By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Live from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired March 21, 2023 on USA Network
[Hour One] Highlights from last week’s NXT show. It focused on Grayson Waller beating up Johnny Gargano at Johnny’s front yard in front of Candice LeRae and baby Quill Gargano…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer…
Pretty Deadly, Kit Wilson and Elton Prince, made their entrance in fashionable attire. Vic Joseph reminded viewers that Wilson and Prince are the hosts of the Stand and Deliver show at the former Staples Center in Downtown LA. They did their usual “Yes boy” catchphrase. Wilson said last week’s NXT should be scrubbed from history because Gallus cheated and they were also attacked by Carmelo Hayes and Bron Breakker.
Wilson said it was time to talk about outfits. Prince said that Breakker and Melo have horrible fashion. Prince was cut off by Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes making their entrance. Trick said that Pretty Deadly should mind they own business. Melo said he was so dripped out he was leaving puddles in this building (good line). Wilson tried to talk, but Trick said that they need to mind their business while adults are talking.
Prince said he can’t understand Trick’s language because they only speak in the King’s English. Trick Williams challenged Pretty Deadly to a tag team match on this week’s show, which Pretty Deadly accepted. Trick then switched things up by saying Pretty Deadly will be facing Carmelo Hayes and Bron Breakker, which caught Melo off guard. Pretty Deadly jumped Trick and Melo.
Bron Breakker ran out to clear Pretty Deadly from the ring. Breakker gave Wilson a military press onto Prince at ringside (and Prince saved Wilson’s life because Breakker missed the mark). Breakker helped Melo to his feet to end the segment…
Indi Hartwell and Tiffany Stratton were shown at different parts of the Performance Center heading to the ring…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Fun opening segment. Pretty Deadly are a good light-hearted act that can mesh in most promo exchanges. I like the added development in the Hayes and Breakker saga with both men respecting each other as dominant athletes. On another note, thank God Prince got there for the catch because Wilson was about to splat on the ground.
Cody Rhodes vs. Ludwig Keiser was hyped as Cody’s first Smackdown match in 6 years in an ad…
Trick and Melo were backstage. Melo didn’t like Trick setting up the tag team match. Trick said it was strategic to help Melo learn Bron’s moves. Trick hyped up Melo and said that Melo has the cheat code…
Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in from the commentary table. Vic showed a Roxanne Perez tweet where Perez said she’s coming back, but not sure when…
Entrances for the next match took place…
1. Tiffany Stratton vs. Indi Hartwell for a spot in the Women’s Championship match at Stand and Deliver. Indi got a quick one count after a shoulder tackle. Indi worked on Tiffany with shortarm shoulder tackles. Tiffiny came back with a boot and lariat for a two count. Indi came back at Tiffany with shortarm clotheslines. Tiffany regained control with a snap suplex. Tiffany gave Indi forearms to the kidneys followed by an Irish Whip into the corner.
Indi came at Tiffany with forearms, but Tiffany came back with a whip to the corner. Tiffany hit Indi with a backflip into a elbow. Hartwell dodged a double stomp. Tiffany regained control at ringside by tripping up Indi at the apron. The show cut to regular commercial.[c]
Tiffany gave Indi a hip attack into the 2nd rope. Tiffany flipped out of the corner. Indi hit Tiffany with a Belly to Back suplex. Both women traded forearms. Indi rallied with a right hand combo. Indi hit Tiffany with a draping face wash kick for a two count. Tiffany came back with a Power Slam on Indi for a two count. Indi avoided a slingshot Swanton and hit Tiffany with a spinebuster. Tiffany hit Indi wiht a rolling Senton and Mero Sault for the win.
Tiffany Stratton defeated Indi Hartwell via pinfall in 5:59 of on-air time to earn a spot in the Women’s Championship match at Stand and Deliver.
John’s Thoughts: Well worked match with the predictable outcome. Tiffany is getting pushed while Indi continues her role as a stepping stone babyface (Though I think she a capable of being in a meaningful program). I’m not a huge fan of them setting up a multi-woman match for the woman’s title at Stand and Deliver. I was really looking forward to the Roxy vs. Tiffany match they were teasing to see if Tiffany can steal the show. They also seem to be taking a really roundabout and contrived route to get to this match with the whole pass-out story.
The show cut to Gallus, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang, drinking pints and playing pool at the pub. Julius and Brutus Creed showed up. Both teams agreed to a pool game. Mark assumed the creeds drink milk. Brutus said that he wants what Gallus is having, but Julius gets crazy so they can drink water. Gallus won the pool game. Julius challenged Gallus to darts.
