NXT – TNA Showdown Review – 10.07.25

The latest offerings from WWE and TNA include: Evolve | Impact | Smackdown | Raw | LFG

NXT – TNA Showdown comes to your television viewing apparatus on the CW here in America and on Netflix around the world. The show is happening at the Performance Center in Orlando, FL. Your television presenters for the show are Vic Joseph and Booker T on match calls and analysis, Mike Rome on ring announcements, and Sarah Schreiber on breaking news and backstage segments.

Then, Now, Forever….TOGETHER

A slick video package highlights the growing conflict between the brands that culminated in the huge chaotic brawl that ended last week‘s show.

Let’s see some folks enter: The NXT Men’s Team lead by captain Ricky Saints and co-captain Trick Williams, and the TNA Men’s Team lead by Mike Santana. The NXT Women’s Team is in the locker room as captain Jacy Jayne arrives, and the TNA Women’s Team strolls through the NXT Parking Lot lead by captain Kelani Jordan.

NXT and TNA Men’s World Tag Team Championships – Title For Title: The Hardy Boyz (TNA-C) vs Darkstate (Osiris Griffin and Dion Lennox) (NXT-C)

Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley are in the crowd to watch their upcoming opponents at Bound For Glory as they face the Hardys one last time. TNA President Carlos Silva sits next to them. Darkstate are seconded by Saquon Shugars and Cutler James. You can watch the whole match here.

Darkstate jump the Hardys prior to the bell but the Hardys manage to dump all four to the floor. The ref immediately ejects Shugars and James and rings the bell. The Hardys hit some stereo double-team offense and Jeff covers Griffin for two. Matt and Lennox tag in and Matt starts working over Lennox’s arm. Jeff sneaks in to hit Poetry in Motion and covers Lennox for two. Darkstate gain the advantage but Griffin misses a leg drop. Griffin eats a Matt elbow but catches a cross-body attempt. Lennox cancels a Twist of Fate attempt as we go to commercials.

Lennox is pounding away on Jeff when we come back before hitting a standing splash. Griffin tags in as the crowd tries to fire up Jeff. After Griffin gets a two count on Jeff, Lennox tags in and hits a short-arm DDT before covering Jeff for two. Lennox whips Jeff into a Griffin elbow and that gets two. Jeff fires up and hits Whisper in the Wind on both Darkstate guys. Matt gets the hot tag and he hits the Side Effect on Lennox and a standing DDT on Griffin. The Hardys hit The Plot Twist on Lennox and Griffin barely breaks up the cover at two.

Darkstate recover and smash Matt with a double backdrop as Jeff breaks up the cover at two. Griffin dumps Jeff to the floor and they set up Matt for the Doomsday Device, but Matt breaks out of it and hits Twist of Fate on Griffin. Lennox flies in and meets the same fate as Jeff ascends. Jeff hits the swanton on Lennox and covers for three. The Hardy Boyz are now NXT Men’s and TNA Men’s Tag Team Champions!

I’m sure there are going to be some reactions to this result and I think a lot of them surrounding the ages of the new champions and the previous issues that Jeff has had are valid. That being said, the things I think about with tag wrestling were all pretty much here even if the heat sequences on the babyface team were a bit muted. The wily veterans outclassing the upstart rookies is also a story as old as time. The crowd went NUTS for the Hardys the entire time and there was a huge pop when they won. There were some obvious flaws and I’m not sure cutting Darkstate off for this makes a ton of sense but I’m sure Shawn will have a plan. 3.25*

Winners AND NEW NXT Men’s Tag Team Champions – TNA Men’s World Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Swanton on Lennox)

Post-match sees the Hardys pose and bark at the Dudleys as Carlos Silva applauds. We go to commercials.

TNA Ring Announcer McKenzie Mitchell does the ring announcements for the Women’s Elimination Tag match. It must have been nice for her and Vic to drive to work together again.

Women’s Survivor Series Style Elimination Tag Team Match: Team TNA (TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay, Mara Sade, and TNA Knockouts World Champion Kelani Jordan) vs Team NXT (Lola Vice, NXT Women’s North American and WWE Women’s Speed Champion Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker and NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne)

The match will be refereed by Jordynne Grace. Jayne and Jordan will start. Jordan hits a roll-up and gets an immediate two. They exchange pin attempts and Vice tags in as Jayne snaps off a rana. Jordan recovers to drag Vice to the TNA corner where the Iinspiration tag in back to back and hit Vice with some double-team kicks. The Iinspiration hit an….ICONIC…pose as Sade tags in. An inset shows Carlos Silva and TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella watching intently on a monitor. Sade hits a dropkick on Vice and covers for two.

