NXT Homecoming Review – 09.16.25

Let’s catch up on WWE programming: Evolve | Smackdown | LFG | Raw

NXT Homecoming comes to the aiwaves on the CW from the campus of Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL. The presenters of tonight’s show are mostly the usual suspects – Vic Joseph and Booker T on match calls, Mike Rome on ring introductions, and Kelly Kincaid on backstage interviews and news updates.

Then, Now, Forever….TOGETHER

There’s a short video retrospective of NXT’s origins at Full Sail, and as usual it’s a fine piece of frenetic business from the team that puts these together. This leads in to a new show opening that shows names and faces of the current crew including Joe Hendry’s name, interestingly. The announce desk is at ringside, rather than where it was originally placed when they ran this building previously.

Here’s Paul “Triple H” Levesque out to a big ovation and he’s very happy to “come home”. Levesque puts over the Full Sail crowd and all of us watching on the CW as being the reason why NXT is stronger than ever. Here’s Shawn Michaels to join the proceedings as the crowd sings his theme song while he’s trying to cut his promo. Michaels thanks Levesque for being at Homecoming and tells him that he and the current crew are steering NXT into the future. Levesque ponders coming back to NXT and Michaels says they’d have a big problem if that happens. Here’s William Regal and I swear if he doesn’t yell WAR GAMES I’m gonna be grumpy. Regal does in fact call for War Games and I am actually very sentimental that the Undisputed Era guys can’t be at this show.

Here’s Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss making their entrance ahead of their match. Charlotte puts over THE WOMEN’S REVOLUTION AND BEST DIVISION IN WRESTLING and drops a bunch of names from the past, as does Bliss. Bliss mentions the women being the backbone of NXT and hits the DX “If you’re not down with that, we got two words” catchphrase.

The Culling are backstage prior to making their entrances when Lyra Valkyria runs into her old friend Tatum Paxley, who gives her a long hug to the chagrin of Shawn Spears and Izzi Dame. Niko Vance seems unimpressed. We go to commercials.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss (C) vs The Culling (Izzi Dame and Tatum Paxley)

It’s Bliss, holding Lilly, and Paxley, holding….her doll, to start. The dolls decide the fisticuffs aren’t for them and make their way to ringside. Spears and Vance are seconding Paxley and Dame.

Paxley snaps Bliss down by the hair. They reset and Bliss flies into the ropes and holds on, so when Paxley approaches Bliss hits her with a cross-body which gets a one count. Paxley almost wanders into Sister Abigail but is able to slip it. Bliss snaps off a rana that sends Paxley flying to her corner where Dame tags in. Flair tags in and offers a handshake to Dame, but she slaps it away. Dame gets the advantage and runs Flair head-first into a neutral corner. Flair reverses another attempt and then roundhouse kicks Dame in the head. Flair hits a massive chop that staggers Dame, but Dame catches Flair with a jawbreaker when she approaches. Flair goes behind and hits Dame with a chop block. (I swear to you, seeing Charlotte do that move knowing how many times her dad did it, it’s just such a dopamine rush for my brain. Anyway.) Paxley charges in and Bliss flies in to trip her up. Bliss and Flair hit simultaneous rolling blockbusters and the Culling bail to the floor. We go to commercials.

Back live with Paxley hitting a jawbreaker on Flair over her knee. Dame tags in, but Flair manages to fight off both her and Paxley. Flair hits a bunch of chops on Dame before Paxley wanders back in to collect some from Flair as well. Dame catches Flair with a kick and Paxley does as well. Dame comes off the second rope and hits a Codebreaker on Flair that gets two. Dame bullies Flair around and slaps her before Flair fires up. They kick each other down and both recover quickly enough to tag in their partners. Bliss runs over Paxley with shoulders a couple of times and then hits Paxley with a shotgun dropkick. Bliss hits some combo offense that ends with another short shotgun dropkick. Bliss hits another rolling blockbuster and covers Paxley for two.