The Creeds won that game twice. Brutus said that they practice hard in the dojo and party hard outside. Gallus challenged The Creeds to a match at Stand and Deliver with the titles on the line to find out the true winner of this tied game. They agreed. When they all left the pub, they walked into The Creeds and Gallus about possibly joining in on that title match. The Creeds, Gallus, and the mob guys went back in the pub for business…
NXT North American Champion Wes Lee was shown heading to the ring…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Another example of Gallus coming off better in pretaped skits as opposed to the live mic. I also liked the cinematic style they used here to show a bit of slice of life. What I’m not the biggest fan of is WWE seemingly trying to “get everybody on the show”. They did it last week on Smackdown with the “Superstar showcase”. They’re doing it in NXT now with the Women’s title and tag team titles presumably.
A Lyra Valkyria cinematic aired. She was training inside of an abandoned building this time as opposed to the forest. She was shown doing parkour and even diving through broken windows…
John’s Thoughts: Lyra hasn’t impressed much in NXT yet, but I do really like her Lucha Underground style cinematics. Why is she the only one getting them? It fine, because she really comes off well in them. Looking forward to seeing more of Lyra in the ring (It looked like she was supposed to feud with Cora Jade, but Jade disappeared out of nowhere).
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Gigi Dolin about being in the women’s title match. She said it sucks that Perez had to be injured to set this up. Gigi said she’s not sorry about Jacy Jayne being injured. Tiffany Stratton cut in to brag about also being in the women’s title match. She said the championship is hers after she climbs the ladder to the top…
Wes Lee was in the ring with a mic talking about his plans for Stand and Deliver. He said he wants to prove he’s deserves to be champion. Lee said the cat was out of the bag that Shawn gave him the chance to pick four opponents after NXT_Annonymous showed everyone on Twitter. Wes was about to announce his first opponent, but Dragon Lee made his opponent.
Dragon took the mic and said he came to NXT to fight the best and Wes is considered one of the best. He said he likes the chaos of multi-person matches and would be honored to fight Wes. Wes said he’s followed Dragon’s career in North America and Japan. Wes said he’d see Dragon in LA.
JD McDonagh made his entrance and joked about two “Lee’s” in the ring putting each over. McDonagh said he’d take care of Dragon after he takes care of Ilja. McDonagh asked Wes why he was even in the ring now. Wes said that Ilja’s about to rip McDonagh apart. McDonagh said that Wes not only would not be Champion when Ilja showed up, but Wes would probably not even be standing. Ilja Dragunov made his entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Yep, WWE is definitely going with the “get everybody on the show” approach with their title matches on the card. At least the main title is contested one-on-one. It was a bit of a pain to recap the last segment because all of the Lee’s in the ring, which JD pointed out too. I wonder if Dijak would have a great match against Dragon Lee because he seems to have his best matches against people with the last name Lee? I remember chatting with him a few years ago at Cow Palace and his English was a bit rough. Looks like it’s gotten better and I’m hoping he ends up acclimating well to WWE.
A Miz and Maryse musical WrestleMania ad aired where Miz talked about his big balls and how he’s the host of WrestleMania…
NXT_Anonymous was creeping around and taking a video of Indi Hartwell tossing around stuff backstage. Zoey Stark showed up and mocked Hartwell for losing…
Fallon Henley confronted Kiana James backstage. James wanted to talk about their title defense. Henley wanted to talk about James cheating on Brooks with “Sebastian”. Henley talked about how she broke into Kiana’s office. Kiana said that Fallon has the wrong idea. Henley yelled that Brooks is family to him and she doesn’t want to see him hurt…
2. Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh. Ilja dominated JD with a jump kick. Ilja worked on JD with overhead power strikes. McDonagh came back wiht a leg scissors trip and slingshot corkscrew senton. McDonagh grinded Ilja into the corner with his knee and followed up with a clothesline for a two count. Both men took each other out with paintbrush swipes to the face. Both men got to their feet and fired up the crowd with fore stiff paintbrush slaps.
Ilja hit McDonagh with chained German Suplexes. Ilja did a tiger feint into a lariat on McDonagh. Ilja hit McDonagh with a hesitation knee strike and splash. JD recovered and staggered Ilja on the top rope with right hands. Both men brawled at the top rope with Ilja getting the upper hand. McDonagh grabbed Ilja by the hair and slammed Ilja to the ground. McDonagh dumped Ilja to ringside heading into picture-in-picture.[c]
McDonagh was stretching Ilja around like a pretzel back form the break. Ilja reversed the pressure on JD’s knee to force JD to rope break. JD hit Ilja with a PK to the back. Ilja no sold a slap, but missed an enzuigiri when JD ducked. JD hit Ilja with Kawada kicks. Both men knocked each other out after trading multiple headlocks and Ilja hitting Ilja with an enzuigiri.
