Posted on 2/18/126 by Bob Magee
NXT is back on the air in front of a live studio audience
from a sound stage at the Performance Center in Orlando.
Opening the show is a grudge match set up a few weeks ago
after an injury angle. Kelani Jordan attacked Lola Vice in a
bout on a previous episode, and Jordan ran in to smash
Vice’s right hand with a ladder. That would cost Vice a
chance to become the number one contender for a
championship. Vice is seemingly out for retribution.
Vice enters the sound stage on this episode for her match
against Jordan, and Vice is wearing a brace on her right
hand. The hand injury would be a story in the opener on
tonight’s card. Vice also enters with her AAA Mixed Tag Team
title belt, which she holds alongside Mr. Iguana.
Lola Vice vs. Kelani Jordan
—
Their fight begins immediately, with Vice meeting Jordan on
the floor to brawl. The hand injury played into the match
from the start, with Vice mostly using kicks as strikes.
Vice tries to strike with her left hand, but Jordan blocks
it. Jordan then targets the injured hand. Vice fights back
with kicks, but Jordan keeps targeting the hand.
The fighting spilled outside again, where Jordan takes off
the brace on Vice’s injured hand. The show cuts to a
commercial break with Vice in peril. Back from the break
with Jordan still working the hand. Vice fires up with a
comeback throwing left hands and kicks. Vice on a roll with
an Umaga splash and her take on the Rikishi stink face. V
ice eventually gets near falls on Jordan, before Jordan
powders. Vice follows her and leaps off the apron with a
seated senton. That got them on the floor for a stunt where
Vice crashes through a section of the set on a missed
spinning back fist with her injured hand.
Trying to capitalize on the stunt, Jordan goes for a 450
splash in the ring. Vice counters and traps Jordan in a
triangle. Jordan escapes and applies an arm bar, and Jordan
cranks on the injured hand. Vice taps out and Jordan wins
via submission.
Match result: Kelani Jordan defeated Lola Vice via
submission.
— Tony D’Angelo cuts a promo on Darkstate. D’Angelo signals
out Cutler James, and he wants to make sure the leader (Dion
Lennox) is watching tonight. D’Angelo says they took
everything from him, and he starts taking back tonight
against Cutler James.
— NXT Champion Joe Hendry attacks Ricky Saints as Saints is
arriving at the building. Security pours out to separate
them.
— Sarah Schreiber interviews Shiloh Hill about his match
tonight with Ethan Page. They are interrupted by Hank &
Tank, who hype up Hill as he cuts a promo. As Hill leaves,
Tank remarks to Hank that Hill is “weird”, but “good weird.”
Joe Hendry and Ricky Saints set up NXT title match
“Stone Cold” Joe Hendry storms to the ring with his NXT
title belt. Hendry gets the house microphone and calls out
Ricky Saints for jumping him last week. Hendry is not in the
mood for singing and dancing. He is in “kicking Ricky
Saints’ ass all around the arena type of mood!”
Hendry wants to settle this right here and now. Saints
appears on a perch overlooking the ring, and Saints cuts a
promo on Hendry. Saints rants about Hendry not being good
enough. Saints basically says Hendry’s reign brings down the
prestige of the NXT title.
“This place creates and builds stars, yet we have a meme as
champion,” Saints says.
Saints then heels on the studio audience by saying they can
relate to Hendry because he is a loser. Being an “ever-man”
does not make Hendry worthy of being champion. Saints rants
that having talent and being attractive makes you a
champion.
Hendry tries to salvage the segment by saying he deals in
facts. Hendry is the NXT champ, and that makes him the best.
Saints retorts that Hendry is best at marketing, and Saints
claims Hendry parlayed that into success. Saints mocks
Hendry as this segment is getting long in the tooth. Saints
eventually challenges Hendry to a NXT title match at NXT
Vengeance Day on March 7. Hendry of course accepts the
challenges.
Hendry concludes the segment with a final promo threatening
to kick Saints’ ass at Vengeance Day.
— NXT Women’s North American Champion Izzi Dame talks
strategy with The Culling on Dame keeping the title for a
long time. Shawn Spears and Niko Vance also talk about their
goal of becoming number one contenders for the tag team
titles.