Bliss trips Paxley down hard and ascends. Dame charges over and eats a kick from Bliss. Niko Vance tries to distract the ref so Flair yanks him down off the apron. Shawn Spears barks at Bliss long enough that her Twisted Bliss attempt is met with Paxley’s knees. Paxley puts her feet on the ropes during her cover but Bliss still kicks out at two. Paxley decks a returning Flair while Dame flies in to slug a dazed Bliss. Paxley hits her rolling driver but her cover is broken up at one by a pissed Flair. Dame charges in so Flair dumps her to the floor. Paxley misses a 450 splash attempt but lands on her feet. Bliss slugs Paxley and wraps her into Sister Abigail. Bliss covers and gets three.

It seemed like most of the good stuff that happened for the Culling probably happened during commercials so this felt a little more one-sided than I think they might have been hoping for. Obviously they weren’t going to change these titles to NXT but given the lack of women’s tag shots that the NXT women have gotten, at least they were defended on the show for once. Flair worked very much in second gear and Bliss really didn’t break much of a sweat either. 2.5*

Winners AND STILL WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions – Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss (Sister Abigail to Paxley)

Sol Ruca and Zaria were watching backstage and Zaria bitterly mentions Ruca hitting her with a Sol Snatcher last week that cost them the chance to challenge Flair and Bliss. Zaria and Ruca bicker but here’s Lainey Reid to remind Ruca that what she should be worried about is her after she beats Candice LeRae in the Speed tournament. Candice LeRae enters and tells Ruca to shine up her title because she’s beating Reid and then taking the title at No Mercy. In walks SHAYNA GD BASZLER and LeRae and Reid scamper away. Baszler tells Zaria and Ruca to apologize to each other and fix what they have because she had it at one point and seems wistful. We go to commercials. (I LOVE SHAYNA. I was so glad to see her. I don’t know what it means but that was cool as hell. I’m guessing maybe she’s referring to when she had her 4 HW goon squad when she was champ and then they went away for various reasons.)

TNA Men’s World Champion Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes vs DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa)

Hayes and Trick share a hug after Hayes’s entrance. Ciampa comes out to “No One Will Survive” and is wearing facepaint for some reason. Gargano then enters to “Rebel Heart” and I can report he is not wearing facepaint. It will be Gargano and Hayes to start.

There’s some acrobatics to start and then Hayes kicks Gargano to end it. Williams tags in and he wallops Gargano with a dropkick. (Considering the size of the other three competitors in this match, Trick looks like Andre the Giant in there.) Gargano slips away and Ciampa tags in. Ciampa hits a Thesz Press and pounds away at Williams. Williams gets dumped to the floor and Gargano takes the opportunity to hit a tope suicida on both Hayes and Williams. We go to commercials.

Ciampa hits Williams with a Double Down as the show returns. Gargano tags in and runs over a charging Hayes before dropping Williams with a kick. Gargano hits a combo bulldog and high kick on Williams and Hayes respectively. Hayes catches a charging Gargano and wants a draping DDT, but Gargano slips out only to eat a Hayes back thrust kick. Hayes goes for a springboard move but misses, and then winks at the camera. Hayes charges back and Gargano slips it as Hayes ends up in the ring. Gargano charges and nails Hayes with a spear through the ropes before covering and getting two.

Ciampa tags in and hoists Hayes, but he slips off. Gargano and Ciampa’s mis-communication allows Hayes to slip away and tag in Williams. Williams clobbers Ciampa down and then hits a leg lariat on Gargano. Williams wallops Ciampa again and then hits a flapjack on a charging Gargano. Williams nips up and then hits a hoisted flying uppercut on Ciampa. Williams wants the Trick Shot but Hayes tags in before he can hit it as he and Williams eye each other warily. Hayes flies in and waffles Ciampa with a tilt-a-whirl bulldog. Hayes and Williams seemingly hug it out. Williams looks to be lining up Hayes but instead he flies over Hayes and waffles Ciampa with a cross-body. Williams hoists Ciampa onto his shoulders and Hayes hits a springboard reverse clothesline. Hayes cover is broken up at two by Gargano.

