NXT Great American Bash Review – 07.12.25

NXT’s Great American Bash takes place at the Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, GA and I desperately wish it was located on Bad Street, but what can you do.

Let’s see some folks as they enter the arena. NXT Men’s Champion Oba Femi looks focused and ready ahead of his title match with Yoshiki Inamura this evening. Inamura and Josh Briggs are shown connecting with some fans. Here’s Ricky Saints as the next to arrive, followed by TNA Men’s World Champion Trick Williams. Next to arrive are the “goddesses of hostility” as Vic Joseph calls them, NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Jazmyn Nyx. Finally we see Jordynne Grace and Blake Monroe arriving prior to their main event tag match.

The announcers for the event are Vic Joseph, Corey Graves and Booker T on match calls and analysis, Mike Rome doing ring announcements, and Sarah Schreiber on backstage interviews.

Je’von Evans vs Jasper Troy

According to Rome’s ring announcement, Troy outweighs Evans by a mere 135 pounds. Good grief. Troy attacks after the bell and bullies Evans on the ropes. Evans slaps Troy in the face to a big pop. Evans starts throwing rights but Troy lifts a knee to put a stop to it. Evans gets tossed onto the ramp but he blasts a charging Troy with two high kicks. Troy shakes it off and runs Evans down the apron but Evans leaps over the ring post and blasts Troy’s head off the top turnbuckle. Evans tries a springboard cross-body but Troy catches him casually and hoists him up. Evans slips off of Troy’s shoulder and nails him with a dropkick.

Troy manages to hoist Evans up into a powerbomb position but Evans fires rights until he’s able to slip on to Troy’s back for a sleeper hold. Troy and Evans tumble over the top rope to the floor as that breaks up the hold. Evans charges but Troy just yanks him up and slams Evans’ back into the ring apron. Troy dumps Evans back in but as he’s crawling in Evans blasts him in the ribs with a kick. Evans completely whiffs on a roundhouse kick (Graves: “I don’t know if he got all of that.”) and as he comes off the ropes Troy grabs him by the throat and tosses him over the top rope to the floor as Booker is losing his mind. Troy tosses Evans into the ring apron and then into the barrier before stepping with his full weight on Evans chest.

Troy hoists Evans onto his shoulder and carries him up the steps. Troy dumps Evans into the ring and then hits him with two running splashes before grabbing a chinlock. Troy whips Evans hard into the corner. Evans tries to come back with some slaps but Troy brushes them off and slams Evans again. Troy misses an elbow drop as Evans fires up with right hands. Evans tries to hit a German suplex but Troy uses his…ass…to ram Evans in the gut. Evans hits Troy with a superkick and again goes for a springboard cross-body. Troy catches Evans and slams him back first on the top turnbuckle a couple of times. Troy crushes Evans with a backbreaker across his knee, and then he tosses Evans like so much dead weight.

As soon as Evans makes his feet Troy wipes him out with a running splash in the corner. Troy beals Evans over and steps on his head. Troy tries to yank what’s left of the tape around Evans ribs off as the crowd tells Troy that he sucks. Troy stretches Evans and drops a big elbow into his ribs. Evans once again slips off of Troy’s shoulder and hits another high kick on Troy. Evans slips a Troy charge and starts throwing bombs before catching Troy with another superkick. Evans goes to ascend but his ribs are hurting and he slips to the canvas. Troy again stands on Evans chest before ascending, but Evans slips his Vader bomb attempt. Evans starts firing right hands again and hits Troy with another superkick and a big boot. Evans reverses a Troy chokeslam attempt and tries for the German again, but Troy breaks out of it with a back elbow.

Evans hits a springboard cross-body that gets two in what I believe is our first cover of the match. Evans tries a springboard cutter but Troy blocks it. Evans runs the ropes and hits Troy with a rolling tackle and that gets two. Troy fires up and charges Evans, but Evans dumps him out to the floor. Evans hits a flying dive over the top rope and both guys are down. They both crawl back in the ring and Evans botches his springboard attempt before actually hitting Troy with the German he’s been trying for. Booker is apoplectic at this point. Evans ascends and nails Troy with a frog splash for a LONG two count as the crowd that was the finish. Troy slips a springboard something attempt and hits a chokeslam on Evans that had some stink on it. Troy trucks Evans to the mat and tries for the Black Hole slam but Evans slips around and rolls Troy up for three.

