By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live July 23, 2024 on USA Network
[Hour One] The show started with a single take shot of Trick Williams getting out of his car in the parking lot and heading to the ring. Cedric Alexander stopped Trick while he was heading to the entrance ramp to ask him why he’s not heeding his advice? Trick said he knows, but he’s not going to stop until he gets his championship back. Ashanti the Adonis told Cedric he’s wasting his time. Trick Williams made his entrance…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
Trick Williams said that ever since he lost the championship he felt like he lost a piece of himself. He said he talked to a few OGs backstage and that led him to think of one thing. He’ll see Ethan Page again to get his championship back. Cedric Alexander made his entrance. Cedric said as someone who won championships in WWE before he knows how Trick feels. Cedric said he just doesn’t want Trick to be blinded by his passion. Trick said he’s not blinded.
Ashanti the Adonis made his entrance and reminded Cedric that Trick ain’t wanna deal with. Trick asked Ashnti to go back to Smackdown and stop stirring the pot. Ashanti said ain’t nobody no cook, and he is just here to pick up the ball that Trick dropped. Trick said he never dropped the ball. Trick talked about how Ashanti had a group that couldn’t get the ball off the ground in the first place. Trick yelled “HITTTTT ROW!”. Cedric said it’s things like that that show why he doesn’t look focus. Ashanti said Trick is in third place for the title.
Trick said he’s been nothing but gold. Cedric said Trick is acting like he’s better than Cedric by disrespecting him. Cedric challenged Trick to a match on this show. Trick accepted. Ashanti said it sounds like Trick is making another Trick mistake. Trick clocked Ashanti with a right hand and cleared him from the ring…
John’s Thoughts: A decent enough segment to set up Trick vs. Cedric, though I think that NXT should have built up Cedric a bit more because I feel like he has no chance of winning due to him being the designated main roster enhancement guy. As expected, Trick was the one showing the best mic work here. Cedric showed improved mic work from his past work. Ashanti was the weakest talker of Hit Row and it showed here. Hopefully he uses NXT to improve on that.
“Earlier Today” Tyriek Igwe and Tyson Dupont were clowning on Ethan Page in the parking lot. Page told Igwe and Dupont that they weren’t worth his time…
Josh Briggs was about to make his entrance, but he was jumped by Brooks Jensen in the Gorilla Position entryway. The bell rang once both men brawled to the ring…
1. Josh Briggs vs. Brooks Jensen in a no-dq match. Briggs got control at the barricade. Briggs then tossed Jensen into the ringpost. The crowd chanted “we want tables” which led to Briggs chokeslamming Jensen through the announce table. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Briggs set up the announce table cover in the corner. Jensen punched Briggs to send his head into the cover. Jensen then hit Briggs with a catapult to send him into the cover. Jensen then methodically worked on Briggs with a Kendo Stick. Briggs managed to get the stick away. Jensen then regained control and dragged Briggs up steel steps set up in the ring. Briggs escaped and gave Jensen a back suplex into the steel steps.
Both men traded kneeled right hands and then traded hands when they got to their feet. Both men traded big boots and then took each other out with stereo big boots. Both men then took each other out with stereo kendo stick swipes. Briggs got a white chair from Briggs. Shawn Spears got on the apron and said “hit him”. Briggs grabbed Spears by the collar.
Jensen then worked on Josh’s back with the white chair with multiple chair shots. Jensen hit Briggs wtih a DDT on the chair for the win.
Brooks Jensen defeated Josh Briggs via pinfall in 10:11.
Shawn Spears patted Brooks Jensen on the shoulder for his win…
Wes Lee, Zach Wentz, and Trey Miguel showed up in the locker room to meet Axiom and Nathan Frazer. Trey pointed out how Wes and Zach never lost the tag team titles. The Rascalz challenged Axiom and Frazer to a match. Axiom wondered which two Rascalz they’ll face. Wentz noted that it’s The Rascalz reunion tour, so they’ll be facing all three of them.
Axiom and Frazer agreed (so I’m assuming it’s non-title?). After the Rascalz left, Axiom noted that he’s in the next WWE Speed tournament. Axiom and Frazer bickered over Axiom giving Frazer crap for singles wrestling…
Lexis King made his entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: It seems like Frazer and Axiom are the only two on-air wrestlers to care about the WWE Speed title. Anyways, solid hardcore match with them giving themselves the out to run this back due to Spears getting involved. I’m not sold on Spears’s new NXT persona, but I’m willing to see how they go since it will give Brooks Jensen more TV time.
