Posted on 3/04/126 by Bob Magee
NXT is back in the air in front of a live studio audience
from a sound stage at the Performance Center in Orlando.
Opening the show is the new NXT North American Champion
Myles Borne, and he enters wearing a suit and holding his
recently won title belt over his shoulder. Borne gets into
the ring for an opening monologue. He would eventually be
confronted by former champ Ethan Page, who is looking for a
rematch with Borne. But first, the studio audience chants
“you deserve it” at Borne.
“Damn it feels so good to hold this title and hear my name
announced as champion,” Borne begins his address.
Borne remarks how a new champ will usually will soak up the
moment and tell a sob story, but not this time. Borne says
instead of thanking the fans and his family for their
support, he wants to thanks his biggest haters. Borne thanks
Ethan Page, who remarked in their feud that Borne lacked a
“killer instinct” within himself. That poured gasoline on a
fire inside of Borne and unleashed a demon.
If you push him, Borne says he will push back. He is no Boy
Scout, and Borne says his is no angel. If you had to show
that demon side of himself to keep the title, then so be it.
Borne ended his monologue by posing with the title after
ending with his new catchphrase: “Can you hear me now?”
Ethan Page then interrupts and confronts Page. The former
champ says he can hear Borne, but all he heard was Borne
thanking him. Page insists Borne should repay him with a
rematch for the title. Page claims Borne got lucky last week
in winning the title. Page brags about himself and his
accolades since arriving in NXT.
“If there is anybody in this locker room that deserves a
rematch, it’s the guy that carried this brand for the last
two years,” Page boasts.
Borne tells Page he knew Page would come out here. If Page
wants a rematch, Borne says he will go talk with NXT General
Manager Robert Stone. Page wants the match tonight.
Out comes GM Stone, and he is happy to book a rematch, but
they should take the time to put on wrestling gear. Page
roars with a challenge to fight right now, as Borne is
taking off his suit jacket and unbuttoning his sleeves.
Stone agrees to book the impromptu match, and he calls for a
referee as a hockey fight breaks out.
Myles Borne vs. Ethan Page for the NXT North American
Championship
—
They fight is on with him dressed in slacks and dress shoes.
They at least both remove their jackets. The fighting soon
spills outside the ring, and the roll onto the broadcast
booth. Borne is fired up as he pummels Page on the desk,
while the show itself cuts to its first commercial break.
The fighting continues through a split-screen break, and the
show returns to the break with a production snafu that took
a few seconds to swipe away from picture-in-picture.
Meanwhile, Borne rips Page’s clothing trying to keep Page
from fleeing the ring. Page eventually had his pants torn
away, and he was wrestling in his boxer briefs.
Page with a loaded punch for a near fall. Borne kicks out
and a moment later counters Page’s finisher as they go home.
Borne applies an ankle lock, which is a callback to an
injury angle in their feud. Page kicks free, and his shoes
come off in Borne’s hands.
For the finish, Page fumbles with his ripped pants. Borne
still has one shoe in his hand that he conceals from the
ref, while giving Page’s pants to the referee. The ref goes
to get rid of the pants by tossing what is left out of the
ring with his back is turned to Borne. He smacks Page with
his own shoe, and Borne executes his Borne Again finisher.
Borne then hooks a leg to pin him. Great match. And still…
Match result: NXT North American Champion Myles Borne
defeated Ethan Page via pinfall to retain his title.
— Sarah Schreiber is a roving reporter who tries to
interview Zaria, but she does not want to talk while
arriving at the building. Also outside are Darkstate, who
are waiting for Tony D’Angelo. Robert Stone convinces them
to go inside the building. Great timing because Tony
D’Angelo arrives in a sports car, and he retrieves a crowbar
from the trunk before heading inside.
Jaida Parker brawls with Blake Monroe
—
Out comes Blake Monroe to cut a promo on Jaida Parker, who
then interrupts Monroe and confronts her. That leads to a
brawl where Parker stands tall when the smoke clears.
Monroe claims that Parker interfering in Monroe’s speed
match last week was reassurance for Monroe. She was
reassured because Parker still needs her. Monroe remarks
that worst thing anyone can do in NXT is interrupt her.
Monroe keeps cutting a promo on Parker until Parker confront
her.
Parker cuts a good promo on Monroe, and Monroe tries to
retort. Parker cuts her off, and basically says without her
gimmick Monroe is a “mediocre bitch.”
Jaida then slaps Blake hard across the face, and they begin
to brawl. Monroe is sent packing as the studio audience
chants for Miss Parker.