Evans had some sloppy moments here as he almost always does. I’m guessing as the “veteran” in this match he might have had some nerves in terms of making Troy look like the monster he’s portrayed as. This was about as straight as you’ll ever see a “big monster vs thin bouncy person” match happen. The finish wasn’t great as a 185 pound guy doing a stack rollup on a 320 pound dude who has an overwhelming strength and size advantage is a weird choice. This is three pins on Troy in six weeks so maybe he needs to go wreck Ethan Page or something, maybe start there. 2.5*

Winner – Je’von Evans (stack roll-up)

We get a pre-taped promo from Jaida Parker on the Evolution battle royal. She’s going to win it and go to Clash in Paris where everyone will know her name.

Next up is an Instagram reel from Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo who promises to put the final nail in the coffin of the D’Angelo Family this Tuesday night. Stacks has a list of contenders for his Heritage Cup championship and one of those is the former A-Train and current NXT coach Matt Bloom. Stacks says Bloom accepted his challenge on “Twitter” but Bloom tells him he was hacked and it wasn’t him. Bloom advises Stacks to keep his head on a swivel and when Stacks goes to retrieve his Cup, it’s been STOLEN!

We are backstage with NXT Women’s North American Champion Sol Ruca and Zaria. Sarah Schreiber congratulates Ruca on her performance during last night’s Smackdown four-way match. Ruca is happy with her Smackdown performance but she has tunnel vision on retaining her title today in her match with Izzi Dame. As Zaria starts to speak there’s an interruption with a Darkstate visual. Zaria says her best friend will go all out and she’ll be with her to make sure there’s no outside stuff from Tatum Paxley.

NXT Women’s North American Championship: Sol Ruca (C) vs Izzi Dame

Dame is seconded by Tatum Paxley as Shawn Spears and Niko Vance watch the entrance from the ramp. Ruca is indeed seconded by Zaria. Joseph speculates that Ruca won’t be at 100% after competing last night in Nashville but Graves points out that Ruca has always handled pressure well and that’s carried her through to multiple titles in the company. Mike Rome does the in-ring intros and we’re off.

As the bell rings Paxley slaps Zaria in the face and the referee leaps out of the ring to stop Zaria from mayhem. Dame takes advantage to hit a sit-out powerbomb on a distracted Ruca but by the time the ref makes the two count Ruca is able to put her foot on the ropes. Dame works Ruca over in the corner and then hits a big charge into Ruca’s mid-section. Dame hits a sort-of fall-away facebuster and then kicks Ruca in the face. Dame whips Ruca into the corner but her charge is met with a boot from Ruca. Ruca ascends and nails Dame with a missile dropkick and Dame bails. Ruca charges down the apron and kicks Dame in the chest. Ruca flies off the ring steps and ranas Dame (and a crouching tech gets a little fallout from it as well – there is NOT a lot of room around ringside with this set-up they’re using). Ruca dumps Dame back in and then nails her with a running knee strike for a two count.

Ruca pounds away in the corner. Dame reverses an irish whip and catches Ruca’s attempt to fly over her by putting Ruca on her shoulder. Dame drops Ruca on the top rope before hoisting her up again for a sit-out belly-buster that leaves Ruca in a bad way. Joseph points out that Dame earned this shot by pinning Ruca in a tag match as Dame barks at Ruca to get up. Dame drives her knee into Ruca’s gut a couple of times before irish whipping Ruca and hitting her again in the gut with a running knee. Dame covers for two. Dame hits a backbreaker and then splashes a staggered Ruca in the corner. Dame wants the knee again but Ruca slips it and rolls Dame up for two. Dame immediately pops up and levels Ruca with a clothesline and that gets two.

