SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT TV RESULTS
APRIL 29, 2025
ORLANDO, FLA. AT CAPITOL WRESTLING CENTER
LIVE ON CW NETWORK
REPORT BY KELLY WELLS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
NXT Commentators: Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Backstage Correspondent(s): Sarah Schreiber
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR POST-SHOW PODCAST
-The show started with a replay of the crossover segment from last week hyping Oba Femi, Trick Williams and Joe Hendry being positioned in the next main event storyline. We also got footage of Hendry successfully defending his TNA Championship five days later, followed by Trick Williams showing up and booting him to the mat to further the feud.
-Vic mentioned the name of Joe Hendry, and he appeared. Vic and Booker freaked out that saying his name worked again.
Hendry did his whipping pose to the camera. There was a “We believe” chant. He mentioned getting to wrestle Randy Orton at WrestleMania. He also mentioned he successfully retained at Rebellion. His opponent, Frankie Kazarian, wasn’t mentioned as he isn’t figured into any NXT storylines. Hendry mentioned the Trick Williams attack afterward. There was a crowd chant in response, but I can’t tell you what it was because CW muted it out. He called out Williams as entitled and arrogant. He said he might be an entertainer, but he has an aggressive side. He said he’s going to say his name and make him appear. “Trick Williams, get your ass out here right now!”
Instead, the lights went out and DarkState’s music played. They charged the ring and all four of them laid waste to Hendry.
-Earlier today, Ava welcomed Iyo Sky back to the brand. Iyo admitted she didn’t have a partner tonight, at which point Jordynne Grace stepped into frame and said she’d partner with her to take the next step toward the NXT Championship. They shook hands, and Sky sold the handshake like it hurt.
-Lexis King was shown preparing for his entrance before the apparently opening NXT North American Championship match. [c]
-In the pantry, Karmen Petrovic talked to Gigi Dolin and Tatum Paxley about how they almost won the Women’s Tag Team Championships last week. Ashante Thee Adonis showed up and told Petrovic to forget about “those losers” because he got her a match with Sol Ruca tonight. She said she wasn’t ready. He said they should go prepare for “our” match. Petrovic wasn’t impressed, and after the two of them left, Dolin said “‘Our’ match? Cringe.”
(1) RICKY SAINTS (c) vs. LEXIS KING – NXT North American Championship
King charged before the bell to boos. He charged and ate a boot in the corner, and Saints hit a missile dropkick. Saints threw some chops in a corner. King put his feet up like he was about to kip up, but he booted Saints in the face. King leaned on Saints in a corner, then missed in another, opening it up for Saints to hit some rights and then a beautiful overhead suplex. Saints booted King to the outside, then walked the barricade so he could do his trademark taunt up on the barricade as his championship belt was in focus in the foreground of the shot. The match went to commercial with no split-screen. [c]
The two took each other out with cross-bodies. King recovered first and put down Saints, then went up and hit a Swanton for two. Gutbuster by King got two. Saints blocked a superkick and hit some weirdly weak-looking lariats. Not sure if he isn’t throwing them hard or if King is eating them weirdly. King rolled up Saints and got a near-fall, where he was clearly supposed to put his feet on the ropes, but he wasn’t quite close enough so he abandoned the spot.
Saints hit a tornado DDT and Roshambo for the win.
WINNER: Ricky Saints at 8:25.
(Wells’s Analysis: the match was okay but had some small miscues and didn’t kick into any kind of high gear at any point. Even with that said, King continues to be better than he was by far just a few months ago, and Saints remains a huge crowd favorite)
-The Culling sat together in a dark room in a promoted spot. Shawn Spears proselytized to the three of them about focusing and making the most of their next chances. He put over Izzi Dame and said she had to figure out a way to stand out in a stacked women’s division. He said with Hank & Tank as the tag champions, he wanted to see a stronger bond between Niko Vance & Brooks Jensen. He told them they were going to take what they wanted.
-We got a quick recap of Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo turning on Tony D’Angelo at Stand & Deliver. [c]
-Vic promoted Worlds Collide/Money in the Bank combo tickets.
-Tony D’Angelo entered and Vic said he couldn’t imagine how the Don feels in this moment. They showed quite a few different audience members doing the stereotypical wiseguy hand motion.
D’Angelo said Stacks has always been passionate, and when things turned sideways, he gave him the benefit of the doubt. He said he always had Stacks’ back when they were kids because that’s what loyalty is all about. He said there were plenty of times Stacks did the same for him. He said he showed the world why he was worthy of being the Underboss. He said he had to step in, though, when Stacks got too big and showed why he’s the Don. He said Stacks waited for the world to be watching and stuck a knife in his back at Stand & Deliver. He said Stacks would pay for his sins. Nobody’s heard from Luca and Adrianna’s in hiding.
