By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Taped September 14, 2022 in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired September 27, 2022 on USA Network
[Hour One] Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer…
The show started off with Ilja Dragunov making his entrance with new entrance music for a show opening promo. The crowd showered Ilja in “Welcome Back” chants. Ilja talked about how he conquered the unbeatable machine, Gunther, to become champion the last time he was in NXT US. He talked about how he struggled and succeeded in front of the crowd with the heart of a gladiator. He said he became a Tsar because pain has always been his best friend. He said he’ll repeat history by beating another unbeatable machine for gold. Ilja said this time the name is not Gunther, it’s Bron Breakker.
JD McDonagh made his entrance. JD said the people don’t know Ilja as much as he did. JD said that Ilja is a rat who followed JD to America. Ilja talked about beating JD in a loser leaves NXT UK match. JD took credit for getting Ilja stripped of the title due to an ankle injury. JD said it’s not Ilja’s time now, it’s JD’s time. JD reiterated that he put Ilja on the sidelines. JD said the next time they face, it won’t be just an injury, JD will end Ilja’s career. NXT Champion Bron Breakker made his entrance. Breakker welcomed Ilja to NXT. Breakker said with all due respect, the title isn’t going anywhere. JD reminded Breakker that he’s the number one contender. JD said he has a good idea. The crowd chanted “Triple Threat”. JD said that was a stupid idea.
JD said Bron and Ilja should face each other so JD can pick up the scraps. Breakker said he has another idea, and how his match is never wrong. Breakker said since Ilja never lost the title and JD won a title shot, JD has a 33 1/3% chance “at beat me” (a reference to Scott’s Steiner Math)
Briggs and Jensen were brawling with Gallus backstage and had to be pulled apart…
Mandy Rose and the rest of Toxic Attraction were shown heading to the ring. Mandy did some trash talk in regards to her opponent Fallon Henley…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Good opening segment that actually logically set up a triple threat match for the NXT Title. The logic key was Ilja never losing the title, so he has a rightful claim to the now unified belt. All three men were good here. Ilja’s quirky, but he can cut one hell of a plucky babyface promo. JD was good in reinforcing his methodical character. Breakker had to rely on the crutch on Uncle Scott’s promo with Petey Williams from back in the day, but it popped the crowd and gave Breakker something that stood out.
Joe Gacy and The Dyad cut a promo about Cameron Grimes. They talked their usual rhetoric about trying to make the world better and whatnot…
Entrances for the next match took place…
1. NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose (w/Gigi Dolin, Jacy Jayne) vs. Fallon Henley in a non-title match. Rose started the match with a Belly to Back suplex. Henley came right back with a ground side headlock. Rose escaped but ate a shoulder block. Rose did a cartwheel into a basement dropkick for a two count. Rose gloated, and Henley responded with a chest chop. Henley hit Rose with an Atomic Drop and dropkick. Henley hit Rose with Briggs and Jensen’s signature baseball slide punch for a two count.
Rose caught Henley and tossed her with a Fallaway Slam. Rose hit Henley with a shoulder tackle. Rose worked on Henley with methodical right hands and a suplex. Rose put Henley in an abdominal stretch with some elbows to the gut. Both women traded strikes to the gut. Rose hit Henley with a tilt a whirl back suplex. Rose put Henley back in the abdominal stretch. Henley escaped with a side hip toss. Henley ralllied with right hands. Rose ended the rally with a modified Bull Hammer (as Barrett joked about). Henley came back with a facebuster.
Henley won the next strike exchange. Rose shoved Henley away and gave Henley a Kiss from the Rose (running knee) for the win.
Mandy Rose defeated Fallon Henley via pinfall in 5:40 in a non-title match.
Rose took a mic and called Alba Fyre jealous for unifying the US and UK women’s title. Rose said all Fyre was doing was throwing logs on a fire. Alba Fyre cut in on the big screen. She said she doesn’t do verbal warnings and she’s more of a visual warning. Fyre burned the words “And New” that were on the ground on what looked like paper mache.
John’s Thoughts: Good showcase win for Rose. This match wasn’t anything too compelling, but I have to commend Rose for looking really good in the ring her last couple of matches. Yes, she’s wrestling some of the best women in the world like Meiko, but Rose is holding her end of the bargain. I like that they are making her a confident champ that’s willing to take on all comers. Rose might be ready to be pushed as a top star on Raw or Smackdown. Too bad WWE seems to need babyfaces more (as seen by the random trio of Bianca Belair, Asuka, and Alexa Bliss being the only three women available to face Damage Control).