Dame puts her knee in the middle of Ruca’s back and yanks her up by the chin. Ruca leverages out of it and pops Dame with two flying elbows. Dame shrugs off a Ruca backdrop attempt and hits Ruca dead in the mouth with a big boot as Graves is losing it. Dame covers for two. Dame tells the crowd to shut up and bullies Ruca. Ruca fires up and hits a running tackle and then a flying clothesline drops Dame. Ruca hits Dame in the corner with a charge and then hoists Dame onto her back. Dame slips off and rolls up Ruca for two (Ruca’s gear includes some leg straps and they have come undone so she’s got these long straps dangling and I think it’s affecting her boot covers as well). Ruca hits a kind of reverse Codebreaker thing on Dame. Ruca then hits a scary sloppy looking moonsault with only her knee connecting with Dame and Ruca looking to have taken the worst of it.

Ruca hits a weird looking springboard flip into a clothesline and that gets two. The crowd has gone a little quiet as Dame is seated on the top turnbuckle. Dame pushes Ruca off and hits a flying Codebreaker for two. They start slugging it out and Dame finally lifts a knee to stop Ruca’s momentum. From her knees Ruca gets a roundhouse kick that dazes Dame, but when Ruca charges Dame lifts a boot and stops her. Dame ascends but eats another Ruca roundhouse kick. Ruca tries another springboard move but is clearly being hindered by her gear so she improvises into a jumping X-Factor and both are down. Ruca hoists up Dame who slips off. Dame hits a shotgun dropkick and Ruca ends up on the apron, where she roundhouses a charging Dame again. Ruca successfully springboards but as she’s on the top rope Dame catches her and hits a huge chokeslam. Dame hits Ruca with what I’d call a reverse flapjack and that gets a long two.

Dame ascends but Ruca catches her with a superkick as Dame leapt forward. Dame counters a Sol Snatcher attempt so Ruca ascends to the top rope. Dame slaps Ruca in the back and tries for a superplex but Ruca lands on her feet and wags a finger at Dame. Ruca hits a big spear on Dame but Paxley puts Dame’s foot on the ropes. Paxley and Dame are hugging on the floor and when Paxley turns Zaria spears the life out of her. Dame charges back in the ring as Ruca hits the Sol Snatcher off the second rope and that gets three.

Ruca’s gear disintegrating as the match went on changed things a bit, clearly. Dame works very deliberately and mostly uses hoss moves, and that makes her a decent challenger for someone like Ruca who is wildly athletic. This was sloppy but I liked it and Ruca nailed the finisher which is one of the best new match-ending moves I’ve seen in a very long time. I ended up liking this one despite the botchy-ness. 3.5*

Winner AND STILL NXT Women’s North American Champion – Sol Ruca (Sol Snatcher)

Next up is another Instagram reel from Lola Vice. She made her AAA debut this week and is also in the battle royal at Evolution, which she promises to win.

Jordynne Grace and Blake Monroe are warming up and Monroe says they’re ready. Monroe says they’ll win tonight and Grace, her little “muscle muffin”, will take the NXT Women’s title from Jacy Jayne at Evolution.

NXT Men’s North American Championship – Falls Count Anywhere: Ethan Page (C) vs Ricky Saints

Saints attacks prior to the bell as Page has not removed his ring jacket. Page tries to blast Saints with the title belt but Saints ducks it and spears a charging Page. Page rolls to the floor so Saints follows and wallops Page in the face with a kick. Saints runs Page into the barrier and then grabs a kendo stick. Saints hits Page twice in the back with it as I realize why Page’s ring jacket is still on. Page dumps a charging Saints over the barrier right where a conveniently placed trash can is. Page finally removes his ring jacket and climbs over the barrier to smash Saints in the back with said trash can. Page pops Saints in the face a couple of times and then starts dragging him up the steps into the crowd. They slug it out on the steps and Saints takes the advantage with a flurry of punches to the top of Page’s head. They are literally fighting in the crowd as I wonder how smart this is.

Saints grabs Page’s hand so he can walk a barrier and then leaps off the barrier to punch Page. They’re now fighting in an exit tunnel and then Saints whips Page through a door onto the main concourse of the arena. Saints hits Page with a plastic garbage bin and then blasts Page in the head with a plastic cup? Okay, sure. They slug it out but Page manages to hoist up Saints and run him back-first into a pillar. Page puts Saints in a Boston Crab but then releases it when Saints won’t tap. Page wants Ego’s Edge but Saints slips out of it and runs Page into the pillar. Saints pops Page with rights and runs his head into the nearby bar. Page nails Saints with a right of his own but when he charges Saints backdrops Page through a merch table. Saints covers Page in the table wreckage and gets two.

