NXT TV results (2/3): Moore’s review of a seven-man ladder match for the vacant NXT Championship, Elegance Brand vs. Sol Ruca and Zaria for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Titles

By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)

NXT TV 
Orlando, Florida, at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live February 3, 2026, on The CW Network

[Hour One] Robert Stone was in the GM Office with Shawn Michaels. HBK talked about how Stone has been great in NXT and he is now awarded the title of Interim General Manager of NXT…

John’s Thoughts: For context, NXT GM Ava left the company over the weekend. Stone is a good talker and very underrated over the years. What is weird is he does show up in TNA too, and there he’s an over-the-top heel and goofball as the manager of Tessa Blanchard and Alicia Fox. What I hope that doesn’t lead to is him becoming a heel authority figure on NXT?

Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…

All of the women were already in the ring with Mike Rome handling the formal in-ring championship match introductions…

1. Izzi Dame (w/Shawn Spears, Niko Vance) vs. Lola Vice vs. Thea Hail for the NXT Women’s North American Championship. All three women went for quick pin attempts. Izzi dominated early on with her power moves. Lola and Thea got rid of Izzi. Lola and Thea traded submission attempts. . Izzi hit a double Codebreaker on both opponents for a few nearfalls. Ricky Saints was shown arriving to the Performance Center.

Thea hit Izzi with a Victory Roll but Lola broke the pin with a kick. Lola worked on both opponents with strikes. Lola hit Izzi with a springboard Armdrag. Thea used a dropkick to dump Izzi to ringside. Thea hit Spears with a nice looking huracanrana at ringside. Lola hit Izzi with a seated senton. Thea hit Lola with a suicide dive heading into break.[c]

Izzi and Hail hit Lola with a simultaneous Samoan Drop and Blockbuster. All three women then traded fatigued strikes. Vice got the upper hand with Tae Kwon Do Kicks on both opponents. Lola then hit both opponents with her I’m a Latina Hip Attacks. Booker was making weird sounds at this point. Izzi took down both opponents. Hail jumped off Lola’s back, but right into a power bomb by Izzi.

Joe Hendry was shown warming up backstage. Hail hit Izzi with an Exploder. Hail hit Lola with a World’s Smallest Slam. Vice reversed a trust fall with a Rear Naked Choke. Izzi broke the submission. Lola hit Izzi with a Tae Kwon Do high roundhouse. Lola then got Hail back in a Rear Naked Choke. Hail escaped with a pin attempt. Izzi dumped Lola to ringside with a pump kick. Hail hit Izzi with a DDT. Kelani Jordan ran out and punted Lola in the gut.

Kelani slammed a ladder on Lola’s hand to leave her writhing. Hail rolled up Izzi for a two count. Hail put Izzi in a Kimura, but Izzi escaped. Izzi hit Hail with a sitout power bomb for the win.

Izzi Dame defeated Thea Hail and Lola Vice via pinfall in 11:41 to retain the NXT Women’s North American Championship.

John’s Thoughts: Entertaining triple threat. Izzi is still a work in progress in terms of needing to build credibility, and I like that she got to get a dominant win away from the interference. Hail was good as the spark plug of the match, with high energy. I actually liked Kelani Jordan’s interference and her slamming the ladder to injure Lola gave her a vicious edge. Kelani Jordan has been shining ever since turning her heel and I hope she’s rewarded with TV time for that.

Wren Sinclair and Kendal Grey were congratulating Sol Ruca for having good moments in the Royal Rumble. Zaria showed up looking pouty, accusing Sol of being selfish. Sol said it was not up to her and WWE just gave her a call and she went. Zaria said she needs to win for herself for once and they have to win the tag titles so she can have a moment…

Tony D’Angelo was shown walking backstage…[c]

The show cut to Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors chatting. Connors said he’s not apologizing for what he did last week. Stacks, Lexis King, and Ariana Grace pulled up and talked about how Uriah is trying to live up to his birthright. Kale took exception and said to stay out of their business. Kale challenged Stacks and Lexis to a match and the heels seemingly accepted…

John’s Thoughts: What I think they might be doing here is reboot the “NXT Outlaws” faction which they haphazardly debuted in TNA (thankfully they have pulled back from that weak faction since the move to AMC). The problem there was you have a  bunch of undercard NXT wrestlers show up and put in the main event storyline. Here, there’s a chance to make it work since they are putting the time to develop the faction. I’m assuming that it’s going to be the kids of wrestlers (as so far we have the daughter of Santino, Son in law of Santino, and Son of Brian Pillman).