The show cut to one of Apollo Crews’s “…dear diary” cinematics. Crews talked about how vengence is an act of justice unlike revenge. Apollo said that Grayson Waller got some vengeance last week. Crews talked about how Waller tried to take away his vision, but Apollo simply at ringside blinded Waller. Crews said his vision is still hazy, but he sees one image clearly. Apollo saw a vision of Waller with two bloodshot eyes. Apollo said that Waller better watch out…Bitch…
Wes Lee accompanied one of the Connor’s Cure patients to the ring…[c]
Ilja Dragunov met up with Xyon Quinn backstage. Quinn did his usual gloating. Quinn talked about how he never had a chance to carry the ball because if he had the ball, no one can take the ball from him. Ilja said Quinn looks like a man of unlimited potential, but a total mental moron. Ilja said that Quinn says that Ilja can’t carry the ball of being champion, but he can’t even see Quinn as a champ. Ilja said we can see who’s right now because the ball is in Xyon’s court now…
Tony D’Angelo and Stacks made their entrance. Vic Joseph plugged NXT trading cards….
2. Wes Lee vs. Tony D’Angelo (w/Channing Lorenzo) for a spot in the North American Championship Ladder Match at Halloween Havoc. D’Angelo tossed Lee across the ring to start the match. D’Angelo dominated the next collar and elbow. Lee came back with a side headlock and side alligator rolls. Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams were watching the match on a monitor in the back. D’Angelo blocked a drop toehold. Lee avoided an elbow drop. Lee hit D’Angelo with a huracanrana and dropkick to dump him to ringside. Stacks blocked Lee from doing a dive to ringside.
Lee gave Stacks a Plancha. D’Angelo had to hold Stacks back. Stacks shoved Lee which made the ref eject Stacks. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
John’s Thoughts: The picture-in-picture graphics still say NXT 2.0 with the color splatter. I hope next week’s non-taped show will come with a graphic design overhaul.
D’Angelo blocked a huracanrana with a sidewalk slam for a two count. Vic Joseph hyped a Carmelo Hayes promo for after the match. D’Angelo dominated Lee with gritty offense. Lee got a window of opportunity after sending Tony into the 2nd buckle with a drop toehold. The referee called for the bell when Tony D’Angelo couldn’t get to his feet. The ring announcer announced Wes Lee as the winner of the match.
Wes Lee defeated Tony D’Angelo via ref stoppage in 8:45 to earn a spot in the NXT North American Championship Ladder Match at Halloween Havoc.
The slo mo replay showed that D’Angelo’s right knee buckle and that it was a leg injury…
John’s Thoughts: While I did manage to avoid spoilers, I did hear that Tony D’Angelo suffered a legitimate injury at the tapings. Prayers out to Tony and here’s hoping for a full recovery.
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams about Wes Lee getting another chance at the title. Melo talked about how he smashed Wes Lee’s head in a locker before. Oro Mensah showed up and said he’s looking forward to the ladder match. Melo said he respects Oro’s drop. Melo said at Halloween Havoc it’s every man for themselves. Oro said he’s looking forward to it…
A Sol Ruca debut promo aired where she talked about how much she loves the waves and sun. Ruca will make her debut after the break…[c]
A Pretty Deadly vignette aired. They were wearing their boxers, robes, and eating continental breakfast in a hotel room. They then groomed each other and walked the viewers through their daily morning routine. They were shown working out in the gym, talking about how they aren’t brutal and bask in each others’ brillance. They did exercises while hyping each other up. The best part was them doing core exercises by doing their “Sideplate checks”. The video ended with the tag team champs taking a nice nap on their full size bed…
Amari Miller was already in the ring finishing her entrance. Her opponent is the debuting Sol Ruca. Her music sounds like generic surfer music…
3. Sol Ruca vs. Amari Miller. Both women traded an advantage in a wristlock. Sol got a rollup for a two count. Amari dominated Sol with elbows. Ruca came back with a rough looking armdrag. Ruca reversed a hip toss into an X Factor for a two count. Miller reversed a sunset flip as both women traded rollups. Ruca did a backflip into a dropkick. Miller hit Ruca with a back kick combo for a two count. Miller put Ruca in a straitjacket hold. Ruca escaped. Ruca hit Miller with an armdrag and some shoulder tackles.