Lola Vice, Karmen Petrovic, and Sol Ruca were chatting about Fallon Henley mocking them as rookies. They then talked about possibly going after the titles. Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson showed up to say they were coming after the WWE Women’s Tag Titles. Jackson and Legend then left with Lash saying they have to go to support Oro Mensah…
Eddy Thorpe made his entrance…
2. Lexis King vs. Eddy Thorpe. King took control early on and then hit Thorpe with a backbreaker. Thorpe then turned the tables and hit King with many chops. Thorpe hit King with a Snapmare and roundhouse for a two count. Thorpe shoved King into the corner to block his finisher. Thorpe slammed King to the mat and hit him with a PK. King hit Thorpe with a superkick and then ran through Thorpe. Thrope reversed King’s swinging DDT into a Impaler DDT for the win.
Eddy Thorpe defeated Lexis King via pinfall in 2:31.
Lexis King jumped Thorpe after the match. Vic noted that King did this before to Dante Chen after one of King’s losses. King used his scepter to smash and injure Thorpe’s hand into the steel steps…
Kelly Kincaid interviewed Trick Williams about wrestling Cedric Alexander instead of Ethan Page. Pete Dunne was sitting at his locker. Trick said he’s willing to wrestle anyone on his path back to the title. Dunne said “you think so?”. Trick said if Pete has something to say, than to say it. Pete said simply “figure it out”. Trick wondered what Dunne was talking about after Dunne left…
Oro Mensah, Lash Legend, and Jakara Jackson made their entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Solid win for Thorpe. Key here is to rack up wins to give Thorpe momentum. That said, I’m a bit nervous that they are going to run with Eddy Thorpe as a wrestling DJ because it hasn’t been impressive so far. King was fine as he’s good with getting his heat back after matches.
Ashanti the Adonis made his entrance (to what sounds like Trick Williams’s old entrance theme). Adonis went to ringside to hit on Jakara Jackson. Oro Mensah gave Ashanti a suicide dive leading into the match…
3. Oro Mensah vs. Ashanti The Adonis. Adonis made a bit of a comeback, but was then hit with a T-Bone Suplex by Oro. Ashanti backdropped Oro on the apron. Oro went for a slingshot, but was dropkicked out of the air. Adonis then gave Oro knees and hands on the ground. Adonis hit Oro with a wrecking ball kick in the corner for a two count. Oro got a rollup two count after Adonis got distracted by the shawtys at ringside, allowing Oro to take control.
Oro hit Adonis with a Liger Kick. Adonis came back with a clothesline for a two count. Adonis then got distracted by the ladies at ringside again and got crotched on the top rope. Oro hit Adonis with a slingshot Rolling Sobat and Moonsault. Adonis came back with a slam for a two count. Oro hit Adonis with a Rolling Sobat and forearm to the back of the neck. Oro hit Adonis with a spinning heel kick for the victory.
Oro Mensah defeated Ashanti the Adonis via pinfall in 4:38.
Oro took a mic and called out Ethan Page. Oro then chanted 1-2-3, to mock Page for the visual pinfall that Page took…
The D’Angelo Family and No Quarter Catch Crew were looking over a random “ransom letter”. Wren Sinclair showed up and said she wrote the letter. She continued to talk about how she might snitch on No Quarter Catch Crew (Even though NQCC’s dumping of Damon Kemp in a truck was shown on TV)…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A really good match while it lasted. Both men looked good here. Oro got the expected win with him being built up to be a contender for Ethan Page and the NXT Championship. Hope they do some work rebuilding Ashanti because he shouldn’t be slept on for his solid in-ring ability. I still commend the guy for anchoring the enhancement matches during the pandemic, making a ton of wrestlers look good. He needs a chance to look good.
Vic Joseph plugged WWE’s free Summerslam kickoff event…
The wrestlers in the match, No Quarter Catch Crew were already around the ring. The D’Angelo Family were at the crow’s nest…
4. Wren Sinclair (w/Charlie Dempsey, Tavion Heights, Myles Borne) vs. Carlee Bright (w/Kendall Grey). Sinclair took Bright out of the air with a leg takedown. Sinclair then put Bright in a modified Surfboard Sleeper. Bright got a two count off a jackknife. Sinclair rallied with a axe handle and facebuster for a two count. Bright came back with a Missile Dropkick. Dempsey put Bright’s leg on the rope for the break.