Tony D’Angelo made his entrance to new music. It was not Italian themed and instead sounded like a 90s action movie theme. Tony D made a slow walk to the ring for a promo. Tony D said it’s been seven months since he had a opportunity to talk to the fans. He said he can keep things simple, but he has some things to get off his chest. He asked the production crew to turn up the lights. Tony D soaked up chants.

Tony D said most people know his past as Heritage Cup, Tag Team, North American Champion, and he was a happy man with a “Family”. He talked about his Family having his back, and it was taken from him. Tony D said that was a wake up call. He said growing up in Chicago, you need to know how to stay up on your two feet. He talked about having a crew and family was new to him. He said when DarkState ruined his life, he had to regroup.

He said he sat in a dark room to remember who “Tony D Angelo” is. He said he remembered being a Division I National Champion. He said he needs to do what he does best, bounce heads off the mat. Tony D talked about being in the shadows. He said he likes people not knowing his next move. Tony D said the way things are moving in NXT align in his plans.

He said one thing he came back to was to punish DarkState. He said they took everything from him and he’ll take everything from them. He said you’ll find out his 2nd goal after he takes out DarkState…

John’s Thoughts: The presentation reminds me a bit of 90s action movie Dijak from a few years ago. That said, I liked the promo. They did give him a lot of time, but Tony D thrives on the mic. I liked him framing is character and also justifying everything that led up to this character change. I was starting to get bored of him just showing up and beating up random people, but looking forward to his role as DarkState Hunter. His unstated 2nd goal is also a good cliffhanger for the next step after he presumably takes out DarkState.

A Shiloh Hill selfie promo aired. He ran down his opponents for the ladder match later. He joked about how Joe Hendry can teleport through wormholes. He said he had experience with Dion Lennox on the football field in college. He said you can’t sleep on Shiloh Hill winning…

Elio LeFleur made his entrance…[c]

Jasper Troy had a hype promo about how he’s going to retain his speed title no matter who makes it past the tournament…

Oh Hey! A Charlie Dempsey sighting!…

2. Elio LeFleur vs. Charlie Dempsey in a 3 minute WWE Speed Tournament Match. Dempsey rolled up Elio into a bridged pin attempt. Elio dumped Dempsey to ringside with a Final Cut and hit him with a dive. Dempsey hit Elio with a modified Northern Lights for a nearfall. Dempsey slammed Elio to the mat at the two minute mark. Dempsey tripped Elio off the top rope. Elio rolled up Dempsey for a two count. Elio hit Dempsey with a Slingshot Claymore. Dempsey hit Elio with a German for a two count. Elio hit Dempsey with a nice Sideways Huracanrana looking move for the win.

Elio LeFleur defeated Charlie Dempsey via pinfall in 2:52 to advance in the WWE Speed Tournament.

Kelly Kincaid interviewed Joe Hendry about his gameplan even though he’s injured. Joe said Vanity Project tried to take him out, but they didn’t keep him down. He talked about having a huge year last year being TNA champion and having a WrestleMania moment. He said he has been disappointed his last six months for not being champion. Joe said he’s going to keep climbing the ladder and giving the Universe a reason to believe in Joe Hendry…

Zaria and Sol Ruca made their entrance. Zaria shoved Sol out of anger and was looking mopey again…[c]

John’s Thoughts: I still think that WWE shouldn’t have the Speed titles on NXT as it adds to that oversaturation of title mcguffins. That said, this was one of the speed matches in NXT. Vic Joseph was really good on the call here. Calling the match like a soccer announcer at a fast pace, increasing the urgency as the clock wined down. I hope we see more of Dempsey on NXT TV as he’s a really solid technical wrestler.

