NXT Review – 09.30.25

The latest from WWE includes: EVOLVE | SmackDown | NXT No Mercy | Raw | TNA Victory Road

NXT comes to us on the CW from the Performance Center in Orlando, FL. The presenters of tonight’s show are 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 highlights package of last week‘s television and No Mercy.

Here’s new NXT Men’s Champion Ricky Saints to a sizeable pop and a chant of “You deserve it.” Saints reminds the crowd that he told them what the reality would be when he came to NXT and here it is. Here’s NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne to congratulate Saints but remind him that they have other things to worry about. Here’s NXT GM Ava to let them know that they are the team captains for NXT in the elimination tag matches next week. Here’s TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella to say that Ava has a good idea letting the captains pick the teams but he doesn’t trust Trick Williams and won’t be naming him as a captain. Marella names Mike Santana and new TNA Knockouts Champion Kelani Jordan as his captains. Marella says it’s not an Invasion, it’s a Showdown. Jayne mocks Jordan being named a captain when Trick isn’t but Saints and Jayne agree that there are bigger things to worry about.

Lash Legend and Jaida Parker are making their way to the ring as we go to commercials.

Je’von Evans and TNA X Division Champion Leon Slater are backstage and things are good between them prior to their match at Bound For Glory. The Culling join the scene and Shawn Spears chastises Evans for talking to a TNA person prior to Showdown, as does Niko Vance. A tag match is teased for later. Lyra Valkyria joins the scene to greet old friend Tatum Paxley and give her a new doll. Izzi Dame gives Valkyria the stinkeye as they leave.

Lash Legend vs Jaida Parker

The story here is the ongoing feud between these two and Legend costing Parker in the Speed title match at No Mercy. Very physical at the outset with Legend attacking right at the bell. Parker hits a fall-away slam as we go to commercials. Legend gets a single leg crab and sits way down in it when we come back, but Parker makes the ropes. Parker gets a blockbuster and then trucks Legend. Parker’s rolling neckbreaker gets two. Legend eats a ton of back elbows and Parker hits her butt-drop move in the corner. Legend recovers with a pump kick. There’s a scrap inside the ring and Parker takes control with a trip into the ropes followed by Hipnotic for three.

This was physical as hell for what it was, and I liked Parker picking up a win here. Legend is at the stage where wins and losses down here don’t matter much anymore, it’s more about polishing the act and continuing to get reps. A good in-ring start to the show. 2.75*

Winner – Jaida Parker (Hipnotic)

The men’s locker room is joined by TNA Men’s World Champion Trick Williams calling himself the NXT co-captain, but Ricky Saints names Je’von Evans as getting one spot, and Myles Borne getting another one. Trick suggests Josh Briggs but Evans and Saints say no. Williams says that Briggs and Borne should fight for the last spot and Saints says yes to that. We go to commercials.

NXT Men’s North American Champion Ethan Page is out next. Page reminds everyone he beat an Olympian at No Mercy and he doesn’t have to worry about TNA, he has to worry about El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jr. A white SUV pulls up and Page assumes it’s Dr Wagner but instead it’s Mustafa Ali from TNA. Ali gets a good pop and tells Page he has an issue with Page’s title. Ali says NXT owes him because he was released nine days before his title shot was supposed to happen at No Mercy in 2023. Ali says he’s not going to cry, he’s going to politick for it. Ali has secured a shot at Page’s title by speaking with Ava and Santino and it’s next week at Showdown. A fight breaks out and Ali sends Page packing.

Wren Sinclair and Kendall Grey get the Maybelline Plug Of The Week segment in the women’s locker room. Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley enter to have a pow-wow with the crew about the Showdown team. Jayne picks Jaida Parker, and then picks NXT Women’s North American and WWE Women’s Speed Champion Sol Ruca. Lola Vice wants the last spot but Henley says it’s hers. (Thea Hail is actually in the scene!) Jayne says it will be Henley vs Vice for the final spot. Zaria wants a word with Ruca as we go to commercials.

The Hardy Boyz talk up their title-for-title match with Darkstate at Showdown. They want the NXT tag titles to cement their legacy as the greatest tag team of all time.

Myles Borne vs Josh Briggs

The winner of this gets to join the men’s Showdown team. Borne gets the early advantage and he hits a SWANK tope con hilo to start. Trick and Ricky Saints are watching on a monitor. Briggs turns things around and chirps at the crowd as he works Borne over. Borne no-sells a hip toss but Briggs gets a chokeslam for two just before a picture-in-picture break. Borne catches Briggs with a neckbreaker and gets two. Briggs recovers with a splash and gets two. Back to full screen with Briggs hitting a pair of backbreakers and getting two. Borne fires up with a powerslam that gets two. Briggs wants to use his neck chain but he’s prevented from doing it by Matt Cardona. Borne hits a dropkick and the Borne Again and that gets three. Borne will be on Team NXT next week at Showdown.

