NXT Review (03/14/2023)
Kicking off this week’s NXT with a recap of Roadblock.
Johnny Gargano says he needs fans to do him a favor and watch out for Grayson Waller. He says the last time he was in a NXT ring, he said he would teach his son to be the best man he could be. He says he is back to finish his story because it ended on a cliffhanger 15 months ago. He says something has been missing since his returning to Raw and his last appearance in NXT ended up with him on the announce table with Grayson Waller standing over him, and Waller took his heart and soul from him. Gargano says he gave Waller the gift of waiting in order to see what he did with the moment then says the last guy to take him out was Tommaso Ciampa. He says Waller had 2 chances but lost both of them and turned his back on everyone. Gargano says NXT is his home and tells him you don’t screw with a man’s home.
Vic Joseph then hands Gargano his phone with a live stream pulled up that shows Waller at his home, and Gargano runs to the back.
We then head to a video of North American Champion Wes Lee pulling up to the arena. Axiom says he’s going to stick by Lee’s side until his open challenge comes about so he can be the one to answer the call.
After the break we see Johnny Gargano storming out of the arena and getting into his car as McKenzie Mitchell tries catching up with him. Mitchell tells the camera person to stay with Gargano.
NXT Tag Team Titles Match
Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) (c) vs. Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince)
Mark Coffey & Elton Prince lock up to get this match going then Prince slaps Coffey but Coffey catches him with a right hand and a back elbow. Prince rolls to the outside for a breather but Wolfgang forces him back inside the ring. Kit Wilson tags in and Coffey executes an arm drag then tags in Wolfgang. Wolfgang hits an arm drag of his own then delivers a splash in the corner before tossing Wilson across the ring.
Wilson fires back with a couple of kicks and a shoulder to Wolfgang’s midsection, but Wolfgang catches him and plants him. Coffey tags in and Gallus beats Wilson down. Prince tries interfering but Gallus clotheslines Pretty Deadly to the outside that sends us to a break.
After the break Prince takes a cheap shot at Coffey, allowing Wilson to hit a back suplex. Prince becomes legal and hits a leg drop, then delivers a pair of knees to Coffey’s spine. Wilson tags back in and delivers a knee to Coffey’s side then delivers a shoulder to his midsection and tags in Prince. Prince hits a splash and an elbow, then continues to beat down Coffey. Wilson tags in and delivers a pair of knees then tags in Prince.
Coffey makes the hot tag to Wolfgang, who hits a shoulder tackle and a dropkick. He hits a splash in the corner and ascends to the top, then delivers a double ax handle and a body slam. Coffey tags in and Gallus delivers a double chokeslam to Prince. Coffey goes for a pin, but Wilson breaks the fall. Wolfgang tries attacking Wilson but Pretty Deadly sends him out of the ring and tosses him over the announce table.
Pretty Deadly each grab one of the NXT Tag Team Titles but the referee catches Prince with his. Wilson hits Coffey with his and goes for a pin but Coffey kicks out. Pretty Deadly then look for Spilled Milk but Wolfgang saves his partner and tags in. Gallus then delivers Running Knee/Powerslam combo for the win.
Winners & Still NXT Tag Team Champions: Gallus (STILL CHAMPIONS!!!!)
We head to a video of NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion Fallon Henley & Josh Briggs breaking into Kiana James’ office. Henley is about to pick the lock but Briggs opens the door and they begin to look for anything that points to James cheating on Brooks Jensen. Henley finds a contract for a match at Stand & Deliver and reveals it to be for a Qualifying Match for the Women’s Title Ladder Match at Stand & Deliver. Henley then finds a planner and reads what is written in it. She finds something in there called operation boyfriend and comes across a date that has get Brooks to get Fallon to tag with me written on it. They then see a different date with drinks with Sebastian written on it. They then come across the card from the flowers last week and discover that the note that came along with was from Sebastian and thanks James for a date. Henley takes a picture of it and they leave.
We are back from the break, we head to a video from a physician providing an update on Roxanne Perez. The physician says they have yet to identify why Perez collapsed last week.
Women’s Title Qualifying Match
Zoey Stark vs. Sol Ruca
Match starts off with a lock up. Ruca shoves Stark, then delivers a kick to her midsection and follows it up with a back body drop. Stark rolls out of the ring for a breather, then gets back inside and delivers a knee to Ruca’s midsection. Ruca hits a codebreaker but Stark rolls to the outside. She beats down Ruca then tosses her back in and hits a sliding lariat.