The Highlights of NXT wrestlers/alum in the Royal Rumble aired…

“The Personal Concierge” (George Iceman) walked out to mock the crowd. He then introduced The Elegance Brand:  Ash (Dana Brooke), M, and Heather by Elegance. TNA Authority Figure Daria Rae (a.k.a. Sonya Deville) was shown in the crowd…

3. “The Elegance Brand” Heather and M by Elegance (w/Ash by Elegance, The Personal Concierge) vs. Sol Ruca and Zaria for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship. Zaria took out M with a big boot. Sol hit M with a flip for a two count. M hit Sol with a back kick and trapped her in her corner. The heels cut the ring in half on Sol. Sol fought out and wanted a tag from Zaria, but she just smirked away, forcing Sol to force a tag on Zaria. Zaria hit Heather with a rolling deadlift suplex. Zaria went for her hangman move, but Ash got on the apron for a distraction.

Heather hit Zaria with a Codebreaker. M knocked Sol and Zaria off the apron heading into break.[c]

John’s Thoughts: The Elegance brand have an interesting dynamic in being two opposite ends of the height scale. Heather is pretty petite while M has long legs and height to her. Both are good wrestlers and students of Seth Rollins. WWE’s most likely going to really want to bring M in due to her size and ability, but don’t sleep on Heather either as she’s very good as well.

While Zaria was making her comeback during the break, she refused to tag in Sol when she has the chances. Back from break, The Elegance Brand used the dissention to cut the ring in half on Zaria. Zaria escaped the corner and refused to tag Sol again. Zaria tossed around both women until M hit Zaria with a Chop block.

Zaria and M took each other out with a clothesline. Sol tagged herself in for the hot tag. Sol cleaned house. Sol got a two count on Heather after a Missile Dropkick. Heather rolled up Sol for a two count. M hit Sol with a high kick. Heather hit Sol with a Moonsault. Sol dodged M’s moonsault. Sol tagged in Zaria, but the two started arguing. Sol and Zaria got on the same page and hit their opponents with stereo Spears.

Sol accidentally hit Zaria with a Sol Snatcher. Ash tossed Sol into the steps. The Brand hit Zaria with a Bow and Arrow Double Stomp for the win.

The Elegance Brand defeated Sol Ruca and Zaria via pinfall in 11:33 to retain the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship. 

Daria Rae handed the tag belts to the champs and congratulated their title defense…

John’s Thoughts: No TNA President Carlos Silva (and they should pull back because it was ridiculous at the last PPV)? Well worked tag match with the interesting reluctant partners bit between Sol and Zaria which I think worked well. This is the world’s longest breakup, but at least they are adding layers for the purpose of presumably turning Zaria into a monster heel, which is what she showed good promise when she debuted with the company.

Ethan Page was coaching his friends, The Vanity Project. He said they should do what he does, finish the job by breaking a bone or something. Page gave Jackson Drake a pep talk and said he would love it if he can also be a double champion like Page…[c]

Jaida Parker was attacked by Blake Monroe before the show outside of the Performance Center while Jaida was hanging out with the fans…

4. Uriah Connors and Kale Dixon (w/Andre Chase) vs. Lexis King and TNA International Champion Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo (w/Ariana Grace). Kale and Uriah had the advantage until Lexis hit Kale in the back with a roundhouse. Kale flipped out of the corner to bring in Uriah who hit both opponents with kicks. Connors hit Stacks with a Gamengiri and Tornado DDT. King took out Connors with a superkick. King and Stacks cut the ring in half on Uriah.

Kale tagged himself in and turned Stacks inside out with a lariat. Kale hit King with a Northern Chop. Stacks used his boots to block a Moonsault by Kale. King hit Kale with a Driveby Hip attack and swinging neckbreaker for the win.

Lexis King and Channing Lorenzo defeated Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors via pinfall in 3:41. 

Andre Chase checked on Kale and gave a confused look as to why Connors didn’t attempt to break up the pinfall? Connors rolled out of the ring and followed King, Stacks, and Grace to the back…

Fatal Influence was shown walking backstage…[c]

John’s Thoughts: They telegraphed this a mile away, but I like them giving up on the current version of Chase U as it’s been the only version of the faction to flop into obscurity. Kale and Uriah are great in the ring, but their lack of connection to the crowd doesn’t give the writers reason to give them meaningful TV time. I’m curious to see what comes out of this faction of generational wrestlers. I wonder if they’ll drag William Regal’s son, Charlie Dempsey, and Bull Buchanan’s son, Brooks Jensen in?

