By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live March 18, 2025 on The CW Network
[Hour One] Highlights from last week’s Roadblock themed show aired…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
Separate shots of Stephanie Vaquer, Trick Williams, Eddy Thorpe, and Ricky Saints were shown as they were arriving to the WWE Performance Center…
Chelsea Green and her Secret Service made their entrance. Sol Ruca and Zaria made their entrance. Mike Rome handled the formal in-ring championship match introductions. Vic noted that this match was set up due to Sol Ruca getting a pinfall over the champion in a tag match…
1. Chelsea Green (w/Alba Fyre, Piper Niven) vs. Sol Ruca (w/Zaria) for the WWE Women’s United States Championship. Both women started the match with chain wrestling. The crowd did a pledge of alligance to Chelsea and then chanted “Chelsea for President” to her. Sol hit Chelsea with an X Factor for a nearfall. Chelsea went for a monkey flip, but Sol landed on her feet. Sol slammed Chelsea to the mat and rode her like a surfboard while doing a salute.
Chelsea dodged a slingshot after Piper distracted Sol. Sol clipped the leg of Sol heading into the break.[c]
Chelsea was dominating the match with methodical offense while focusing on Sol’s leg. Sol managed to get a moment of respite after a Missile Dropkick on Chelsea Green. Sol rallied with strike variations. Sol went for a springboard move, but her injured leg gave out on her. Sol managed to get Green with a 2nd attempt of a springboard axe handle. Sol’s leg gave out which allowed Green to hit Sol with the Ruff Ryder Leg Lariat. Woo woo woo! You Know it!
Green got a nearfall. Sol slammed Green off the top rope. Sol hit Green with the Rainbown DDT. Fyre distracted Sol to prevent the pinfall. Zaria took down Fyre. Sol hit Piper with a Triangle Moonsault. Green caught Sol entering the ring with a Codebreaker. Sol reversed a Unprettier into a rollup for a nearfall. Green tripped Sol off a springboard and hit her with the Unpretti-Her for the victory.
Chelsea Green defeated Sol Ruca via pinfall in 9:49 to retain the WWE Women’s United States Championship.
John’s Thoughts: I’m kinda liking Chelsa’s presidential gimmick better than Mustafa Ali’s version of the gimmick that he’s using on TNA (which HBK, Vince McMahon, and Paul Levesque all put a stop to). A good match and good to see Sol back in a singles capacity. Green is one of the best and underrated workers in the business in terms of in-ring. Sol did a good job on her end selling and I really liked how the story of the match was built around Sol’s athletic legs. Green wanted to clip the wings of Sol and Sol did a good job selling that onslaught. That led to a good ending sequence.
Trick Williams was backstage looking serious and doing bicep curls. Je’von Evans was upbeat and showed up to complain about getting jumpped by the mystery guys last week. Trick snapped, saying he’s locked in on getting back to Oba and the championship. Trick said there ain’t no “we”. Trick said they aren’t friends just because they have dreads. Trick said Evans ain’t gonna ever be him. Trick told Evans to tighten up.
After Trick left, Lexis King showed up to brag about being champion and Evans not ever going to be a champion. King said the bright side is Evans can eat solid food again. Evans gave King a punch to the jaw to end the segment…
Stephanie Vaquer was shown walking through the hallways…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Short but effective, some of the best character we’ve seen from Trick in a long time. Sorta a Lord of the Rings thing where the NXT championship is corrupting the usually upstanding Trick Williams. Good stuff.
Vic Joseph plugged WWE taking over Las Vegas with a handful of events around WrestleMania weekend…
Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo was firing up Ariana Rizzo and Luca Crucifino for their upcoming match. Tony D’Angelo showed up to hype them up. Stacks said that he recommends that Tony D hang in the back because he’s not 100% and Shawn Spears will use that to his advantage. Tony D teased feeling offended, but then praised Stacks for the good idea…
Mike Rome introduced Stephanie Vaquer as the new dual Women’s and Women’s North American Champion. Stephanie Vaquer made her entrance. Stephanie soaked in chants from the crowd. She said she needs to be honest, it’s difficult for her to communicate due to English not being her first language. She said Wrestling is her first language. She said she had the opportunity to go to any promotion or brand, but she selected NXT because she wants to make history and make it in the best division on the planet.
Stephanie said that she proved why she was La Primera last week by beating one of the best. A “La primera” chant ensued. She said that holding these two titles makes her the best of the best. She said she’s waiting for the first person to step in the ring and look her in the eyes. Stephanie was cut off by Jordynne Grace who congratulated Vaquer to the ring.