Parker tags in and her and Vice hit some ass-based double team moves before Parker covers Sade for two. Sade snaps off a roundhouse and a sling blade before covering and getting two. All eight competitors enter the ring and a Pier Six breaks out. The Iinspiration take out Parker and Vice on the floor but Jayne waffles both of them with a rolling tackle. Sade hits a tope suicida on Parker. Ruca takes out the entire TNA pile with a back handspring over the top rope and the NXT team celebrates as we go to commercials.

McKay is pounding on Ruca as we come back. Sade tags in and hits three knees on Ruca. The Iinspiration tag in but Ruca fights them off and snaps off a double DDT. Jordan and Jayne tag in and Jayne runs wild on team TNA. Jayne hits a cannonball and backdrop on Jordan before covering for two. Parker and Sade tag in and Parker snaps off a blockbuster. Lee stacks up both Lee and McKay and does her sit-out butt drop on both. Sade hits a reverse X-Factor on Parker but misses a moonsault. After Lee dumps Vice and Ruca Parker sneaks up and knocks her to the floor. Sade immediately rolls up Parker and gets three. Jaida Parker is eliminated by Mara Sade – rollup. As Sade celebrates Ruca charges over and hits the Sol Snatcher before covering and getting three. Mara Sade is eliminated by Sol Ruca – Sol Snatcher. We go to commercials.

McKay and Jayne are fighting it out when the show returns. Vice tags in and she runs wild on team TNA with kicks. Vice hits the hip attack on Jordan and McKay and then drops Jordan with a Saito suplex. Lee charges in and eats a backfist from Vice. Vice covers Lee and gets three. Cassie Lee is eliminated by Lola Vice – backfist. McKay charges in but gets caught in a rear naked choke and taps out to Vice. Jessie McKay is eliminated by Lola Vice – rear naked choke. A distraught Jordan realizes she’s on her own against the three remaining NXT competitors.

Jayne tags herself in as the Iinspiration decide to continue beefing with Vice which draws Grace’s attention. As that’s happening Jordan hits her split-legged moonsault on Jayne but by the time Grace can get there to count Jayne is able to kick out at two. Jordan gets into it with Grace so Jayne sneaks in and rolls up Jordan for two. Vice tags herself in as there’s clear friction between her and Jayne. Jordan runs Vice into Jayne and then hits an Angle Slam on Vice. Jordan covers for three as Ruca is a split second away from breaking it up. Kelani Jordan eliminates Lola Vice – Angle slam.

Jordan and Ruca square off and Ruca hits an inverted trash compactor. Ruca’s cover gets two. Jordan slips out after being hoisted and hits a rana before covering for two. Jordan hits a sit-out facebuster DDT and gets two. Jordan ascends and Ruca follows. Jordan hits a Spanish Fly but her 450 attempt meets Ruca’s knees. As Ruca hits the Sol Snatcher Jayne tags herself in and covers Jordan for three. Jacy Jayne eliminates Kelani Jordan – post Sol Snatcher pin. Team NXT wins the Women’s Elimination match!

Woo-sah this was sloppy as hell at times. Jordynne Grace is definitely not a natural at refereeing either. It’s hard to rate something like this because these folks really don’t work together all that often at this point and so you get what you get with chaos matches like this. I think Sol Ruca did yeoman’s work tonight, and Jacy Jayne held up her heel-dom magnificently. Her big hug to Ruca after the match was a thing of beauty given Ruca’s horrified expression. Was it a masterpiece, definitely not. Was the crowd into it, yes indeedy. So, with all that said…2.25*

Winners – Team NXT (Jayne and Ruca survive)

Post-match sees Ruca help Jordan up to Jayne’s disgust. Jayne and Ruca finally celebrate together as Jordan and Grace bicker in the aisle. Mustafa Ali and Ethan Page are making their way to the ring as we go to commercials.

Matt Cardona and NXT GM Ava meet in her office for the PROGRESSIVE FOCUS segment. Cardona apologizes for being involved in the show-ending brawl last week but Ava doesn’t buy it. Josh Briggs charges in as Cardona hides. Briggs and Cardona will now meet on next week’s NXT (which I think I read is being taped after this – that crowd is going to be BURNT)

NXT Men’s North American Championship: Ethan Page (C) vs Mustafa Ali

Ali sadly does not have Order Four with him tonight. Mike Rome does the in-ring announcements and we’re off. Page lifts a knee to gain the advantage but Ali recovers quickly and gets a sit-down roll up for two. Ali rolls into a backslide and gets two. Ali slips a charge and hits a rolling sling blade and standing moonsault before covering for two. They go to the floor and slug it out. Page hits Ali with a back elbow and then bickers with Vic Joseph before declaring he’s leaving. Ali chases him around and wallops Page with a tornado DDT. Ali is a heel in TNA but getting a nice face pop from the PC crowd. Page clips Ali and then smashes Ali’s head into a ring post as picture-in-picture commercials begin.

