Posted on 4/03/124 by Bob Magee
Tonight's WWE NXT is the last stop before Stand & Deliver.
In the main event of NXT's WrestleMania weekend special,
former friends Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes are clashing
in a grudge match. Williams and Hayes will meet tonight for
one final face-off before Stand & Deliver.
Lyra Valkyria is defending her NXT Women's Championship
against Roxanne Perez on Saturday afternoon. Tonight, both
will appear on Supernova Sessions.
The opening match of tonight's show will determine Bron
Breakker & Baron Corbin's NXT Tag Team title challengers for
Stand & Deliver. Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro, Axiom &
Nathan Frazer, and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson are facing
off in a number one contender's match.
NXT Champion Oba Femi will be in non-title action against
Joe Gacy. Femi is defending against Dijak and Josh Briggs at
Stand & Deliver.
Natalya will appear on NXT for the second straight week,
accompanying Karmen Petrovic for her match against Lola
Vice. Sol Ruca vs. Blair Davenport, Fallon Henley vs. Jacy
Jayne, and Von Wagner vs. Lexis King are also set.
This go-home episode begins with footage of Carmelo Hayes
and Trick Williams separately arriving to the Performance
Center in Orlando. Inside the sound stage, NXT kicks off
with a triple threat tag match to determine which team
challenges the champions at Stand & Deliver.
Nathan Frazier & Axiom defeated LWO (Joaquin Wilde & Cruz
Del Toro) and The OC (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) in a
triple threat number one contenders' match
Frazier pinned Del Toro to win the match. Axiom & Frazier
will go on to challenge Bron Breakker & Baron Corbin for the
NXT Tag Team Championship on Saturday.
Fast-paced action and lots of high spots. Good Brothers are
jumped before the bell with stereo dives that wiped them out
momentarily. The beginning of the match is almost like a
long highlight reel. They wrestle at a frantic pace before a
split-screen commercial break, and the wild spots continue
after the show returns from commercials. Seemingly, everyone
was doing dives. Even Karl Anderson got in on the fun.
After a crazy corkscrew, Del Toro goes for a Phoenix Splash.
No water in the pool. Good Brothers try to capitalize by
executing a Magic Killer, but they were cut off by Wilde and
Axiom. Those two collide into each other. Axiom them dives
out of the ring with a tope on Gallows, for seemingly no
reason. Wilde gets out of the ring, as Frazier is climbing
the turnbuckles. Frazier leaps off into a 450 on Del Toro,
and Frazier covers him for a three count.
Kelly Kincaid interviews the challengers in the ring after
their match. Axiom & Frazier vow to win the titles, as the
champions look on from a perch overlooking the ring.
Lexis King is sitting on a thrown cutting a promo on Von
Wagner and Mr. Stone. King says Wagner cannot hang with him
without Stone's help. King and Wagner meet in a match later
tonight.
NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov discovers there is a boot on his
car. Two gentlemen pull up in a dark SUV, and they remark
that Dragunov should have paid his parking tickets. They
insist Dragunov get in the car, and they will give him a
ride to dinner with Tony D'Angelo. The two guys tell
Dragunov that he does not want to keep "The Don" waiting.
Dragunov smirks, and he gets in the car. What a wacky title
program this has been. I remember when champions arrived in
a limo, but here there is a boot on his car.
Jacy Jayne (Jazmyn Nix, Kiana James & Izzi Dame) defeated
Fallon Henley (with Thea Hail & Kelani Jordan)
They were having a pretty good match when a melee erupted at
ringside. The three heels in Jayne's corner at ringside
jumped the two babyfaces in Henley's corner. Jordan is
tossed aside, and Hail is about to be assaulted when Henley
comes to her rescue. Henley makes a save for Hail, and
Henley cleans house on the heels. However, that allowed time
for Jayne to recover. Henley gets back into the ring, and
she is rocked by a knee strike. Jayne then covers Henley for
a pinfall.
Jayne and her heel pals come through the Gorilla Position,
and Jayne cuts a promo on Hail. NXT General Manager Ava
tells Jayne to move along. As Jayne is leaving, Hail and her
babyface friends come through the curtain. Hail is ranting
and raving about Jayne. Ava cannot take anymore, so she
books Hail against Jayne in a singles match at Stand &
Deliver.