Stacks showed up on the tron and said he thought about showing up tonight, but that’s not what the Don would do. He said he was sick of taking Tony’s orders and he’s gotten soft. He said Tony wasn’t capable of leading anymore, and he had to put Tony in his place. He said with he and Luca gone, Tony’s losing power every day. He said Tony might not even be able to trust his own family. As Tony took a look back at his family members (featured extras), he was attacked by “security” who were apparently working for Stacks. I didn’t get a good look at all three, but at least two are being featured on Evolve right now. Tony fought them off and Stacks left the video feed. The audience was pretty quiet for most of this. I think we’ve finally hit fatigue as far as buying into a mafioso wrestling faction.
-Sol Ruca and Zaria walked through the back ahead of Ruca’s match with Karmen Petrovic. [c]
-Last Tuesday, Noam Dar returned and reclaimed the Heritage Cup Championship. Backstage, he reunited with Oro Mensah, Lash Lengend & Jakara Jackson to a strong reaction. Dar talked about having a reunion, and the women hesitated. Lash said it was time for Oro to be Oro’s main man on Evolve. She said the same about Jakara and herself. They had a moment and broke up. Oro and the women left, and Dar said to his Heritage Cup that it was just the two of them again. Huh. I wouldn’t have broken up that particular group, but I suppose long-term plans are all over the place.
(2) SOL RUCA (w/Zaria) vs. KARMEN PETROVIC (w/Ashante Thee Adonis)
Non-title. Petrovic threw some martial arts kicks early and Ruca sold the pain. Ruca caught one and hit X-Factor. Petrovic spilled to the floor and tried a moonsault. She missed, but Zaria caught her from tripping and falling, gave her a spank, and sent her back inside.
The two exchanged some reversals until Petrovic grounded Ruca and threw a series of rights. Petrovic tripped Ruca in the corner and hit a shotgun dropkick out of it for a two-count. Rope run and a block by Ruca, then another. Backpack splash by Ruca, who went for Sol Snatcher, but Petrovic crotched Ruca on the top rope and Ruca fell to the outside. Petrovic brought her in and covered, and Ruca reversed for a two-count. Sol Snatcher finished.
WINNER: Sol Ruca at 3:27.
After the match, Ashante tried to talk tough to Petrovic, but she wasn’t having it and she laid him out with a big kick to cheers. Well, that story certainly never went anywhere.
(Wells’s Analysis: Petrovic still doesn’t seem to have a lot of trust in longer matches, despite her initial run to the semis in the Breakout Tournament. The Petrovic-Ashante pairing was pretty amusing when it got started, but the only feud that was teased was one with Nikkita Lyons, who’s been enormously deemphasized and doing nothing more than quick appearances in scenes involving the entire women’s roster, and other than that it’s just been a pair that didn’t do anything with their onscreen chemistry. With that out of the way, this was indeed a good match, though very short)
[c]
-Trick Williams entered. They’re still chanting “Whoop that Trick,” but not like before, and he’s not getting the explosive reaction of before. I remain mystified at the change in direction of by far this brand’s most popular star right now, and one of NXT’s possible top five ever in terms of crowd reaction.
Trick took the mic and said “Joe Hendry.” He paused and said “Maybe this mic don’t work. Joe Hendry.” He said it’s good that DarkState got to him before he did. He said “Even DarkState know you don’t belong here.” We’re apparently stoking the “Trick is with DarkState” fire again after cooling off for a few weeks. Trick said he turned Hendry’s show into Trick’s show.
[HOUR TWO]
Trick promoted his debut on “All Americans” for their season finale. Man, CW will stunt-cast so readily in comparison to the other channels they’ve worked with. He called Joe Hendry “local talent” and said they’re not on the same level. He said he’s moving onto bigger and better things – the NXT Championship.
Ava’s music played her out to indifference. Has this crowd turned on her? They’re pretty muted tonight in general, I guess. She said Trick just doesn’t get it – she had to kick him out last week. Trick said he was the biggest star in NXT and now he’ll be the biggest star on TNA. She said if he wants a title shot, he’ll have to take 25 steps back because next week, there will be a 25-man battle royal to determine the top contender for Battleground.
-In the locker room, Roxanne Perez and Giulia put each other over, now that Giulia’s settled into her new heel role. They agreed they’re unstoppable together.
-Hank & Tank made their entrance ahead of the tag team championship match. [c]
-A graphic promoted the 25-man battle royal next week, with 25 men pictured. Among them are Swipe Right, who have dipped their toe on NXT, and Timothy Thatcher, who’s been appearing on Evolve as well and should get a nice reaction in front of the NXT crowd.