During PIP Page continues the assault with elbow drops and a rear chinlock. Page hits a knee drop and covers Ali for two. Page chokes Ali and works him over with kicks. Ali snaps off a shotgun dropkick and both are down. (I’m forced to constantly mute these never-ending ICE commercials and it sets my teeth on edge every time.)

Back to full screen with Page wanting a superplex but Ali fights out of it and hits a sunset powerbomb. Ali ascends again but Page hits the ropes to crotch Ali in the corner. They start slugging it out and Page crushes Ali with a top rope snake eyes. Page hits a big boot but Ali bridges out of the cover at two. There’s some back-and-forth chasing across the ring and then Page runs Ali face-first into a middle turnbuckle. Page drags Ali to the middle and covers for two.

Ali slips out of a Ego’s Edge and boxes Page’s ears. Ali snaps off a tornado DDT and covers for two. Ali misses an Order 4-5-0 but manages to roll up Page for two. Ali slips out of another Ego’s Edge and rolls up Page for two. Ali hits a superkick but Page catches him with a big right when Ali tries a reverse cross-body. Ali slips out of a Twisted Grin attempt and backslides Page for two.

Ali snaps off a rana that sends Page to the floor. Ali hits a tope suicida that sends him and Page flying over the announcers desk as Book and Joseph scramble. I’ll update on the status of Book’s candy supply when I can. Ali’s foot is caught in a mic cord so Page casually shoves Ali hard from the top rope into the barrier. Page runs Ali back in and hits Twisted Grin for three.

That was a hell of a match, friends. When Page wants to work more than just his normal punchy-kicky bullshit he can actually go a little bit. Ali is just tremendous at this point and while I’m sad he didn’t get the win here he looked fantastic in defeat and took some gigantic bumps. It’s hard to tell if the mic wire thing was planned or not, but it was the deciding factor when they went to the finish. You could easily see Ali back in the mix for WWE at some point but if you don’t watch TNA, you’re really missing out on his current body of work which has been excellent. I have to give it up for Page, he did the thing tonight. 3.75*

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

Backstage Sarah Schreiber is with AAA Latin American ChampionEl Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jr who’s talking about Ethan Page’s claims that he “stole” the title. Lexis King wanders in and assumes that it’s Tavion Heights under the mask, but Wagner just leaves as Tavion Heights enters the scene. King is baffled. We go to commercials.

Backstage the NXT Women’s Team gathers. Jacy Jayne congratulates the team on the win but Sol Ruca is still unimpressed. Zaria wanders in to ask about Ruca celebrating with her “new friends” as Parker and Vice leave during the awkwardness. Ruca assures Zaria they’re going to win the Women’s Tag Team championships but Blake Monroe charges in to accuse Ruca of using Zaria to get what she wants. Monroe wants the NA championship and jibes Zaria about how long the friendship between her and Ruca will last.

Joseph runs down the card for next week: Cardona vs Briggs and Dr Wagner Jr vs Lexis King are official.

Men’s Survivor Series Style Elimination Tag Team Match: Team TNA (X Division Champion Leon Slater, Moose, Frankie Kazarian and Mike Santana) vs Team NXT (TNA Men’s World Champion Trick Williams, Je’von Evans, Myles Borne and NXT Men’s Champion Ricky Saints)

Joe Hendry is your referee for this contest. You can watch the entire match here.

Book and Joseph argue about the trustworthiness of Hendry as a ref. It will be Slater and…Trick to start, after Trick tags Evans out before anything even starts. Kazarian tags himself in as well. Kazarian gets walloped by rights and eats a big dropkick from Trick. Borne tags in and hits an Atomic Drop and neckbreaker. Kazarian bullies Borne to the TNA corner where they all take turns whaling on him. Predictably a Pier Six erupts and everyone ends up on the floor before Borne hits a tope con hilo on the entire group. Borne hits a Saito on Kazarian and then drops a charging Moose with a snap powerslam. Borne hits another neckbreaker on Kazarian and covers for two. Kazarian gets the advantage and hits a draping DDT on Borne before covering and getting three. Frankie Kazarian eliminates Myles Borne – draping DDT.

