Posted on 5/24/123 by Bob Magee
Lyra Valkyria defeated Cora Jade to advance in the NXT
Women’s Championship tournament
Very short match. This ended eight minutes into the show.
Valkyria and Jade traded counters early. Valkyria hit an
exploder on Jade for a nearfall. Jade tripped Valkyria on
the ropes but Valkyria dodged and hit a spinning heel kick
for the win. That puts Valkyria in the finals at
Battleground on Sunday.
Jade jumped Valkyria after the match, targeting Valkyria's
knee. Jade grabbed a kendo stick and struck Valkyria in the
knee, likely playing into Saturday’s match.
Axiom and Dabba Kato were shown walking to the ring. They
showed a tale of the tape, because Dabba Kato tall, Axiom
short.
Dijak walked into the building but was attacked by Ilja
Dragunov, who attempted to close a sliding gate on Dijak.
Referees stopped him before he could do it. Vic Joseph had
the “hold harmless” agreement they are to sign later
tonight.
NXT announcers, for the record, did mention that it was
Reggie who Axiom unmasked several weeks ago.
Dabba Kato defeated Axiom
Another short match. Why did Axiom need to be the fall guy
here?
Axiom dodged a chokeslam, but Kato grabbed him and threw him
to the floor. Axiom attempted to fight back, but Kato
slapped him and threw Axiom back into the ring. Axiom
targeted Kato’s leg but Kato hit a huge lariat then
connected with a tree slam for the win.
Kato continued to attack Axiom after the match, completely
destroying him. Reggie then showed up and dumped Kato to the
floor, who was then whisked away by security. Reggie acted
friendly towards Axiom, but Axiom did not seem interested in
being friends with Reggie.
Tony D’Angelo was shown in what looked like a police
interrogation room. The interrogator asked why D’Angelo’s
name kept coming up “in ongoing investigations”. The
interrogator showed him a video and asked to identify
someone in the video. D’Angelo said it wasn’t him. Another
person came in and told the interrogator that there was new
information regarding D’Angelo’s involvement.
In a video, Bron Breakker talked about what happened at NXT
Stand & Deliver. He asked what did this last year get him?
Was this all just so he could pass the torch? He said that
Melo can have the torch, because he’s about to burn this
bitch down. He said Melo is just a dude walking around with
his title. He's not coming to Lowell to witness a
homecoming, he’s coming to Lowell in front of Melo’s friends
and family for a massacre.
Gallus came to the ring and cut a promo in green Sin Cara
lightning. This has never, ever worked and yet they still do
it every six months. They ran down Tony D & Stacks and The
Creed Brothers. The Creeds came out and said they were
saying to their faces they want the titles on the line at
Battleground. The two teams eventually got into a fight. The
numbers game started to come into play until Stacks came to
the ring to make the save for the Creeds.
Wes Lee was interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell. A lot of
talking tonight. He said he thought he could trust Tyler,
and while he might be paranoid, things have changed. Tyler
Bate came in but Wes wouldn’t have any of it and walked
away. Bate said challenging Wes Lee for the title changes
nothing about what he thinks about Lee but it’s another
story entirely regarding Joe Gacy.
Tyler Bate defeated Eddy Thorpe
This was good while it lasted. Thorpe looked fine here but
Bate, in terms of in-ring work, stands out among most on the
brand following the draft.
Some good back and forth early. Thorpe cut off Bate with a
crossbody but Bate cradled him for a nearfall.Thorpe
responded with a knee to the back of Bate. Bate eventually
cut off Thorpe with a knee and a standing shooting star
press for a nearfall.
Bate went for the Tyler Driver 97 but Thorpe escaped. Bate
hit a lariat then went for the Tyler Driver 97 again, and
this time it connected and got Bate the win.
In what is turning out to be a reccuring theme on this show,
Gacy came to the ring and jumped Bate after the match. Lee
ran into the ring, but was also taken out. Gacy held the
title as the segment ended.
McKenzie Mitchell asked Lyra Valkyria for a medical update
backstage. Valkyria said she’ll be fine and will be ready
for the finals. Valkyria said she wanted Roxanne Perez,
saying she is the best in NXT.
During the break, it was shown that Lee and Bate were
fighting after Gacy left.
Nathan Frazer defeated Noam Dar
This was good. Frazer is so quick on his feet, it's very
impressive. I think he's coming along well even though I
don't really understand the John Oliver promos they have him
doing now. Dar held his own and was fine.
After some chain wrestling, Frazer used his speed to send
Dar out of the ring and to the floor. During the commercial
break, Dar gained the advantage, cutting off Fraszer. Frazer
attempted to make a comeback, but Dar cut off Frazer by
attacking his knee and working over his arm.
Dar continued to work over the arms and legs of Frazer until
Frazer came back with a springboard reverse DDT. Fraszer hit
a spinning neckbreaker for a nearfall and went for a phoenix
splash but Dar escaped and went for a knee lock, only for
Frazer to quickly escape.