Cuter James vs. Tony D’Angelo
—
James put up a fight, but not much of one. This was a
glorified squash, with James getting some brief offense
before D’Angelo pummels him. D’Angelo with a series of
German suplexes, followed by cutting off James with a spear.
D’Angelo then delivers a spinebuster, and he covers James
for a three count. Short match, but good for getting
D’Angelo over as a killer.
Match result: Tony D’Angelo defeated Cutler James via
pinfall.
Dion Lennox ambushes D’Angelo after the match, but D’Angelo
fights off both Lennox and James. D’Angelo smashes Lennox on
the barricade. D’Angelo then sends Lennox crashing into the
ring steps. The steps are separated as D’Angelo looks to
smash Lennox’s leg with the metal step. James pulls Lennox
to safety as D’Angelo comes crashing down with the step.
Referees pour out to restore order in a pull-apart brawl.
— NXT North American Champion Ethan Page cuts a promo on
Myles Borne in a locker room confrontation. Page says Borne
had enough chances at taking Page’s title. Page insists
there is nothing that would convince him of that, and Borne
says “we’ll see about that” before he leaves.
The skit continues with Ricky Saints entering the locker
room to chat with Page and The Vanity Project.
— Up next is a four-way tag match to determine the number
one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship. OTM and
Swipe Right (who were only billed as “The Vanity Project”)
enter before a commercial break. The Culling are in the ring
after the break. Hank & Tank then get a full entrance.
OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price) vs. Vanity Project (Brad
Baylor & Ricky Smokes with Jackson Drake) vs. The Culling
(Niko Vance & Shawn Spears) vs. Hank Walker & Tank Ledger in
a fatal four way number one contender’s match
—
Lots of action in the four-way bout. The match goes through
a commercial break. OTM with stereos chokeslams send Swipe
Right to the outside as the show cuts to commercials. Back
from the break, and bedlam ensues.
They build to a spot with four superplexes simultaneously,
or nearly simultaneous. High spots galore at times in the
match with so many wrestlers in there.
Spears with a C4 (DVD) finisher and a pining attempt, but
Jackson Drakes interferes at ringside to break the count.
Spears grabs Drake, only for OTM save Drake by stomping
Spears. Hank & Tank then do a stunt with OTM where they
crash through the announce desk. Vance speared Drake on the
floor. Meanwhile, Smokes shoves Baylor, who is on rubber
legs. Baylor collapses on top of Spears, and Baylor pins him
to win the match.
Match result: Ricky Smokes & Brad Baylor won a fatal four
way tag team match to become the number one contenders for
the NXT Tag Team Championship.
Baylor & Smokes get their title shot next Tuesday on NXT.
— Keanu Carver is the focus of personality profile. Carver
meets Sean Legacy in a singles match next week on NXT.
— NXT Champion Joe Hendry is talking with General Manager
Robert Stone, and Hendry wants to know the whereabouts of
Ricky Saints. Stone says he had Saints kicked out of the
building for the rest of the night, and Stone asks Hendry to
also leave.
— Zaria cuts a fiery promo in Sol Ruca’s face before saying
Ruca can “go to hell!” Their split is complete I guess, or
is it? After all that, they definitive split comes in a
backstage skit before a commercial break. Sure. Whatever.
Stay tuned.
— The Fatal Influence trio enters the sound stage for an in-
ring promo with NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne. She rambles
and rants about Sol Ruca. Just what this show needs is
another talking segment after that confrontation with Hendry
and Saints that seems to last hours.
Jayne brags about herself as the champ, as does Fallon
Henley. Lainey Reid looks on in approval. They roast Sol
Ruca, who the comes out to confront them. Ruca is set to
challenge Jayne for the women’s title in an upcoming bout
next week on NXT.
Ruca remarks that deep down in her heart, Jayne knows that
Ruca is better than her. With that, Jayne slaps Ruca across
the face. The heel trio then beat down Ruca. Zaria runs down
to seemingly make a save, but Zaria pauses. Fatal Influence
think that Zaria wants to attack Ruca. They hold Ruca for
Zaria, but it was a swerve. Zaria attacks the heel trio
instead, and Zaria cleans house.
