NXT Review – May 16, 2023
Quarter Final Match Of The Women’s Title Tournament
Fallon Henley vs. Cora Jade
Fallon Henley & Cora Jade lock up to kick this match off then Jade delivers a forearm to Henley but Henley responds with a shoulder tackle then delivers a kick to her head and a forearm of her own before Jade sends her knee crashing into the mat. Jade then delivers a chop and a dropkick and continues to wear down her knee.
Henley delivers a clothesline and a back elbow then plants Jade face first then sets up for a DDT but Henley escapes and delivers a Shining Wizard then looks to go for the pin but Jade rolls to the outside. Henley follows her before they get back in the ring & as Henley returns to the ring, Jade delivers a chop block and then follows it up with a DDT for the win.
Winner: Cora Jade (She will face Lyra Valkyria in the Semi Finals)
After the match Lyra Valkyria then appears at ringside and stares down Jade.
We head to the women’s locker room backstage and see Kiana James & Thea Hail exchange insults with one another. Hail challenges James to a match and asks Duke Hudson for permission to participate in the match & Hudson tells her to do what she wants and Hail tells James that she’ll kick her ass.
We then head over to North American Champion Wes Lee & Tyler Bate meditating then The Dyad appears out of nowhere and beats them down before Ava & Joe Gacy walk in. Gacy tells Lee & Bate that their friendship will burn out.
After the break we see NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams pulling up to the Performance Center & they waste no time as they head out to the ring as they pass Charlie Dempsey & Drew Gulak.
Hayes says Williams defended his honor against Bron Breakker last week. He says Breakker wanted to send him a message and he received it. He notes that Breakker isn’t the same man at Stand & Deliver, and the same goes for him. He says at Battleground Breakker will be in his yard and challenges him to come out.
Charlie Dempsey & Drew Gulak’s music hits. Gulak says he doesn’t care if they’re embarrassed because Breakker left them laid out and calls them out for disrespecting himself & Dempsey. Williams questions what he means and Dempsey says Hayes & Williams passed them like they were nothing on the way to the ring while they were being informed that their tag team match was not happening.
Gulak says the lifestyle he & Dempsey live is totally different. The crowd begins chanting Willy Wonka at Dempsey before Williams challenges Dempsey & Gulak to a match. Gulak asks Williams & Hayes if they’re sure they want to do that then they attack Williams & Hayes but Hayes & Williams send both men out of the ring and stand tall.
We then head to a video of a confrontation between Dijak & Ilja Dragunov.
After the break we head to a video showing Dani Palmer being attacked by a mysterious figure at a house show.
Tag Team Match
Creed Brothers (Julius & Brutus) vs. The Dyad (Jagger Reid & Rip Fowler)
Match starts off with Julius Creed & Rip Fowler lock up then they go back & forth with submission holds before Fowler delivers a suplex. Julius responds with a dropkick then tags in Brutus Creed then Jagger Reid tags in and rains down right hands on Brutus but Brutus gets him up for a delayed vertical suplex. Julius tags in and takes over for Brutus planting Reid with the suplex then Fowler tags in and Julius gets him up for a delayed vertical suplex.
Brutus tags in and does the same thing Julius just did then Julius tags back in and Brutus hands him Fowler. He sends him crashing into the mat before Reid tags in and delivers an enziguri to Julius. Fowler then hits an enziguri of his own, and Reid follows it up with a flatliner. Reid locks in a Koji Clutch, but Julius escapes and lands a powerbomb then we go to a break.
After the break Reid delivers a knee to Julius’ spine. Julius fires back with a suplex and tags in Brutus. Fowler tags in and Brutus catches him with the Brutus Smash. He delivers a splash in the corner then gets Fowler up on his shoulders and delivers a slam. Fowler tags in, and Reid tries interfering. Brutus pins them both, but The Dyad kicks out.
Fowler & Brutus then level one another with clotheslines before Julius & Reid get in the ring. They hit Fowler & Brutus with 450 Splashes off the top rope. Julius then sets up for a powerbomb but Reid reverses it into a DDT.
Fowler grabs the attention of Ivy Nile on the outside allowing Ava to jump her but Nile gets the better of her and locks her in Diamond Chin Lock as Brutus nails Fowler with the Brutus Bomb. Reid looks for a dropkick on Julius in the corner but Julius ducks out of the way and delivers a sliding lariat for the win.
Winners: Creed Brothers
We then head to a video of The Family discussing recent events. Stacks gets a call and walks off then 2 officers then approach Tony D’Angelo and tell them that he needs to go to the station with them as he’s associated with a couple of criminal acts. D’Angelo obliges, and a confused Stacks walks out and sees D’Angelo missing then a staff member informs him that he was taken in for questioning and Stacks asks what he was taken in for.
Back at ringside Julius Creed grabs a commentary set and throws out a challenge to Gallus for an NXT Tag Team Titles match at Battleground.
After the break Heritage Cup Champion Noam Dar welcomes fans to The Supernova Sessions and hypes up his talk show before introducing Dragon Lee.
Lee’s music hits and he heads to the ring & they sit down and Dar grabs a Spanish dictionary. He speaks to Lee in Spanish, but Lee cuts him off and says he speaks English. He says his father started training him when he was 14 and taught him to respect his opponent. Dar says they aren’t here to talk about his father and says he knows all about Lee. Lee says he loves the spirit and passion of his people, and says it’s the same passion the NXT Universe has shown him. Dar says the passion Lee has for his people is the same as the passion he has for the Heritage Cup. Lee asks if he wants to defend it and Dar tries talking his way out of it. Lee says he has to defend it and Dar once again tries talking his way out of the match by saying there’s a lot of rules.
Nathan Frazer appears and says he has to expose Dar as a fraud. He says it doesn’t matter how many rules Dar makes up it has to be defended like any other championship in WWE. Frazer tells Lee himself and everyone else would love to see him challenge Dar for the Heritage Cup and Lee says why don’t they do it at Battleground. Frazer then takes a shot at Dar’s previous on screen relationship with Alicia Fox leading Dar to accept Lee’s challenge and challenge Frazer to go 1 on 1 with him next week.
Tag Team Match
NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams vs. Drew Gulak & Charlie Dempsey
Trick Williams & Charlie Dempsey lock up to get this match started then Dempsey delivers a shoulder tackle then executes a backslide but Williams kicks out and hits a pair of shoulder tackles then follows it up with a pair of enziguiris then Carmelo Hayes & Drew Gulak tag in.
Gulak delivers a knee to Hayes’ midsection before Hayes responds with a pair of arm drags. Dempsey tags in and himself & Gulak deliver a double knee strike to Hayes’ midsection. Dempsey then delivers a snapmare and looks to lock in a Boston Crab but Hayes escapes and tags in Williams.
Gulak tags in and wears down Williams then tags Dempsey back in. Gulak delivers a German suplex to Williams before Dempsey lands one of his own. Williams then delivers an enziguri to Dempsey and tags in Hayes.
Gulak tags in and Hayes lands a superkick. Dempsey tags in and Hayes plants him on the mat. Williams tags in and levels an interfering Gulak then delivers a spinning kick to Dempsey. Hayes tags in and ascends to the top rope & hits Nothing But Net for the win.
Winners: NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams
After the match Hayes & Williams call Bron Breakker to the ring once again. Breakker appears on the Titan Tron and says he has to wait a little longer because he made a pit stop. The camera pans out and we see Breakker in the barber shop. Breakker says he figured he’d stop to get a fresh haircut before he finishes what he started last week.
Kiana James vs. Thea Hail
Kiana James shoves Thea Hail then Hail delivers an arm drag and a suplex then dumps James out of the ring and delivers a tope suicida. She rains down a few right hands as Hudson takes notice and pretends he isn’t marking.
Hail ascends to the top rope and looks for a splash but James rolls out of the way and delivers a series of knees to Hail’s midsection. Hail delivers a pair of forearms and a kick to James’ midsection then delivers a back elbow and a suplex.
She ascends to the top rope and hits a crossbody then goes for a pin but James kicks out and hits a Gore Buster then follows it up with the 401K for the win.
Winner: Kiana James
After the match Hail hugs Hudson as he continues to mark papers.
We then head backstage to Wes Lee & Tyler Bate being checked on in the medical room as McKenzie Mitchell stands by. Mitchell asks Lee if he has any clue why The Schism would attack the two of them and Lee tells fans to stay tuned as he storms off.
Lee says he wanted to come out to the ring to address everyone. He says his tag team match with Tyler Bate was unexpectedly canceled by The Schism. He says while he’s gotten better at controlling his anger he gets p*ssed off when himself & his friends are attacked. He says Ava & The Dyad are sheep rather than friends while Bate is his real friend. He tells Gacy all he had to do was ask.
Joe Gacy & Ava appear and says he’s never been dishonest with what he wants. He says he wants the North American Title and Ava tells Lee that he inches closer and closer to becoming the greatest North American Title with every win he picks up. She questions what that makes Gacy when he takes Lee’s North American Title away from him at Battleground and Gacy says he’s asking for a North American Title match at Battleground. He says all Lee has to do is break the news to Bate.
Lee asks Gacy when he’ll try to stop driving a wedge between himself and Bate, and Ava says the wedge has already been driven.
Bate’s music hits and he appears. He says he’s had enough with this rubbish and asks Gacy what his problem is with him. He says he’ll see him at Battleground and Lee tells Gacy good luck going twice in one night. Bate cuts him off and says he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want a North American Title match. Lee asks Bate why he didn’t say something earlier and Bate says that was his bad. He says they can still have a match in the spirit of competition and Gacy asks which one of them it will be at Battleground. Lee says he’ll take them both on in a Triple Threat match and says he’ll see them both on May 28th & on his way out of the ring Lee tells Bate he thought he could trust him.
We are back from the break we see Von Wagner walking around backstage then he encounters Mr. Stone as he is involved in a verbal altercation with Luca Crusifino then Wagner scares off Crusifino and Stone asks if he was sticking up for him. Wagner denies that he was doing such and Stone pulls out a picture of him as a kid. He asks if he’s ready to confront the picture and Wagner says no.
Quarter Final Match Of The Women’s Title Tournament
Roxanne Perez vs. Jacy Jayne
Match starts off with Roxanne Perez & Jacy Jayne lock up then they go back & forth with submission holds before Jayne delivers a right hand to Perez’s spine then Perez delivers a back elbow and looks to dump her out of the ring. Perez hangs on and lands on the apron before Jayne sends her crashing into the announce table face first that takes us to a break.
After the break Jayne delivers a neckbreaker then follows it up with a pair of shoulders to Perez’s midsection then looks for a cannonball but Perez ducks out of the way and fires off right hands on Jayne then delivers a dropkick that sends her crashing to the outside. She then delivers a tope suicida and tosses Jayne back in the ring then ascends to the top rope and delivers a crossbody.
She follows it up with a side Russian leg sweep before Jayne delivers a knee to her midsection and a superkick then delivers a spinning right hand and rains down right hands. She looks for a kick but Perez ducks out of the way and delivers a kick of her own Jayne’s midsection then follows it up with Pop Rox for the win.
Winner: Roxanne Perez (She will face Tiffany Stratton in the Semi Finals)
After the match Tiffany Stratton appears and stares down Perez. Stratton then takes notice of Gigi Dolin ambushing Jayne in the ring. Officials separate Dolin & Jayne before Carmelo Hayes’ music hits and himself & Trick Williams appear once again.
Hayes says he knows traffic isn’t that bad and calls Bron Breakker to the ring once again.
After the break Hayes and Williams are still waiting in the ring for Breakker.
Breakker’s music hits and he appears alongside an entourage of security guards. Security stands between Breakker & Hayes & Williams as Breakker explains that he didn’t bring security for his own protection but rather for the protection of Hayes &Williams. Williams says the only one that needs protection is Breakker & Breakker reminds him of his loss last week. Hayes says that’s some big talk from Breakker considering he has a wall of security in front of him. He tells Breakker to blame himself because he thought he was untouchable until he got touched. He says Breakker will not take his NXT Title from him and Breakker says they fight for 2 different reasons. He says Hayes is fighting for the NXT Title while he is fighting to embarrass Hayes in front of his family and friends. Hayes says Breakker says that with so much conviction but there’s a reason the two of them are in the main event of Battleground. He says no one is cut like they are and says beating him will help him create the dynasty he will create over his body.
Breakker says New England has a history of dynasties coming to an end considering their history with sports teams coming to an end. He says Hayes will realize at Battleground that he’s not him but he’s nothing and there’s not a damn thing he can do about it.
Hayes goes flying over the top rope to take out several security guards on the outside. Breakker & Hayes begin brawling as Williams is drag away by security. Hayes & Breakker go at it in the ring. Breakker delivers a clothesline but Hayes catches him with a low blow. He then clocks Breakker with the NXT Title and both men lay in the center of the ring to close out this week’s NXT.
Matches Of The Night
Creed Brothers vs. The Dyad- 7/10
Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams vs. Drew Gulak & Charlie Dempsey- 7/10
Semi Finals
Tiffany Stratton vs. Roxanne Perez
Lyra Valkyria vs. Cora Jade
Next Week
Semi Final Match Of The Women’s Title Tournament
Tiffany Stratton vs. Roxanne Perez
Semi Final Match Of The Women’s Title Tournament
Lyra Valkyria vs. Cora Jade
Non Title Match
Heritage Cup Champion Noam Dar vs. Nathan Frazer
Tank Ledger vs. Hank Walker
Battleground Card (May 28th)
Finals Of The Women’s Title Tournament
Tiffany Stratton or Roxanne Perez vs. Lyra Valkyria or Cora Jade
NXT Title Match
Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Bron Breakker
Heritage Cup Title Match
Noam Dar (c) vs. Dragon Lee
North American Title Triple Threat Match
Wes Lee (c) vs. Joe Gacy vs. Tyler Bate
