NXT: Gold Rush Night One Review – 11.18.25

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This show is Night One of Gold Rush and comes to the CW and Netflix airwaves from The Theater at MSG in New York City, NY. The announcers and presenters of the show are Vic Joseph and Booker T on match calls and analysis, Mike Rome on ring announcements, and Sarah Schreiber on backstage interviews and breaking news segments.

Then, Now, Forever….TOGETHER

Arrivals include: Sol Ruca and Zaria, NXT Women’s North American Champion Blake Monroe, Fatal Influence, and The Culling lead by NXT Women’s Champion Tatum Paxley.

AAA Mixed Tag Team Championship: Chelsea Green and Ethan Page (C) vs Thea Hail and Joe Hendry

Hendry and Hail’s entrance, as expected, is wildly over. Green and Page are seconded by Alba Fyre. Booker is very excited to inform everyone that Green arrived in NYC at 6 AM Eastern after doing the overnight from London. She is a trooper, I’ll give her that. It’s Hail and Green to start and Hail gains the early advantage. Hail kicks Green in the chest and forces her to do the Hendry hand wave. A pissed Green escapes and Page and Hendry tag in. Hendry escapes some leg scissor attempts and we reset. Hendry flips Page to the mat and then trucks him with a shoulder. Hendry hits a vertical suplex and his cover is broken up by Green at two. Hail flies in to fight Green off and then slaps a Kimura on a startled Page. Green and Page take the advantage but Hail manages to push Green into Page before hitting Page with a Hendry-assisted tornado DDT. We go to commercials.

Page has the advantage on Hendry when the show returns but Hendry breaks out of the side headlock with an uppercut. Alba Fyre grabs Hendry’s leg on a rope run attempt as Green has the ref distracted, and Page uses that time to smash Hendry with a jawbreaker before covering and getting two. Page sinks in a guillotine but Hendry reverses that into a back suplex. Hendry fires up with some clotheslines and a rana. Hendry hits a fall-away slam on Page and nips up to a pop. Hail tags in and hits a Coffin Drop on Page and Green. Green fires up but Hail cuts it off with an Exploder. Hail kicks Green and her cover is broken up by Page at two. Hail hits Page with a superkick and then blasts Fyre off the apron. Hail slaps a Kimura on Green but it’s broken up with Page and Hendry tumbling into Hail and Green. Green hits the Unpretty-Her on Hail and gets three.

A solid opener with the outcome I expected given how over Green is with the New York crowds. Hendry needs to move into singles but his team with Hail has been a fun ride. Thea really looks the part at this point, but she needs a higher profile program than always being “plucky enthusiastic underdog babyface” that she’s basically been her entire time in NXT. Maybe a heel turn to freshen things up? I guess we’ll see. 2.5*

Winners AND STILL AAA Mixed Tag Team Champions – Chelsea Green and Ethan Page (Green Unpretty-Her to Hail)

Post-match sees Page and Green celebrate while Hail apologizes profusely to Hendry.

Here’s Lola Vice and Jordynne Grace backstage watching a monitor as Vice complains about Green and Page being the Mixed tag champs, claiming she should have been challenging for those titles. Grace points out the behavior of TNA Knockouts Champion Kelani Jordan from last week as Jordan joins the scene. Jordan and Vice get into it about Jordan being kicked out of the NXT locker room. Grace chirps at Jordan who promises to be champion for a long time. Jordan exits after promising to see Grace next week. We go to commercials.

NXT GM Ava announces that at NXT Deadline the Iron Survivor Challenges will take place. The competitors for both matches will be announced next week by WWE Men’s Intercontinental Champion John Cena. Man, I hope he puts himself in the match randomly and everyone goes WAIT WHAT.

Lil Yachty is in the house as Booker questions how Joseph even knows who Yachty is. Sarah Schreiber is with Tavion Heights who talks about his 2025 while the crowd goes nuts behind him. Heights puts over the NQCC and he wants to be in the Iron Survivor match and if Cena picks him he will absolutely win. Josh Briggs flies in from out of nowhere and they start throwing hands. Referees pour out to break it up.

Zaria questions Sol Ruca about wrestling, and Ruca tells her that she’s the only one who can get her North American title back. NXT Women’s North American Champion Blake Monroe makes her way to the ring as we go to commercials.

Jesse Love from NASCAR is in the house.

NXT Women’s North American Championship: Blake Monroe (C) vs Sol Ruca

Ruca is seconded by Zaria. Ruca works a headlock to start and then hits a sunset flip on Monroe for two. Ruca snaps off an enziguri and then smashes Monroe with a kick along the ropes. Monroe slips a charge and whales Ruca with a sling blade. Monroe hits a sidewalk slam and gets two. Ruca fires up and drops Monroe on her face before superkicking Monroe. Ruca’s cover gets two. Monroe yanks Ruca down by her hair and focuses on Ruca’s braced knee. Ruca breaks out and dropkicks Monroe to a corner. Ruca misses a charge and Monroe smashes her knee into a ring post. They wallop each other with clotheslines on the floor as we go to commercials.