-Oba Femi was asked about the battle royal next week. He said he was going to defeat whoever stepped up. The Undertaker stepped into the frame and said this is Oba Femi’s yard. Femi said that meant a lot coming from him. Undertaker said it’s his yard…for now. He said he had guys from LFG coming for him. Shiloh Hill, Anthony Luke & Jasper Troy were in the frame behind Femi when the camera panned. Booker put over the three men when he got the chance.
(3) HANK WALKER & TANK LEDGER (c) vs. JOSH BRIGGS & YOSHIKI INAMURA – NXT Tag Team Championship match
Vic called the new champs the “belly bandits.” Not sure if that’s meant to be a possible team name, but I like it.
Inamura dominated Tank early, but Tank escaped and made the tag and the champs used some tandem offense and Hank hit a senton for two. Inamura threw a hard right and tagged Briggs, who elbowed Tank from the apron while Inamura got in a shot on Hank. Briggs hit a running cross-body and tagged Inamura. Hank rolled up Inamura for two, then made a blind tag and the champs hit a move where Tank launched Hank onto Inamura for two.
Things slowed down as Tank worked a brief armbar. Rope run and a block by Inamura. Inamura threw some forearms. Rope run and Inamura caught Tank on a crucifix attempt, then whipped him off and hit a chop. He took Tank to his own corner and tagged Briggs. The challengers hit a big move and posed to a mixed reaction as the match went to commercial. [c]
Hank booted Inamura to the mat, but Inamura did a fighting spirit fire-up and the two exchanged forearms. Inamura blocked one and hit some combo shots. Blind tag by Briggs, who booted Hank to the mat after Hank took out Inamura. Body slam and a splash by Briggs, who fired up and tagged Inamura. Briggs booted Hank as Inamura continued on with a German suplex for two. Inamura put Hank up on a turnbuckle, but Hank fought him off and made a tag, and he flapjacked Tank onto Inamura. Hank & Tank set up their finisher, but Briggs yanked Hank to the outside. He tossed him to the steps. Briggs & Inamura hit a finishing combo that didn’t quite work as a believable finish because Hank was visibly watching and waiting for his moment to run in and break it up.
It broke down and everyone was involved. Hank & Tank finished Briggs after their finisher.
WINNERS: Hank & Tank at 10:30.
(Wells’s Analysis: I have no beef with Hank & Tank as a popular midcard act, but they’ve been such losers that I seriously believed they might lose this first defense. In addition, Briggs and Inamura are such a devastating strong style team that they look a little silly getting beat by a team of big guys who all the same don’t have a lot of impressive power offense)
-Myles Borne, Tavion Heights & Wren Sinclair talked in the back. Borne talked about the battle royal. Heights said that Charlie Dempsey was still mad at Borne for teaming with Je’Von Evans last week. Borne didn’t care and said maybe it’s time to break out. Heights said maybe he should get into the battle royal too, but he was worried. Wren said “Charles is a complex man who thinks complex things.” Heights asked what that meant, and Wren said she didn’t know.
-Vic promoted the women’s tag main event, up next. [c]
-DarkState had a promo on socials, putting over their unpredictability and saying they’re just getting started. As is becoming the rule, Saquon Shugars was the standout on the mic.
-Andre Chase said Chase University was back, and he had a new group of unknowns sitting in a classroom. I haven’t seen any LFG, but nobody I saw is from Evolve. Kale Dixon & Uriah Connors showed up late and a older guy, maybe a writer or something, called them out. Chase went on a swearing tirade on the older student (mid-thirties, but it looked old in this particular room) and he said it just feels right.
-Kelani Jordan went to Sol Ruca for a title shot next week, and Zaria stepped in and said Jordan isn’t getting one that easy after Ruca survived the ladder match. She said Jordan will have to go through her first.
-Hank & Tank talked to Joe Hendry in the trainer’s room and said they were there for him if he wanted help against the DarkState. (They keep changing between “DarkState” and “THE DarkState,” by the way). Hendry did a honk-honk motion to signal his approval. Vic called the tag champs the “Belly Bandits” again, so it must be a thing.
-The heels entered ahead of the main event, still with 25 minutes to the hour. There’s plenty of time for a surprise segment – Je’Von Evans and Ethan Page haven’t shown up, for instance – but barring that, it’ll be a long one. [c]
-Vic promoted Saturday Night’s Main Event on May 24th, along with Battlground, Raw and NXT all in Tampa that weekend.