Grace called Vaquer a trailblazer, but not the only person who had a big week last week. She said she beat Roxanne Perez, the woman that elevated the NXT Women’s Championship. Out of nowhere, Grace was jumped and laid out by Jaida Parker. Parker said it don’t work like that because you can’t skip the line that starts with Jaida Parker. She said she’s not going to wait until Stand and Deliver.
Jaida praised Vaquer for her victory. She said that Vaquer can bask in her current glory now while she can, because this ain’t gonna last too much longer. Jaida said Stephanie wanted someone to confront her in front of her eyes and she’s right here confronting Stephanie “right in front of yo eyes!”. Both women faced off to end the segment…
Hank and Tank were psyching each other up and acting extra giddy. They then talked about becoming extreme…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A solid promo segment with Stephanie Vaquer showing improved ability on the mic to cut an english promo. She already has the NXT and Main Roster crowds eating out of the palm of her hand with her presense and in-ring ability alone, but I’m happy she is utilizing NXT as an avenue to make her a perfect wrestler, which includes trial by fire promos. She really comes off well and very genuine in her passion. This came off well also in an interview she did recently on Busted Open Radio which I highly recommend and I’ll embed below (and credit to Bully Ray Dudley who does an amazing job interviewing foreign wrestlers by speaking very slowly and concisely so that they are comfortable. You can tell that Bully has spent long times in foreign countries). My personal highlight from the interview was Stephanie Vaquer telling Bully “do you want to feel the diablo?” in the most innocent and straight-faced way possible.
Vic Joseph plugged the Sam Roberts Raw recap show…
Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura made their entrance first, followed by Hank and Tank. Vic noted that this match was made after both teams confronted The Hardy Boyz two weeks ago to say they were coming after the TNA Tag Team Titles. Both teams brawled before the bell…
2. Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura vs. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger. The bell ran when Briggs and Hank were left in the ring. Briggs got a two count after a chokeslam. Inamura tagged in. Hank fended off both opponents and tagged in Tank who hit Inamura with a springboard Shoulder Block for a nearfall. Inamura fended off both opponents with rapid chops.
Inamura blocked a body slam by Tank with a few chops. Tank dumped Briggs and Inamura to ringside. Hank and Tank went for Asai Vader Bombs, but Inamura and Briggs dodged them to cause them to crash and burn. Inamura hit Tank with a Helicopter Body Slam. Briggs tagged in and caught Tank with a Yakuza Kick. Inamura sent Tank into Briggs’s big boot to give Briggs a nearfall.
Briggs called Tank a bitch and told him he is not extreme. Hank used his body to stop Tank’s momentum during a whip attempt. Tank got the hot tag to Hank who rallied with running strikes on Briggs. Hank hit Briggs with a Bulldog and hit Inamura with a Pounce. Briggs dodged a dive. Hank hit Briggs with a Bossman Slam. Tank tagged in. Hank and Tank hit Briggs with a double team back suplex.
Briggs kicked out of Tank’s pin. Briggs dodged a Tank Swanton attempt. Briggs hit Tank with a Clothesline from Hell. Inamura hit Tank with his Powered-Up Frog Splash for the victory.
Yoshiki Inamura and Josh Briggs defeated Tank Ledger and Hank Walker via pinfall in 5:44.
Separate shots of the D’Angelo Faction and The Culling were shown heading into the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Good action from both teams. Hank and Tank are lovable goofballs, but there’s always a place for that type of tag team on the undercard. I continue to like the work I see from Josh Briggs, but especially Yoshiki Inamura after Inamura’s debut was pushed out for so long. Inamura has a unique look and unorthadox offense that makes him stand out. I’m looking forward to this powerhouse tag team presumably being set up for a match against Matt and Jeff Hardy.
People were giving Eddy Thorpe dirty looks in the locker room. Eddy approached Ridge Holland and talked about how he relates to Ridge where no one accepts both of them. Eddy said to screw all of them. Ridge said they are bringing in a shiny new toy in Ricky Saints while both he and Eddy put in years in this company. Eddy said people like Trick and Saints are Sports Entertainers. Ridge told Eddy to take care of his sports entertainer, while he takes care of his…
The Tony D’Angelo Family (sans Tony D) made their entrance first. The culling then made their entrance. The family jumped The Culling during their entrance. The bell rang once Rizzo and Dame entered the ring…
3. Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, Luca Crucifino, and Adriana Rizzo vs. “The Culling” Brooks Jensen, Niko Vance, and Izzi Dame (w/Shawn Spears) in a mixed tag match. Rizzo fired up and hit Dame with a flying forearm and flying axe handle strike. Stacks and Jensen tagged in and dominated. The PIP showed Tony D watching the match from the back. Vic joked about Booker saluting Chelsea Green reminding him of Booker’s time as “GI Bro” in WCW.