Cardona showing up means Briggs is probably going to be at a TNA taping soon, and that’s a good thing for him. The PC crowd kind of hates him right now so a new set of people to annoy will be good. Borne looked good, the act is getting polished and he’s putting on solid performances. Briggs toned down his “cut everything off immediately” horseshit tonight and I appreciated it. 3*

Winner – Myles Borne (Borne Again)

Jordynne Grace talks to Kelani Jordan about potentially being on her team but mentions Joe Hendry and….Joe Hendry appears. Mike Santana joins the scene and tells Hendry and Grace they shouldn’t be a part of things for either team given their “one foot out the door” status. Grace and Hendry start conspiring for next week after Santana leaves with Jordan.

Lola Vice makes her entrance as we go to commercials.

Lola Vice vs Fallon Henley

The story here is that Henley kept interfering a bunch during the No Mercy title match before finally getting tossed by the ref, and Vice wants her receipt for that and to join Team NXT at Showdown. Vice gets a bunch of near-falls to start but Henley fires up to take control. Jacy Jayne, who accompanied Henley, barks at Vice before Henley hits a German. Henley gets a sling blade for two. Vice takes over with kicks and drops Henley to the floor. Vice smashes Henley with a backfist and gets three.

Short and to the point. No one really sold anything for too long and the finish was pretty abrupt, but I guess we need to keep things moving along because of all the yap tonight. 2*

Winner – Lola Vice (Backfist)

THE PROGRESSIVE FOCUS is on Darkstate prior to their match with the Hardys next week. I miss when Cutler James would say stupid stuff without realizing it.

Lainey Reid fesses up to being the person who attacked Lola Vice at No Mercy and hints at wanting to be part of Fatal Influence, leaving Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley to think about things.

Je’von Evans makes his entrance as we go to commercials.

Je’von Evans and Leon Slater vs The Culling (Shawn Spears and Niko Vance)

You can watch the full match here. The story here is seeing Evans and Slater, two of the brightest and most athletic young talents in the game, teaming up prior to meeting for the X Division title at Bound for Glory. Slater just turned 21 years old, for the record. Joseph and Booker discuss Oba Femi not being in the building tonight as Izzi Dame chastises Tatum Paxley for playing with her new doll. Evans and Slater hit stereo topes as we go to commercials. The Culling have control when things resume with Slater trying to get to Evans for a tag. Evans finally gets the tag and he runs wild on both Spears and Vance. Evans hits a huge frog splash on Vance and gets two. Vance recovers with an Alabama slam on Evans and that gets two. Slater tags in and hits a massive tope con hilo on Spears but Vance breaks up the cover at two. There’s a reset and Evans and Slater take control. Evans hits a tope on Vance on the floor while Slater hits a 450 and covers Spears for three.

Mostly a showcase for Slater and Evans and the crowd just ate it up. I know performers like Evans and Slater can be polarizing but the athleticism is just off the damn charts and that is what the crowd loves at this point. I enjoyed the heck out of seeing them team together and I think Bound For Glory is going to be a spectacle. The Culling taking a loss here means nothing since they aren’t actually in a program at the moment. 3.5*

Winners – Leon Slater and Je’von Evans (Slater 450 splash on Spears)

Post-match sees the entire TNA roster marching into the NXT Parking Lot. The NXT locker room empties and everyone starts yelling at each other. The real highlight here is Thea Hail barking at Victoria Crawford (the former Alicia Fox, who works for TNA now under her real name). Everyone pours into the arena and I’ll tell you, there’s a LOT of people on the floor.

Ava runs down the current card for Showdown and Ricky Saints reminds Trick that he’s the captain, not him. The men’s team is Saints, Trick, Je’von Evans and Myles Borne. Mike Santana has TNA’s team as himself, Frankie Kazarian, Moose, and Leon Slater. Jacy Jayne points out that she continued to rep NXT while Knockouts champion and that Kelani Jordan is a “two-timing traitor”. Jayne’s team is herself, Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker, and Lola Vice. Jordan’s team is herself, the Iinspiration, and Mara Sade (who may have made the quickest return to the PC under a different name in history). Santana throws down with Trick and everyone starts fighting. Like EVERYONE. Shawn Michaels emerges from the back with a huge grin on his face as it’s just utterly chaotic in and around the ring. The credits roll and we’re out.

Showdown looks to be a lot of fun. I think the SurSer style tag matches will be good, but it’s super weird to have the TNA men’s world champion on the NXT side, at least to me. Santana reluctantly having to team with Trick would be a better story but I get Santino not wanting him because of how Trick has acted as champ. Jacy Jayne pointing out that Kelani Jordan has been Knockouts champ for like ten minutes and somehow being a TNA leader/captain was spot on and good storytelling. The Mustafa Ali promo was excellent, as usual, and I’m looking forward to an Ethan Page match somehow. I’m not sure if there will be an actual finish in the title-for-title tag match but what a dichotomy of seeing the Hardys wrestle Darkstate. Tonight’s show was decent and they moved all the pieces in place for next week, plus we got an eye-watering look at the future of the business with the Slater/Evans tag match. Thumbs up from me.

Thanks for reading and commenting. Tell me your thoughts on the teams, because I feel like the TNA men’s team is the most coherent, at least participant-wise, among the four teams chosen. Have a great day.