Posted on 1/14/126 by Bob Magee
NXT is on the air from a sound stage at the Performance
Center in Orlando. The show begins with a recap of New
Year’s Evil from last Tuesday.
Lights in the sound stage are dim with a spotlight on the
men’s NXT Championship belt in the center of the ring. Oba
Femi vacated the NXT title last week in a cliffhanger ending
to the show, and this week is a follow up on Femi’s
departure from NXT.
The lights come up and NXT General Manager Ava is in the
ring picking up the vacated title belt. Surrounding the ring
is the men’s roster on NXT, and they listen while Ava says
some may see Femi vacating the title as a challenge.
Instead, she sees it as a “perfect opportunity” as the men’s
division is “wide open” with no better time than right now.
Interrupting Ava’s speech is the entrance of Ricky Saints.
He gets in the ring dressed in street clothes. The other
wrestlers stand around awkwardly as Saints poses on the
ropes. Saints claims to have accomplished a “absolute hat
trick” by running Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans and Oba Femi
out of NXT. They are the past and he is the now. He plays on
the then-now-forever slogan.
Saints says we have some talented men right now, but all
eyes are on him right now. Saints will shut up so Ava can
award him the title. Ava scoffs at that, and basically says
the whole roster gave her a similar pitch on why they all
deserve to be champion.
Ava goes on to announce a six-man ladder match for the
championship on February 3. The winner becomes the new
champion of the men’s division. Qualifying matches begin
next week on NXT. Ava places the NXT title belt on a hanger,
and it is raised above the ring while wrestlers roll into
the ring for a wild brawl.
Joe Hendry is first to roll in the ring, followed by the
rest as a melee breaks up. Hendry and Saints square up as a
brawl erupts around them. Everyone is fighting when Keanu
Carver debuts on NXT by storming to ringside to wreak havoc.
He recently signed to the roster, and Carver gets a mega
push from the start.
Carver is the last man standing, and all eyes are on him
around he lays out everyone. Carver is getting a big push,
and has his eyes on the championship. Carver bieled one
person into the studio audience, and then he cleaned house
inside the ring. Carver stands tall to end the segment.
— New NXT Women’s North American Champion Izzi Dame is seen
arriving to the building during the next match. She is
flanked by The Culling.
Kelani Jordan vs. Lola Vice
—
The grudge here dates back several months. Jordan attacked
Vice three weeks ago, which directly set up this match. The
story is Jordan was once a in a “little sister” role, but
she now steps up to challenge the locker room leader, who is
Lola Vice.
The match itself goes through a commercial break. Vice is
down selling as the show cuts to commercials. She begins a
comeback when the show returns from the break. Jordan
eventually cuts off Vice, and Jordan leaps off the top rope
with a frog splash for a near fall.
Jordan intends to follow up with a split-legged moonsault,
but Vice catches her in a triangle choke. Jordan escapes to
deliver a tilt-a-whirl slam, and they soon go home.
Just before the finish, Jordan tries to hold the ropes for
illegal leverage on an O’Connor roll. The referee refuses to
count. Jordan then turns around and walks into a spinning
back fist. Vice then covers Jordan for a three count.
Match result: Lola Vice defeated Kelani Jordan via pinfall.
— A hype video previews the next match.
Jasper Troy vs. Tavion Heights for the WWE Speed
Championship
—
Tavion Heights challenges for the the Speed title in a match
with a five-minute time limit. Troy works over Heights for
much of the match, but Heights fires up at times on
offensive. In the final minute, Troy delivers a Bossman
slam. Troy then pins Heights. And still…
Match result: WWE Speed Champion Jasper Troy defeated Tavion
Heights via pinfall to retain his title.
— In a post-match angle, Lexis King attacked Heights. King
ambushed Heights and laid him out with his finisher. After a
commercial break, King is backstage with a walking can and a
cowboy hat. King argues with Chase U. Up walks Stacks and
Arianna Grace. Stacks says they should listen to King, and
they all leave. The camera follows Robert Stone after the
tells King that attacking people like that is wrong. Myles
Borne pitches Stone for a qualifying match. Stone tries to
blow him off, but Borne grabs him and insists on a
qualifying match.
— Elio LeFluer is featured in a personality profile that
hypes his debut on the NXT roster. His first opponent is
named in a backstage skit that follows the video package.
— NXT North American Champion Ethan Page asks Ava when his
qualifying match. Page figured he would get a shot, but Ava
had other ideas. She tells Page he can have a qualifying
match if he forfeits the North American title. Ava goes on
to announce Page is defending his title against the debuting
Elio LeFluer next Tuesday on NXT.
Jaida Parker returns and confronts Blake Monroe
—
Blake Monroe enters the sound stage for an in-ring promo.
Monroe talks about attacking Thea Hail, and Monroe defends
her actions. There is a lot of inside baseball of sorts.
Monroe boasts when she is so talented that some people do
not know what to do with her. Monroe puts herself over as
she continues to brag on herself.
The entrance of Jaida Parker interrupts Monroe’s monologue.
Big pop for the return of Parker, and the studio audience
chants for her. Parker goes to speak when Monroe interrupts
her. The fight is on and Parker pummels Monroe. Parker then
does her signature spot, and she stands tall as Monroe flees
the ring. Parker and Monroe are clearly set for a match
soon.