Monroe is working the damaged knee when the show returns but Ruca breaks out with a big kick and some punches. Monroe kicks Ruca in the knee to regain the advantage. Ruca fires up with some elbows and a big release German. Ruca ascends and waffles Monroe with a missile dropkick. Ruca nips up on one leg and smashes Monroe with a running knee for two. Monroe prevents a Sol Snatcher attempt as Joseph points out that Ruca’s knee brace is slipping down her leg. Ruca hits a handspring clothesline on the floor that appears to do more damage to her than it does to Monroe. Monroe clips Ruca’s knee and then works a single leg crab while removing the knee brace. Monroe tosses the knee brace up the aisle and Ruca grabs a quick roll up for two. Monroe torques on Ruca’s knee and Zaria grabs a towel from ringside as the crowd loses it. Ruca begs her to not toss it, but Zaria does anyway, and the ref calls for the bell.

The crowd HATED that finish, and quite frankly, I’m not the biggest fan either. Like, I know where this story is going, for sure, but I just think it’s a bygone era-type finish and it’s not like anyone was out there to throw in a towel should something have gone wrong with Monroe. Eh, anyway, good work by both but this was a paint-by-numbers “face has an ongoing injury and the heel knows all about it” type of match. 2.5*

Winner AND STILL NXT Women’s North American Champion – Blake Monroe (Zaria throws in the towel)

Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid are laughing in their dressing room. Jayne says they’re going to walk out of NYC draped in all the gold as all of them have title matches on the show. I guess we’ll see.

Here’s some highlights of Oba Femi confronting NXT Men’s Champion Ricky Saints at the end of last week‘s show and at a house show in Chicago. Saints is making his way to the ring for the “top of the second hour” yap-fest that this show always loves. We go to commercials.

Ricky Saints is joined in the ring by Oba Femi as Booker hits his “JUST MEEEEAAATTT” catchphrase. Saints says he knew Femi would be back and points out how he beat him at No Mercy for the title. Saints also mentions telling Femi he knew the title was dragging Femi down before he beat him. Saints runs down the list of things he accomplished while Femi was away. Femi says Saints hasn’t changed at all and is still the same little man. Femi wants to beat this version of Saints and didn’t want to be involved with the TNA stuff or Trick Williams endless pursuit of the title. Femi went back to Nigeria while away and he’s here now as the sun is setting on the Absolute Era. Femi calls himself Saint’s “daddy” and says he’s home. Saints offers a rematch at Deadline, and it appears to be on. Here’s Trick Williams in the aisle to point out he told Saints it’s not over until he wins his title back. Myles Borne flies out and smashes Trick with a chair in the back. Borne promises to win Iron Survivor and see either Saints or Femi afterwards. We go to commercials.

Ava chastises Myles Borne when the show returns, and makes a match between Borne and Trick for next week. In the meantime, Tavion Heights and Josh Briggs are still fighting in an equipment room. Briggs gets a chairshot in and then puts Heights through a table as the referees try to break it up.

NXT Tag Team Championship: Darkstate (Osiris Griffin and Dion Lennox) vs TNA X Division Champion Leon Slater and Je’von Evans

Darkstate is at full strength with Saquon Shugars and Cutler James at ringside. Slater and Evans hit stereo superkicks as the bell sounds. Griffin bails so Evans immediately hits his over-the-top rope dive on Griffin, Shugars, and James. Slater hits a leg lariat and covers Lennox for two. Griffin tags in and wallops Slater with an Oklahoma Stampede. Evans breaks up the cover at two. Lennox tags in and Slater escapes to tag in Evans. Evans dumps Lennox to the floor and then pulls Griffin down neck-first over the top rope. Evans jumps onto the announce desk for some reason and then hits a back kick on Griffin. Evans flies back into the ring and smashes Lennox with a leg lariat. Evans cover gets two. Evans and Slater wipe out everyone with topes as we go to commercials.

Darkstate has the advantage when the show returns, with Lennox hitting a short arm DDT on Evans for two. Lennox torques Evans head but Evans manages to fight his way out of it. Evans hits a big knee that drops Lennox and S L O W L Y makes the tag to Slater. Slater smashes Griffin and then hits a back enziguri on Lennox. Slater hits a back handspring elbow on Griffin and then ascends. Slater hits a cross-body on Griffin and gets a long two. Evans tags in and hits a rolling boot on Griffin. Slater hits Utopia on Lennox and then flies over the corner post to smash Lennox and Griffin on the floor. Evans tags in and hits the frog splash on Griffin for two. Lennox knocks Evans to the floor and Griffin smashes Slater. Griffin and Lennox hit their double back drop suplex on Slater and Evans attempt to break up the cover with a frog splash inadvertently lands on a prone Slater. Lennox dumps Evans and Griffin tags in. Lennox and Griffin hit the Doomsday Device on Slater and Griffin’s cover gets three.