A vignette highlights the rebooting of Josh Briggs'
character. He is now a "Man of Mayhem" like he is in an
outlaw motorcycle club, so he is sort of doing a biker
gimmick. It is different than most everyone else on the
roster, and the persona seems like a step on the right
direction for Briggs.
Lexis King defeated Von Wagner
King pinned Wagner clean. They keep pushing
Wagner shows fire at the start, but he is cut off by King.
Heat on Wagner as King is in control. Comeback by Wagner.
They fight on the apron, where Wagner chokeslams King on the
apron's edge. At ringside, Wagner goes to powerbomb King
through the announce desk. King blocks a first attempt, and
King counters a second attempt into a DDT that plants Wagner
on the floor. Back in the ring, King delivers a Coronation,
and he covers Wagner for a clean three count.
Ava tells Carmelo Hayes there are extra referees and
security on hand in case things get out of hand. Hayes
sarcastically says they need to be ready, because his
personal security force will certainly be ready.
Natalya is giving Karmen Petrovic a pep talk when Roxanne
Perez interrupts. Perez insults Nattie, as Perez tells her
that Perez no longer needs Nattie or any of Perez's other
heroes.
In a locker room skit, Arianna Grace and Wren Sinclair
bicker over Gigi Dolan getting a pageant makeover. Grace
takes offense to what Sinclair says, with Grace calling it
"fighting word." It was not. Nevertheless, this sets up a
match.
Lola Vice defeated Karmen Petrovic (with Natalya)
Vice submitted Petrovic with a sharpshooter. This match was
built up with an angle on social media, and it is also
related to a program between Vice and Natalya. Thus, Vice
uses Nattie' own finishing hold on Nattie's protege in front
of Nattie herself. Vice is getting a serious push at the
moment.
NXT Champ Ilja Dragunov arrives for his dinner with The Don.
He arrives at what appears to be a warehouse. Menacing
characters greet him with veiled threats. One guy is cutting
drywall with a table saw. Another guy is holding a crowbar.
Yet another guy is using a nail gun. They all follow
Dragunov to a table with a red cloth covering it and two
chairs. In walks Tony D'Angelo. To be continued...
Supernova Sessions with guests Roxanne Perez and NXT Women's
Champion Lyra Valkyria
Meta-Four are in the ring for Supernova Sessions, hosted by
Noam Dar. Meta-Four hype up being the official hosts for
Stand & Deliver. There is a couch in the middle of the ring,
with two comfy chairs on either side. The challenger, Perez,
and the champion, Valkyria, sit opposite each other.
Dar keeps pronouncing Perez's first name like the song
"Roxanne" by The Police. That was the main highlight for me,
as these types of talking segments on a go-home show are
overdone in WWE. There is even another version later in the
show of a final face off. At least that one is for a hot
program.
Valkyria and Perez argue back-and-forth. Valkyria gets up
from her seat as she is cutting a promo on Perez. The champs
says she is winning, and she tells Perez that all Perez does
is bitch. Valkyria says Perez will have a whole lot to bitch
about at Stand & Deliver.
Perez says she has a whole year worth of rage build up, and
Perez vows to let out that rage on Saturday. Perez decks
Valkyria, and Valkyria responds with a roundhouse kick.
Valkyria then puts Perez through a coffee table with a Death
Valley Driver. The champs stands tall and looks so strong
here, I can only assume via WWE logic that she is dropping
the title. We shall see.
A video package hypes Dijak. NXT North American Champion Oba
Femi watches from a monitor, and Femi warns Dijak ahead of
their match at Stand & Deliver. Femi then enters the sound
stage for his match that is up next.
NXT North American Champion Oba Femi defeated Joe Gacy in a
non-title match
Femi seemingly won after a referee stoppage. Gacy was
injured after being tossed across the ring, and the ref
stopped the match. This did not look like an angle, but no
word on any official injury. Gacy would appear later in the
show in a wacky skit.
Shawn Spears ambushed Gacy during Gacy's ring entrance.
Spears hits Gacy with a chair, and Spears then taunts Gacy.
This plays off a prank Gacy pulled on Spears during a
previous episode of NXT.