[Hour Two] Ilja rained down elbows on JD. Ilja hit McDonagh in the corners with chops. McDonagh ducked a chop and gave Ilja a back elbow. Ilja rallied with rapid fire chops. Ilja gave McDonagh machine gun chops in the corner. Ilja hit McDonagh with a modified delayed Saito Suplex for a nearfall. “Fight Forever” and “This is Awesome” chants ensued. McDonagh hit Ilja with a Power Bomb for a two count. McDonagh worked on Ilja with Chained Suplexes.
Ilja no sold the last suplex. McDonagh hit Ilja with a German Suplex. Ilja no sold it and gave McDonagh a kick to the temple. Ilja stumbled to the mat. Ilja went for a Torpedo Moscow, but McDonagh caught Ilja in the air and went for a rear naked choke. Ilja prevented the arms from clasping and escaped. Ilja hit McDonagh with a sliding forearm. The brawl tumbled to ringside with both men taking out Dragon Lee. McDonagh slapped Lee and tossed Ilja into him. Lee brawled with both men to end the match in an apparent no contest.
Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh ended in an apparent no-contest in 14:37
Wes Lee gave Lee, Ilja, and McDonagh a flip dive and joined the brawl.
Bron Breakker met up with Trick and Melo backstage. Breakker said he’s wondering if Trick is up to something by setting up this tag match. Trick said he just wants Bron to share the ring with a future champion. Melo said he just wants both men to be at their best at Mania…[c]
John’s Thoughts: You can put these guys in the ring and expect magic every time. On one hand I don’t like the crap finish, but on the other hand I’m ok with not seeing JD take another loss because it seems like he’s always on the losing end of these epic wars (He’s teflon, but even teflon scratches when you bang on it enough). Wes Lee vs. Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh vs. Dagon Lee vs. ? should be very interesting because it’s a multi-person match with a lot of stiff strikers.
The WrestleMania ad aired of Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Butch, and Ridge Holland doing a reenactment of 40 Year Old Virgin. This was the one where Ridge Holland was getting body waxed in the Steve Carrell role…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Wes Lee and said that chaos always follows Wes. Lee revealed that he’s adding Ilja and JD to the match. McKenzie wondered who gets the last spot? Axiom showed up in his mask and turtleneck. He asked Lee for the last spot. Lee said that he has a lot of people he wants to face. He said he’s going to continue the chaos by having a battle royal for the last spot…
Johnny Gargano’s entrance theme played. Instead of Johnny, we got the return of Javier Bernal, in street clothes, dressed up in Gargano’s fashion, and even doing Gargano’s mannerisms. Big Body Javi joked about fooling everyone. Javi blamed Johnny Gargano for taking his spot on the Stand and Deliver card. Javi claimed to be the heart and soul of NXT after busting his month for a seven month careeer. Javi said Johnny Gargano doesn’t even have a Christmas Album. The actual Johnny Gargano made his entrance.
Gargano marched to the ring ang aggressively tossed Javi to ringside. Johnny tossed Javi against the barricade and steps. Johnny dumped Javi over the barricade. Johnny took the mic and maniacally called out Grayson Waller. Gargano said that he wants to raise the stakes. He said he has a stipulation for the next match. Johnny said Grayson Waller vs. Johnny Gargano will be a specialty of Gargano, a unsanctioned match.
Grayson Waller appeared on the big screen and said that Gagano will just embarrass himself. Waller said he can’t come to the ring because Gargano is unhinged. Waller said he’s only signing it if Johnny’s friend Vic Joseph delivers it to him next week and if Johnny will be banned from the building. Gargano agreed. Big Body Javi stumbled back in the ring and ate a superkick from Gargano. Gargano posed on the top rope to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: Good stuff here to forward the Waller and Gargano feud. Even better, we got the return of Big Body Javi, Javier Bernal. He’s really grown as a character. The guy is like a younger Heath Slater and they have him flopping around like Heath too. It was odd that they took him off TV for like a month, because he usually gets a segment every week. Looking forward to Javi terrorizing McKenzie again.