Gargano and Williams slug it out and Gargano ends it with a superkick. Gargano immediately turns into a Hayes codebreaker, and then Hayes of course walks into a Ciampa high knee. Ciampa hits a hoisted backbreaker and covers Hayes for two. A pissed Williams grabs the TNA championship and threatens Ciampa with it, so the ref yanks it away and Ciampa nails Williams with an X-Factor. Hayes prevents Williams from getting hit with Meet in the Middle before firing up and taking on both Gargano and Ciampa. Hayes comes off the ropes and gets hit with a Shatter Machine. DIY hit Meet in the Middle on Hayes and Gargano’s cover is broken up at two by Williams.

Williams dumps Gargano to the floor and then Williams and Ciampa start slugging it out. Out of nowhere The Miz charges in and hits a Skull Crushing Finale on Gargano. Miz dumps Gargano in and Hayes flies off the top rope with the Nothing But Net leg drop. Hayes covers Gargano and gets three.

I don’t love the idea of WWE storyline being introduced here but I was pretty certain that DIY was losing this when it was booked. The Miz doesn’t really have NXT connections but I get why they did what they did with the finish. Everything here was crisp but there wasn’t much in the way of psychology or selling. Still, these are four solid pros and the match itself was fine. 3*

Winners – TNA Men’s World Champion Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes (Hayes Nothing But Net legdrop on Gargano)

Tyler Breeze is admiring himself in a mirror as we go to commercials.

Backstage Kelly Kincaid is with WWE Men’s US Champion Sami Zayn. Zayn says it was very emotional for him to come back to Full Sail and puts over the potential of the folks working the show tonight. Kincaid asks Zayn for anyone who really stands out to him and Zayn says that Je’von Evans really reminds Zayn of himself at that age. Josh Briggs joins the scene to run down Evans to Zayn, and Je’von Evans flies in to start whaling away. Security breaks that up and Zayn grabs Evans arm to tell him that he actually came to talk to Evans. Zayn tells Evans that for guys like them nothing ever comes easy. Zayn shows Evans the US title and says that for guys like them, the sky is the limit. Zayn daps up Evans and leaves.

NXT Men’s North American Championship: Ethan Page (C) vs Tyler Breeze

Breeze’s entrance theme remains one of my low-key all time favorites. I’m not liking his chances here, though. El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jr is at ringside to torment Page.

Page grabs a side headlock to start and then runs Breeze over with a shoulder tackle. Page mocks Breeze’s signature pose to the crowd’s displeasure. Page trucks Breeze again and runs the ropes but Breeze pops up and hits a swank dropkick that waffles Page. Breeze hits his signature pose as Page glares at him. Breeze hits a couple of kicks that stagger Page. Page recovers to nail a charging Breeze with a right. (Joseph puts over Breeze’s match with Jushin Liger as Booker runs down Breeze as being mostly a failure career-wise. That seems rude, Booker. Calm down.) Page barks at a fallen Breeze as we go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Page just hammers away at Breeze with rights before running him head-first into a turnbuckle. Page fires off a couple more rights and then taunts the crowd. Page hits a jawbreaker that sends Breeze draping over the second rope. Page plants a knee in Breeze’s back and only breaks at the ref count. Page hammers Breeze with a couple elbows and right hands. Page runs Breeze into another turnbuckle (This is legitimately WILDLY one-sided thus far and I’m not enjoying it very much. Plus Ethan Page just….ugh. Put on ONE wrestling hold, my GOD.) Page hits more rights and then charges, but Breeze slips it and Page goes to the floor. Breeze fires up with some flying forearms but Page puts a stop to it with a huge lariat. Page covers for two. A frustrated Page goes to ground and pound and then takes a break in a corner. As a dazed Breeze rises Page hits him with a huge pump kick and covers for two. Page lines up Breeze again and kicks him dead in the face.

Back to full screen with Joseph saying openly how one-sided this whole thing has been. Page wants the Twisted Grin but Breeze slips out and hoists Page. Page slips out of that and hoists Breeze for the Ego’s Edge. Breeze slips that and wallops Page with an enziguri. Joseph references UpUpDownDown as Breeze nails Page with another flying forearm. Page catches Breeze sliding in and covers but the referee sees Page holding the ropes for leverage and stops the count at two. Breeze immediately rolls up Page for two.