-Next week: a 25-man battle royal for top men’s contendership, Kelani Jordan vs. Zaria, and Joe Hendry & Hank & Tank vs. DarkState.
-The babyface women made their entrance seven minutes after the heels. This is always so amusing when one is live in the audience.
(4) IYO SKY & JORDYNNE GRACE vs. ROXANNE PEREZ & GIULIA
Corey acknowledged Meiko Satomura, who just had her retirement in Japan, and put over her extraordinary career. Nice.
Sky dominated Perez early and hit double knees in the corner. She went for a body slam and Giulia ran in and broke it up, but Sky evaded a double-team and hit a dropkick on each. Giulia went spilling out. Grace tagged in and slammed Sky onto Perez, then covered for two. Grace went for a powerslam, but Perez rolled through and tagged Giulia. Giulia and Grace did some quick reversals for thirty seconds before Grace hit a block and a bodyslam. Delayed suplex by Grace, then a spin and a gutbuster with Giulia still draped over her shoulder. Perez caused a distraction and Giulia went for the eyes, then tagged Perez, who stomped Grace in the corner. Russian leg sweep by Perez and a two count.
Giulia tagged in but Grace did a tandem arm drag and tagged Sky, who hit a missile dropkick and did her “pointing at herself” taunt. Cover for two. Sky got shoved to the corner and tagged Grace, who hit a back elbow on Giulia. Grace & Sky set up a big spot on the apron but Perez got involved and tripped them to the floor. The heels posed from the apron as the match went to split-screen. For the second week in a row, just one split-screen segment despite multiple matches with commercial breaks. [c]
Giulia stomped Sky face-first onto the mat and covered for two. Perez tagged in. Sky evaded a move, then hit a double stomp. Sky fought off a an interfering Giulia, but it gave Perez time to recover and cut off a tag. Sky hit a backbreaker and she and Perez both sold on the mat. Sky made the hot tag to Grace, who worked power stuff on both heels. Death Valley Driver for Perez. A German suplex on both women. Grace covered Giulia for two.
Sky tagged in and hit a top-rope move on Giulia, but Perez flew in and knocked Grace into the pile to break it up for the night’s first “NXT” chant. It went bonzo gonzo for a while and heels worked some double-teaming on Sky. Perez hit an Asai moonsault and Grace broke it up, and now it’s time for the first “This is awesome” chant. Giulia and Grace spilled to the apron, then the floor, and they brawled outside, likely being written out of the match. Inside, Sky and Perez had a number of nifty rollups. Sky hit a big European uppercut, fought off Pop Rox, and then weathered some Perez kicks. Perez tried again, and Sky flipped through and hit a superkick. Sky went up. She hit Over the Moonsault, and boneheaded Vic once again, despite years of hearing it said correctly on the main roster, called it “Moon Over Moonsault,” which makes zero sense. If he ever wonders why the callup hasn’t come…I mean. I MEAN. At least Corey corrected it on the replay.
WINNERS: Iyo Sky & Jordynne Grace at 14:24.
(Wells’s Analysis: It’s bonkers how Vic simply cannot wrap his head around “Over the Moonsault,” despite the obvious play on words, and is still going with a nonsense run of words years later. Maybe he’s trolling me? I wouldn’t even be mad. This match, was, of course, very strong, and served to continue promoting Giulia and Jordynne Grace – likely next in line for title shots – while having neither involved in the decision. Perez ate another pin, but I don’t think she’s much longer for the brand, and I think she’ll be revealed as Bayley’s attacker soon enough on the main roster, though I acknowledge she’s not the only possibility)
-Ava talked with Stephanie Vaquer about her next challenger. Ava said next week, Giulia and Jordynne Grace will face off in a match to determine the next challenger. PLEASE, anything but a schmoz finish leading to yet another triple threat. Production went back to Iyo Sky celbrating in the ring for a little more fanservice.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I continue to appreciate the pacing of this show on the CW; they don’t try to overload shows with matches very often, instead giving matches and segments time to breathe and get over rather than turning each episode into an employment program. It was an episode of change for a few talents – Noam Dar stands alone after the dissolution of Meta-Four, and No Quarter Catch Crew seemingly started the ball rolling toward splitting (and of course, it’s already happened with the Family). (Edit: oh, plus Karmen and Ashante!) We’ve got the outline of what we’re going to get in a handful of weeks at Battleground, but nothing yet is set in stone. Through it all, I’m most interested to see the live crowd’s ovation for Timothy Thatcher next week, assuming his entrance is shown on TV. Nate Lindberg – Thatcher’s biggest fan – and I will be talking it out on PWT Talks NXT in a few minutes. Check us out live or stream tomorrow. Cheers.