Ruca hit Miller with a dropkick and flip into a corner splash. Ruca hit Miller with a flip leg drop for the win.
Sol Ruca defeated Amari Miller via pinfall in 4:48.
Ruca and Miller shared a handshake and hug out of respect after the match…
John’s Thoughts: A rough debut as expected with Ruca being one of WWE’s developmental types. While she does need to get more confident in herself, she did show more promise than a lot of other developmental-projects in NXT. What looked good was she landed all of her athletic moves and when she did execute stuff, it looked solid. She just needs more reps out there to feel more comfortable in full-on matches.
Cameron Grimes and The Schism were shown at different parts of the Performance Center, heading to the ring…[c]
Security guards were still trying to contain Gallus. Joe Coffey punched out one of the guards….
[Hour Two] Joe Gacy and The Dyad were in the ring with Grimes getting a full televised entrance…
4. Cameron Grimes vs. Joe Gacy (w/Jagger Reid, Rip Fowler). Grimes quickly started the match with Muay Thai roundhouse kicks to start the match. Gacy rolled to ringside and dragged Grimes out of the ring. Gacy pummeled Grimes with strike for the advantage. Grimes came back with running forearms and running knees. Gacy rolled to ringside. The Dyad got in Cameron’s way. Cameron flew over them and hit Gacy with a cannonball. Gacy came back with a corner splash and swinging Uranage, Gacy taunted Grimes while working on Grimes with methodical offense.
Gacy hit Grimes with a snap DDT for a two count. Grimes raillied back with punches. Grimes countered a uranage with a superkick. They Dyad swarmed Grimes and he had to fend them off. Gacy surprised Grimes with the handstand into the lariat for the victory.
Joe Gacy defeated Cameron Grimes via pinfall in 3:17.
John’s Thoughts: Ugh, get the Schism off TV. This match was booked right if you want to continue this feud, but that’s the problem. We need Joe Gacy’s lame ass woke cult leader off TV and rebooted. I was actually hoping that Grimes would get a dominating win, and that two weeks was enough for Zack Gibson to grow his beard back so we can just send everyone off to do better things. Gacy’s talented, Grimes is a future star, and the Grizzled Young vets are a strong tag team. Just end this.
Grayson Waller was pacing nervously around McKenzie Mitchell, nervous of Apollo Crews’s vision of Waller having bloodshot eyes. McKenzie said that if Waller is nervous, then he should just stay home next week. Waller said he has to host the Grayson Waller effect talk show with Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade as the guests. Waller said all he has to do is hire extra security…
John’s Thoughts: I actually get a kick out of Apollo’s goofy precognition powers, but how are the characters on TV also able to see Apollo’s first-person-view visions? One thing Lucha Underground would do is not have the characters and announcers sell the supernatural cinematics. It just makes it tough to suspend disbelief anyway else.
Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark made their entrance….
An ad aired for the Raw season Premiere, featuring DX’s anniversary and the Bloodline…[c]
An ad aired for NXT trading cards…
NXT Women’s Tag Champions Kayden Carter and Katana Chance made their raver entrance with their air cannons…
5. NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion Kayden Carter (w/Katana Chance) vs. Nikkita Lyons (w/Zoey Stark). Lyons worked on Carter with belly to back suplexes. Carter came back with a cartwheel and booty shake taunt. Carter used a leg sweep combo to counter a Banzai Drop attempt. Lyons took down Carter with a Tae Kwon Do hook kick combo. Lyons hit Carter with a slow handstand rana for a two count. Lyons kept Carter under control with a ground submission. Carter escaped with an armdrag.
Carter got Lyons with a crucifix rollup for a two count. Lyons Carter with a kick combo and Splits Michinoku Driver. Carter got Lyons to the mat with a kick combo. Carter hit Lyons with a Face Wash dropkick on the bottom rope for a two count. Lyons tripped up Carter off an Old School attempt. Lyons hit Carter with a Tornado Kick and splits leg drop for the win.
Nikkita Lyons defeated Kayden Carter via pinfall in 4:54.