Saints drags Page back into the arena and runs him into the wall. Page reverses an irish whip and runs Saints into the ring steps. Page grabs a chair and nails Saints in the stomach with it. Page grabs another chair and puts it over Saints head. Page runs Saints into the ring post with the chair wrapped around his head. Page covers for two. Page runs Saints head into the ring steps before slugging him in the face. Page grabs a third and fourth chair and after depositing one in the ring, he swings at Saints but ends up hitting the barrier as Saints slips out of the way. Saints uses a fire extinguisher and blinds Page. Saints uses the fire extinguisher to blast Page in the stomach and over his back. Saints yanks a barrier cover off and pulls it free from the others. Saints slams the entire guard rail onto Page and then dumps it in the ring.

Saints grabs his own chair and really lets Page have it in the back. YOWCH. Saints sets the guard rail up in the corner and then goes out on the apron to double stomp Page in the head. Saints hoists up Page for Roshambo but Page slips it and hoists up Saints so he can ram his head into the top turnbuckle. Page plants Saints on the top turnbuckle and devastates him with a chop. Page sets up two chairs but Saints fights him off and hits a leaping facebreaker on Page with Page’s head bouncing off the chair. Saints covers for two. Saints sets up a couple of chairs back to back, but Page reverses and back-drops Saints on the chair-tops. Page yanks up Saints and suplexes him onto the guardrail, but his cover only gets two. Page nails Saints with another chair shot to the back and he sets up four chairs.

Page slugs away and then hoists Saints onto the top turnbuckle. Page wants the superplex but Saints fights him off. Saints BITES Page’s forehead and then powerbombs him through the four chairs. Saints covers for two. Page tries to escape through the curtain as Saints pursues. Randomly, Jasper Troy seems to be lamenting his loss as Page and Saints continue in the back. Saints runs Page into the wall in what Joseph describes as the “seamstress area” of the locker room. Saints uses an overhead pipe to hoist himself up for a double kick to Page’s chest. Saints uses what appears to be a flip-flop to nail Page in the head a few times. Page and Saints tussle and once again run into Jasper Troy. Troy yanks up Saints and slams him on rolling tech cart before running the cart into the wall.

Saints crawls back into the arena where Page grabs him and runs him back into the ring. Page swings a chair and misses with Saints returning the favor and actually nailing Page with a shot. Page gets dumped onto the ramp but as Saints tries to follow Page snatches him through the ropes. Page tries for Ego’s Edge but Saints reverses and back body-drops Page on the ramp. Saints uses the referee to hit a tornado DDT and covers for two. Booker says Saints should be DQ’d for using the ref as Joseph points out there is no DQ rules in effect. Saints wants Roshambo but apparently both know that a back body-drop is a very effective way to stop finishers. Page yanks Saints up and hits Ego’s Edge from the ramp down to two tables as Saints crashes through both. Page scampers down and covers for three.

It’s pretty well known that I don’t really care for either one of these guys and I especially am not a fan of garbage brawls. Here’s the thing – this match worked for what it was (AND IT BETTER BE THE FEUD-ENDER, SHAWN) and both guys actually proved to me that they could draw me in for once. This was an intense brawl even with all the plunder and I’m fine with what it was and how the finisher came about. Will it win match of the night? Not a chance but I didn’t actively hate it and that in and of itself is a miracle. 3.5*

Winner AND STILL NXT Men’s North American Champion – Ethan Page (Ego’s Edge through two tables)

Post-match Page yells at Saints that they are done as Graves talks over the replays of the massive bump Saints just took. He did fly a damn long way.

Here’s another Instagram reel and this one is from Luca Crusifino who’s enjoying some personal time before the big fight on Tuesday night. He’s glad this is ending on Tuesday because it’s time for him to ascend. He says that Stacks and Tony D are overlooking him.

NXT is coming to Houston in a couple of weeks and Booker is HYPED for that. The LFG Season 2 coaches will be live that night which means we get to see both Bubba Ray and the Undertaker. I’ll try to contain my excitement. NXT Heatwave is coming on August 24th in Lowell, MA.

