Posted on 4/30/125 by Bob Magee
The episode begins with a video package recapping the story
so far in feud between Joe Hendry and Trick Williams.
Opening the show are commentators Vic Joseph, Corey Graves
and Booker T from a sound stage at the Performance Center in
Orlando in front of a live studio audience.
Joseph speaks the name of TNA Champion Joe Hendry, and he
appears. Such is his gimmick. Tonight, Hendry enters the
sound stage wearing his WrestleMania-branded t-shirt. The
live studio audience responds accordingly, as they wave
their arms in unison to the beat of Hendry’s theme song.
Hendry enters the ring for a monologue. He plays to the
crowd and mentions wrestling Randy Orton at WrestleMania,
and then Hendry days later defended the TNA Championship.
That is where Trick Williams attacked Hendry in a
cliffhanger ending to the TNA Rebellion pay-per-view.
Hendry cuts a promo on Trick, and Hendry gets the crowd to
chant “we believe” in him. Hendry figures that Trick knew
Oba Femi was not going to give him a shot at the NXT
Championship, so Hendry says that Trick is instead trying to
get a shot at the TNA Championship. Hendry then calls out
Trick.
Before Trick came enter, the lights so out on the sound
stage. The DarkState faction appears, and they jump Hendry.
They powerbomb Hendry and leave him laying in the ring as
they stand over Hendry.
The show cuts away to a skit from earlier today, where WWE
Women’s World Champion IYO SKY is in the office of NXT
General Manager Ava. She booked SKY in a tag team match, and
Ava asks if SKY found a tag partner. Not yet, but in walks
Jordynne Grace to volunteer. SKY accepts the offer, so her
and Grace will team up later on.
NXT North American Champion Ricky Saints and Lexis King
prepare for their title match, which is “next” after a
commercial break.
What was actually next after the break is a quick recap from
last Tuesday night when Liv Morgan & Raquel Gonzalez
defended the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship against Gigi
Dolan & Tatum Paxley. That recap led into a skit from the
NXT lounge.
Karmen Petrovic was talking with Dolan & Paxley when they
are interrupted by Ashante “Thee” Adonis. He basically tells
her to ditch the two losers because Adonis got her booked in
a title match tonight. Petrovic takes exception at him
calling them losers, and she also says she in not ready for
a title match tonight. Adonis responds by saying she better
get ready because “we” have a title match.
NXT North American Champion Ricky Saints defeated Lexis King
to retain his title
Saints pinned King clean after a Roshambo. It was a good
match with lots of action. The match goes through commercial
break.
King jumps Saints before the bell rings to start the match.
Saints soon counters King, and Saints goes on to pose atop
the barricade as the show cuts to commercial.
When the show returns from the break, King gets a near fall
after a Swanton Bomb. More near falls for King, until Saints
attempts a comeback. King goes for his finisher, but Saints
counters him. Saints spikes King with a tornado DDT, and
Saints executes his finisher. Saints then covers King for a
pinfall. And still…
“NXT Spotlight” sponsored by an insurance company features a
vignette where Shawn Spears addresses The Culling.
Tony D’Angelo makes his first appearance in front of the
studio audience since Stacks turned on him at Stand &
Deliver. D’Angelo begins his monologue by saying we can all
relate to betrayal. Still, “The Don” did not expect it at
Stand & Deliver.
D’Angelo expected a man-to-man conversation, but not the
betrayal. The Don talks about when he stuck up for Stacks
when they were kids. D’Angelo insists that Stacks always had
his eyes on being the boss of The Family. D’Angelo then
talks about the times Stacks stepped up, so he was rewarded
with being the Underboss. Yet at the same time, Stacks was
impulsive. D’Angelo had to step in to show why he was still
“The Don” of the The Family.
The Don says Stacks waited until the world was watching to
stab him in the back. D’Angelo says Stacks will pay for his
sins. The Don also mentions that Luca Crusifino is missing
and Adrianna Rizzo remains in hiding.
A bunch of security enters the ringside area as the
Titantron shows a pre-taped promo from Stacks. He is on
bridge somewhere, which is a callback a usual meeting place
for The Family. Stacks cuts a promo on D’Angelo, with Stacks
saying he is tired of taking orders. Stacks also says
D’Angelo has grown soft, and Stacks accuses The Don letting
The Family get pushed around by groups like DarkState.
Stacks wants to become the new Don of the Family. He knows
D’Angelo better than anyone, and Stacks knows that D’Angelo
is losing power. Stacks questions whether D’Angelo can trust
his own Family.
The security detail turns out to be henchmen for Stacks.
D’Angelo cleans house on the henchmen, as what appears to be
other mobster look on from the apron. They do not help
D’Angelo, but he does not need any as he easily suplexes a
henchman over the top rope. End Scene.
In a backstage skit, Meta-Four splits up as they all agree
to go their separate ways. Oro Mensah, Jakara Jackson, Lash
Legend and Noam Dar all hug and then depart as singles
wrestlers. Not the only break-up on this episode, but the
only amicable break-up of the night.
NXT Women’s North American Champion Sol Ruca (with Zaria)
defeated Karmen Petrovic (with Ashante “Thee” Adonis)
Ruca pinned Petrovic clean after a Sol Snatcher. After the
match, Petrovic breaks up with Adonis. She turns on him as
he is barking at her about why she lost. Petrovic heard
enough. When Adonis grabs her arm, Petrovic lays out Adonis
with a roundhouse kick. Adonis is dazed as the studio
audience chants “one more time.”