Vance distracted Rizzo which allowed Dame to get the upper hand. Stacks got Vance off his feet with a springboard axe handle strike. Luca hit Jensen wiht a cannonball at ringside. Vance put Luca in a Sleeper. Stacks broke the sleeper with a flip dive. Dame hit Stacks with a dive to ringside. Rizzo hit Dame with a Suicide Dive heading into break.[c]
During the break, Rizzo hit Izzi with a nice looking slingshot Molly Go Round. Back from break, The Culling cut the ring in half on Stacks. The crowd were chanting “We Want Luca”. Jensen hit Stacks with a nice looking version of Booker’s scissor kick. Stacks got a window of opportunity after hitting Vance with a Jawbreaker. Rizzo ran off Jensen’s back for a nice modified Poetry in Motion on Izzi.
Luca tagged in for the hot tag moment, where he took down Niko and Jensen. Luca hit Niko with a Slingshot Shoulder tackle. Rizzo and Dame spilled to ringside with a brawl. Luca and Stacks hit Jensen with a Shatter Machine. The picture-in-picture showed Dion Lennox and his mystery men beating down Tony D’Angelo. The Family got distracted by seeing this attack. Vance dumped Luca to ringside and hit Stacks with a Burning Hammer for the victory.
The Culling defeated Luca Crucifino, Channing Lorenzo, and Adriana Rizzo via pinfall in 10:27.
John’s Thoughts: Side note, I’m not sure why we don’t see a lot of Rizzo in the ring, but what little we see from her is always impressive. Not only did she steal the show with Jaida Parker that one time they got viral on WorldStarHipHop beatdowns, but she always has good moments that fire up the crowd. Anyways, hope we see more from her because she has a lot of good scrappy underdog charisma to her. I like his Family vs. Culling mid-card feud as there has been a lot of attention to detail put in in both building up the new heel faction while giving The Family some sympathy with Tony D’s storyline back injury. So far, I’m liking the Culling more in terms of the two heel factions NXT introduced at the same time.
NXT GM Ava was chatting with Stephanie Vaquer and informed her that she booked Stephanie defending the NXT Championship against Jaida Parker next week. Fallon Henley showed up and ranted about wanting her rematch for the North American Championship. Stephanie said she’ll allow it. Henley said she wants the title shot next week. Ava said that Stephanie is already booked next week. Henley dared Stephanie that if she wants to be double champion, she should defend both belts. Stephanie agreed to the match and Ava booked Stephanie in two title defenses for next week…
Karmen Petrovic and Ashante the Adonis made their entrance…[c]
A replay aired of Tony D getting laid out backstage by Dion Lennox and his random rogue Developmental wrestlers…
Fatal Influence made their entrance. Vic noted that on Social Media Ashante has informed people that He and Petrovic have good “bed chem”…
4. Jacy Jayne (w/Fallon Henley, Jasmyn Nyx) vs. Karmen Petrovic (w/Ashante the Adonis). Jayne dominated the early collar and elbow, followed by boots in the corner. Petrovic hit Jayne with a rough looking basement clothesline for a one count. Petrovic hit Jayne with a Rolling Sobat and Shotgun Dropkick. Jayne got control of the match with methodical offense. Jayne dominated for a few minutes.
Jayne and Karmen took each other out with clotheslines. Ashante handed Petrovic a steel chair, but the referee said that they should put that away. Petrovic teased using it, but slid it back to Ashante. Petrovic slingshot out of the corner, but Jayne floored Petrovic with a discus forearms for the victory.
Jacy Jayne defeated Karmen Petrovic via pinfall in 4:05.
John’s Thoughts: I like the sizzle Jayne put on that discus finisher. An okay match. I’m kinda disappointed that WWE is still using the dead on arrival Fatal Influence faction. It one of those things that comes off as the ghetto version of the successful Toxic Attraction, and this gimmick is holding back three talented women. I do continue to get a kick out of the Ashante and Petrovic cheesy rom com story, but they’ve sorta slowed that down a bit. When do they get to the part when Nikkita Lyons gives Ashante a taste of the groceries, to bring Ashante to her extra thicc cheeks.
