Posted on 4/15/126 by Bob Magee
– Following the “Then, Now, Forever” signature intro, we
opened on a hype package that set the stage for tonight’s
show.
Jaida Parker vs. Kelani Jordan
Parker and Jordan kicked it off with a long collar-and-elbow
tie-up sequence with neither woman getting the upper hand.
Jordan got the advantage by sending Parker’s head against
the top rope. However, Parker recovered and hit Jordan with
a boot, followed by a sliding sleeper hold. Parker kept the
hold on tight as she rolled around the rin g with Jordan
still trapped. Jordan finally escaped and hit Parker with a
boot to the gut, but she was taken down for an armdrag. Big
back body drop by Parker sent Jordan out of the ring.
Jordan swept Parker’s leg as she reached the apron. With
both women out of the ring, they took each other down with a
double-down on the clothesline as we took a commercial
break.
As we returned from commercial, Parker was in a bad way as
Jordan targeted her legs with attacks during the break.
Jordan dragged Parker into near the ring post and smashed
the hurt knee against it to cause maximum pain. Parker
stopped the onslaught with a nice German suplex. That
opening was fleeting as the pain of the knee was too much as
Jordan locked in a modified STF right in the middle of the
ring. Parker struggled to get to the ropes, but was pulled
away just as she was about to reach it. Jordan talked trash
to Parker, which seemed to be a mistake as the injured
Parker tried to fight back.
Jordan hit a spinning heel kick, but missed on the running
splash. Parker took advantage with a Samoan Drop followed by
a flurry of running shoulder blocks. Parker connected with
the Backstabber to the back of Jordan. With her foe trapped
in the corner, Parker clubbed Jordan before hitting a hip
drop as she was stunned across the middle turnbuckle.
Outside the ring, Jordan pushed Parker against the apron
before the two found their way back into the ring. Jordan
connected with a nice apron cutter on Parker for a close
two-count. Jordan went for a crossbody, but Parker rolled
through and caught her. Jordan reversed it into a Dragon
Sleeper, but Parker turned that around into a Falcon Arrow
for a near-fall. The match ended as Parker ran into an
exposed turnbuckle when she tried to hit the Hipnotic ,
which opened her up to Jordan’s split-legged moonsault for
the win.
Kelani Jordan def. Jaida Parker via pinfall
This was a good opener. Some nice stuff between Parker and
Jordan here, and the sequence near the end where Jordan’s
dragon sleeper got turned into a Falcon Arrow by Parker was
unexpectedly smooth.
**********
– Earlier Today footage saw Shiloh Hill mulling over notes
on building something when Ricky Saints confronted him.
Ethan Page soon had a chat with Saints, wanting his help for
his NXT Title match against Tony D’Angelo. Hill was just
ruminating with himself in the background as Saints to agree
with Page’s proposal of letting him have a NXT Title shot if
he got help to defeat D’Angelo.
– The NXT Focus was on Sol Ruca discussing her deteriorating
friendship with Zaria as she recounted the events over the
last year that led to their falling out. Next week, the two
will face off in a Last Woman Standing Match in Week 2 of
NXT Revenge.
Joe Hendry in Concert
Once Hendry got in the ring, he started by saying that he
lost the NXT Championship, and it meant that he had to ask a
lot of difficult questions. Was it the end of the road?
Should he just quit? That’s when Hendry looked in the mirror
and said “Joe says no”. With that in mind, Hendry said that
it was time to lift everyone’s spirits with a Joe Hendry
concert.
Hendry then began to sing a song about his recent NXT
Championship struggles. Before he could continue, Keanu
Carver interrrupted, much to Hendry’s dismay. Hendry then
began to brawl with Carver, who withstood a guitar shot from
Hendry. Carver then took down Hendry with strikes as
security tried to break everyone up. Outside the ring, the
security was with Hendry, as Carver hit them with a spear
through the barricade.
**********
– Tony D’Angelo talked about his match against Ethan Page
for the NXT Title, as he promised to smash Page’s ego to
keep the title around his waist.
– Lola Vice was in her locker room when Women’s World
Champion Stephanie Vaquer dropped by for a visit. The two
champions wished each other luck for their big matches this
week.
Kali Armstrong vs. Skylar Raye
Raye offered a handshake, but Armstrong slapped the hand
away and showed impressive strength as threw her around.
Raye tried to fight back with a kick, followed by a version
of the Dirty Diana. That didn’t last loong as Armstrong
dropped Raye with a fierce spinebuster. Armstrong connected
with a running powerslam, but Raye kicked out at two.
Raye tried to fight back again, but she got hit with a
scintillating punch combo from Armstrong for another two-
count. Armstrong had Raye trapped in a chinlock, but she
missed with the elbow drop. Raye countered a Samoan Drop
attempt from Armstrong and hit a running shoulder charge.
Raye hit a tornado DDT on Armstrong, but couldn’t win it
there and then. Raye headed to the top rope and looked for a
high-risk maneuver. Armstrong intercepted with a punch as
she then hit another running powerslam. Armstrong then
finished it off with “The Kali Connection”, a move that
resembled a cross between Bron Breakker’s Super Spear and
The Pounce. The three and that’s this match done.
