Our WWE NXT results for tonight include Hank Walker battling Keanu Carver, the debuting Reina Volcan taking on Skylar Raye, Saquon Shugars teaming with Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno to face Darkstate, Shawn Spears seeking vengeance against The Culling’s Niko Vance, Jaida Parker clashing with Nattie, and Tony D’Angelo defending the NXT Championship in a Street Fight against Naraku. Here’s our review and grades for tonight’s show, live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
WWE NXT Card:
- NXT Championship Street Fight | Tony D’Angelo vs. Naraku
- Saquon Shugars, Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno vs. Darkstate
- Nattie vs. Jaida Parker
- Reina Volcan vs. Skylar Raye
- Shawn Spears vs. Niko Vance
- Hank Walker vs. Keanu Carver
WWE NXT Results:
Saquon Shugars, Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno vs. Darkstate
Dar starts off hot, landing a flurry on Lennox. Lennox boots Dar in the face. Dar tags in Shugars. Lennox immediately tags in Osirus. Darkstate works over Shugars. Moreno gets the tag, and he clears the ring with Dar. Shugars and Co set up a powerbomb for Lennox through the table. The rest of Darkstate makes the save. After the break, Shugars fires up and lands a flurry of offense. Moreno lands a big dive. Shugars puts Lennox through a wall with a DVD. Osirus and James hit their finish on Moreno for the win.
Winners- Darkstate
After the match, Shugars and Lennox have to be separated.
Grade: C
Not sure this Shugars and Darkstate thing is working. We were never given any insight or reasoning for why we should be behind Shugars. Getting kicked out of the group sucks, but you all terrorized the NXT locker room for over a year. They didn’t give us a single reason to have sympathy for Shugars. This whole thing is odd, and this match was what it was.
Six Feet Underground
NXT Women’s Champion Kendal Grey is in the ring with Women’s Speed Champion Wren Sinclair. AAA Mixed Tag Team Champion Lola Vice is out next. Vice goes on and on about it still being her time. Grey says Vice became everything she said she could be, but then she ran into Grey. The crowd didn’t like that line. Vice and Grey bicker.
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Vice says Grey beat her in a match, but she can’t beat Vice in a fight. Sinclair tries to tell Grey to back down. Grey says she thinks this is perfect and the best way to shut Vice up. Vice says Grey can have a week, but she’ll meet Grey in the Underground.
Grade: C+
This went on for way too long. These two should just beat the heck out of each other and skip the bickering. They are fighters. Fighters fight. An underground match is the perfect match for these two. In this writer’s humble opinion, Grey should lose this rematch and have to chase a heel Vice to get her title back. Grey has faced zero adversity and, beyond being great in the ring, has given us little reason to care about her arc at all. Give her one, and she goes from great to amazing.
Hank Walker w/Tank vs. Keanu Carver
Walker gets a bit off offense until Carver walks through a boot and lands one of his own. Hank lands a bossman slam for a nearfall. Carver lands a backbreaker. Keanu Carver tosses Hank all over the ring. Carver sends Tank into the ring steps. Hank lands a dive. Carver gets sent into the ring post. Hank runs into a pounce from Carver. Carver hits his finish for the win.
Winner- Keanu Carver
After the match, Carver slams Tank on the commentary desk. Carver grabs the ring steps. EK Prosper hops the barricade and attacks Carver. Hank, Tank, and Prosper beat down Carver.
Grade: D
This match was… something. Who are we pushing here? Why would it take two segments for Carver to beat a tag team wrestler? This was nonsensical.
Nattie w/Karmen Petrovic and Evolve Women’s Champion Nikkita Lyons vs. Jaida Parker
Parker takes Nattie down and lands a flurry of punches. After a distraction from Lyons, Nattie gets a near fall with a roll up. Nattie wiffs on a slap and Parker blasts Nattie with a slap of her own. Nattie retreats to the ropes to avoid Parker’s assault. Parker and Nattie trade submissions. Parker floors Nattie with an elbow. Nattie gets hung up in the ropes. Teardrop hip attack by Parker. Lyons and Petrovic pull Nattie out of the ring. Parker lands a baseball slide that takes out Petrovic. Nattie sends Parker into the ring steps. Nattie spends the break working over Parker’s injured leg.