TNA World Championship Contract Signing

NXT GM Ava is mid-ring with a table and three chairs. Ava is conducting this on behalf of TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella (I liked that this gets a pop) to supervise the contract signing for the Slammiversary main event title match. Here’s Mike Santana coming through the crowd to a decent hand. Here’s Joe Hendry as the audience sings along with his awesome entrance music.

Hendry accidently slugged Santana on Thursday night’s Impact so we’ll see if that plays out. Finally here’s TNA World Champion Trick Williams as Booker celebrates his entrance in the usual style. Carlos Silva is in the crowd as the President of TNA apparently can’t be in the ring for this? Weird. Trick sits in the middle of the table with Santana on his left and Hendry on his right.

Santana asks Atlanta what’s good and starts a TNA chant. Santana says he doesn’t take moments like this for granted because being in the ring as the standard of TNA on a WWE PLE means something to him. What does mean something to him is the TNA title which he feels Trick has taken for granted. To Santana the title represents the hustle, grind and the dedication needed but more important than that is the respect, which Trick had once upon a time. Santana calls Trick “soft” and I bet this is going to escalate. Santana says we’re going to find out if Trick is all sizzle and no steak.

Santana tells Hendry to not think he forgot about him. He respects how Hendry has respected and represented the TNA brand but at the end of the day he’s standing in Santana’s way so they have to throw hands. TNA was built across the backs of some of the best professional wrestlers says Santana, and at Slammiversary he’ll be the man to bring it back to its roots. Santana signs the contract.

Hendry says he respects Santana for wanting to bring TNA back to its roots but Hendry wants to get back to what he was doing. Hendry feels like he was taking it to new unprecedented heights and Hendry will not be stopped by Santana in his quest to reclaim the title. Hendry says Trick has been using High Ryze and First Class as “human shields” but at Slammiversary there’s going to be no one to protect him. Next Sunday Trick is behind enemy lines and he’ll be facing a man on a mission for redemption and Trick will believe in Joe Hendry.

Trick asks if they’re all good after getting that all out of their systems. Trick wants them to enjoy the moment but when they talk to him, he wants them to put respect on his name. Trick has the stroke, the steak, the sizzle and the Midas touch and he’s carrying two brands, let’s talk about it. Ava reminds Hendry to sign the contract at this point and he shoves the contract over to Trick. Trick says it’s not about Hendry making people believe or Santana making promises to his daughter, it’s about getting the job done and that’s why he’s the greatest TNA champion of all time as the crowd starts chanting “AJ STYLES”.(I swear to GOD I would mark right the hell out if AJ Styles walked in right now.)

Trick says he knows Hendry and Santana are upset but Trick doesn’t need an entourage next Sunday to whoop both their asses and TrickNA is always going to be TrickNA. Trick signs the contract. Trick goes to leave but Hendry stops him. Hendry says he and Santana don’t agree on a lot but there are two things they do agree on. The TNA title is coming home to a TNA Superstar. Santana says the other is that Trick talks too damn much. They blast Trick in the head and then backdrop him through the signing table. Hendry picks up the title belt and holds it aloft as Santana eyes him. Graves says they should really start using Docusign for these things and I’m dying with laughter.

Joseph runs down the card for Saturday Night’s Main Event and Darkstate is in the arena. They jump Hendry and Santana who were still in the ring. They hit Santana with their toss powerbomb as Trick watches from the ramp.

The whole thing was great. Then Darkstate showed up. Look, maybe they’ll be something but this low-rent heel faction is not doing it at all for me right now. They’re four athletic dudes, let them go learn some stuff in TNA and we’ll see how things go from there.

Kelani Jordan talks about her participation in the Evolution battle royal. She’ll see one of the champions in Paris. I bet you won’t Kelani.

Here’s Tony D’Angelo at the famous bridge where some bodies have been dumped. He’s been ruthless at times, but it was business. He brought in Stacks, who he grew up with and made him the under boss. He brought in Rizzo who brings in street smarts, a big mouth, and an even bigger punch. He brought in Luca to handle the legalities. The foundation of the family was destroyed by ego and broken trust. D’Angelo says his father once told him to watch who he calls friends because he’d rather have four quarters than a hundred pennies. This Tuesday will be terrible for D’Angelo because he’s going to have to destroy the family he created.