— Shiloh Hill is the focus of a personality profile
sponsored by an insurance company. His opponent in the next
match is headed to the ring, and the entrance of Stacks
precedes a commercial break.
— After the break comes a video package hyping up Darkstate.
Stacks (with Arianna Grace) vs. Shiloh Hill for the TNA
International Championship
—
The match goes through a commercial break even though it did
not need to. Nonetheless, Grace gets involved at ringside.
She interferes and tries to trip up Hill. He jumps her
attempted trip, but the delay allows Stacks to counter a
sunset flip.
Stacks holds the rope for illegal leverage, and Grace grabs
his hand to help too. The ref catches them in the act, and
does the Tommy Young spot where he kicks the heel’s hand off
the rope. That spot would have been more effective if he had
not seen a similar spot in a previous match on the show.
Regardless, Hill gets a nearfall when he reverses the roll-
up. Hill then hooks Stacks in a small package. Grace
interferes again to kick Stacks into a reversal of the small
package. The ref counts the pin, and still…
Match result: TNA International Champion Stacks defeated
Shiloh Hill via pinfall to retain his title.
— Izzi Dame is headed to the ring to celebrate her winning
the NXT Women’s North American title. Flanking her is Shawn
Spears and Niko Vance of The Culling, but they did not
escort her to the ring. They remained backstage, which was
essential for the angle that follows.
Tatum Paxley attacks Izzi Dame
—
Dame comes out to cut a heel promo where she boasts about
becoming the new Women’s North American Champion. Tatum
Paxley storms past security on her way to the ring to
interrupt the monologue.
Paxley storms into the ring and attacks Dame, as Paxley
looks for a measure of revenge on her former friend.
Referees pulls Paxley away, and Paxley headbutts one of
them. The ref sells big and he drops like a stone. Dame
flees the ring and clutches her title belt.
In a backstage skit after a commercial break, roving
reporter Blake Howards informs viewers that Paxley was
barred from the building after her run-in.
— The Vanity Project is interviewed by Howard, and the heel
trio brag about themselves. The tag team of Swipe Right
reveal that next week they have a tag match against Chase U.
Vanity Project flees when they see Keanu Carver storming
through the backstage area. The camera goes to follow
Carver, and he apparently assaults the camera operator after
screaming to get the camera out of his face.
— Hard sell for next Tuesday just before the entrances for
the main event.
Joe Hendry (with OTM) vs. Dion Lennox (with Darkstate) in a
no disqualification match
—
Joe Hendry appears out numbered by Darkstate until OTM enter
to watch Hendry’s back in his corner. High drama, only for
them to start the match with a collar and elbow lock-up to
begin this grudge match of sorts.
The match itself goes through a split-screen commercial
break. Hendry shows fire at the start. They tease a
superplex, and Hendry takes a back bump off the middle rope.
He kips up and leaps back onto the ropes, and Hendry gives
Lennox a superplex just before the show cuts to the
commercial break.
The are brawling as the show returns from the break, and
Lennox grounds Hendry with a chinlock. Hendry is fighting
back when Saquon Shugars interferes by wedging a metal
folding chair between the top and middle ropes. The
interference backfires as Hendry reverses an Irish whip and
Lennox crashes into the chair.
Hendry is firing up by peppering Lennox with Roddy Piper
punches. Hendry is handed brass knux. Hendry decks Lennox
with a loaded fist for a near fall. Hendry does his
signature turn, and she stomps the mat to get the crowd to
chant. Hendry goes for a chokeslam, only for Lennox to be
handed a kendo stick. Lennox escapes and Hendry feeds him
his back for shots from the kendo stick. Hendry takes the
stick from Lennox and hits him repeatedly in retaliation.
Standing Ovation chokeslam but Hendry, and he hooks a leg
while covering Lennox. NWO spot where Darkstate pull Hendry
out of the ring to break the count. Slingshot sit-out
powerbomb by Lennox for a near fall. Playing on the earlier
spot, OTM drag Lennox out of the ring. They attack Lennox,
which prompts Darkstate to jump on the apron. They face off
with OTM and a melee erupts in the ring. Darkstate and OTM
brawl their way to the backstage area.
Back in the ring, Lennox and Hendry tease doing the Dan
Severn-Tarzan Goto spot with dueling chairs. They duel is
short-lived, but that spot led into another spot where
Hendry takes a spinebuster on a chair. Hendry still gets a
shoulder up, and they go on trade near falls when Hendry
gives Lennox a chokeslam on a chair.
Meanwhile, a table is propped up in a corner. The table is
adorned with Slim Jim stickers. Hendry takes a spear from
Lennox, and they crash through the table. Hendry gets a
shoulder up yet again. Lennox grabs a metal chair and teases
a chair shot on Hendry. Before he can deliver the chair
shot, Lennox is hit in the back with a chair swung by Tony
D’Angelo. Complete with his new look, D’Angelo gives Lennox
a chokeslam from hell.
D’Angelo extends a hand to help Hendry to his feet. That is
a swerve, as D’Angelo lures in Hendry for a chokeslam.
D’Angelo then drags Hendry over Lennox. The referee counts
the pin with Hendry covering Lennox.
Match result: Joe Hendry defeated Dio Lennox in a no DQ
match.
In a post-match angle, Ava orders security to removes Tony
D’Angelo from the ring. D’Angelo dismantles and runs through
the security team. D’Angelo then glares at Ava, as he walks
past her when the show goes off air.