The show cut to a cinematic. A man was in the forest with Native American symbols all over the place. He said heis proud of his haritage and wants to hold his people up. He then walked over to a DJ Turn-table and started playing EDM Music. The man was Eddy Thorpe (f.k.a. “BFD” Karl Fredericks)…
John’s Thoughts: I’m really looking forward to Eddy debuting on NXT. He’s someone who’s career I followed all the way back to 2015 when he wrestled locally in Daly City for the All Pro Wrestling promotion. I wasn’t high on him intitally, but he eventually added layers to his act and had great matches in that indy promotion. From what I saw he has a very similar skillset as Austin Theory
McKenzie interviewed Ivy Nile about Tatum Paxley betraying her. She said she was disappointed that Paxley betrayed her after all Diamond Mine did to take her in. She said she’s going to remain positive because she wants to win her next match which would get her in the women’s title match at Stand and Deliver…
Ivy Nile made her entrance to the arena…[c]
A sitdown promo aired featuring Hank Walker. A replay was shown of Walker beating Javier Bernal to earn himself an NXT contract from Shawn Michaels. The talked about how he was an athlete all his life and a starting O Lineman for NC State. He talked about getting a job, meeting new friends, and getting a mentor in Drew Gulak in recent months. He said his mentor then betrayed him. Hank said he’s working his ass off to prove Drew Gulak and Charlie Dempsey wrong. He said he’s just going to get better and continue to evolve, because that’s what NXT is all about.
Gulak and Dempsey were watching the promo on a monitor. They weren’t impressed by Hank…
Lyra Valkyria made her entrance with a new routine. She now emerges from the fog. Thank God that bad instagram filter rain is long gone…
3. Lyra Valkyria vs. Ivy Nile for a spot in the Women’s Title Match at Stand and Deliver. Lyra started off with a Jackknife rollup for a two count. Nile tripped up Lyra a few times. Lyra blocked a Juji Gatame, but ate a few back boots from Nile. Lyra dared Nile to hit her. Nile dared Lyra to hit her. The women took turns trading Muay Thai kicks. Both women took each other out with stereo kicks. Tatum Paxley was shown watching the match backstage.
Nile hit Lyra with a Gutwrench slam. Lyra recovered and hit Nile with a kick combination. Nile struggled a bit, but eventually hit Lyra with a suplex. Nile hit Lyra with a thrust kick. Nile put Lyra in a Dragon Sleeper, but Lyra escaped by running up the ropes. Lyra hit Nile with a German Suplex and Spinning Cross Kick for the win.
Lyra Valkyria defeated Ivy Nile via pinfall in 2:53.
Fallon Henley was backstage. The was jumped in the hallway by Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre. Kiana James ran in to even the numbers. Referees and Oney Lorcan ran in to pull apart the women. When the dust settled, James asked Henley that she don’t reveal the secret to Brooks, she will. Henley agreed…
A Schism and Chase U “Great Debate was plugged for after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: An oddly short match, and even more odd that they had Nile lose so quick. She looks like a beast and should be pushed as a buzzsaw, but NXT’s booking of her has been very weird. Here’s hoping now that she’s a singles, she can finally tap into that potential she clearly has with that look.
Vic Joseph hyped Bad Bunny being the host of Backlash at Puerto Rico…
Wes Lee was walking the hallways and walking past several wrestlers. Jinder Mahal said he’d see Lee at Stand and Deliver. Dijak showed up and said he hasn’t forgotten about Lee. After Lee walked past him he walked into Dabba Kato who said he was coming after the title…
The show cut to some guy named Blake Howard in a full lecture hall. Chase University was on one half and the Schism were on the other half. Duke Hudson and Rip Fowler were the first two debators. Howard asked them on their views on “inclusion”. Fowler said some stuff about togetherness and taking off your “masks”. Fowler talked about Ava offering Hudson a chance to join and how they will welcome him with open arms. Hudson said he did get a mask and invite. He said Chase makes him feel included, “I guess”. Hudson walked back to teh desk and Andre Chase told him “what the f–k was that?”.
Ava and Thea Hail went to the podium. The subject was “safety”. Ava talked the Schism’s rhetoric about safety being with family. Hail gave the dictionary definition of safety and said that the Schism’s safety was a toxic safety. The crowd was fired up with Hail. Joe Gacy and Andre Chase were the next debators. Howard asked both men about how they view “leaving the nest”. Gacy wouldn’t let Chase talk and yelled that Chase is holding them back.
Tyler Bate said he’d like to represent Chase U in the next debate with Jagger Reid. The moderator asked both men their NXT experience. Reid said the Four Roots One Tree catchphrase. Bate talked about how it takes a Big Strong Mind to succeed in NXT. Bate said Chase U is about growth and evolution. He said it gave Hail a Career and rejuviniated Duke Hudson. He said the University fortified Andre Chase.