After commercials Kazarian hits a reverse springboard legdrop on Evans before covering for two. Evans fights in the TNA corner until Kazarian rolls him up with his feet on the ropes. Hendry catches Kazarian at the two count. Trick gets a tag as does Slater and there’s some acrobatics before Slater catches Trick with a superkick. Slater runs into a Trick uranage and a rolling pump kick before Trick covers and gets two. Trick chops Slater in a neutral corner but Slater reverses it after some encouragement from Santana. Slater catches Trick with a “bounce-back” enziguri and then wallops him with a cutter. Slater covers and gets two as Evans breaks it up.

Kazarian charges in and hits Evans with a backstabber. Saints heads in and wipes out Kazarian but Santana charges in to drop Saints with a cutter. Trick tags in Evans so he doesn’t have to deal with Santana. Evans wipes out the TNA guys and then crushes Kazarian with a tope suicida and Santana with a flying cross-body over the top rope. Moose catches Evans next dive but Evans is able to reverse it and snap Moose over. Evans tries a reverse springboard but Slater slips it and rolls up Evans for three. Leon Slater eliminates Je’von Evans – roll up.

During picture-in-picture commercials a stunned Trick and Saints try to regroup. After Trick and Slater slug it out briefly Kazarian tags in. Slater wipes out Trick with a leg lariat and Kazarian covers for two. Kazarian trucks Trick with an elbow and covers for two. Moose tags in and goes to work on Trick. Slater tags in and hits a split-legged splash on Trick before covering for two. Kazarian tags in, Trick has a brief flurry, and Kazarian shakes that off to dropkick Trick. Kazarian covers for two. Kazarian drapes Trick over the second rope and jams a knee into his back as we come back to full screen.

Moose misses a charge after tagging in as Trick then dumps Kazarian to the floor. Kazarian yanks Saints off the apron and they start duking it out as Trick wants the tag but no one is there. Trick drops Moose with a neckbreaker but Saints tags in as Trick was lining up the Trick Shot. Slater has tagged in and Saints ends a flurry with a Falcon Arrow that gets two. After Saints drops Kazarian from the apron with a right Slater hits Saints with Utopia. Saints crawls to his corner and appears to tag Trick, but Trick drops from the apron and seemingly walks away. Kazarian uses the distraction to roll up Saints for two.

Joseph chastises Trick and says he’s “walking out of NXT” as Kazarian pounds away on Saints. Kazarian hits some weird flip thing and covers for two. Kazarian wants the cross-face chicken wing but Saints uses the corner to roll Kazarian over and cover for three. Ricky Saints eliminates Frankie Kazarian – roll-over bridging pin. Slater charges in and crushes Saints with a big splash before covering and getting two. Slater hits a leg lariat and covers Saints for two. Slater hits a running dropkick and goes for a 450 but Saints gets his knees up and cradles Slater for three. Ricky Saints eliminates Leon Slater – inside cradle.

Moose comes in and pounds away but Saints recovers and elbows him and then Santana off the apron. Moose hits a big dropkick that sends Saints to the floor. Santana dumps Saints back in and hits a uranage and a standing senton. Moose’s cover gets two. Saints counters a powerbomb attempt with a DDT and his cover is broken up by Santana at two. Santana tags in and wallops Saints with a kick to the face. Santana dumps Saints face first and covers him for two. Saints counters a powerbomb attempt and crushes Santana with a superkick. Saints ducks a Moose spear which then connects with Santana. Saints dumps Moose to the floor and covers Santana for two. Santana pushes Saints into a Moose powerbomb and then follows with the Spin the Block discus punch. Santana covers and gets three. Mike Santana eliminates Ricky Saints – Spin the Block discus punch. Team TNA wins the Men’s Elimination match!

Good-to-great work from all involved in this one. They saved most of the Santana stuff until the end which made sense to me, and him and Trick had almost no interaction prior to their big title match at Bound For Glory this weekend. Everyone worked hard and the match went basically how I expected it to save for Trick walking out on his team after being so enthusiastic about being co-captain last week. None of the finishes hurt anyone too badly and Saints got all the babyface shine by fighting back from 4 on 1 to at least give himself a chance. I liked this one a bunch. 3.75*

Winners – Team TNA (Moose and Santana survive)

Post-match sees Ava and Santino seem to make peace and Ava invites the TNA Knockouts division to the battle royale she’s having for the number one contendership for the NXT Women’s title. Santino accepts and they shake hands as the credits roll.

A heck of a show tonight, I thought. If you’re going to do a show like this, make sure the brands both get the shine and everyone comes out looking good while advancing a BUNCH of different story-lines. Not much more to say, I’m a happy dude with this one. Thumbs up.

Thanks for reading and commenting. Please make sure to always read our non-SK division reviews when you get a chance because our crew is KILLING IT. SK will always be El Jefe but the gang here is doing incredible work and I’m proud to be a part of it. Y’all have a great Wednesday.