Zoey Stark held up Nikkita’s hand in victory as the tag champs headed to the back…
Highlights from last week were shown where Andre Chace defeated Carmelo Hayes with a clean pin…
The show cut to a Chase University skit where Chace was giving a speech in front of a pep rally with a podium. Chace talked about how he earned himself a match against Von Wagner next week to qualify for the Ladder Match at Halloween Havoc. Hayward and Hail were cheering Chace. Chase accepted questions at his prep rally. Dave asked Andre how he feels going against Wagner, given that he’s never beat Wagner. Chase asked Dave who’d the f–k he beat. Chase said thinking of smashing Dave’s smug face will fire him up to beat Von Wagner. Chase celebrated with his college students…
Ilja Dragunov was shown hyping himself up in the hallway…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Not a fan of the tag team champ taking a clean loss, but that’s just what WWE does on occasion to set up a future tag title match. Lyons continues to not be all that impressive (Though I did like that splits Michinoku Driver. Maybe she should do that instead of the Melina Leg Drop, just as long as she can perform it safely). Not sure why they’re continuing with this impromptu tag team with Zoey Stark too because I feel Nikkita is holding Zoey back. Lyons might need more time on Level Up despite WWE being enamored with the social media response she gets from Horny Twitter.
A Nathan Frazer vignette aired to hype up the best of three series is having with Axiom. He talked about being tied up before in score when he used to be a soccer match. He talked about how their match is now for a spot in the North American Championship Ladder Match. Footage was shown of him winning a soccer game where he made a 30 yard kick to get into a championship match. He said he and Axiom are pulling out new moves in the most important match of their lives. He said he’s going to make the winning shot. Frazer was shown making a goal with a Pele Kick….
Entrances for the next match took place…
6. Ilja Dragunov vs. Xyon Quinn. Ilja took down Quinn with an armbar and headlock. Ilja kept the headlock synched in for a minute or two. Ilja gave Quinn stiff chest chops and then put Quinn in an abdominal stretch. Quinn escaped by pulling Ilja’s hair and giving him a hip toss. Quinn gave Ilja gut punches in the corner. Ilja came back with stiff strikes. Quinn took down Ilja with the Haka Pose. Quinn gave Ilja a backbreaker and standing splash for a one count. Ilja powered out of a cravate. Ilja gave Quinn an enzuigiri after a strike exchange. Ilja hit Quinn with a Tiger Feint into a Lariat. Ilja hit Quinn with a Deadlift German, CQC combo, and a Suplex into a heavy forearm smash. Ilja hit Quinn with the Torpedo Moscow for the victory.
Ilja Dragunov defeated Xyon Quinn via pinfall in 4:55.
Julius Creed was shown hyping up his brother for Brutus’s match against Damon Kemp…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Good night for Ilja so far. Simple showcase of his moveset against Xyon Quinn, and he also showed a lot of eloquence on the mic, really doing a good job delivering English promos.
Vic plugged the Connor’s Cure charity…
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett checked in from ringside and sent the show to a Wendy Choo promo backstage. Choo talked about sticking up for herself when Lash Legend tried to interrupt her interview. Lahs Legend was also interview saying she doesn’t care who Wendy Choo is and that she should just move out of the way. Both women hyped up how they were going to beat the other person up in a match next week…
John’s Thoughts: As much as I don’t like the kiddy Choo character, she showed some good fire in that interview. Choo actually shows good fire in everything she does despite the cartoony character. Lash really shines on the mic, just keep her away from the ring.
Entrances for the next match took place. Brutus attacked Damon during Damon’s entrance…
7. Brutus Creed vs. Damon Kemp. Brutus dominated Damon with close offense. Kemp managed to turn the tide with a flapjack on the top rope. Kemp kept Brutus under control with a cravate. Brutus hit Damon with a suplex, but Kemp kept on the cravate. Damon worked on Brutus with clinch cravate knees. Kemp kept the cravate in for about a minute. Brutus escaped with a body slam but Bobby came back with a drop toehold. Brutus rolled up Damon for a two count and hit Brutus with The Pounce to send Damon to ringside. Damon got a steal chair and smashed pummeled Brutus with it for the DQ.
Brutus Creed defeated Damon Kemp via DQ in 3:05.