The finish had Dragon Lee coming to ringside, admiring the
Heritage Cup trophy. Dar was upset and shoved Lee. Frazer
hit a dive to the outside on Dar then hit the phoenix splash
for the win.
McKenzie interviewed Dragunov, who was interrupted by Dijak
as the two fought some more and were pulled apart by the
roster.
Time for a Carmelo Hayes video, who will be defending the
NXT Championship in his hometown. He was shown doing
promotional work and said he couldn’t wait to do this in his
hometown. They showed him at a Boston Celtics game, and also
posing with Mark Wahlberg. Melo said Breakker coming into
his backyard to try to beat him is crazy, and said he hopes
Bron is ready to get bitten.
Hank Walker defeated Tank Ledger
This was fun while it lasted. Ledger is pretty good for
someone who's only had a couple of matches, he only does
basic stuff but comes off far more polished than some who
have been here for months.
The two hit shoulder blocks on one another. Ledger hit
Walker with elbows in the corner, but Walker countered with
some strikes. Ledger hit a powerslam and a headbutt for a
two count. Walker hit a slam but soon the two collided in a
double crossbody. Walker got the better of it, recovered
first, and pinned Ledger for the win.
Bron Breakker immediately hit the ring after the match and
laid out both with spears. He told Melo that he would see
him Sunday.
Stacks met with The Creeds. Julius told Stacks they
appreciate him coming out for the save. Stacks told the
Creeds that they’ll also be outnumbered at Battleground and
suggested that they work something out. The Creeds politely
rejected Stacks’ offer, mentioning how they’ve been burned
in the past by others. Julius told Stacks that he and
D’Angelo would get the first title shot once they win the
titles.
Gigi Dolin came out to talk. She said she wasn’t ashamed of
the broken home she grew up in. Neither she nor her brother
knew what a normal home life was like. She would have done
anything for Jacy Jayne, but now she wanted to end her.
Jayne was in the crowd and cut a promo saying she got tired
of carrying her and refused to let her drag her down any
longer. Dolin said let’s settle it right here and now.
Jayne said she couldn’t wait to end this and suggested they
do it next week in a steel cage. Dolin called Jayne a fake
ass bitch and agreed to a steel cage match, but upped the
ante and made it a weaponized steel cage match. Jayne said
it was on. The dialogue here, especially for Dolin, was very
corny and not great.
The guy who has been mean to Von Wagner for the last two
weeks, who has never been named, now has a name: Luca
Crusifino. He said he would make Von regret that they didn’t
settle their matter in court. He’s a lawyer, you see.
NXT Anonymous captured a video of Noam Dar begging Oro
Mensah to be in his corner. Mensah rejected him and got
laughed at by Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson.
Luca Crusifino defeated Von Wagner by DQ
Crusifino literally came out to The People’s Court theme. It
was a daytime court show in the 90’s, kids, Google it.
Wagner immediately attacked Crusifino , hitting a big boot.
Crucifino dodged a splash and hit an armdrag. Wagner was
thrown out of the ring as Crusifino grabbed the picture of
Wagner as a child from Mr. Stone and called him a freak very
loudly. This got Wagner mad and beat Crusifinoso much
against the ropes that he ignored the referee’s five count
and got disqualified.
Wagner attempted to powerbomb Crusifino into a table after
the match, and at first it seemed like Mr. Stone had talked
him out of it. Wagner then grabbed Crucifino and powerbombed
him into the table anyway.
D'Angelo was still in the interrogation room. Oh no, he’s
being arrested. He said he knows his rights.
Tiffany Stratton defeated Roxanne Perez in a NXT Women’s
Championship tournament semifinal
This was okay. Stratton has something but is still clearly
super green and looked so in spots during this match.
After some early back and forth, Stratton gained control
after clipping Perez off the top rope, sending her rolling
to the floor. Perez came back with two crossbodys to the
floor and then went for one off the top rope, but Stratton
lifted her up, dropped her, and went for the BME, which they
are now calling the most beautiful moonsault. Perez dodged
but Stratton caught her in a sky high for a nearfall.
Perez hit a springboard hurricanrana off the top rope for
another nearfall. Stratton blocked a side russian leg sweep
as the two traded nearfalls. Perez hit the side russian leg
sweep this time and went for pop rocks, but Stratton blocked
it and sent Perez into the ropes. Stratton then hit the most
beautiful moonsault ever for the win. That makes it Lyra
Valkyria vs. Stratton for the vacant title this Sunday.
More segments! The mystery lady that has attacked a bunch of
people on social media has made a television appearance,
attacking Perez as she headed to the back. Before anyone
could breathe and absorb what had just happened, Dijak came
out and was immediately attacked by Dragunov. Dijak
eventually signed their agreement as they brawled near the
announcer’s desk. Everyone was yelling and screaming. CALM
DOWN. They had a staredown as they were pulled apart.
The show ended with a NXT Battleground hype video. This show
at times felt like a Vince Russo-induced fever dream with
1,000 segments, a lot of them talking, and sometimes some of
them bleeding into one another. Not the greatest go-home
show.