Before the next commercial break, a clip plugs a cameo
appearance by Trick Williams on the CW’s All American
television series.
Trick Williams enters the sound stage to address the
audience. Tricks name drops Joe Hendry, but he does not
appear. Trick says Hendry should be glad DarkState got to
him before Trick got to Hendry. Trick says even “those punks
know” that Hendry does not belong here.
Trick responds to anyone thinking he “crashed out” last
Tuesday. Trick then talks about his run-in at Rebellion. He
also plugs his acting appearance on All American. I remember
All American when Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon hosted
the show, but that is story of another time.
Trick says he and Hendry are not on the same level. Trick is
Hollywood, while Hendry is “local talent” in NXT. Trick
wants his title back, and he wants to challenge Oba Femi.
Ava interrupted Trick and scolds him for his recent actions.
Trick says he realized after Sunday (at Rebellion) that he
is bigger than NXT. He refers himself as the “biggest
superstar” in NXT, along with the biggest star in TNA.
While Ava agrees to give Trick another chance at a title
shot, that will come in a 25-man battle royal next Tuesday
on NXT to determine a number one contender. The winner of
the battle royal will face Femi at Battleground for the NXT
title. A battle royal? How original.
Roxanne Perez and Giulia talk ahead of their tag match later
on against IYO SKY and Jordynne Grace.
Kelly Kincaid interviews NXT Champion Oba Femi, who vows to
retain the title at Battleground. The interview is
interrupted by a cameo from The Undertaker. He tells Femi
that NXT is Femis’ yard now, but Undertaker warns him that
some guys from LFG will be coming for Femi soon. In walks
Shiloh Hill, Anthony Luke and Jasper Troy from LFG. Femi
says he looks forward to the challenge, and he shakes hands
with Undertaker.
NXT Team Champions Hank Walker & Tank Ledger defeated Josh
Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura to retain their titles
Hank Walker pins Josh Briggs, and the champs retain. Rough
and tumble match from the start. It was fun. The tag bout
also goes through a commercial break.
After the break, Briggs & Inamura work over Hank. The match
builds to a hot tag, and Tank is a house of fire. Soon
thereafter, Hank is sent crashing into the ring steps at
ringside. That leaves Tank at a two-on-one disadvantage.
Tank takes a chokeslam and a lariat from Briggs, and Inamura
follows up with a splash off the top rope. Hank jumps into
the ring to break up the subsequent pinning attempt. Moments
later, Tank is again being double-teamed. Hank goes to make
another save when he is scooped up by Inamura. He spins Hank
around to complete the scoop slam, but Inamura inadvertently
swings Hank’s feet into Briggs.
For the finish itself, Hank & Tank double-team Briggs with
spear/powerslam combination. Hank then covers Briggs for the
deciding pinfall, and the tag champs retain their titles.
Inamura pleads his case to Briggs after the match, trying to
explain the mishap.
DarkState cuts a promo that was posted on social media.
Chase University is back in a skit with Andre Chase
welcoming students back to class. Chase proclaims today is a
“new semester” for Chase U. Kale Dixon and Uriah Conners
show up late for class, and a goody two shoes tries to call
them out for being late. Chase cuts a promo on them and
curses at them.
In a locker room skit, Kelani Jordan challenges Sol Ruca to
a North American title match next week. Ruca is about to
accept when Zaria cuts them off to tell Jordan she is not
getting a title shot next Tuesday. Zaria tells Jordan she
must go through Zaria to get a shot at Ruca. “Fine,” says
Jordan.
Hank & Tank interact with Joe Hendry in the trainer’s room.
They all three to the “honk, honk” hand gesture. This skit
sets up Hendry teaming with Hank & Tank against DarkState in
a six-man tag match next Tuesday on NXT.
WWE Women’s World Champion IYO SKY & Jordynne Grace defeated
Roxanne Perez & Giulia
SKY pinned Perez to win the match. Really good tag match
with a lot of action. Some storytelling within the match,
but this was mostly just fun.
The tag bout begins with a melee at ringside. They all soon
get in the ring. SKY and Grace get to shine early on.
Eventually, Grace is cut off. She is being double-teamed
when Grace suplexes both Perez and Giulia at the same time.
Hot tag to SKY for a missile dropkick. Grace and SKY work
well as a team, until they are cut off. Grace has SKY on her
shoulders when they are tripped up. As the show cuts to its
final commercial break (which is picture-in-picture), SKY
and Grace are in peril as they sell big.
Heat on SKY during the split-screen break, and the show
returns with SKY in trouble. Hot tag to Grace, and she runs
wild cleaning house. Perez with a save with a high cross.
Everybody is down selling when SKY gets to her feet and
hulks up.
Perez with a Super Frankensteiner on SKY. Giulia and Perez
look to finish SKY, but Grace jumps in for a save. Grace and
Giulia began to brawl on the floor at ringside. In the ring,
Perez and SKY exchange a series of great near falls.
For the finish, SKY counters Pop Rocks with a backflip. SKY
then kicks Perez and follows up with a moonsault press. SKY
then covers Perez for a pinfall.
The show ends with a skit where Ava is talking with NXT
Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer, and Ava announces a
number one contender’s match for next Tuesday. Jordynne
Grace and Giulia meet next week in a singles match, and the
winner gets a title shot against Vaquer at Battleground.