Hank and Tank were sulking their loss in the locker room. Hank proposed that they need to seek advise from a veteran tag team. Wes Lee, Tyson Dupont, and Tyriek Igwe showed up to trash talk Hank and Tank…
Ricky Saints made his entrance…[c]
Jaida Parker mugged in the camera backstage to hype going after the NXT Women’s Championship and how she has Stand and Deliver on her mind…
Ridge Holland made his entrance…
5. Ricky Saints vs. Ridge Holland. Ricky fired back with right hands when Ridge dominated early on. Ricky took down Ridge with a dropkick. Ricky did his signature pose. Ridge faked an injury and used that to get a cheap shot on Ricky. Ridge hit Ricky with a Body Slam for a two count. Ridge worked on Ricky with methodical offense. A picture-in-picture showed Trick Williams getting locked in backstage.
Saints rallied with a shoulder tackle and back elbow. Ridge tripped Saints off the top rope and gave him a backbreaker. Ridge went back to methodical offense. Ridge dumped Ricky to ringside with a vertical suplex heading into break.[c]
Holland was dominating the match back from break. Ridge dominated for a few minutes. Eddy Thorpe was shown getting locked in mentally too. Ricky managed to get the upper hand after dumping Ricky to ringside. Ridge slowed down that rally with slow strikes. Ricky escaped the ten punches in the corner and then took down Ridge with a front boot. Saints planted Ridge with a Tornado DDT. Ricky planted Ridge with the Roshambo for the victory.
Ricky Saints defeated Ridge Holland via pinfall in 12:28.
NXT Underground was hyped for after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: I’m kinda disappointed that they never really capitalized off the heat Ridge Holland got after dismantling the popular Chase U act, especially after Ridge discovered the gift of gab. Since he’s cold though, I guess it’s smart to use him to introduce they highly touted Ricky Saints. They didn’t bury Ridge either in that this wasn’t a squash. Match was a bit plodding tho. I hope they have a video package in mind to introduce Ricky Starks to the NXT audience. So far it’s just him being very happy-go-lucky backstage. This guy is a great talker and character, and we need to see that in he spotlight. They can also make a sympathetic story out of him finally getting out of Tony Khan’s proverbial witness protection agency (I kid, I kid, but Ricky was doing a good job having people want to see him freed from creative purgatory).
A trailer aired for WWE’s upcoming “Roast of WrestleMania” show…
Another replay aired of Tony D getting laid out by Dion Lennox and his random band of developmental wrestlers…
An unseen interviewer caught up with Dion Lennox and the three random developmental wrestlers. Dion Lennox said that he’s sick of the “We are NXT” bullshit. He said that waiting around got them nowhere. The white dude said that they are four game changers. One dude said they are reshaping NXT to what they want it. A darker skinned black dude talked about how nobody is safe and the chaos finna continue. He said they should head back to the PC for more chaos…
John’s Thoughts: Ok. They have voices. Two of those guys seemed developmental green, but that chocolate skinned black dude sounded like he had the gift of gab in his promo time. I wonder if he’s an indie wrestler because he sounded polished. Dion sounded good too in his fired up promo. I see Dion and the dark dude being the two guys who off rip look like they have a good future in WWE. They are still missing something though. A bit of an ethos. They won’t do this, but given how Blackpool Combat Club was only truly great when they started due to their leader, can we bring Sir William Regal over to be their mouthpiece to elevate them to more that just being a mildly annoying heel faction.
Vic Joseph and Booker T hyped matches for next week’s NXT…
Kelly Kincaid interviewed Ricky Saints. Saints was about to cut a promo, but was cut off by The Culling showing up. Izzi said that Ricky doesn’t look like he measure up to the competition. Ricky said that one thing you should know is that Ricky Saints measures up at the right places. The crowd popped at Ricky referring to his dick…
Eddy Thorpe made his entrance…[c]
NXT and random developmental wrestlers were surrounding the ropeless ring. Vic noted that you can see a handful of these developmental wrestlers on their Tubi Evolve show…
Trick Williams made his entrance. A rules graphic aired. Mike Rome gave the match a formal in-ring introduction…
John’s Thoughts: There’s still a part of me that misses the random strippers and bad Shane McMahon commentary from the original iteratiom of this concept. I miss it in a WresttleCrap sort of way. Speaking of strip clubs, a criticism of this version of the match is that they really really turned down the lights, almost bad Sin Cara lighting levels. There was better dark lighting in past NXT Underground matches.
6. Eddy Thorpe vs. Trick Williams in an NXT Underground Match. Trick got control after tossing Eddy into the steep steps early on. Trick dumped Eddy to ringside with a uppercut. Eddy dodged a forearm drop at ringside. Eddy lifted Trick and sent him through the announce table. Eddy managed to get Trick in a Triangle. Trick tried to break it, but Eddy kept it locked in.
