Posted on 10/15/125 by Bob Magee
New NXT Champion Ricky Saints opens the show with an
entrance dressed in street clothes, and he is holding the
NXT title belt. Trick Williams interrupts Saints a few
minutes into Saint’s monologue, with Trick appearing on the
Titantron.
Saints begins the monologue boasting about winning the title
despite odds stacked against him. Saints then cuts a promo
on Trick, with Saints saying Trick folds like origami. After
cutting a cutting a promo on how bad Trick is, Saints turns
around and lobbies for a title match against Trick. Saints
is “calling his shot” in the “Absolute Era” of NXT.
Trick interrupts with a pre-taped promo shown on a video
screen. Trick insults Saint in a short video where he cut
his promo uninterrupted by Saints. After Trick’s promo,
Saints responds by saying must have slipped on the cocoa
butter he puts on, and Trick bumped his head. Saints vows to
burst the bubble on Trick’s fantasy land.
Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater are talking backstage when they
are met by Matt and Jeff Hardy. The Hardys vow to give
Darkstate some receipts at Halloween Havoc on behalf of
Evans and Slater.
— Matt Cardona gets a full entrance before a commercial
break.
— “Anonymous” footage shows TNA Knockouts Champion Kelani
Jordan arguing with Jordynne Grace. This would seem to set
up a match between the two for the Knockouts title.
Matt Cardona vs. Josh Briggs
Cardona put over Briggs in a good match, where Briggs scores
a clean pinfall on Cardona. For the finish, Briggs hits
Cardona with a big boot. Briggs then falls on top of Cardona
to score the pinfall.
The match went through a commercial break. This was clearly
a big match for Briggs as he wore his fancy vest complete
with a smoking skull. It was literally gimmicked to emit
smoke. Cardona put him over well, but Cardona looked great
in doing so. The finish came out of nowhere, as they had
traded near falls earlier in the bout. Very well laid out
with modern sensibilities, but an old school type of finish.
Before the commercial break, Cardona fires up and does a
flip dive over the top rope to the floor. After the break,
Briggs is getting heat on Cardona. Comeback by Cardona as
they head down the stretch going home.
Match result: Josh Briggs defeated Matt Cardona via pinfall.
Lyra Valkyria joins Hank & Tank and Chase U for a backstage
skit where they are all confronted by The Culling. This
served to set up a triple threat tag team match for next
week, along with Izzi Dame vowing to win the battle royal
tonight.
— AAA Latin American Champion El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. has
a full entrance before a commercial break.
— Fatal Influence is the focus of a video package. Lainey
Reid officially joined the group. After the video package,
Vic Joseph on commentary was baffled at Reid joking the
faction. What show was he watching the last several weeks?
El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Lexis King in a non-title
match
The match goes through a commercial break after Wagner does
a moonsault to the floor. After the show returns from the
break, King works a leg. Wagner hulks up into a comeback,
while still selling his leg in a silly manner. For the
finish, Wagner lands a Shining Wizard, followed by a
Michinoku Driver on King.
Match result: El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. defeated Lexis King
via pinfall.
Wagner cuts a promo after the match where he calls out NXT
North American Champion Ethan Page, who enters dressed in a
suit jacket and dress shirt that matched his Canadian
version of the North American title belt. This confrontation
led to the announcement of a death match between the two at
Halloween Havoc. More specifically, they are billing the
bout as a “Day of the Dead” match.
— Trick Williams attacked Ricky Saints in a phantom assault
during a backstage skit with others. The skit begins with
authority figures Santino Marella and Ava talking when with
Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans. Those two wrestlers are
lobbying for a tag team match tonight. Their lobbying
efforts are interrupted by Arianna Grace and Stacks. This
led them booking an X-Division title match with Stacks
challenging Slater. Suddenly, a commotion is heard and the
camera pan away. Trick is seen standing over a fallen
Saints. Trick is yelling when officials and security pour
into the scene. Ava tells for “medical!”
From there comes the entrances of Blake Monroe and Zaria,
respectively. They are vastly different, yet both great
entrances in their own way.
Blake Monroe vs. Zaria
Sol Ruca plays a part in the finish after running in and
jumping on the apron. Ruca takes a metal folding chair away
from Monroe, who was intending to use the chair as a weapon.
Despite making the save, Ruca’s interference causes a
distraction. The referee is distracted by Ruca, as he argues
with her on the apron. Dude, do your job!
With the ref distracted by Ruca, Monroe retrieves a hair
pick from her knee pad. Monroe uses the pick as weapon and
strikes Zaria in the throat. Monroe follows up with The
Beauty Shot (double-arm DDT), and Monroe covers Zaria for a
tainted victory.
Match result: Blake Monroe defeated Zaria via pinfall.
— Ava announces a Speed tournament, and the winner faces El
Grande Americano for the Speed title. The tournament starts
next Tuesday on NXT.
— Hank and Tank enter the sound stage before a commercial
break.
Hank Walker & Tank Ledger vs. Chase U (Kale Dixon & Uriah
Connors) vs. The Culling (Shawn Spears & Niko Vance) in a
triple threat tag team match
The match was action packed and going along when OTM
returned to clean house. Lucien Price and Bronco Nima run in
and assault the match participants. This leaded to what I
assume is a no contest finish. The match was very
entertaining until the finish. Nevertheless, OTM looked
dominate in their return. Does this set up a four-way tag
match, or what?
Match result: The triple threat tag team match ends in a no
contest after outside interference by OTM.
— In a backstage skit, Sol Ruca gifts Zaria her spot in the
battle royal.
— Ricky Saints is storming around backstage looking for
Trick Williams. Saints is stopped by Ava, who wants him to
calm down so the match can happen. Ava reveals Saints and
Trick have a contract signing next Tuesday on NXT.
— Several women wrestlers get full entrances ahead of the
battle royal. Those getting entrances include Jordynne
Grace, Lash Legend, Lei Ying Lee (formerly Xia Li in WWE),
Xia Brookside, Victoria Crawford (formerly Alicia Fox in
WWE), and Jaida Parker (who was over huge with the live
studio audience in attendance). After a commercial break,
the rest of the battle royal participants are in the ring.
— In between the break and the start of the battle royal,
Darkstate lays out the Hardys in a phantom attack that
involved chairs.
NXT Women’s Championship #1 Contender’s 20-Woman Battle
Royal
Far as battle royals go, this was good. They wove a few
feuds and story lines into the match.
The final four were Kendal Grey, Jordynne Grace, Izzi Dame,
and Tatum Paxley. As they go home, Paxley is on the apron
with a rear naked choke on Grace. Meanwhile, Dame tosses out
Grey, who looked strong throughout the match. Dame then goes
for a Cactus Jack clothesline that sends both her and Grace
over the ropes to the floor for a double elimination. That
leaves Paxley as the sole survivor, and she wins the battle
royal to earn a title shot.
Match result: Tatum Paxley won a battle royal to become
number one contender.
After the match, the Fatal Influence trios enters the scene.
NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne poses with the title belt in
a stare down with Paxley. Lyra Valkyria runs past Fatal
Influence, and Valkyria joins with Paxley in celebrating her
win.