Breeze hits a rana and covers Page for two. Page hits a quick roundhouse kick and then pulls a dazed Breeze in for a jawbreaker off his knee. Page hits the Ego’s Edge and is utterly shocked when Breeze kicks out at two. Page barks at Dr Wagner while stalking Breeze in a corner. Breeze fights his way out with some kicks to Page’s knee and then drags Page to a corner post so he can wallop Page’s knee into it. Breeze puts Page in the Figure Four while he’s wrapped around the ring post and the ref breaks it up with his count. Breeze hits a body-scissors take down and rolls it into a single leg crab. Page crawls to the ropes to break it up. Breeze won’t let the hold go so Page rolls him up for two.

Breeze hits a big superkick and covers for two. There’s a series of reversals between the Unprettier and Twisted Grin attempts. Breeze hits a double knee lift on a charging Page, but Page shakes it off and kicks Breeze in the head. Breeze pulls down Page’s head and hits a Cheeky Nandos and a spinning heel kick. Breeze’s cover gets two. Breeze takes too long to ascend and Page is able to kick him and crotch Breeze on a top turnbuckle. Page hits a draping Twisted Grin and covers Breeze for three.

Tonight was not one of Page’s better efforts. Breeze is so wildly better at the art of professional wrestling than Page is but one works regularly and one is doing the indies and the video game channel. It is what it is. This was a low-key long squash but Breeze looked good when he got the small amount of offense he got. It’s not his fault for this rating. 2*

Winner AND STILL NXT Men’s North American Champion – Ethan Page (draping Twisted Grin)

Backstage Tavion Heights is looking on glumly at Page’s post-match staredown with Dr Wagner when in walks Damien Priest. Priest says he’s been watching Heights and feels like he’s very close to making it to that next level. Priest talks about his history in Full Sail and winning the North American championship. Priest tells Heights he sees that in his future. Priest says he spoke to Ava and got Heights a North American championship shot at No Mercy. Heights thanks Priest profusely and says he will handle business.

Grayson Waller is making his way out for the Effect as we go to commercials.

Waller introduces NXT Men’s Champion Oba Femi and Ricky Saints. Waller asks them who’s going to win at No Mercy, either “Oba-rated” or “Ricky Soft”. Femi says he doesn’t think Saints is very special. Femi runs down Saints entrance and says he can’t help but be underwhelmed by Saints. Femi says all Saints has done since he’s arrived is care about when he’s going to make Raw or Smackdown so “he can carry Cody Rhodes’s bags”. (BURN UNIT ON STANDBY. BURN UNIT ON STANDBY STAT.) Femi says he’s going to show Saints the door at No Mercy and he can then go carry all the bags he wants. (Waller is dying at all of this.)

Saints asks what Femi would be without the title and that he’s a “pampered athlete”. Saints talks about being let go from the Performance Center eight years ago and having to grind his way all the way back. Saints says he’ll always gamble on himself and every accomplishment he’s achieved in the business outside the WWE means everything to him. Saints yells at Femi and says he’s winning the title at No Mercy as Femi rises to go face to face with him.

Here’s Trick Williams to interrupt things. Trick tells Femi that he’s holding something that belongs to Trick and it’s the NXT title. Williams tells Saints to calm down his “boo boo face” while grown folks are talking. Waller proposes a title-for-title match between Trick and Femi for next week with Saints facing the winner at No Mercy. They agree and Femi tells Trick that he’s going to beat him next week, retain both titles against Saints, and that is the “Oba Femi rub”. (So that’s a whole ass thing that just happened. Grayson Waller can book TNA title matches now, where the hell is Santino? Anyway, that’s a tasty morsel for next week’s show if it happens. I’d bet on Trick, I think, but I doubt there will be a finish – tell me your thoughts in comments.)

THE NXT FOCUS PRESENTED BY PROGRESSIVE shows Wren Sinclair showing Charles Dempsey a bunch of ideas she’s come up with for NQCC. Dempsey notes that he’s going to Japan for a month to become a new man and when he returns it will be…and Sinclair bellows “GLORIOUS” as in walks Bobby Roode. Roode does his pose at Sinclair’s request as the Glorious chorus sounds. Sinclair says the effect is almost like Joe Hendry and….Joe Hendry immediately emerges from the door next to them. Roode puts over Hendry walking the TNA World Title down the aisle at Wrestlemania as being glorious. Roode tells Hendry to focus on the NXT title and that he’ll be rooting for him. They shake hands and leave. Dempsey tells Sinclair to not be doing anything he wouldn’t do while he’s gone and she brushes him off. We go to commercials.