After Zaria press slams Jayne out of the ring, Jayne is
caught by Reid and Henley. The heels are down selling on the
floor. Zaria and Ruca then hug in the ring. What?! They
broke up, did they not? Now they are back together as a
team? Make it make sense.
Eli Knight vs. Elio Lefleur in the finals of the Speed
tournament
—
They go Broadway, albeit shorter than a typical Broadway in
pro wrestling. The wrestled to a time-limit draw in an
exciting three minutes. NXT GM Robert Stone comes out to
rule they both are getting a title shot because they had
such a great match. I cannot argue with that.
Stone announces a triple threat match for the WWE Speed
Championship with Jasper Troy defending against both Knight
and Lefleur. For the special gimmick match, the time limit
is extended to seven minutes. The triple threat title match
is set for next week.
Match result: Eli Knight and Elio Lefleur wrestled to a time
limit draw in the tournament final.
— Myles Borne and Shiloh Hill have words in a backstage
skit.
— Uriah Connors and Charlie Dempsey talk about the offer
from Lexis King. Connors tries to convince Dempsey to join
the faction. After Dempsey leaves, in walks King and
company. The main point of the skit was announcing Connors
has a singles match against his former stablemate, Kale
Dixon, next week on NXT.
— In another skit, Robert Stone is with WWE Women’s Speed
Champion Fallon Henley and potential challenger Blake
Monroe. Stone announces a speed tournament starts next week
to determine the next challenger, and the tournament opens
with Monroe against Thea Haul. That plays on past history
between Hail and Monroe (which involved an unexpected title
change).
— Darkstate cut a promos on their enemies.
— Sol Ruca and Zaria are talking backstage in skit where
they make up as a team. Ruca asks Zaria what changed her
mind from earlier, and Zaria says she realizes they make a
great team. They would not be where they are without each
other. Zaria thinks that things have not been the same since
Ruca’s knee injury cost her a double championship. If they
want to get back to how things were between them, Zaria
insists that Ruca must win the women’s title.
— Myles Borne storms past Ruca and Zaria. They ask if he is
okay, and Borne remarks he knows what he is going to do now.
With that comes the entrance of Shiloh Hill into the sound
stage, and the main event is next.
Ethan Page vs. Shiloh Hill for the NXT North American
Championship
—
Vanity Project enters the scene at ringside as the show cuts
to a commercial break. Page is in control as the show
returns from the break. The heel faction at ringside pulls
back the floor mats to expose concrete. Page attempts a
Razor’s Edge on the floor, but Hill escapes.
Late in the match, Hill pulls out his false teeth. That is
like Jerry Lawler pulling down the strap on his singlet.
Business is about to pick up, as Jim Ross might say. Page
poses as Hill pops up to pose behind him. This is such
riveting television.
Comeback by Hill as he hulks up on Page. Jackson Drake jumps
on the apron , only to get knocked out. Ricky Smokes is sent
barreling into the ring, and Hull sends him packing. Brad
Baylor then takes a back drop on the floor. Drake is also
side-slammed by Hill on the broadcast booth. Page then
rushes in to cut off Hill by giving him Twisted Grin (Twist
of Fate) on the exposed concrete floor. Hill takes another
Twisted Grin in the ring, and Page covers him for the
deciding pinfall. And still…
Match result: NXT North American Champion Ethan Page
defeated Shiloh Hill via pinfall to retain his title.
In a post-match angle, Page and Vanity Project attack Hill.
The heel faction is stomping on Hill when Myles Borne runs
in for a save. Borne cleans house on the heels. Hill does a
flip dive to the outside despite having been knocked
unconscious on the floor and attacked by a gang. He was a
house of fire again.
In the ring, Borne is pounding on Page. In between punching
Page, Borne yells at him that Borne wants a title shot. Hill
slid a metal folding chair into the ring, and Borne looks to
Pillmanize the ankle of Page. Borne threatens to stomp on
Page’s foot with it sandwiched in the chair. In fear, Page
agrees to defend the title against Borne next week.
Borne turns away and Page smirks. Page yells he knew Borne
would not do it. That prompts Borne to slowly turn around
before jumping into the air and coming down with a stomp.
Pillmanized in the chair, Page screams in agony after Borne
stomps on the chair. The show ends with Borne holding the
title belt while standing over Page, who writhing in agony.