D’Angelo has the Heritage Cup and he tosses it over the bridge (it’s in a garbage bag) and tells it to “sleep with the fishes”.

All of these vignettes for this match on Tuesday have been good but Tony D’s was the best. Hopefully the match will measure up.

Josh Briggs fires up Yoshi Inamura prior to his title match. Briggs says he should use any means necessary but Inamura says he’s going to do it with honor. Briggs and Inamura fist bump and Briggs reluctantly says “alright”.

NXT Men’s Championship: Oba Femi (C) vs Yoshiki Inamura

Joseph points out again that no NXT championship has ever changed hands in Atlanta. Rome does the in-ring intros and we’re off.

Inamura slips out of a headlock but Femi runs him over with a shoulder tackle. Inamura immediately pops up and they lock up again for a test of strength. Femi gains the advantage and drives Inamura to the mat, but Inamura slips Femi’s elbow drop attempt. They lock up again and Femi grabs a side headlock that drives Inamura down to the canvas. Inamura yanks Femi into a small package and gets two. Inamura fights out of the headlock and drives Femi to the corner but Femi catches him when he charges. Femi lifts Inamura over his head and drops him butt-first to the canvas.

Inamura fires up and goes into his sumo pose. Femi charges in and Inamura yanks him up and drops him stomach-first to the mat. Inamura charges and splashes Femi in the corner and then shoulders him down to the mat but it only gets one. Inamura hits a standing elbow drop before ascending. Femi walks away from anything Inamura could hit so Inamura wanders down the apron and Femi slaps him HARD in the chest. Femi hoists Inamura up on his shoulders but Inamura elbows Femi in the face and Femi drops him to the apron. Inamura pushes Femi to the floor and then flies into him with a big shoulder tackle from the apron to the floor.

Inamura whips Femi back into the ring where yanks Femi up, spins him around, and then slams him. Inamura covers for two. Inamura ends up on Femi’s shoulders after a misguided attempt to duck a charge, and Femi makes him pay by dropping him on his face. Femi covers for two. Femi puts the boots to Inamura before standing on his chest and flexing. Femi blasts Inamura with knee lifts and then drapes him over the top rope before covering for two as Briggs was looking to break up the pin. Femi drops Inamura stomach-first onto his knee twice and covers for two. Femi grabs Inamura’s arms and drives his knee into Inamura’s back. Inamura breaks out of it and as Femi yanks him up Inamura shifts his weight and lands on top of Femi and that gets two. Inamura tries another cover and that gets two but Femi responds with a huge spinebuster as Inamura charged again. That gets a two count.

A series of suplex attempts by both are ineffectual until Inamura actually gets Femi over. Inamura fires up with thrusts to Femi’s chest before working chops and right hands in the corner. Inamura hits strikes before utterly destroying Femi with a huge forearm. Inamura shows an incredible amount of strength when he yanks Femi into a bridging German that gets a LONG two. Inamura ascends but Femi escapes the splash attempt and Inamura lands on his feet. Femi ducks a charge which sees Inamura hit the brakes so as to not run over the referee. Femi wipes both of them out in the corner as he drives an elbow into Inamura. The ref tumbles out of the ring as Briggs has the NXT title belt. Briggs blasts Femi in the head with the belt as Inamura back body-drops Femi. Briggs hides the belt from Inamura as he ascends but when he gets to the top Inamura sees he’s holding the belt.

Inamura and Briggs get into a shouting match before Femi rises. Femi and Inamura run the ropes and Inamura flattens Femi with a shoulder tackle. Inamura ascends again and hits his big splash but there’s still no ref to make the count. Briggs wants Inamura to use his neck chain as the ref finally starts to rise. Briggs and Inamura bicker as Femi rises, and when Inamura turns he walks into a huge chokeslam that gets two. Both men rise and we get a strong style showdown over the logo before Inamura finally wins it and hits a modified Blue Thunder Bomb for a very LONG two. Briggs is on the apron again and Inamura slips a Femi charge as he knocks Briggs to the floor. Inamura rolls up Femi for two as the camera barely catches it. As Inamura charges off the ropes Femi hits the Fall From Grace powerbomb and that gets three.