Lexis King is in the ring with a mic and calls himself Lexis Homecoming King. (HARF.) King trashes the black and gold era of NXT being “over-rated” and says those old stars don’t care about the crowd. King says he’s still here and last week was assaulted by Myles Borne. King calls Borne an evil, vile, and deaf man and tells the crowd that next week’s match will be Lights Out. The lights then go…out…and here’s Finn Balor. (Balor does his old entrance to a huge ovation and this is the version of Balor that I love the most, but I also get where he is in his career and if he’s cool with it then so am I.) Myles Borne charges in at Balor’s behest and drops King with a right hand. Borne smacks King again and Balor comes off the top rope with the Coup de Grace stomp. Balor and Borne pose together and then hit Balor’s signature pose as the crowd sings along.

We find out the Femi-Trick title for title match is official for next week. The Speed tournament finals will be next week as well with Lainey Reid facing Candice LeRae. Fatal Influence make their entrance as we go to commercials.

Darkstate is with Kelly Kincaid when we return. Kincaid almost gets the name Joe Hendry out before Saquon Shugars tells her that no matter what happened they still have the tag titles. Osiris Griffin reminds Kincaid about saying that name and what it means. Dion Lennox says everyone will fall in line or get put down and in walks Montez Ford. Ford says he doesn’t have a problem with Darkstate but he’s remembering when he held those titles. Ford looks wistful about the state of his relationship with Angelo Dawkins and warns Darkstate that the titles are actually targets.

Bianca Belair is in the crowd and appears to still have her finger braced up. (Please come back soon Bianca, we miss you desperately on Smackdown.)

Lyra Valkyria, Stephanie Vaquer and Rhea Ripley vs Fatal Influence (NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Jazmyn Nyx)

Fatal attack prior to the bell with Jayne hitting a rolling tackle on Ripley from the apron to the floor. Jayne whips Ripley face-first into a ring post as Vaquer is slugging it out with Henley and Nyx in the heel corner. The bell rings and I guess it’s Nyx and Vaquer officially starting.

Henley tags in and then tags in Jayne and Fatal hit triple-team offense on Vaquer that ends with Jayne hitting a running senton and covering Vaquer for two. Jayne kicks Vaquer in the back but then misses another kick as Vaquer grabs her and rolls Jayne up for two. Vaquer bridges over and covers Jayne for two. Jayne flies off the ropes and hits Vaquer with a rana. (Joseph has been blathering about TNA wrestlers apparently losing their minds on social media all night long and it’s apparently been ramped up after the title-for-title announcement. We’re getting an invasion angle. Welp, let’s see how ham-fisted that booking is going to get.) Vaquer wallops Jayne with a dropkick in response and tags in Valkyria. Valkyria wipes out everyone in Fatal and ends the flurry with an enziguri that staggers Jayne.

Henley wanders over and runs into a Ripley headbutt. Nyx charges in to slap Ripley and laugh at her. Nyx suddenly realizes she’s surrounded with no help as she eats a Vaquer superkick. Ripley hoists Nyx up in the Razor’s Edge position and launches Nyx onto Henley and Jayne. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Valkyria runs Jayne back in and hits her with three knee lifts. Valkyria covers Jayne for two. Henley catches a charging Valkyria with a knee and the distraction from it allows Jayne to crush Valkyria with a superkick. Henley tags in and continues working Valkyria over in the Fatal corner. Henley rams her knee into Valkyria’s jaw a few times before Valkyria topples over. Henley’s cover gets two. Henley runs Valkyria back to the heel corner and lays in a big forearm. Jayne tags in and her and Henley put boots on Valkyria’s throat. After Nyx taunts Valkryia Jayne flies in with a cannonball that absolutely crushes Valkyria. (The leg whip torque looked like it landed right on Valkyria’s nose here. Jayne has to take some stink off of that move.) Jayne’s cover gets two. Valkyria breaks up the momentum with a drop jawbreaker and a right but Jayne is able to prevent the tag by driving her knee into Valkyria’s back. Jayne drives Valkyria down and taunts Ripley and Vaquer. Jayne whips Valkyria back into the heel corner and tags in Nyx. Nyx hits a fisherman’s suplex and covers Valkyria for two. Nyx pulls Valkyria into a reverse choke.

