Posted on 12/03/125 by Bob Magee
NXT is on the air from a sound stage at the Performance
Center in Orlando with a live studio audience. Vic Joseph is
commentary as usual, but Booker T is not on the show this
week. Instead, Corey Graves is back on NXT for tonight’s
episode.
In the ring is NXT General Manger Ava, and she is joined by
the participants of the Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge. Sol
Ruca, Jordynne Grace, Kelani Jordan, Lola Vice and WWE
Evolve Women’s Champion Kendal Grey are in the ring for a
summit of sorts.
All five participants gets to speak, but they are soon
interrupted by the Fatal Influence trio. Before the
interruption, each of the five cuts a promo of some kind.
Sol Ruca speaks first, and she mentions Ethan Page putting
her over in a recent promo. Ruca then talks her trials this
year, but there is an easy path back to a championship. That
is winning at Deadline and going on to win the women’s
title.
Jordynne Grace interjects to say no one can stand in her
way. Lola Vice says John Cena all picked her for a reason.
Kendal Grey says she is the only women in the ring with a
title. Kelani Jordan cuts a promo and is booed more than
anyone else in the ring.
Fatal Influence interrupts the summit, with NXT Women’s
Champion Jacy Jayne cutting a promo flanked by Women’s Speed
Champion Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid. Jayne says she
cannot wait to see which loser she faces after Deadline.
Jayne then singles them all out to cut promos on all of
them. In the ring, Jordan insults Grace by calling her a
“meat head”, which ignites a brawl.
Cut away from the melee to footage for earlier today with
Joe Hendry talking with Thea Hail backstage. In walks Stacks
and Arianna Grace. Hail and Grace exchange words, which sets
up a match between the two that is up next.
But first, Ava wants to talk with Fatal Influence. Ava books
them in a trio match later on against three of the women
they interrupted earlier tonight.
Thea Hail (with Joe Hendry) vs. Arianna Grace (with Stacks)
—
They had a fun match for an NXT show, although it was short.
Hendry gets involved to counteract Stacks, and Hendry
chokeslams Stacks on the ring apron. Hail then applies a
Kimura lock, and Grace taps out.
Match result: Thea Hail defeated Arianna Grace via
submission.
— A skit from earlier this week in the parking lot, Andre
Chase apologizes to OTM after the Chase U students almost
run over OTM with a Tesla. OTM says next time it’s on sight,
and Chase cuts a promo on the students. This sets up a tag
match for later on tonight.
Josh Briggs vs. Tavion Heights
—
They had a really good match in what is continuation of
their feud. They picked up where they left off by brawling
before the bell. They trade near falls before the fight
spills outside again, where Heights sends Briggs crashing
through a gimmicked section of the barricade.
After a commercial break the match continues with Briggs
getting another near fall. Briggs gets heat on Heights, but
Heights eventually makes a fiery comeback. When they collide
together, Briggs rips off the chain he was wearing as a
necklace. The referee grabs the chain and goes to toss it
out of the ring. With the ref distracted with the chain, he
is late to see Heights covering Briggs after a belly-to-
belly. With the ref late to count, Briggs has time to get
his foot on the rope.
For the finish, Briggs lands a big boot. He follows with a
Stan Hansen lariat, and Briggs covers Heights for a three
count.
Match result: Josh Briggs defeated Tavion Heights via
pinfall.
— The Culling faction is headed to the ring for a promo.
After a commercial, they are in the ring for a promo from
Izzi Dame. The reception for my local CW affiliate is in and
out like a fiddler’s elbow, so Dame’s promo was a bit
jumbled for me. She is basically cutting a promo on Tatum
Paxley, which addresses Dame turning on Paxley on a previous
episode. That turn cost Paxley the NXT Women’s Championship.
Dame and Paxley are booked in a grudge match at Deadline.
Paxley interrupts the macabre promo on the Titantron. A
dejected Paxley is sad and seemingly in tears over the turn.
Dame calls her out to come to the ring unless she is scared
to face her. Paxlet admits she is scared and does not know
what to do without Dame in her corner.