Femi then rolls Gacy in the ring. The referee rings the bell
to start the match when Gacy is able to get on his feet.
Femi then attacks Gacy. Femi is pummeling Gacy until Gacy is
able to execute a Saito suplex. Gacy follows up with a
springboard moonsault. When Gacy goes for his finisher, he
is cut off by Femi.
Femi tosses Gacy across the ring. Gacy lands awkwardly, and
the referee backs Femi away. The ref checks on Gacy, and the
ref throws up the dreaded "X" sign. The ref calls for the
bell, and the ring announcer calls it a no-contest. However,
the ref raises Femi's hand like he is the winner.
Arianna Grace defeated Wren Sinclair
Grace won via pinfall with a cradle, while also illegally
holding the ropes for leverage. Sinclair pleaded her case,
but the ref did not see Grace breaking the rules. The match
probably went too long even if it is fairly short,
especially with that finish. Sinclair is not over, and
Grace's pageant queen persona is too over the top. They
worked hard, regardless.
Finally, Tony D and Dragunov sit down for their
meeting/dinner. The sit-down was supposed to be a dinner,
but there was no food. I was told there would be food.
Anyway, the champ and his challenger cut promos on each
other.
Tony D grabs Dragunov's injured hand (which was injured in
an angle last week). Dragunov grimaces in pain as "The Don"
tells Dragunov he could have him taken out at any time
tonight. But, Tony D vows to do it while the whole world is
watching on Saturday.
"The Don" tells Dragunov nothing personal, it is just
business. Tony D motions for a tray, and it is sat down in
front of Dragunov. Tony D tells the champ to enjoy his last
meal. The champ looks so weak here, and the challenger looks
like a stereotypical mobster. What a title program. The
production itself here was good, but the storyline is too
wacky to take serious.
Sol Ruca defeated Blair Davenport
Ruca won via a roll-up. The match is decent enough, and Ruca
got to fight from underneath. She came back from an injury
in real life, and she also came back from injury here to win
this match. The finish does easily allow for a return bout.
Davenport rushes Ruca as the bell sounds to start the match.
Ruca fires up, and the fighting spilled outside the ring.
Davenport drops Ruca's left knee (which Ruca is wearing a
large brace on due to and old injury and surgery) on the
metal ring steps.
The match goes through a split-screen commercial break, and
Davenport works the knee during the break. Ruca eventually
counters Davenport. Ruca suplexed Davenport near the ropes,
and they both go tumbling over and out. Wild spot,
especially for a transition spot.
Still selling her left knee, Ruca does a one-legged
springboard with her right foot. Ruca springs off the top
rope into a flying body press for a near fall. Moments
later, Ruca does her top rope cartwheel spot into a swinging
DDT for another near fall.
Davenport counters Ruca when Ruca went for her finisher.
Davenport then executes her finisher, and Davenport goes for
a cover. Ruca with a counter of her own, as she rolls up
Davenport with a schoolgirl for a pinfall.
In a backstage skit, Dijak and Josh Briggs are bickering
over which one of them will win the North American
Championship. In walks the champ, Oba Femi, and he vows to
retain at Stand & Deliver, where the three meet in a triple
threat title match.
Ava is in her office when in crawls Joe Gacy. He is selling
his back, but Gacy still wants a match on Saturday with
against Shawn Spears. Ava books it on the spot, and the
match is official for Stand & Deliver.
Final Face-off between Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes
Hayes saunters to the ring flanked by his personal security
force. Williams enters and gets in the ring for the face-
off. Other security surrounds them, as Williams speaks
first.
Williams notes that they are the first two African American
males to headline a PLE on WrestleMania weekend in a match
against each other. The live studio audience inside the
sound stage are hot for Williams. He is super over with
them.
They are some words thrown back-and-forth, and the talking
was good. Jim Valley will be pleased to know there are
"because of the fans" arguments thrown around.
Finally, Williams vows to "whoop that trick." That sets off
bedlam, and a brawl erupts. Williams and Hayes are fighting
off security. They clear of the ring of security, and they
square up. Hockey fight between the two, as the NXT locker
room empties. Out comes others on the roster to break up the
fight. The go-home show goes off the air with a pull-apart
brawl.