It took a bit to get going but damn if that didn’t turn into the hossiest of hoss fights. Inamura’s in-ring stuff is a thing of beauty as he keeps things simple and basic but it all looks like it would hurt like hell. Femi’s had all kinds of opponents but he seems to love these power battles. His cardio held up well tonight since he looked a bit gassed at the end of the battle with Jasper Troy last time he defended the title. Inamura’s strong style stuff is just so fun to watch. Match of the night so far. 4*

Winner AND STILL NXT Men’s Champion – Oba Femi (Fall From Grace powerbomb)

Here’s Lash Legend on her appearance in the battle royal at Evolution. She’s the one NXT woman I could see them running with as a surprise.

Trick Williams is with Ava. Trick complains about Hendry and Santana working together and what Ava is going to do about it, but Ava points out Darkstate jumped both Hendry and Santana with the implication being that they’re working with Trick. Trick says he’s told Ava a bunch that he’s not working with Darkstate so Ava says to prove that, there’s a six man tag on Tuesday with Trick, Hendry and Santana taking on Darkstate. Trick says “Oh hell no” and leaves.

Sarah Schreiber is with Oba Femi. She congratulates him on the win and Femi says Yoshiki deserves better because despite the involvement of Briggs the right man came out on top. Inamura walks in and thanks Femi for the challenge and that he’s sorry about Briggs interference. Femi thanks him and says he’ll give Inamura a rematch, but here’s Briggs to tell Femi he knows he has no honor and neither does Briggs. A shoving and shouting match ensues as the referee crew breaks it up.

Jordynne Grace and Blake Monroe vs NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley

Jazmyn Nyx is seconding Jayne and Henley. It’s Grace and Henley to start as Joseph points out this is the third time women have main evented this show, but this is the first tag match to do that. They lock up to start and Henley breaks out of it to slap Grace loudly in the back. Grace catches a Henley kick attempt and fires chops at her. A Grace charge is met with an elbow from Henley but Grace breaks out and rams Henley’s head into the top turnbuckle. Henley ducks under an overhead jump from Grace and eats a Grace chop. Grace chops Henley down and then double-slaps her in the back as payback for the match opening.

Grace hits an Atomic Drop on Henley and then whips her into a tilt-a-whirl facebuster. Henley tags in Jayne who rolls up Grace for two. Grace escapes but as she charges in Jayne catches her with a crucifix pin that gets two. Grace rolls out of that and covers Jayne for two. Monroe tags in and after a lock-up she smashes Jayne’s elbow and grabs a wristlock. Jayne reverses it after some acrobatics and yanks Monroe to the canvas. Monroe tries to escape but Jayne grabs her hair and whips her hard to the canvas. Jayne misses a running senton attempt and Monroe springs up to dropkick Jayne back into her team corner.

Henley tags in as Booker calls Jayne a “pillar” of NXT (I cringe at that word now). Henley hits a leg-scissors takedown on Monroe and that gets one. Monroe hits a standing dropkick on Henley and tags in Grace. Grace yanks up Monroe and slams her down onto Henley. They hit a double team thing where Monroe kind of propels Grace onto Henley for two (I think they thought this would look cooler than it did). Monroe tags back in but Henley fights out of their corner with strikes to both. Monroe breaks that up with a big slap to Henley’s chest.

Monroe hits a spinning sidewalk slam on Henley and covers for one as Jayne threatened to break it up. Jayne distracts the referee as Monroe tries to roll up Henley. Henley kicks off Monroe who takes a big right hand from Nyx who’s at ringside. Henley hits a sling blade on Monroe and tags in Jayne. Jayne yanks up Monroe and runs her into the heel corner to put the boots to her. Jayne holds her boot on Monroe’s throat until the referee counts to four. Jayne covers Monroe for two.

Henley tags in and she and Jayne try for a double team move, but Monroe slips through and tags in Grace. Grace drops them both repeatedly with clotheslines before Jayne stops that with a boot to Grace’s mid-section. Henley charges in but Grace yanks both of them up and over on to their backs as the heels roll to the outside. Grace keeps Nyx off the apron. Grace goes to the floor and gives chase to Henley but she runs into a giant big boot from Jayne after turning the corner. Jayne tosses Grace back in and Henley covers her two. Henley slaps Grace and tags in Jayne as they hit a double-team back suplex on Grace. Jayne covers for two.