Julius continued to pummel Brutus with the chair until refs pushed him away. Julius said “If you want some come get some” into the camera and then headed out…
Quincy Elliot was chatting with Sanga backstage. Sanga talked about how he’s disappointed that he lost to Von Wagner last week. Quincy said he has plenty of Quincy love to give around and that Sanga should keep his head up. Sanga said he gives a lot of encourangement and advice, but he has to remind himself that sometimes he could use some encouragement himself. Sanga said “thank you brotha” and he walked away. Xyon Quinn passed by and Quincy joked about not really seeing the potential that Quinn has? Quincy giggled and walked away…
Gallus made their entrance in white t-shirts and black slacks…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A nice short and sweet segment to put heat on Damon Kemp coming off the heel turn. I really like the fire Kemp has shown as a heel and he continues to impress week to week. Interesting note, Damon Kemp wrestled Brutus Creed in real life in College, which Kemp referenced to hype this match (you can find it as Bobby Steveson vs. Drew Kasper on YouTube). So far, we haven’t seen Gable Steveson do anything yet, but his brother is really showing real fire and potential. I’ll post the video of Steveson and Kasper below. As for the following segment. Sanga is main roster ready! I love his very natural delivery of promos and wholesome aura about him. He’s also decent in the ring from what we’ve seen.
Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark were interviewed by an unseen interviewer. Both women talked about coming after the tag team titles. Toxic Attraction showed up to taunt Lyons and Stark. Both teams traded insults. Mandy Rose noted the numbers advantage they have. The ground went on fire and Alba Fyre showed up. Fyre said the odds are even now. Toxic Attraction walked off…
The following segments were advertised for next week: Grayson Waller’s Talk Show with Cora Jade and Roxanne Perez as guests, Andre Chase vs. Von Wagner for a spot in the North American Title Ladder Match, and Pretty Deadly’s “State of the Commonweath” address.
8. Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen vs. “Gallus” Mark Coffey and Wolfgang in a Pub Rules Match. Both teams brawled to start the match. There were trash cans around the ring as well as a bullrope that Briggs and Jensen dragged over. Briggs chucked a trash can at Mark. Both teams took a break from the walk and brawl to set up some tables. Gallus set up one in the ring while the country boys set up a table against the turnbuckle. Gallus picked up can lids, while the country boys picked up chairs. Briggs and Jensen slapped away the lids from Gallus with the chairs and cleared Gallus from the ring. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Mark hit Briggs with a enzuigiri while Wolfgang gave Briggs a power slam. Wolfgang and Mark swarmed Jensen to give Wolfgang a two count. Wolfgang kneed a chair into Jensen for a two count. Mark and Wolfgang took turns attacking and pinning Jensen. Mark took off Jensen’s leather belt. Briggs ran in to prevent Mark from lashing Jensen. Wolfgang used a wheelbarrow toss to send Briggs into the forearm of Mark. Gallus took turns smashing Briggs and Jensen in the back with belts.
[Overrun] Briggs and Jensen tried to fight back but were kept at bay with the belts. Briggs and Jensen managed to get their hands on the belts. Briggs and Jensen sent to town, slapping around Gallus with belts. Briggs and Jensen hit Gallus with their signature baseball slide punches. Briggs and Jensen smashed glass (presumed sugar glass) pint glasses over Gallus. Briggs and Jensen put Mark in a tree of woe in a trash can. Joe Coffey tried to run out, but he ran into boots from Briggs and Jensen, sending Joe into the table at ringside. Briggs and Jensen sent Wolfgang into the table in the corner. Mark staggered to the center of the ring with a trash can on his head. Briggs and Jensen hit Mark with a High-Low combination to give Jensen the pinfall win.
Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs defeated Gallus via pinfall in 11:35.
Fallon Henley ran out to celebrate with Briggs and Jensen. The security guards ran out to hold Gallus back. Joe punched out a referee and guard. “Police officers” showed up to handcuff Gallus and drag them to the back. NXT closed…
John’s Thoughts: Good brawl to close the show with both teams making decent use of the pub brawl stipulation. There was a nice twist on your usual WWE PG hardcore match with the belt sequence and the presumed sugar glass. As good as the match was, I felt like we were missing a chapter to this feud. They setup the feud with a generic backstage segment, and immediately gave us the payoff with the babyfaces overcoming the evil heels. There was no heat put on Gallus and so far Gallus keeps eating losses in NXT US. Hopefully they move on from this feud and hopefully set up Joe Coffey as a title contender, while racking up wins for Mark and Wolfgang.
Better showing from NXT this week. Last week’s show was a bit weak whereas this week’s show felt better in terms of character development. Good usage of promo packages and promo time this week. No real killer matches this week, but I felt like the quick matches this week did a good job setting the stage for feuds as well as offer character development to some new acts being showcased on NXT. Here’s hoping the two week taping break allowed WWE’s graphic design team to come up with some new graphics for the soft reboot of White and Gold NXT.
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