Back to full screen with Valkyria trying to hoist Nyx up so she can tag, but Nyx slides over and tries for a backslide. Nyx instead just pushes Valkyria over and knees her in the face. Nyx covers for two. Henley tags in and her and Nyx cut off a brief Valkyria flurry with kicks to the gut. Henley and Nyx hit a double-team facebuster on Valkyria followed by double-team rolling blockbusters. Jayne wipes out Ripley from the apron and then hits a big knee to Valkyria. Jayne’s cover gets two.

Valkyria rolls Jayne over in a crucifix and gets two. Valkyria fires off some elbows and then hoists Jayne into a sit-out powerbomb. After recovering both make tags and Nyx and Vaquer charge in. Vaquer hits a cross-body from the top and then yanks Nyx into a suplex. Vaquer drops a charging Henley and then hits running Meteoras on both Nyx and Henley. Jayne charges in to break up an SVB attempt and then Nyx catches Vaquer with a leg lariat. Henley tags in and she snaps Vaquer into a Nyx Pele kick. Henley’s cover gets two.

Henley bullies Vaquer to the heel corner and tags in Jayne. Vaquer fights her way out and tags in Ripley. Ripley wipes out Nyx from the apron with a dropkick. Ripley pulls Jayne in for some short arm lariats and a reverse thrust kick. Ripley yanks Jayne into a fall-away slam and then tries for the Razor’s Edge. Henley pulls Jayne off Ripley’s back and Vaquer charges in to pop Henley in the mouth. Ripley and Vaquer hit simultaneous belly-to-back suplexes on Henley and Jayne. Nyx charges in and is met with a Valkyria dropkick as Vaquer and Ripley hit simultaneous Devil’s Kisses on Henley and Jayne. (Joseph is fanning Booker as he celebrates this double-teaming. I swear, man. This show can be damn good fun once in awhile.)

Vaquer rolls out and smashes Henley around ringside. Jayne is begging off in the aisle and here’s Lola Vice to move Jayne back towards the ring. Jayne realizes she’s trapped between Ripley and Vice. Jayne turns into a Vice backfist that sends her flying into the ring. Ripley pulls Jayne up for the Riptide and that gets three.

This was both decent AND entertaining and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting both. Obviously the main roster folks were going to get the shine here as the NXT women’s title angle between Vice and Jayne got the main heat. I’m fine with the finish because no one gets hurt by it and hey, maybe Rhea takes a poke at Jayne or Vice in the future. This would be my match of the night. 3.5*

Winners – Lyra Valkyria, Stephanie Vaquer and Rhea Ripley (Riptide to Jayne)

Post-match sees the winning team and Vice celebrate while Fatal cowers on the floor. Vice barks at Jayne and points at the title.

Backstage NXT GM Ava is with William Regal, Oba Femi, Trick Williams, Robert Stone and Stevie Turner. Regal warns Ava that there appears to be trouble coming next week as Femi and Trick glare at each other. Femi says “may the best man win” and Trick says “he will” as we fade to black.

Your feelings about this show will probably entirely depend on how nostalgic you are for certain eras of NXT. I’m a big believer in the black and gold era and always will be, so this show hit a lot of notes for me. Your mileage can and will likely vary in that regard. Other than the Page-Breeze match, everything pretty much worked in-ring wise. I am BAFFLED as to why an invasion angle has to happen when NXT has been pretty much big-timing TNA for awhile now, but I guess that’s where we’re going. Maybe there’s a War Games coming, who knows where it might lead. Anyway, for me, thumbs leaning slightly up tonight but I get that this type of show won’t be for everyone.

Thanks for reading and commenting, as always, and let’s kick around the implications of a one-week hotshot booking of an invasion angle. This should be a whole thing next week.