— The Vanity Project trio (NXT Tag Team Champions Brad
Baylor & Ricky Smokes along with WWE Evolve Champion Jackson
Drake) approach Ricky Saints and Ethan Page in a locker room
skit. The heel trios apologizes for not having Page’s back
in his impromptu match. They are told that is okay, and they
can leaves. Saints then leaves after saying he must get
ready for his performance tonight. This was a dumb and
unnecessary skit.
— Another skit sets up Jasper Troy against Eli Knight and
Sean Legacy in triple threat match. The winner meets Speed
Champion Elio LeFluer in a title match.
Nikita Lyons vs. Wren Sinclair in the Speed tournament match
—
Sinclair won with Cattle Mutilation with seconds remaining
in the three-minute time limit. In winning, Sinclair moves
on to the tournament final to face Thea Hail. Whoever wins
that match challenges WWE Women’s Speed Champion Fallon
Henley.
Match result: Wren Sinclair defeated Nikkia Lyons via
submission to advance to the tournament final.
— NXT Champion Joe Hendry and North American Champion Myles
Borne interact in a backstage skit. Hendry makes a joke
about being deaf and immediately apologizes for it. Borne
mocks Hendry with his pose and they laugh it off.
— Kelani Jordan goes to Shayna Baszler’s dojo to train for
her Underground match. This was a cool cameo for Baszler,
and it builds up the gimmick match between Jordan and Lola
Vice at Vengeance Day.
Tatum Paxley and Izzi Dame face-to-face
—
Paxley and Dame face off in a pre-taped segment where they
sit across from each other in front of a dollhouse. Dame
first cuts a promo on Paxley, but Paxley responds with a
confident response. Paxley then walks away before Dame flips
out and wrecks the dollhouse in a fit of rage.
Shiloh Hill, Hank Walker & Tank Ledger vs. Vanity Project
(Brad Baylor, Ricky Smokes & Jackson Drake) in a six-man tag
team match
—
Good match that goes through two commercial breaks. Vanity
Project jumps the babyface trio during their entrance. The
trios match unofficially begins before the bell, and the
match gets underway during a commercial break. Much of it
airs in picture-in-picture, and what started as a brawl
settles into a traditional six-man tag when the show returns
from the break.
Heat on Walker as the heel trio works him over. Hot tag to
Tank, and he cleans house on Vanity Project. At ringside,
Hank is posted by Jackson Drake. Nevertheless, Tank fights
off the heels. As the fighting against spills outside the
ring, Tank is trapped in the ring steps by the team formerly
known as Swipe Right. Drake then dropkicks Tank from behind,
and Tank looks dead as the show cuts to another commercial
break.
Hot tag after the show returns from the break, and Shiloh
Hill runs wild. Hill is soon cut off and Vanity Project gets
a near fall on him. Hank and Drake tag in and face off.
Drake lifts Hank to deliver a Burning Hammer.
Parade of high spots in the closing moments. Hank with a
Bossman slam on Drake to set up a tandem spot where Hank &
Tank sandwich Drake with stereo splashes. Hank & Tank then
sail through the ropes with a tope each. Meanwhile, Hill
leaps through the ropes to spear Drake in the ring. Hill
then executes his combo finisher where he does Saito suplex
into a falling neckbreaker. Hill then covers Drake for the
deciding pinfall. In winning the match for his team, Hill
gets a pin on the Evolve champ. That should set up a title
match in the near future.
Match result: Shiloh Hill, Hank Walker & Tank Ledger
defeated Jackson Drake, Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes via
pinfall when Hill pinned Drake.
— Before the six-man competitors can exit, Blake Monroe
pounces on the announce desk for a promo. She is now dressed
in all black as she broods over Jaida Parker. Monroe
announces a street fight with her and Parker for Vengeance
Day.
Out comes Jaida Parker to once again confront Monroe. They
are pulled apart by the winners of the six-man a tag and a
slew of referees.
— Darkstate is backstage and they are livid. Osiris Griffin
is down selling an apparent ambush by Tony D’Angelo.
Darkstate all yell at Robert Stone. Saquon Shugars and
Cutler James stay with Griffin while Dion Lennox vows to
call out D’Angelo. Lennox is heading to the ring as the show
heads into a commercial break.
— Dr. Martin talks with Lola Vice about a fracture in her
right hand. The doctor points to an x-ray as he explains the
injury to Vice. Dr. Martin advises Vice to not compete, and
he says there is great risk in Vice doing the Underground
match. Vice shakes her head and tells the doctor she cannot
be out that long. She is the most reliable wrestler on the
roster, and she vows to continue. Vice promises not to hurt
her hand again, and Vice says she signed away any liability
to WWE. The doctor reluctantly agrees with Vice, but he
insists she come see him again after her match.