Kendall Grey gave Myles Borne a suplex which distracted Sinclair. Bright got a few rollups in. Sinclair rolled up Bright and picked up the win because Dempsey put his hand on Sinclair’s back for leverage.
Wren Sinclair defeated Carlee Bright via pinfall in 3:27.
John’s Thoughts: NXT is doing a weird mafia storyline again and this is one of the least interesting of them all. Silver lining though, the best part of this meh storyline is Wren Sinclair. She’s good in the ring, but this week she showed some good personality. If she ends up joining No Quarter Catch Crew, she might be their missing piece (That said, NQCC’s recent problems have occurred due to a few of their wrestlers’ contracts expiring in the middle of storylines).
Hank Walker and Tank Ledger were walking backstage talking how excited they were for Great American Bash. The camera then panned to Nathan Frazer and Axiom who were still arguing about Axiom wrestling on WWE Speed. Je’von Evans stopped their fight and offered to be their third in the six man match. Axiom and Frazer agreed…
Trick vs. Alexander was hyped for after the break…[c]
Andre Chase and Riley Osborne were consoling Duke Hudson about his recent loss. Ridge Holland then showed up with new Black and Orange Chase U shirts…
Kelly Kincaid conducted a sitdown interview with Thea Hail. Kelly talked about how Thea Hail went after the women’s championship at last year’s GAB, and wonder what she has planned for this year’s title shot? Hail talked about how she feels like she grew up and Chase U trust her, which feels cool. Kelly asked Hail how it feels to have Ridge Holland as a mentor. Hail said Ridge is a human and sometimes people don’t trust him for being not perfect.
Hail said she saw herself in Ridge. She said Ridge empowers her and that’s why she let him in. Kelly said that Hail looks different and more calm. Hail said she’s doing this for all the little girls like her who were picked last. She said she’s going to make everyone proud and win the women’s championship. Vic Joseph plugged Roxanne Perez vs. Thea Hail for the NXT Women’s Championship at The Great American Bash…
[Hour Two] Entrances for the next match took place. Vic Joseph plugged WWE’s Summerslam live events…
5. Trick Williams vs. Cedric Alexander. Trick sent Cedric into the corner. Cedric came back with a Belly to Back take down. Cedric kept Trick under control with a arm bar. Trick came back with a body slam. Cedric took down Trick with a shoulder block. Trick came back and took down Cedric with his own shoulder block. Cedric worked on Trick with chops. Trick turned the tables and hit his own chops.
Cedric missed a kick and then rolled up Trick for a two count. Cedric hit Trick with handstands into a kick. Cedric hit Trick with a reverse STO on the apron heading into the commercial break.[c]
Both men traded hands in the center of the ring. Both men then took each other out with stereo Big Boots. Both men got to their feet and traded fatigued right hands. Trick clocked Cedric with a pop up right hand. Cedric came back with a forearm. Trick came back with a Flapjack and switch kick for a two count. Cedric got a two count off a armdrag counter. Alexander caught Trick with a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall.
Trick rallied with side Crescent Kicks. Cedric hit Trick with a gamengiri. Trick reversed a Slingshot with a Book End. Cedric rolled up Trick for a two count. Cedric hit Trick with a twisting Suplex for a two count. Trick blocked a Juji Gatame with a two count pin. Trick then turned Cedric inside out with a Trick Shot Knee for the victory.
Trick Williams defeated Cedric Alexander via pinfall in 10:52.
Cedric and Trick shared a respectful handshake after the match. Pete Dunne attacked Trick from behind and did his signature shrug. Dunne then gave Trick shortarm boots in the ring. Pete then jawed at trick for a bit and then stood tall…
John’s Thoughts: Awesome match. It was awesome to see Cedric unleashed after years of being Mr. “Already in the ring”. I don’t mind calling him one of the best and underrated wrestlers in the world, especially after all those great matches he had on 205 Live back in the day. Weather it be in WWE or somewhere else, I hope someone gives Cedric Alexander another look one day. As for Trick, he continues to take the ball and run with it. He kept up with Ced. This also was arguably one of Trick’s best TV matches to date. Looking forward to see what he does with the hard hitting Dunne.