Trick broke the hold by dumping Eddy to the pile of wrestlers at ringside. When Eddy entered the ring, Trick hit Eddy with a Trick Shot Knee. Eddy couldn’t defend himself from Trick’s ground and pound, leading to the ref calling the match.
Trick Williams defeated Eddy Thorpe via Technical Knockout in 3:59.
Mike Rome announced the win as a Technical Knockout (Maybe also a reference to the name of the company)…
Trick took the mic and said that Eddy needs to learn how to Squabble (Awww hell yeah Uncle Jerome!!!). Trick told Oba Femi to get his punk ass out here. Oba Femi made his entrance, took off his shirt and confronted Trick in the ring. The lights went out, leading to the spotlights focusing on Dion Lennox and the three mystery guys appearing in the crowd. Je’von Evans tried to have Trick’s back, but Trick floored Evans saying he don’t need his help.
Oba and Trick started to brawl, with Developmental Wrestlers trying to keep them apart and failing. Je’von Evans showed up and left Oba lying with a cutter. The mystery men were shown clapping in the stands. Vic noted that the new faction was named “Dark State”.
Stephanie Vaquer defending both championships in separate matches next week were hyped by Vic Joseph. The show closed with Trick and Evans facing off with each other…
John’s Thoughts: I sorta liked everything in that segment. By the way, Trick Willy gets bonus points with the Uncle Jerome “you better teach yo mans how to squabble” reference. I love Snowfall! Great series on FX. On a similar note, as a light skinned black man, I like that NXT has found a way to produce a black television show in the most organic and non-pandering way. All these strong black brothers and sistas gettin stories, being main characters, huge pushes, getting some culture on the show, and not having their race being their “gimmick”.
I’ll give Alfred Konuwa of Forbes Magazine credit for saying it first, but I naturally had the same reaction as he did. NXT is the best black and blackest pro wrestling show ever. We get deep black wrestlers like Oba, Trick, Starks, Parker, Jordan, Nikkita Lyon’s ass (sorry, I believe she’s white, but couldn’t resist the booty joke), Lash Legend, Je’von Evans, Quinn “Moose” Ojinaka, and others being showcased really well. Even black wrestler Sol Ruca is great (yes, she’s black!). Sorry for my side praise of the culture, but I couldn’t contain my happiness. Maybe I can make a blog on that soon.
I digress, I loved the way they did things in the closing segments. I like the attention to detail where they had Trick pick up a TKO win against Kale Dixon and had that plot point flourish in this match against Eddy Thorpe. Trick Williams has been a bit stale in terms of character development for a while, and I like that he’s showing a bit of corruption by snapping on the wholesome 20 year old young OG Je’von. Je’von continues to show great range and that scene of him facing Trick was very good (Is he done with All Ego already?). Even though I usually prefer singles matches, I actually think that a Triple Threat between Oba, Evans, and Trick has the potential to be money.
Three distinct styles and many fun opportunities. Let’s see where they go. Overall a solid episode of NXT. I’m still not sold yet on “Dark Seed”, “Dark Sword”, “Dark Shield” or whatever Dion Lennox’s crew is; but I like that they are finally moving forward with some progression on their storyline (Sorry for another black reference, but I couldn’t help but make a South Park joke. Can we call the lone caucasian guy of Dark Soul “Token White”? I kid, I Kid; but until they give this poor man a name, he’s Token White to me dammit!). I like that we got to hear Dion and that Prince Nana lookin’ fella get a chance to talk and those two look like possible future stars from the faction.
They might be given new names but the other three members of Dion Lennox’s group are Saquon Shugars, Cutler James and Osiris Griffin
Cutler James sounds a bit generic, but Saquon and Osiris sound very cool. Sequon does make me think of the running back though.
Cutler James is actually featured on LFG.
Cutler James is the white guy.
Hey John,
Did you know that they’re finally doing a Snowfall spinoff?
Apparently it’s starring Leon and Wanda.
Oh shoot! Looks like they announced that today! Been waiting for that green light for years! Happy that Leon is coming back because his character was developed so well.
As a wrestling fan, I hope they bring back El Oso too
I thought he died in the last season unless they have a different character play him.Probably not,but hopefully Franklin and Louie appear..
They kept things open with Oso as he ended the season with his Lucha Libre gym (They did tease that he might get set up, but that was vague). Franklin had closure, but given how last season ended he should be able to show up given how close he is to Leon.
I’m almost sure Louie will be back (if they can get the actress) as the was in the middle of an arc at the end of the season.
They’ll have to make new characters, which should be fun too. One character I would definitely Mark Out over coming back, is Skully! King of the Bloods, but also a irl anime character with his samurai sword and hamburger phone and everything.