Fatal Influence were in the ring for a promo. Jacy Jayne bragged about being in the Royal Rumble, which she said was long overdue. She said she was killing it and even threw sad ass Kelani Jordan over the top rope. Jayne said even in Saudi Araba, they chant her name and know she’s the backbone of the deepest women’s division in wrestling. She then said her moment was ruined when Sol Ruca eliminated her.

Jayne pointed out how she’s had the division on her back, yet people always talk about Sol Ruca. Jayne said Sol was a double champion, but Jayne was a better double champion. Jayne said she wants to be the one that kills Sol’s hype. Jayne was about to pick her next opponent, but was interrupted by Zaria. Zaria said Sol has been handed many opportunities, so she’s going to make her own.

Zaria said she’s coming to rip the title from Jayne’s hands. Jayne said there’s a reason Zaria gets no opportunities, people love Sol and tolerate Zaria. Kendal Grey and Wren Sinclair interrupted. Grey reminded Jayne that it took three members of Fatal Influence to beat Grey in the title match. Zaria said if Kendal knows what is good for her, she’ll stay out of her way. Grey talked about how Zaria dropped the ball earlier in their title match.

Sol Ruca made her entrance and said everyone wants a shot at the Women’s Title. Sol talked about how Wren and Grey want the title and are still friends. Zaria brought up Sol being selfish by taking the Rumble spot. Robert Stone made his entrance and booked WrenQCC vs. Za Ruca where the person who picks up the pinfall will wrestle Jayne for the Women’s Championship…

John’s Thoughts: These feud setup segments are a dime a dozen, but this was one of the better ones as it weaved in the impending breakup of Za Ruca in it. The obvious person who looks like she’ll get pinned is Wren Sinclair and I think Sol will pick up the win, leading to Zaria costing Sol her title opportunity.

Kelly Kincaid asked Kelani Jordan backstage why she attacked Lola Vice. Jordan brought up being knocked out and Lola can’t knock people out anymore if you don’t have a hand…

Ricky Saints made his entrance…[c]

The other entrances happened during the break.

Wren Sinclair was hanging out with Charlie Dempsey and Kendal Grey. Grey and Wren said they have the advantage next week due to Za Ruca imploding. Dempsey said he’s disappointed he is not having a title match. Lexis King and his crew showed up and tried to recruit Dempsey…

Vic Joseph ran through next week’s advertised matches…

Joe Hendry got a televised entrance for the main event. Booker tried to sing Joe Hendry’s theme. Vic congratulated WWE friends Bad Bunny and Jelly Roll for winning Grammys and mocked Booker’s awkward singing…

5. Ricky Saints vs. Sean Legacy vs. Jackson Drake vs. Dion Lennox vs. Shiloh Hill vs. Joe Hendry vs. Keanu Carter in a ladder match for the vacant NXT Championship. Keanu was tossing around the smaller wrestlers to start. Keanu’s rally ended when he was backdropped by Hill. Saints used a ladder to clear the field. Saints hit Hill and Drake with a double Tornado DDT. Saints hit Legacy with an Old School. Joe cleared the field with a ladder. He did his zoolander pose into setting up the ladder.

Drake knocked Joe off the ladder and went for the belt. Joe tilted the ladder to dump Drake off. Joe power bombed Drake on a pile of wrestlers at ringside. Joe hit the pile of wrestlers with a Plancha Senton. Vic noted if Joe wins the NXT title, he would join other former TNA Champions who also won the NXT title like Nic Nemeth, Drew McIntyre, and Bobby Roode.[c]

Back from break, Keanu Carver ripped a ladder in half as a show of strength. Legacy then cleared the field a bit with a ladder. Legacy hit Dion with a Sliced Bread. Drake dragged Legacy off the ladder. Both Drake and Legacy brawled at the top. Hill then used the broken ladder as stilts. Got damn that was creative. Carver put Hill in a Electric chair after he took down Drake and Legacy. Dion hit Hill with a Slingshot Doomsday Device.