— Dion Lennox is headed to call out Tony D’Angelo. Lennox
does just that from the ring. Instead of being the hunter,
Lennox is now the hunted, as pointed out by D’Angelo when he
addresses Lennox. D’Angelo is standing in a perch
overlooking the ring as he cuts a promo on Lennox and
Darkstate.
D’Angelo no longer has the over-the-top Italian accent.
D’Angelo proceeds to cut a good promo on him seeking
vengeance against Darkstate. Fittingly enough, D’Angelo
clashes with Lennox this Saturday at Vengeance Day.
Lennox threatens to meet D’Angelo in the parking lot, and
D’Angelo responds by saying bring it on. D’Angelo threatens
to beat him up in the parking lot before dragging his
lifeless body back into the ring to beat him.
— Sarah Schreiber interviews NXT Women’s Champion Jacy
Jayne, alongside her stablemates Fallon Henley and Lainey
Reid of Fatal Influence. Jayne cuts a promo where she
mentions the breakup between Sol Ruca and Zaria. Jayne
teasing interference by Fatal Influence as she vows to
retain the title. Jayne wants “smooth sailing” heading
towards Stand & Deliver.
— NXT Champ Myles Borne talks with Charlie Dempsey and
Tavion Heights in a backstage skit. Borne thanks them for
his time as stablemates in No Quarter Catch Crew. Borne
leaves and Dempsey laments how unsuccessful they are
compared to Borne. In walks Lexis King and his cohorts Uriah
Connors, Arianna Grace and Stacks. They are still trying to
recruit Dempsey into their faction, much to the chagrin of
Heights.
Jacy Jayne (with Fatal Influence) vs. Zaria for the NXT
Women’s Championship
—
Despite me hating the finish, this was a great to watch
before a run-in. They had a good, long match that went
through a commercial break. Before the show cut to
commercials, Jayne sandwiches Zaria in the ring steps with a
cannonball senton on the floor. Zaria was in control
beforehand, as she looked strong at the start of the match.
Henley and Reid interfere, which allows Jayne to gain an
underhanded advantage ahead of the commercial break.
Superplex spot soon after the show returns from the break.
Jayne takes the superplex from Zaria, and a slugfest soon
develops. They trade strikes and momentum rises for Zaria.
They then trade near falls.
Near fall after Zaria lands a lariat. Jayne runs into a knee
before taking German suplexes from Zaria, and Zaria runs
into a flying knee from Jayne for another near fall. Zaria
ducks Jayne’s finisher and delivers a spear. Zaria goes for
her finisher, but Jayne escapes and waffles Zaria with a
Rolling Encore.
Double down as Sol Ruca runs down to the entrance ramp. Ruca
clotheslines Reid and superkicks Henley at ringside. Ruca
then jumps into the ring and springboard into a dual Sol
Snatcher that drops both Jayne and Zaria. The referee calls
for the bell. No official word, but I assume a no-contest.
The mach this thrown out. Really good match until the
interference by Sol Ruca. The finish seems to set up a
triple threat, which must be one of the most over-booked
gimmick matches in modern wrestling.
Match result: NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne and Zaria
wrestled to a no-contest after interference by Sol Ruca.
— Ricky Saints is heading to the ring for his concert
performance.
— Robert Stone is interviewed in his office. Glitch in the
feed on my local CW affiliate, so I missed much of this
interview.
Ricky Saints’ Absolute Experience
—
Spoofing the concert segments made famous by The Rock from
years past, Saints gets in the ring and sits down. He pick
up a guitar and hypes up the concert to come. He proceeds to
do a terrible rendition of Joe Hendry’s theme song, with new
lyrics from Saints. This was deliberately terrible. It was
also hard to watch. It was dying a death.
Saints orders a roadie to get him a different chair. That
failed to save the segment. Saints next complains about the
microphone, and he orders a roadie to fix the mic. The
segment drags on with Saints complaining about his guitar.
He wants another guitar as well. Saints is handed a
different guitar by a roadie, but the roadie will not unhand
the guitar. Surprise, it’s Joe Hendry! He saves the segment
with a guitar shot on Saints. The guitar shatters on the
back of Saints.
Vanity Project runs in to save Ricky Saints from Hendry’s
finishing move. Myles Borne runs down to help Hendry clean
house and clear the ring of heels.
The NXT Champion and the North American Champion stand tall
and celebrate in the ring in the final scene on the go-home
episode ahead of Vengeance Day.