They go back & forth with right hands before Ruca hits a pair of shoulder tackles and a splash in the corner. She follows it up with a powerslam, then clotheslines Stark out of the ring and hits a moonsault off the top. Ruca tosses Stark back in the ring and Stark hits Z360 for the win.
Winner & Gets Into The Women’s Title Ladder Match At Stand & Deliver: Zoey Stark
NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles #1 Contenders Triple Threat Match
Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn vs. Kayden Carter & Katana Chance vs. Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley
Katana Chance rolls up Isla Dawn. Dawn kicks out before Chance hits a dropkick to Tatum Paxley and tags in Kayden Carter. Dawn rolls up Carter but Carter kicks out. Alba Fyre tags in, and Dawn delivers a series of kicks to Carter, but Chance tags in and pins Fyre. Paxley breaks up the fall, then tags in Ivy Nile. Nile levels Chance & Fyre before Chance looks for a crossbody off the top rope but Fyre catches her and plants her.
Dawn tags in and Nile looks for the tag but Paxley hops off the apron and turns her back on Nile. Dawn levels Nile then delivers a kick to Chance as Paxley beats Nile down on the outside. Paxley then tosses Nile into the ring which allows Fyre & Dawn to double team on her for the win.
Winners & #1 Contenders To The NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles: Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn
Ilja Dragunov says his career in WWE has been life changing for himself and his family, then addresses JD McDonagh. He says he has been a blemish then says he needs to put an end to him once and for all.
McDonagh’s music hits and he heads to the ring. He says himself & Dragunov are two sides of the same coin and are more similar than he knows. He says they have both failed to capture the NXT Title and says Dragunov could take control his own life if he wanted to. He says Dragunov’s body is both his greatest strength and weakness. Dragunov then says things between them will end next week and nothing will be left of McDonagh when he finishes.
They begin to brawl with one another. Dragunov clotheslines McDonagh out of the ring, and they brawl to the back and out of the arena.
After the break we see Tyler Bate & Thea Hail meditating. Andre Chase walks in and dismisses them so he can talk to Duke Hudson. Hudson says he thinks wins are everything and people will judge them based on that. Chase says he believed the same thing before Chase U was born. He says Chase U is about so much more than materials and says it’s a place for people to grow. Chase says Hudson is one of those people and says he now lives and dies with every loss instead of skating by like he used to. He says while Hudson might think Chase U has done nothing for him, it may have given him everything. Chase walks away before Ava appears and places her mask near Hudson.
We then head backstage and see several superstars brawling to get to the ring for the North American Title Open Challenge first.
North American Title Match
Wes Lee (c) vs. TBD
Lee heads to the ring and the men spill to the outside. Axiom slides in first, but Scrypts takes him out. JD McDonagh slides in but Dragunov beats him down. Lee levels everyone on the outside after he goes flying over the top rope and joins in on the fight.
Winner: No One (Match Never Got Started)
We head backstage to McKenzie Mitchell is with Dragon Lee & Mitchell welcomes Lee to NXT then asks him what fans can expect to see from him. Lee says he came to WWE to show the world what he can do.
We are back from the break we go backstage to McKenzie Mitchell is with Jacy Jayne. Jayne says Gigi Dolin is nowhere near as good as she is. Mitchell points out that Dolin did end up beating her and Jayne says Dolin separated her shoulder a minute into the match. She says if Dolin considers that to be a victory, then she is more pathetic than she thought. Jayne says she’s going to be thinking about Dolin every minute she’s away and when she does return, she will break Dolin’s heart once again.
Apollo Crews vs. Dabba Kato
Apollo Crews wastes no time and delivers a splash off the top rope to Dabba Kato on the outside then they begin brawling on the ramp before they get in the ring and the bell sounds. Crews sends Kato back to the outside and delivers a series of double ax handles before Kato tosses him into the barricade. He charges at Crews but Crews moves out of the way and Kato crashes into the ring steps. Crews then gets Kato in the ring and delivers a stomp but Kato delivers a massive right hand and a big boot that sends us to a break.
After the break Kato has Crews on his shoulders and plants him then he jams his knee on the back of Crews’ neck, then hits a leg drop. Crews sends Kato’s head bouncing off the top rope then delivers a splash in the corner and follows it up with a suplex then he ascends to the top and hits a Frog Splash then goes for a pin but Kato kicks out.