Dion power bombed Ricky Saints into a ladder. Lennox got a hand on the title but Hendry dragged him down and hit him with the Standing Ovation through a ladder. Dragged kicked Hendry down. Legacy hit Drake with a gutbuster. Drake came back with a Slingshot Swanton. Saints went after the title, but was punched by Carver. Drake then used a Rana to dump Carve to ringside. Drake hit the pile of wrestlers with a Flip Dive heading into break.[c]

A bunch of bodies were on the ground after the break. Keanu cleared the field with a ladder again. Hill hit Keanu with a nice looking cannonball off the steps. Hill pulled out his tooth in celebration. Hill beat up Keanu with a ladder. The wrestlers teamed up by burying Keanu in ladders. One ladder almost fell on Joe Hendry in the ring. Hill cleared the field by using a ladder like a helicopter.

Drake recovered and hit Hill with a Knee Plus. Legacy put Drake on a ladder bridged and hit him with a 450. Legacy and Dion brawled at the top of the ladder. Drake and Hill with atop a parallel ladder to also go after the belt. Hill and Drake fell first. Dion dropped Legacy, but was dragged by Hendry. Hendry threw Dion into the ringpost. Keanu escaped the pile of ladders.

Keanu pounced Drake into the audience. Keanu then ran Legacy through the Crows Nest. Ricky tried to take advantage of the situation but Keanu saw him climbing up the ladder. Ricky and Keanu climbed up adjacent ladders and Ricky kicked Keanu’s ladder down and sent him through a ladder bridge at ringside. Hendry climbed to the top of the ladder while Ricky was doing his pose. Hendry and Joe teetered on the top with a tug o war with the belt. Joe hit Ricky with the title belt and retrieved the title.

Joe Hendry defeated Ricky Saints, Keanu Carver, Shiloh Hill, Jackson Drake, Dion Lennox, and Sean Legacy in a ladder match in 22:40 to become the new NXT Champion.

Hendry celebrated his title win to close the show…

John’s Thoughts: Well damn, that match exceeded my expectations. Part of what dragged my expectations down was them not going with a weekly tournament approach and instead going with their formula ladder match to put vacant titles on people. Credit to the wrestlers and whoever was the producer of this match for making this clean and fun (Maybe HBK was the producer himself as he personally knows how to tell stories in ladder matches). Drake and Legacy were good as the high flyers.

Keanu Carver got to shine as the fast moving monster of the match. I thought Shiloh Hill was a standout of the match with his frantic energy. That stilts spot was something else and you know they’ll want to replicate that on the main roster someday. Can we give up on Hill’s stupid tooth gimmick as I think that drags him down and he’s showing so much upside (Remember when KANE had a stupid ass tooth gimmick! There’s a reason they had to turn him into Kane!). After Tony D’s promo earlier, I had Dion Lennox as my dark horse, to give Tony D a goal at the end of the tunnel once he tears through DarkState. I’m glad they didn’t put the title on Dion given he’s not developed as a character yet. The safe picks were Ricky and Hendry.

I’m a bit surprised they went with Hendry given he’s better suited to be in chase mode before winning (And they did a great job with Hendry in world title chase mode in TNA). Still a great moment for Hendry who was TNA World Champion a year ago and now he gets his first WWE title as NXT Champion. What’s safe about having Hendry as champ is he has a ready made gimmick and star power. I just hope they tone it a bit down with the teleportation meme? He can be happy go lucky, but he can do other things like his concerts, his diss videos, and even flipping the switch to serious.

I do need to look back, but this might be one of the best NXT television episodes in a long while. It’s been a few weeks since the huge roster raid and reset, and it looks like they are starting off pretty well with the new landscape. This reminds me of huge raids in the past, and the positive is that there is a feeling of freshness to it with new storylines presented on screen. They aren’t doing things perfectly as I still have doubts, but they are also showing that this new era of NXT can be entertaining. What they do need is more vignettes and pretapes to flush out some of these characters.