Kali Armstrong def. Skylar Raye via pinfall
An nice debut for Kali Armstrong here, and I appreciate that
Skylar got her shots in and it wasn’t a complete and total
squash.
**********
– Robert Stone was with Blake Monroe and The Vanity Project,
as he said that Tatum Paxley agreed to defend her Women’s
North American Title against Monroe, but only if she got to
pick the stipuiation, much to Monroe’s dismay.
NXT Championship: Tony D’Angelo (c) vs. “All Ego” Ethan Page
Page talked smack to D’Angelo’s face as the bell rang, but
the NXT Champion responded by battering him with strikes and
smashing his head against the turnbuckle. D’Angelo scoop
slammed Page in the middle of the ring. Page fought back
with a kick to the gut as he attempted a suplex on the
champion. D’Angelo tried to reverse, but he couldn’t counter
the suplex from Page. Ricky Saints appeared at ringside, but
he was pulled from underneath the ring. Moments later, we
saw Shiloh Hill emerge under the ring, with Saints tied by
the legs with a rope. Hill dragged Saints away from the
ringside area.
Back to this match, Page dropped D’Angelo on with a
kneebuster to the face. Outside the ring, Page hit a
swinging neckbreakerr on D’Angelo as this match went to a
commercial break.
This NXT Championship match returned from commercial as
D’Angelo fought his way out of an Ethan Page resthold.
D’Angelo headed to the top rope, but Page reversed that into
a powerslam for a two-count. D’Angelo hyped himself up as
Page punched at him and he got a surge of adrenaline as a
result. Belly-to-belly suplex was followed by a German
suplex from D’Angelo. Page got flattened by a D’Angelo
spear, but he managed to kick out. D’Angelo’s Forget About
It attempt was countered by Page as the two began to hit
each other with hard strikes.
D’Angelo hit the Throwback on Page before connecting with
Forget About It. One, two….. 2.999999999!!!!!!!!!! D’Angelo
sized up Page for a chokeslam, but Page countered with a
thumb to the eyes. D’Angelo got thrown into the ringpost as
Page set him up on the top rope. Page looked for an
avalanche powerslam and made no mistake on it. D’Angelo
kicked out at two, which led to Page hitting a body splash
from the top rope. Again, D’Angelo kicked out. Page rolled
out of the ring and grabbed the NXT Championship from the
podium. The referee tried to grab it from him but D’Angelo
rolled up him up for a close kickout. Page hit the Ego’s
Edge and dropped D’Angelo right on the title belt. D’Angelo
somehow kicked out of this.
Outside the ring, Page rearranged the furniture at the
commentary table and looked like he was going to hit a
Twisted Grin on the table. D’Angelo countered and dropped
him face-first onto the barricade. D’Angelo stood on the
barricade and hit a spear onto the commentary table.
D’Angelo rolled Page back into the ring and connected with
Dead To Rights. The three and that’s it, over. Tony D’Angelo
remained the NXT Champion.
Tony D’Angelo def. Ethan Page to retain the NXT Championship
via pinfall
A solid match for sure, but I gotta be honest, I’m not sure
if I like Tony D’Angelo’s character basically turn into
“generic tough guy”. His previous gimmick had a lot of
personality and fit the wild and wacky world that NXT is
trying to present. The match itself was enjoyable despite
that.
**********
– Ricky Starks angrily confronted Shiloh Hill for what he
did to him in the previous match, promising it wasn’t over.
Myles Borne addresses Dion Lennox & Darkstate
The NXT North American Champion talked about how he pulled
the Black and Gold out of Johnny Gargano at Stand & Deliver.
He was going to go celebrate, but Dion Lennox hit him with a
chair, which Borne saw as his moment being stolen.
Borne said that Darkstate wasn’t safe, which cued the lights
going out and the group appearing amongst the crowd. Dion
Lennox spoke about Darkstate’s success, and how they were on
a recent slump. But, it was going to be over, and because
the key was Borne’s NXT North American Title. Lennox
threatened Borne.
Saquon Shugars stated that Darkstate had no leader and
seemed to be upset at Lennox challenging Borne for the North
American Title, claiming that Lennox cared about his own
future more than Darkstate’s. Shugars tried to rush the
ring, but Borne got the best of him as the rest of Darkstate
pulled Shugars out of the ring, seemingly not on the same
page.
**********
– We got a video from Zaria’s perspective on how her
friendship with Sol Ruca broke down. Zaria said that next
week, Ruca would be burning alongside the world when she’s
the Last Woman Standing
WWE Speed Championship Tournament: EK Prosper vs. Dorian Van
Dux
This match was contested under Speed rules, which meant a
three-minute time limit for this match. We got inset remarks
from Van Dux, where he stated that he was here to change the
definition of destruction.