Robert Stone and Stevie Turner were bickering backstage. Ethan Page showed up and said he needs help getting rid of the pest Oro Mensah. Stone said Page should be lucky that he’s champ, but then switch to saying NXT is lucky. Stevie and Rob continued to bicker leading to Page walking off…
Sol Ruca and Karmen Petrovic made their entrance…[c]
Kelani Jordan was chatting with a few random developmental women about Fallon Henley continuing to hate on Rookies.
6. Sol Ruca and Karmen Petrovic vs. “Meta Four” Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend. Jakara got a two count after a reverse X Factor. Lash tagged in. Sol used a legscissors to reverse a Power Bomb. Sol hit Lash with a innovative slingshot X Factor. Karmen tagged in and hit Lash with a assisted slash kick for a two count. Lash took Sol out of the air with a Big Boot to the gut. Jackson tagged in.
Jackson rallied with running offense on Sol. Lash tagged in. Sol rolled up Lash for a two count. Petrovic tagged in and took out both opponents with tandem kicks. Petrovic got a two count on Lash with Stereo Superkicks. Karmen hit Lash with a Tornado DDT for a two count. Sol hit Jakara with a standing Asai Moonsault. Lash hit Petrovic with a right hand and an innovative Air Raid Crash into a side slam for the win.
Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson defeated Karmen Petrovic and Sol Ruca via pinfall in 4:38.
Lash Legend took the mic and challenged Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles at the Great American Bash…
John’s Thoughts: A surprisingly entertaining tag match given the usual lowered expectations when developmental wrestlers are involved. All four women looked clean here. Sol Ruca continues to look like a future star. I feel like she pulls out a new unseen wrestling move every match. No wonder she’s getting Will Ospreay and Ricochet comparisons (and she’s only been wrestling for one or two years with a huge injury in between). Lash Legend I hope gets more TV time too because she looks like a future star too, and I liked her new finisher.
Trick Williams was arguing with Shawn Michaels at the Gorilla Position booth about Pete Dunne jumping him. HBK said he’d take care of it. Roxanne Perez then showed to argue to HBK about Thea Hail getting a special sitdown interview and not her. HBK went back to the booth to take everything in…[c]
Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in on commentary and sent the show to a Joe Hendry profile package. Hendry talked about how every passing week, more of the planet believes in Joe Hendry. He said becoming a Social Media sensation doesn’t happen overnight. Clips of people around the world getting hyped about Joe Hendry.
Hendry talked about wrestling for 11 years just waiting for his time to shine. He said he always knew he had the ability, but in 2024 he needs to create something people won’t forget. He said he’s put in time in the ring, in the studio, and on Social Media. He said there’s not a person on this earth that hasn’t seen his head turn and entrance. He talked about his entrance theme going to number 4 on the British music charts. Joe Hendry hyped up that next week he’ll be holding a in-ring concert for NXT…
John’s Thoughts: Good Joe Hendry video package. I’ve seen Joe Hendry for years in Ring of Honor and TNA, and I haven’t seen them really give him a profile package like this. Most companies usually focus on his sing and dance routine. This was a good package to give him good exposition. Since TNA is elevating Joe to their main event, I hope WWE loans them this video package to help give him a boost there. (Or at least give Joe a Tom Phillips/Hannifan sitdown interview)
Gallus were in the parking lot being interviewed. They all talked about how they hate Joe Hendry. Joe Coffey challenged Joe Hendry to a match at the Great American Bash. Mark Coffey showed Joe a flyer of Hendry being busy next week with
Ethan Page ran into a random referee and asked a referee if Oro’s pin last week counted. The referee said it didn’t count. Page was elated and dragged the referee away…
Tweets were shown of Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre accepting Lash and Jakara’s challenge for the Women’s Tag Titles…
Ethan Page dragged the referee to the ring to address Oro pinning him last week. Page said he wants to make it clear that none of this bothers him. “You got pinned” chants ensued. Page asked the referee if a WWE referee was in the ring to count the pin? The referee said it doesn’t count because it wasn’t official. Page was hyped. Oro Mensah and rolled up Ethan Page. The referee counted the pin this time. Page threw a fit in the ring after Oro walked away, to end the segment…
The D’Angelo Family and NQCC met up again backstage. Tony D said he’s generous and since the Olympics are coming up, he wants to give an Olympian a shot at the Heritage Cup. They pointed out how Tavion Heights was an Olympian. D’Angelo said he’ll see Tavion next week…
The Rascalz made their entrance to their TNA theme…[c]
A replay of Brooks Jensen beating Josh Briggs was shown…
Vic Joseph ran through the advertised week 1 Great American Bash matches…
NXT Tag Team champions Nathan Frazer and Axiom made their entrance with Je’von Evans…
7. Je’von Evans, Nathan Frazer, and Axiom vs. “The Rascalz” Wes Lee, Trey Miguel, and Zachary Wentz. Trey and Axiom started the match with methodical chain wrestling. Axiom hit Trey with a dropkick. Frazer tagged in. Axiom put Trey in an Octopus Hold and held him for Axiom’s dropkick. Frazer flipped out of the corner but was tripped by Trey. Wentz tagged in and hit Frazer with a Sunset Flip. Wes tagged in. All three Rascalz swarmed Frazer with kicks.
