the Oba Femi vs. Je’von Evans story, and that they not rush that. We’ll see. This week’s NXT was also solid like last week. Now that we don’t have that 4 show hell weekend, NXT can go back to writing at a normal pace.
Monica Monroe?
Damn Booker!
Lol
I thought this Booker moment was wholesome. He explained it by saying it was one-half of the Reality of Wrestling women’s tag team champion, Monica Monroe (and this show was taking place where his Wrestling School and Promotion is).
I liked Graves also jabbing him by shooting strays at Michael Cole for calling Candace LeRae Candace Michelle.
Who would’ve thought a few years ago that the third wheel in Toxic Attraction would be both NXT and TNA women’s champion?
And it’s actually working.
The damn censors on the CW. I couldn’t hear a lot of what Ethan Page said.
Evans sucks.