— Sol Ruca apologizes to Zaria for not being in her corner,
with Ruca saying she needed some space. Zaria is not buying
it, and says she will not be in Ruca’s corner tonight. They
are in the locker room with others, which led to Wren
Sinclair volunteering to be in Ruca’s corner. Zaria seems
displeased with that development.
— After a commercial break and hype video that explains the
Iron Survivor Challenge at Deadline, up next is the trios
match made earlier tonight.
Fatal Influence (NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne, WWE
Women’s Speed Champion Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid) vs. WWE
Evolve Women’s Champion Kendal Grey, Lola Vice and Sol Ruca
(with Wren Sinclair) in a six-woman tag team match
—
The match goes through a commercial break. The heel trio is
in control as the show goes into the break. When the show
returns from the break they build to a hot tag. Vice runs
wild after tagging in. For the finish, Ruca executes a Sol
Snatcher on Jayne. Ruca then covers the women’s champ to win
the match.
Match result: Sol Ruca, Kendal Grey & Lola Vice defeated
Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid when Ruca pinned
Jayne.
In a post-match angle, Zaria runs in out of nowhere to spear
Grey. The bayface team was on the floor celebrating when
Zaria came running in for the sneak attack on Grey. Ruca
shoves Zaria, and they argue as Vice steps in between them.
OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price) vs. Chase U (Kale Dixon &
Uriah Connors with Andre Chase)
—
This match was set up with the parking lot skit shown
earlier in the show. Babyfaces shine in the early stages of
the tag bout, which led to stereo dives. Both teams have
improved greatly in the ring, and both teams have far more
stage presence. Dixon & Connors especially show a ton of
fire. Too bad they lost clean. They are running wild ahead
of the finish, but Nima & Price catch them on dives to cut
off the babyface duo. For the finish, OTM execute their
assisted spinebuster on Connors.
Match result: OTM defeated Chase U when Lucien Price pinned
Uriah Connors.
— In a skit from the parking lot, NXT North American
Champion Ethan Page is in his car. Ava is outside the car
talking with Page when Mr. Iguana scares Page with La Yesca.
Page freaks out at the sight of the stuffed lizard. Mr.
Iguana then commits grand theft auto in front of Ava and a
national wide television audience, as he steals Page’s car.
— Shiloh Hill is featured in another weird personality
profile. He tells a story of getting lost on a snowmobile
trip as a youth, and he took shelter. He rejoiced in being
one with the earth, and he marks out for wolves. He then
shifts to talking about his Undertaker being his coach on
LFG. Hill concludes by rushing off to get some bleach. Not
sure what the heck to think of this vignette.
— This has been a weak go-home show so far, albeit with good
matches. Next up is the main event, which is far from
exciting. Nevertheless, there is a stipulation. If the
babyface team wins, the wrestler that scores the win gets
his choice of when to enter the Iron Survivor. On the other
hand, Dion Lennox gets to choose if the heel team wins.
Je’Von Evans, Joe Hendry, Leon Slater & Myles Borne vs.
Darkstate (Cutler James, Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin &
Saquon Shugars) in an eight-man tag team match
—
This was pretty good eight-man tag, although it did not have
the feel of a main event. Nonetheless, they all worked hard.
The match goes through a commercial break. Wild brawl as the
show cuts to commercials. After the break, hot tag brings in
Joe Hendry.
Lot of wild action down the stretch. Evans does some
impressive high spots, including flying over the announce
desk. The babyfaces get several near falls. Setting up the
finish, Slater does a 450 splash on Griffin. Borne tags in
and somewhat steals the pin after executing a Borne Again
(Zig-Zag). Borne then covers Griffin for the deciding
pinfall. Therefore, Borne gets to determine when he enters
the Iron Survivor. There is tension among the babyfaces over
Borne getting the pin.
Match result: Myles Borne, Je’Von Evans, Leon Slater & Joe
Hendry defeated Darksate when Borne pinned Griffin.
— Closing the show is a contract signing with NXT Champion
Ricky Saints and Oba Femi, which builds towards their title
match at Deadline. They cut quick promos on each other in
this backstage segment. While this closed the show, Ava
announces the NXT men’s title match will open the card at
Deadline for the first time in NXT history. Despite that
announcement, this remains a weak go-home show. However, the
wrestling itself was decent enough.