Trick Williams Starts the Show, Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Kelani Jordan VS Fatal Influence
NXT kicked off this week with Trick Williams as the NXT Champion talked about leading the brand into the new era! Wes Lee then appeared in the crowd and made it clear that he’s now turning his focus onto the NXT Championship before Jey Uso made a surprise appearance to have a little fun with old Trick Willy! Whilst there wasn’t much to this segment, it was effective as it set up Trick’s potential first feud as Champion whilst it also gave the crowd some excitement as Uso and Williams are arguably the two most over men in the company (at least their entrances are anyway).
Grade: C+
It was then time for the first match of the night as Kelani Jordan teamed up with the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill to take on Fatal Influence! This was a fine opening match, there weren’t any mistakes of note which is always a good thing, but this very much had a “house show” feel to it. The Heels were able to work on Kelani a little, but they had no chance against Belair and Cargill who dominated them! In the end, it was the good guys who got the win, but thankfully, it was the NXT Women’s North American Champion who got the pin after hitting her “one of a kind” Split-Legged Moonsault.
Grade: C+
Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade Address the NXT Universe, Oba Femi VS Tony D’Angelo: NXT North American Championship, Axiom and Nathan Frazer VS A-Town Down Under: NXT Tag Team Championships
Axiom and Nathan Frazer were preparing backstage as Randy Orton told Frazer that being a “hot head” has its advantages! Giulia’s interview backstage was then quickly interrupted by “an old friend” before Roxanne Perez headed to the ring to address the NXT Universe. Roxanne talked about how great she is and that she will happily continue to leave fans disappointed. This is when Cora Jade came out to praise The Prodigy before Cora said she’s going to make NXT “her’s”! This is when Giulia arrived and she didn’t come alone as the debuting Stephanie Vaquer appeared as the two huge stars took out Perez and Jade to stand tall! NXT’s Women’s Division has always been stacked, but now it feels like they’ve gone to a whole new level!
Grade: C+
Wren Sinclair said she’s going to be the one who steps up to Stephanie Vaquer next week before Charlie Dempsey taught Lexis King about a potential match he could have with Oro Mensah. It was then time for the first Championship defense of the night as Oba Femi put his NXT North American Championship on the line against Tony D’Angelo. I thought this was a really good match, it was certainly better than their first encounter, and I think that comes down to there being more jeopardy here. See, with the way Tony D has been booked recently plus the fact that Oba broke the record for the longest NA Title reign in history the other day, there was reason to believe that D’Angelo would win here, something that can’t be said for anyone else who’s faced Femi this year. I mean, after a Spinebuster through the announce table followed by one in the ring, I thought The Don had done enough to capture more Gold, but The Ruler proved too powerful and he was able to kick out! However, in what was a genuinely surprising ending, Tony D’Angelo pinned Oba Femi, by roll-up, to become the new NXT North American Champion! I can see why that wouldn’t be popular because Oba Femi has had this long Title reign, and he wasn’t even really beaten for it. However, that’s the exact reason why I like it so much! See, Oba has been incredible this year, and he shouldn’t be losing, however, in losing this way, Femi still looks like a beast because it was basically a fluke result. Now, that arguably hurts Tony D’Angelo, but to be honest, he’s a Champion now so I don’t think he cares!
Grade: B+
Lola Vice was speaking to Ava backstage before Nikkita Lyons made her return to Television to ultimately set up a match with Vice for next week! Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill then had a run-in with Meta-Four which seems to have set up a WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships match for SmackDown before Axiom and Nathan Frazer put their NXT Tag Team Championships on the line against A-Town Down Under! So on the one hand, this wasn’t at the level of previous Axiom and Frazer Title defenses. On the other hand, it was still a really good match! I don’t know how FRAXIOM keep doing it, but they seemingly have an inability to have a dull or not-very-good match! A-Town Down Under are also fun to watch, and they actually had a moment where you could believe them winning after Nathan refused to tag Axiom in! We also got some great transitions, particually when Axiom caught Grayson Waller and locked in a sleeper hold, but eventually, some more miscommunication between Theory and Waller allowed Axiom and Frazer to hit their terrific Tag Team Finisher to get the victory and more importantly, retain their NXT Tag Team Titles!
Grade: B
Randy Orton VS Je’Von Evans
After Riley Osbourne attacked Ridge Holland and Ethan Page interrupted Sexyy Red’s musical performance, the Main Event of this week’s NXT saw Randy Orton return home to take on Je’Von Evans! This was very much a house show match, but it was very cool to see. Randy Orton is a veteran, he’s been going forever whilst Je’Von Evans is a 20-year-old kid who only debuted in NXT this year! Evans’ speed actually caught Orton off guard a few times so The Young O.G. was able to hit his moves before Je’Von came close to winning following his flying Cutter. Unfortunately, they mistimed their attempt at an awesome RKO, but Randy hit a normal one anyway to pick up the win, and it’s not something that needs to be highlighted more. After the match, Orton and Evans embraced before Ava said they’ll be a Number 1 Contender’s Triple Threat Match next week between Ethan Page, Wes Lee, and Je’Von Evans with the winner moving on to face Trick Williams for the NXT Championship at Halloween Havoc!
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