Jayne drops some elbows and grabs a headlock. Monroe fires up the crowd as Grace breaks free. Grace throws elbows at Jayne but Jayne irish whips her and nails Grace with a double thrust. Jayne goes to ground and pound before nailing a seated Grace with a thrust kick. Henley tags in and nails a seated Grace with a big running elbow that gets a two count. Henley whips Grace into the heel corner and tags in Jayne. Jayne puts the boots to Grace and then tags Henley back in, with Henley doing the same before tagging Jayne in. They double-team Grace by yanking on her arms that are draped over the top ropes. Jayne yells at the crowd before chopping Grace.

Henley tags in and whips Jayne into Grace, but Grace dumps Jayne to the apron and elbows her down. Henley charges in but Grace hoists her up and hits her rolling fireman carry driver on Henley. Grace finally tags in Monroe while Henley tags in Jayne. Monroe hits sling blades on both heels and fires up for the crowd. Monroe charges Jayne but eats an elbow. Jayne ascends but Monroe hits a head-scissor take down before nailing Jayne with a springboard dropkick that gets a two count. They fight on the apron and Monroe nails Jayne with a right. Henley saves Jayne from a powerbomb attempt but Grace comes in to break that up. Henley elbows Grace while Nyx kicks Monroe in the stomach to break up the attempted powerbomb. Jayne runs the apron and nails Monroe with a rolling tackle.

Jayne rolls Monroe back into the ring and tags in Henley. They whip Monroe into the corner and Henley botches a Blockbuster that barely connects, but Henley covers for two. There’s an awkward sequence that ends with Monroe hitting a bridge roll-up on Henley for two. Monroe rocks Henley with a headbutt and Grace tags in. Grace hits a spinebuster on Henley and then yanks her up so Monroe can knee Henley in the face. Grace gets a two count as Monroe wipes out Jayne on the apron with a right. Grace dumps Henley out onto the ramp after an attempted Torture Rack Bomb and then elbows a charging Henley in the mid-section. Grace comes over the top rope but Henley nails her with a forearm. Grace kicks Henley and skins the cat before Henley spears her through the second and third rope (this was a hell of a visual and well done by the camera crew).

Monroe and Jayne tag in and start slugging it out. Jayne gets the advantage and hits an enziguri that staggers Monroe. Monroe slips a Jayne charge and goes behind for a release German suplex. Henley distracts the ref as Monroe ascends, and Nyx pushes Monroe off the top rope to the canvas. Here’s TNA Women’s World Champion Masha Slamovich to battle with Nyx while Jayne and Henley hit a double team running knees to Monroe. Grace spears Henley to break up the cover and all four are down.

A double hockey fight ensues with Grace tangling with Henley while Monroe deals with Jayne. Jayne and Monroe hit simultaneous clotheslines on each other as Henley dumps Grace to the floor. Henley hits her stupid swinging double boot to Grace before Monroe blasts her off the apron with a right (seriously, I dislike that spot a whole bunch). Jayne hits a sneaky roll-up on Monroe for two. Jayne hits a superkick on Monroe after a failed Rolling Encore attempt before rolling Monroe up again for another two count. Jayne runs into a backfist from Grace before walking into an implant double-arm DDT from Monroe and that gets three.

This was a hell of a battle. Henley was sloppy at times and Monroe seemed to have some nerves, but otherwise everyone really made this feel like a big main event. Monroe getting the pin here tells me something about tomorrow night’s match but we’ll see if I’m right or not. This was a fine showcase for the top of the card women in THIS DIVISION and the crowd was very into it. A mostly solid effort from all concerned. 3.5*

Winners – Jordynne Grace and Blake Monroe (Monroe double-arm implant DDT to Jayne)

The winners celebrate as the credits roll and we’re out.

This is an easy thumbs up from me as everything worked really well from start to finish. The venue was small and that made some things a bit awkward but this show delivered what I was hoping for.

Thanks, as always, for reading and commenting. Have a safe Sunday and enjoy Evolution if you watch – make sure to get here for Kat’s review!