After the break, Nattie runs into a Samoan drop by Parker, who is favoring her leg. Parker counters a suplex from Nattie into a falcon arrow. Michinoku driver by Nattie. Parker kicks out. Nattie locks Parker in the Sharpshooter. Parker breaks the hold by crawling under the rope. Parker manages to send Nattie into the ring steps. Nattie clutches at her knee. As Nattie gets back in the ring, Parker chop blocks Nattie. Parker locks Nattie in the Sharpshooter. Lyons wants to throw in the towel. Petrovic tries to stop her. The towel gets tossed in the ring. Parker wins. Nattie is livid. The camera pans out, and Thea Hail is the one who threw in the towel.
Winner- Jaida Parker
After the match, Parker gives Hail a pound.
Grade: B-
Solid match. Parker and Nattie have an intensity in their matches that most feuds in the women’s division lack at this point. This writer is not ready to see this feud end.
Shawn Spears vs. Niko Vance w/Izzie Dame
As Spears‘ music plays, the chair he usually sits in is empty on the stage. Spears attacks Vance from behind. Spears eventually grabs his chair from the stage. Before Spears can hit Vance with it, Dame hops on the apron. Lizzy Rain runs down to ringside and pulls Dame off the apron.
Dame and Rain brawl. While the referee is distracted, Spears slams the chair on the mat and tosses it at Vance. Vance catches it, and Spears drops to the mat as if Vance hit him with the chair. Seems Spears lies, cheats, and steals. The referee turns around and sees Vance holding the chair. The referee disqualifies Vance.
Winner- Shawn Spears
Grade: C+
This was a nice little match to further the angle between these two. Spears used his brain to beat Vance. You can’t be mad at that.
Reina Volcan vs. Skylar Raye
Volcan tosses Raye all over the ring. Volcan and Raye do a fast tackle/drop down spot that ends with Raye getting floored. Raye fires up and runs into a backbreaker from Volcan. Volcan lands two elbow drops for a near fall. Raye fires up. Raye goes up top. Volcan yanks Raye off the top. Raye takes a nasty spill. Volcan traps Raye in the Natural Disaster (Torture Rack). Raye taps out immediately.
Winner- Reina Volcan
Grade: B-
This was a solid debut match. Volcan stuck to power moves and showed an impressive burst of agility during the match. Raye has a good underdog babyface thing happening. Both of these women will do well in the future.
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NXT Championship Street Fight | Tony D’Angelo vs. Naraku
D’Angelo gets in Naraku‘s face. Naraku blinds D’Angelo with the mist. D’Angelo falls out of the ring. Naraku sends D’Angelo into the barricade, cracking it in half. Naraku beats the heck out of D’Angelo with various weapons, including a suplex on a bunch of chairs. D’Angelo kicks out. The fight spills out of the ring. D’Angelo manages to drive Naraku through the barricade with a Rhino-esque Gore.
After the break, D’Angelo sends Naraku into a trash can with a slingshot. Naraku kicks out. D’Angelo works over Naraku. Naraku counters a powerbomb out on the floor with Into the Abyss (Everything is EVIL). Naraku sends D’Angelo through the commentary desk. Kick out by D’Angelo. D’Angelo blocks the mist with his hands. Tony D’Angelo rubs the mist in Naraku’s eyes. D’Angelo puts Naraku through a table with Dead to Right for the win.
Winner and STILL NXT Champion, Tony D’Angelo!
As D’Angelo is celebrating in the ring, Mike Santana‘s music hits. Santana enters through the crowd. The crowd goes nuts. D’Angelo looks confused.
Grade: B-
Fun match. D’Angelo and Naraku have surprising chemistry. This garbage match was the right thing for this feud, which seems to be coming to an end with Mike Santana’s debut. Santana should win the NXT Championship in short order. Nothing against D’Angelo, but he’s been in NXT since the Clinton Administration. It’s time for him to move on.
WWE NXT Review:
Tonight’s show moved at a good pace and had a few solid matches. The Jaida Parker vs. Nattie match and the main event share best match honors. The debuting Reina Volcan had a great first showing, and with former TNA Heavyweight Champion Mike Santana appearing, NXT is stacked with future main eventers. If they can fix things like Keanu Carver’s booking, the future of this show will be bright.
Rating B-
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