We started off fast with Prosper using his speed to get
ahead of Van Dux with acrobatic dodges. Van Dux countered by
throwing Prosper out of the ring as he then soared over the
top rope with a dive. Van Dux hit a diving splash from the
top rope for the two-count. With Van Dux out of the ring,
Prosper hit a diving moonsault from the apron to get ahead
of it. The action was fast as Van Dux recovered with a
dropkick from the middle turnbuckle. Fast clothesline by Van
Dux couldn’t put Prosper away as this match entered sudden
death. Shining Wizard by Prosper on Van Dux for a near-fall.
Things quickened as Van Dux struck his target hard on the
jumping cutter, but couldn’t achieve double impact with the
splash. With ten seconds to go, Prosper connected with the
high-arching moonsault to win a shot at Lexis King for the
Speed Championship.
EK Prosper def. Dorian Van Dux via pinfall
I’ll admit that I’m seeing both these guys with fresh eyes
and even with that in mind, I enjoyed how quick and high-
stakes this match was. Of the two, D.V.D. looked the most
impressive to me and he had a good first impression as a
result. Good match here.
**********
– Keanu Carver was being chastised backstage by NXT GM
Robert Stone for crashing Joe Hendry’s concert earlier.
Carver promised he’d destroy Hendry some more next week.
– A “NXT Chronicle” package on Kendal Grey was shown.
– Elsewhere, Tatum Paxley was asked by Robert Stone about
what the stipulation will be for her match against Blake
Monroe will be. It turns out the two will face in a Casket
Match, as Shiloh Hill rolled in a casket that he created for
Paxley.
Next Week – NXT Revenge Week 2:
Last Woman Standing: Zaria vs. Sol Ruca
NXT North American Championship: Myles Borne (c) vs. Dion
Lennox
Joe Hendry vs. Keanu Carver
NXT Women’s North American Championship Casket Match: Tatum
Paxley (c) vs. Blake Monroe
– Things with Darkstate seemed rough right now as Dion
Lennox argued with Saquon Shugars about what happened
earlier. Shugars seemed upset at Lennox prioritizing his
personal glory over the group, but Lennox justified it by
stating that going after Myles Borne’s North American Title
was perhaps the only chance at gold that the group would
get.
NXT Women’s Championship: Lola Vice (c) vs. Jacy Jayne (w/
Fatal Influence)
Vice put her dukes up as the bell rang and things started
off at a more methodical pace. Vice took down Jayne as
neither woman was able to establish themselves in this early
stage of the match. Vice and Jayne traded arm drags as the
match took on a more technical pace. Jayne got caught in an
armbar from Vice, who then hit her with a hard strike to the
gut. Vice targeted Jayne’s gut with kicks to the area as the
challenger rolled out of the ring. Vice launched herself
from the apron, but Jayne avoided calamity as Lainey Reid
took the bullet for her. This allowed Jayne to flatten Vice
with a running boot as we took our final commercial break.
We returned to our main event as both Jayne and Vice were
recovering in the middle of the ring. Once both women were
on their feet, they exchanged strikes and kicks. Vice got
the best of Jayne with a snap German suplex. With Jayne
stirring to her feet, Vice unleashed a flurry of furious
kicks to keep the challenger flatfooted. In the corner,
Jayne fell victim to two consecutive running hip strikes.
Jayne turned Vice’s submission into a pinning predicament
for a near-fall.
Vice kicked Jayne in the head, which sent her foe out of the
ring. As Vice rolled Jayne back to the ring, Fatal Influence
provided a distraction, which gave Jayne enough time to hit
the knee for the near-fall. Jayne maintained momentum as she
put Vice on the top rope. However, Vice turned that into a
choking submission. Lainey Reid provided a distraction as
Fallon Henley hit Vice with a kick to the face. With the
referee still distracted, Jayne hit Vice with the spinning
punch. The NXT Womens’ Champ somehow kicked out at two here.
Vice used the ropes to assist her in locking Jayne into a
sleeper submission. Vice was sent into the ropes by Jayne,
as Lainey Reid struck herin the face. The spinning punch
from Jayne was avoided, but Vice’s backfist found its target
as this matcch came to an end.
After the match, Kali Armstrong literally bulldozed through
Fatal Influenced and stared down Vice. Soon, Kendal Grey and
Izzi Dame appeared. Just as Zaria headed down to the ring,
Sol Ruca attacked her before she could reach the ring. The
Triple H/Shawn Michaels producer credits popped up and NXT
Revenge Week 1 ended with Vice raising her title high.
Lola Vice def. Jacy Jayne via pinfall to retain the NXT
Women’s Championship
**********
Kind of a standard main event title bout here with the
babyface champion overcoming heel interference to retain the
gold. The post-match stuff with Vice’s upcoming challengers
confronting her was fine and it does set up an interesting
road map for her title reign.
Overall, week one of NXT Revenge was alright. The matches
were entertaining enough (the Speed tournament match being
my standout) and I didn’t feel like my time was wasted
watching this show. The set up for week two next week was
done well and nothing really stuck out as being overly “bad”
at all. All in all, tonight was good.