Bate said Chase U is the evolution of NXT and that’s something The Schism will never do. Tyler Bate challenged The Schism to an eight person tag team match at Stand and Deliver between The Schism and Bate and CHase U. Joe Gacy said they’ve already beat Chase U many times and there’s nothing to gain. The Schism was about to walk away, but Hudson agreed to put the University on the line. Joe Gacy agreed to that stipulation…
John’s Thoughts: A very weird segment to set up yet another “get everyone on the show” match for Stand and Deliver. The wrestlers all delivered their lines well, the whole debate concept just came off as lame and random. To find a bright spot in that segment, Tyler Bate cut one of his better solo promos, even though I still think hit’s odd that he’s a yoga instructor now. The stipulation does pique my interest. Not because of the Schism, because the Schism kinda suck as a gimmick. What is intriguing is the stakes because Chase University has grown to be one of the bright spots in NXT and it would hurt to see them go.
The show cut back to the pub with the mob guys, Gallus, and The Creeds. We saw the aftermath of what was a drunk party. They all agreed to a triple threat tag team match…
John’s Thoughts: If we’re going to put everyone on the show, are they going to throw Indus Sher in the match? That wouldn’t be a bad idea given how social media numbers inflate when you appeal to the Indian market.
Vic Joseph plugged the advertised matches for Stand and Deliver so far…
Entrances for the main event tag team match took place…
4. Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes (w/Trick Williams) vs. “Pretty Deadly” Kit Wilson and Elton Prince. Wilson went for the quick trip and pin on Melo for a one count. Melo recovered and came back with a dropkick and armdrag on Wilson. Both men traded clinch armdrags to head into the Pretty Deadly corner. Prince tagged in and worked on Melo with right hands. Pretty Deadly double teamed Melo at ringside, but backed down when Breakker walked up to them. Melo recovered in the ring and gave Wilson a kick.
Wilson came back with a flapjack on Melo. Pretty Deadly stopped in place when confronted by their opponents. Breakker chucked Melo into Prince with a hip toss. Breakker dumped Wilson to ringside. Both men shared an awkward handshake. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
[Overrun] Pretty Deadly cut the ring in half on Breakker to prevent him from tagging in melo. Melo managed to kick Prince with a big boot. Breakker and Wilson tagged out. Melo caught Prince with a springboard lariat. Melo hit Wilson with a nice springboard suplex onto Prince. Wilson hit Melo with a DDT to earn Prince a two count. Ivy Nile vs. Indi Hartwell vs. Sol Ruca was announced as a “Last Chance Qualifyer” for the women’s title match next week.
Prince and Wilson traded quick tags to isolate Melo. Wilson hit Melo with a wheelbarrow slam for a two count. Wilson continued to work on Melo with methodical offense. Melo managed to shove away Prince with a boot and tag in Breakker for the hot tag. Breakker cleaned house. Breakker hit Wilson with a rev’d up Shoulder tackle and release German Suplex. Breakker hit Wilson with a Steiner signature top rope bulldog. Wilson tossed Breakker into Melo, but Melo got out of the way. Breakker nailed Wilson with a spear. Breakker respectfully tagged out and allowed Melo to hit Wilson with the Nothin’ But Net Scissors Kick.
Carmelo Hayes and Bron Breakker defeated Pretty Deadly via pinfall in 12:05.
Trick Williams was comically writing down notes at ringside. Breakker and Melo had a staredown to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: A solid television main event to build towards Stand and Deliver. They’re doing a good job with the build to Breakker and Melo. I’m amped to see Carmelo work as a babyface potentially because I think we’ll see him pull out some stuff that we don’t see in his heel moveset. Per the recent pattern, every other week seems like it’s a good show with the alternating weeks being overstuffed and contrived. This week’s show allowed more time for segments to develop as opposed to rushing segments. It was even ok that the one bad segment, the debate, got time to sink or swim.
It sank, but set up a good stipulation. The theme of this week’s show is to set up all the “get everybody on the show” matches at Stand and Deliver. On one hand, I think it’s a bit much doing so many multi man matches? On the other, my guess is that the logic behind this is to not overdoo it with the show time, which I approve. Not only as a person who reviews these shows, but also as a fan. Speaking of which, I’m going to be at attendance during WWE’s Mania Week events. Looking forward to this show. It’s going to be interesting going from Staples Center in Los Angeles to So Fi in Inglewood back to back shows. I’ll probably just take the subway over.
The women’s division runs NXT right now as the men really aren’t booked as well.