Evans tagged in. Both men showed off their agility with leapfrogs and flips for evasion. Evans hit Lee with a springboard armdrag and dropkick. Lee slowed things down with a chop. Both men traded right hands. Lee caught Evans with a cross kick. Lee hit Evans with a Gamengiri Wentz tagged in and hit Evans with a Bronco Buster. Miguel no sold Frazer’s shot.
Evans rolled up Wentz for a two count when all the other wrestlers were dumped to ringside. Evans caught the pile of wrestlers at ringside with a top rope clearing dive. Wentz hit the pile of wrestlers with a Triangle Moonsault heading into picture-in-picture.[c]
Wentz hit Evans with a kick. Evans rolled through a diving crossbody and hit Wentz with a slam. Frazer came in and hit a standing Shooting Star for a two count. Axiom tagged in and put Wentz in a headlock to keep the ring cut in half on Wentz. Wentz escaped, but Frazer and Evans tagged in to nail Wentz with a triple superkick for a nearfall. Axiom tagged in and put Wentz in a anxkle lock. Wentz caught Frazer with a knee to the jaw midair.
Evans and Lee tagged in. Wentz hit Evans with CQC and a double stomp. Trey tagged in. Trey and Wes swarmed Axiom with kicks. Trey hit Evans with a Scorpion Kick and Lightning Spiral. Frazer tagged and and took a dropkick from Trey. The Rascalz all tagged in and hit this unique flip into double dropkicks (Hard to put into words). Trey tagged in and took a dive from Evans.
Evans took down all three Rascalz. Evans hit Trey with a top rope cutter. Evans staggered Trey on the top rope. Axiom and Frazer tagged in. Axiom hit Trey with a Spanish Fly. Frazer hit Trey with a Phoenix Splash. Wentz and Wes broke up Frazer’s win. Several wrestlers took turns hitting signature moves. Axiom and Trey traded hands. Wes put Axiom into a catapult to eat Trey’s kick and double stomp. MSK hit Axiom with Hot Fire Flame. Wentz pinned Axiom for the victory.
The Rascalz defeated Axiom, Nathan Frazer, and Je’von Evans via pinfall in 15:24.
All six men traded respectful handshakes with each other…
Ava was talking with a referee backstage. Ethan Page showed up and demanded a match with Oro Mensah. Oro said someone like him shouldn’t have to deal with this situation. He said he’ll even put the title on the line. Ava said they can have a contract signing next week and a title match on Night 2 of the Great American Bash…
John’s Thoughts: Wow. Never thought I’d see a another company’s wrestler pin a WWE title holder on WWE television. Times have changed. Also good to see Wentz get a win in NXT to continue his fun return to his old stomping grounds. Amazing six person tag match with too much action to keep up with, in a good way. The Rascalz are something else, and you see why WWE strapped the rocket to their backs right out of the gate when they signed Dez and Wentz a few years ago. Frazer, Axiom, and Evans were the perfect team to have them face due their high enough speed to keep up with the speedy Rascalz.
A very solid and well-rounded episode of NXT. The show seemed focused on putting together the Night 1 Great American Bash Card; but this week’s show also had a handful of good in-ring action. A few good matches to go out of your way to see. Plus, that main event is MUST see. With the Rascalz winning, that definitely sets up a Axiom and Frazer vs. MSK title match. Maybe at GAB? Maybe at a PLE. I’ll be by in a bit with my same night audio review for the Dot Net Members and Patreon Patrons.
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