They spill outside the ring once again and Kato plants Crews on the ring steps. The referee begins a 10 count but Crews beats it at 9 then Kato plants him with a double chokeslam for the win.
Winner: Dabba Kato
We then head over to a video posted to the NXT Anonymous Twitter account of North American Champion Wes Lee & Shawn Michaels talking. Lee says he wants to prove himself with the open challenges he keeps holding, and Michaels should understand that better than anyone. Lee requests 10 opponents at Stand & Deliver and Michaels says he can’t do that but he can give him 4 opponents of his choosing. Lee thanks him and shakes his hand.
We then head over to NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion Kiana James & Brooks Jensen. James is leaving a voicemail for Fallon Henley asking where she is as she needs her at ringside for her upcoming match before Jensen tells James he can’t reach Josh Briggs either. Jensen offers to come down to ringside with James, but James says she doesn’t need him there. A look of disappointment overtakes Jensen’s face, and James says she didn’t mean it like that. Jensen goes in for a kiss, but James has already left.
Women’s Title Qualifying Match
Women’s Tag Team Champion Kiana James vs. Gigi Dolan
Kiana James & Gigi Dolan lock up to get this match started then Dolin rolls up James but James kicks out. Dolin hits a snapmare and a running knee but James fires back with a running knee and a shoulder to Dolin’s midsection. She follows it up with a neckbreaker, but Dolin manages to deliver a kick to her face. She follows it up with 3 more then delivers an Gigi Driver for the win.
Winner & Gets Into The Women’s Title Ladder Match At Stand & Deliver: Gigi Dolan
After the match Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn attacks James.
We then head to a video of Grayson Waller & Johnny Gargano brawling on Gargano’s front lawn outside of his house. They reach the steps of his house and continue fighting. Candice LeRae opens the door to ask what’s going on, and Gargano tells her to go inside. Waller hits Gargano with a rake as LeRae tells Waller to stop whilst holding Quill in her arms. Waller taunts LeRae & Quill then retreats as LeRae checks on Gargano.
We then head backstage to Brooks Jensen checking on Kiana James. Fallon Henley & Josh Briggs walk in and Henley asks if James is okay. James says she isn’t, and Henley says she didn’t even know about her match earlier tonight. She explains she was jumped by Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre due to their upcoming Stand & Deliver match. Henley asks her what match she’s referring to and they begin to argue.
Carmelo Hayes asks where the host of their contract signing is, and NXT Champion Bron Breakker says they don’t need anyone. Hayes agrees and says the faster they can sign the contract, the faster a new NXT Champion can be crowned.
Pretty Deadly’s music hits, and Elton Prince says it only makes sense for the hosts of Stand & Deliver to look over this contract signing.
Hayes says he means no disrespect to Breakker and says he deserves to be recognized. He says April 1 will be a changing of the guard and he will take the NXT Title farther than it’s gone before like he did with the North American Title. Breakker says he agrees that Hayes made the North American Title the A Title but he did that because he wasn’t ready to hold the NXT Title. He says he doesn’t want to face that version of Hayes and says April 1st will be the 1st time that Hayes misses.
Hayes says he doesn’t want the Breakker smiling on posters, but the one who won at WarGames and the one who made Tommaso Ciampa tap out to win the NXT Title. He says Breakker has been unstoppable, and that fact will make things even sweeter when he beats him. Breakker says Hayes has to show him that his catchphrase isn’t something just printed on a t shirt, then says Los Angeles is more of Hayes’ place than his. Hayes says there are a lot of eyes on their upcoming match, but that’s nothing new to them. He says he will deliver on April 1st but he has to make sure Breakker will too. Breakker says something has to give and Hayes says the contract. He hands it over to Breakker and Breakker does the same.
Prince says things are now official as the they shake hands. They were about to leave but Prince says people come for the drama. Kit Wilson begs for some drama which leads to Hayes & Breakker sending Pretty Deadly through the table. They then stare one another down to close out this week’s NXT.
Next Week’s NXT
JD McDonagh vs. Ilja Dragunov
Stand & Deliver Card (April 1st)
Grayson Waller vs. Johnny Gargano
NXT Title Match
Bron Breakker (c) vs. Carmelo Hayes
Women’s Title Ladder Match
Zoey Stark vs. Gigi Dolan vs. More TBD
NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles Match
Fallon Henley & Kiana James (c) vs. Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn
North American Title Fatal 5 Way Match
Wes Lee (c) vs. TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD
