Gold Rush: Week 2 has arrived!
WWE NXT Gold Rush: Week 2 goes down this evening at 8/7c on the USA Network from the Capitol Wrestling Center inside the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
On tap for tonight’s show is Carmelo Hayes vs. Baron Corbin for the NXT Championship, Tiffany Stratton vs. Thea Hail for the NXT Women’s Championship, as well as Gallus vs. Edris Enofe & Malik Blade for the NXT Tag-Team Championship.
Also scheduled is Nathan Frazer vs. Dragon Lee for the Heritage Cup, as well as Gigi Dolin vs. Kiana James.
Featured below are complete WWE NXT Gold Rush: Week 2 results from Tuesday, June 27, 2023. The following report was written by PWMania.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live from 8-10pm EST. on the USA Network.
WWE NXT GOLD RUSH: WEEK 2 RESULTS (6/27/2023)
The “WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together.” opening signature narrated by John Cena airs to get week two of the special Gold Rush themed episode of WWE NXT off-and-running on the USA Network.
We see “earlier today” footage of the champion and challenger for our main event tonight arriving to the building in the parking lot. We then shoot to a lengthy, elaborate pay-per-view cold open style video package.
We shoot to the Capitol Wrestling Center inside the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL. where Vic Joseph and Booker T welcome us to the show.
NXT Women’s Championship
Tiffany Stratton (C) vs. Thea Hail
Championship action will get things started in the ring for tonight’s NXT Gold Rush show, as the NXT Women’s title will be on-the-line, with Tiffany Stratton defending against battle royal winner and the youngest title challenger in NXT history, Thea Hail.
The Chase U theme hits and out comes Thea Hail with a ton of energy as always. Duke Hudson comes to the ring with her trophy and she enters the squared circle and runs around in circles like a kid on too much caffeine.
Her theme dies down and then the familiar sounds of Tiffany Stratton’s entrance music plays and out comes the reigning, defending NXT Women’s Champion for this opening title contest.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Straight out of the gate we see the energetic Hail taking it to the champion. As Hail beats down Stratton, the commentators talk about how she could become the youngest champion in NXT history with a win here tonight.
We see the action spill out to the floor where Stratton starts to shift the momentum in her favor. We see her selling her shoulder as the action resumes in the ring. Stratton lands a big double stomp to Hail for a close near fall.
On that note, we head to a mid-match commercial break as this opening title tilt continues. When we return from the break, we see Hail nearing a finish a few times. She fires up as the crowd rallies behind her. She does the C-H-A-S-E U stomp spot as the fans chant with each letter.
Drew Gulak and Charlie Dempsey end up getting on the ring apron near the end of the bout, and while Gulak is distracting the referee, Hail has her dead to rights, but the ref doesn’t see it. When the ref does turn around, Stratton escapes the Kimura and rolls up Hail for the win.
Winner and STILL NXT Women’s Champion: Tiffany Stratton
Andre Chase Returns!
Once the match wraps up, we see Dempsey and Gulak scolding Thea Hail for losing, even though they essentially cost her the match. Hudson gets in between them and the two end up attacking him until Andre Chase runs out, making his surprise return to help Hudson fight them off as the crowd goes wild.
Ilja Dragunov Is Unbeseigbar
We see a Ilja Dragunov vignette delving deeper into his threshold for pain and how he’s got a permanent flame burning inside him for violence and competition. Unbeseigbar is the word he keeps repeating.
NXT Tag-Team Championships
Gallus (C) vs. Malik Blade & Edris Enofe
Now we shoot backstage and we see Gallus talking about how they’re going to handle Malik Blade and Edris Enofe tonight and then deal with Stacks. We then shoot to see Blade and Enofe in a different area backstage getting ready.
Back inside the CWC, the theme hits to bring out Malik Blade and Edris Enofe for our second match of the evening. They settle in the ring and then we head to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see Dana Brooke is getting checked on by the trainers in a behind-the-scenes segment from last week’s show. A fellow gymnast and growing NXT Superstars gushes over their common history as gymnasts. They agree that they’d like to share the ring one day.
Now we return inside the CWC and we see the challengers in the ring awaiting the arrival of their opponents. With that said, Gallus’ theme hits and out comes Wolfgang and Coffey for the latest defense of their NXT Tag-Team Championships.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Blade and Coffey kick things off for their respective teams. Coffey’s strength advantage is apparent early on. He tags out, as does Blade.
Enofe starts using his speed and quickness to get in some offense on Wolfgang. He ends up in the Gallus corner of the ring, and after a tag, we again see him on the defensive. Coffey and Enofe go at it with holds and reversals and counters as Vic and Booker bicker on commentary.
Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo are shown in the rafters watching on as Blade and Enofe hit a bunch of double team high spots for close near falls. On that note, we head to a mid-match commercial break as this tag-team title bout continues.
When we return from the break, we see Angel and Humberto still watching on as Enofe nearly finishes this one off. On the floor, Gallus starts to pull ahead with double-team attacks until Stacks runs out.
Stacks accidentally kicks Enofe. Or does he? He rolls him in the ring after what seemed to be an accidental kick, right into the pin. After the match, Stacks stares at Gallus celebrating in the ring. After the match, we go to another commercial break.
Winners and STILL NXT Tag-Team Champions: Gallus
Noam Dar Is Down In The Dumps
When we return from the break, we see McKenzie Mitchell with Noam Dar and the “Meta Four.” He is down in the dumps, sucking on a lollipop while he is babied by the rest of the “Meta Four” gang. He is asked for his prediction on the Nathan Frazer vs. Dragon Lee showdown for the Heritage Cup later tonight.
Schism Family Meeting
Now we return inside the CWC and we see Joe Gacy, Ava Raine and the rest of The Schism sitting on bar stools in the center of the ring, which is covered with a black carpet. Ava Raine begins the Schism Family Meeting bringing up the issues within The Schism lately.
Jagger Reid gets upset at Joe Gacy promising big things and not delivering. Ava Raine jumps in and tells Jagger it’s not necessary. Gacy says it’s okay, he appreciates the honesty. He then explains how he did, in fact, change Jagger’s life. He blames his best friend for not letting him have a voice.
As they continue to drone out, the theme for The Creed Brothers and Ivy Nile hits and out they come. They tell Gallus they walk slowly, talk slowly and essentially tell them they’re boring. Jagger yells that this doesn’t concern them.
They bicker back-and-forth and The Diamond Mine and The Schism seem to be on a collision coarse for another match. Gacy challenges The Diyad vs. The Creed Brothers for next week. The loser leaves NXT.
Axiom Has Sights Set On Heritage Cup
Bronco and Lucian are coming soon. Another vignette airs to hype their arrival to the scene in NXT. Then we shoot backstage and we see Tank Ledger, Hank Walker, Axiom and Scrypts reacting to the video. They predict they’ll do some damage in NXT and are all excited for new blood on the scene.
Nathan Frazer walks by with his Heritage Cup trophy and Axiom stops him and wishes him luck. Scrypts tells Axiom he can see he’s drawn to that cup. Axiom admits he is. We head to another commercial break.
Carmelo Hayes Confronted By Rhea Ripley
We shoot backstage and we see Carmelo Hayes stretching and getting ready for his scheduled NXT Championship defense against Baron Corbin in tonight’s NXT Gold Rush: Week 2 main event.
As ‘Melo and Trick Williams are talking, up walks WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley. The Judgment Day member and Dom-Dom’s “Mami” confronted Carmelo Hayes about getting involved in Dominik Mysterio’s business during his interaction with Cody Rhodes on Raw.
Heritage Cup
Nathan Frazer (C) vs. Dragon Lee
Now we return inside the CWC where the theme for Dragon Lee hits and out comes the popular masked performer to the ring for our next match of the evening.
The theme for his opponent plays and out comes Nathan Frazer with his Heritage Cup in-hand. He heads to the ring and settles inside the squared circle ready for action.
We hear the bell and we’re officially off-and-running with round one of this Heritage Cup showdown between Nathan Frazer and Dragon Lee. After some back-and-forth action in the early goings, we see Frazer take over on offense.
As the first round nears its’ end, we see Axiom and Scrypts come out to the top of the entrance ramp and take a closer look at the action. The second round gets going and within a minute, we see Frazer hit a power bomb off the top for the first pin of the contest.
Nathan Frazer jumps off to a 1-0 lead after two rounds. We head to a commercial break on that note. When we return, we see some more back-and-forth action and then Dragon Lee picks up a fall to even things at 1-1.
Frazer eventually pulls off the deciding fall at the end of the fifth round to go up 2-1 for the win. He picked it up as the clock buzzer sounded, so there’s some controversy over whether he got it in in time or not.
Winner and STILL Heritage Cup Champion: Nathan Frazer
Gable Steveson Prepares Eddy Thorpe For Raw Underground
We shoot to the commentators where Vic Joseph and Booker T hype up next week’s Raw Underground returning on NXT with Eddy Thorpe going one-on-one against Damon Kemp.
We then shoot to a video package where we see Olympic gold medalist and WWE NIL signee Gable Steveson training Thorpe for the showdown. Thorpe asks Gable to be in his corner next week. Gable agrees. We head to another commercial break.
Latest On Wes Lee, Tyler Bate & Mustafa Ali Saga
We shoot backstage upon returning from the break where Wes Lee and Tyler Bate are talking. In walks Mustafa Ali and Bate walks off. Ali apologizes for slapping Lee last week. Lee tells him to stick to being a dope wrestler and not be a referee.
He claims he called it down the middle. Bate walks in again and argues. He says because of Ali’s refereeing he wants another title shot at Lee. Ali speaks up and says he wants a title shot. Bate says he’ll be the special ref. As Bate and Ali bicker, Lee grabs his belt, shakes his head and walks off.
Now we shoot to Robert Stone frantically looking for Von Wagner. When he finally catches up with him, Wagner doesn’t want to talk this week. He storms off.
Kiana James vs. Gigi Dolin
It’s time for women’s one-on-one action, as Kiana James is shown making her ring entrance in progress. She settles in the ring and awaits the arrival of her opponent.
With that said, Gigi Dolin’s theme hits and out comes the orange-haired wonder with a flower in hand as always. She heads to the ring with intensity in her eyes.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. James fares well early on, but the fans rally behind Dolin, who starts to shift the offensive momentum and take over control of the action.
After several minutes of intense back-and-forth action, we see James try and cheat her way to victory by using her loaded purse. Dolin ends up avoiding the shot, however, and hits her crucifix bomb into the pin for the win.
Once the match wraps up, we see James beat down Dolin with the loaded bag. She then opens the money bag to reveal it was full of heavy cans of paint. She opens the orange and blue paint and pours it all over Dolin as the fans boo.
Winner: Gigi Dolin
A Lot Has Changed Since Tony D’Angelo Got Locked Up
A lot has changed since Tony D’Angelo got locked up. We see Gallus’ member get on D’Angelo’s visitation list to talk to him in jail. D’Angelo says he heard he got a free ride from Stacks. He tells him that things aren’t what they seem and a lot has changed since he was locked up.
D’Angelo says Stacks is family. He tells him Stacks sold him out. D’Angelo tells him to quit driving a wedge. He says if you don’t believe me, have a listen for yourself. We then listen as he plays audio from his phone of Stacks revealing that he’s screwing D’Angelo over.
He says there’s a new don on the streets. D’Angelo looks heartbroken. He tells D’Angelo again. “Things aren’t what they seem. Hey, Tony-boy…”
Blair Davenport Attacks Roxanne Perez
We see footage of Roxanne Perez being attacked by Blair Davenport while doing a live social media video Q&A. This is followed by an announcement by Vic Joseph and Booker T that Roxanne Perez will go one-on-one against Blair Davenport on next week’s show. We head to another commercial break.
Lyra Valkyria Is A Bad Ass
We shoot backstage upon returning and we see Jacy Jane in the women’s locker room ranting and raving about Lyra Valkyria from last week. She says if she sees her tonight, she’s gonna knock her out. Lyra Valkyria walks up and knocks her on her ass. She says again that she doesn’t play games. As Jane is still on the ground, Rhea Ripley walks up and tells her that Lyra is a bad-ass.
NXT Championship
Carmelo Hayes (C) vs. Baron Corbin
It’s main event time!
Now we head into the arena where Baron Corbin’s theme hits and out he comes in his old “Lone Wolf” look for his NXT World Championship opportunity against Carmelo Hayes.
Corbin settles in the ring and his music dies down. The lights go down and then a graphic of a Carmelo Hayes jersey being lowered is shown. The lights come back on and the familiar sounds of Carmelo Hayes’ theme hits.
On that note, the reigning and defending NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes emerges accompanied by Trick Williams. He heads to the ring as fans chant “Melo! Melo!”
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with our final match of the evening, and the final bout of this year’s two-week NXT Gold Rush special themed event series. Corbin immediately drops Hayes with a big shot early on.
Moments later the action spills out to the floor, where Hayes leaps off the top with a picture-perfect splash onto “Lone Wolf” Corbin. As he soaks in the adulation from the NXT Universe in attendance, we head to a mid-match commercial break as the match continues.
When we return from the break, we see Corbin still dominating the offense, which we are informed he has been doing throughout the final break of the evening. Hayes starts to fire up now as the crowd rallies behind him.
‘Melo hits a picture-perfect springboard clothesline for a close near fall. Hayes’ momentum is killed dead in its’ tracks after that, however, as Corbin flattens Hayes and starts taunting him as he blasts him with big forearm shots.
The two fight to the top-rope but Hayes knocks Corbin off and leaps off with a frog splash. Both guys are slow to recover and when they do, they start trading shots with Hayes gaining the upper-hand.
Hayes knocks Corbin out to the floor and catches him with a kick coming back in. He hits a fade away springboard leg drop off the ropes. Hayes hits a super kick and a code-breaker and then leaps off the ropes backwards for a DDT. He goes for the pin but Corbin kicks out.
We see Hayes looking to finish Corbin off. Vic Joseph says when Hayes shoots, he don’t miss. Didn’t he lose just 24 hours ago on TV? Corbin fights back and hits a big choke slam for a close near fall of his own.
Now the action spills out to the floor where Corbin starts repeatedly bashing Hayes’ head off the commentary desk. Someone watched Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay at The Forbidden Door 2! Hayes fights back in the ring. Corbin fights back and hits Deep 6 for a close near fall.
Corbin looks to choke slam Hayes to the floor, but Hayes avoids it and DDTs Corbin on the hard part of the ring apron. Back in the ring, Hayes is nothing but net off the top-rope, proving when he shoots in NXT, he does, in fact, not miss. He doesn’t here, as he connects and scores the pin to retain his title in a great main event.
Hayes is joined by Trick Williams in the ring to celebrate his hard-earned victory. We then see match graphics for bouts scheduled for next week’s show, as Vic Joseph hypes all the action.
Winner and STILL NXT Champion: Carmelo Hayes
“You And Everyone Else Will Find Out Next Week!”
As the show is getting ready to go off the air, we shoot backstage where we see a shot of Shawn Michaels’ locker room door and we hear a bunch of yelling going on in his office.
Bron Breakker storms out. Someone asks him what’s going on and he yells, pushes past the camera and says, “You and everyone else will find out next week!” That’s how this week’s show and two-week Gold Rush special themed event goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