I mean, until Hank and Tank get back from Japan, this is probably the way moving forward. High Ryze are in the C-level goober squad currently terrorizing TNA, OTM are heels and probably won’t challenge for it, and everyone else like the Chase U dudes are just not at this level right now. So, on we march with Darkstate. Evans and Slater put on a show like they always do and I would imagine there will be some chatter about the frog splash from Evans that landed on Slater. Maybe they’ll finally get their singles rematch at some point. Anyway, this wasn’t terrible, so I guess in some small way, that’s a victory in and of itself. 3*

Winners AND STILL NXT Tag Team Champions – Darkstate (Doomsday Device on Slater)

Wren Sinclair and Evolve Women’s Champion Kendal Grey are chatting about Lainey Reid, and then Grey points out that Charles Dempsey has been blowing her off while being part of the crew that’s terrorizing TNA. We go to commercials.

Highlights are shown of John Cena’s amazing return at the 2008 Royal Rumble. That was an amazing moment, no doubt, as Joseph and Booker point out repeatedly. YOU ARE AMAZED BY JOHN CENA, DAMMIT.

THE NXT SPOTLIGHT PRESENTED BY PROGRESSIVE is on Shiloh Hill who talks about people thinking he’s both a jock and a nerd due to him playing football for Stanford. Hill mentions how much he likes to hit people and how he got six Division One offers to play football.

Trick Williams and Myles Borne is official for next Tuesday. Joseph runs down the rest of the card for next week which is being filmed after this show goes off the air. Let’s hope the crowd still has the energy it’s had for this portion of the show.

Sean Legacy talks up his rivalry with Evolve Men’s Champion Jackson Drake. I’m low-key very excited for that one.

Fatal Influence make their way to the ring as we go to commercials.

Sol Ruca and Zaria are arguing about why Ruca didn’t tap out and Zaria says that Ruca’s pride gets in the way of her being smart. Ruca pushes the towel into Zaria’s chest and leaves.

NXT Women’s Championship: Tatum Paxley (C) vs Jacy Jayne

Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley second Jayne, while Izzi Dame, Shawn Spears, and Niko Vance are with Paxley. Mike Rome does the in-ring announcements and we’re off.

Paxley cranks on Jayne’s arm to start but Jayne breaks out with a slap. A slap fight ensues and Jayne hits a crucifix pin for two. Jayne hits a rana but Paxley slips a charge and kicks Jayne. Reid and Henley prevent more damage to Jayne, but Paxley responds with a moonsault on all three of them. We go to commercials.

Paxley hits some right hands but Jayne cuts it off with a knee and a clothesline before covering for two. Paxley climbs but eats a kick from Jayne. Jayne goes up to the top and hits a rana but walks into a Paxley superkick as we reset with both down. They rise and start slugging it out, and Paxley gets the advantage with some forearms and a roundhouse kick. Paxley hits an enziguri from the floor, and then flies back in to clobber Jayne with a modified Harlem Hangover. Paxley’s cover gets two. Jayne hits a back elbow, and then pulls Paxley into a top turnbuckle. Jayne hits the cannonball and ascends, but Paxley recovers and goes up with her. Paxley hits a rolling neckbreaker and a sit-out powerbomb before covering for two.

Shawn Spears jumps up on the apron to chat with the ref as Izzi Dame grabs a chair that she tosses at Paxley. Paxley doesn’t want it, and Jayne rolls her up from behind for two. Jayne hits a superkick that sends Paxley to the floor, where she wipes out Lainey Reid. Jayne charges off the apron and smashes Paxley with a kick. Jayne hits the Rolling Encore and is dumbfounded when Paxley kicks out at two. Jayne orders Reid to grab the title belt, but Dame wipes her out and tosses the belt to Paxley. Jayne sees it and tries to use it, but the ref prevents her. Paxley rolls up Jayne for two but when Jayne kicks out it sends Paxley to the floor where she’s confronted by Vance and Spears. Dame waffles Paxley with a kick to the face and sends her back in to the ring. Jayne hits a second Rolling Encore and covers Paxley for three.

I’m upset at this result, not because I don’t like Jacy Jayne because I think she’s pretty great. I’m upset because they could have long-played this turn instead of it happening over the course of three weeks. However, Shawn is not in the business of long-term storytelling because he simply can’t be. He’s juggling NXT, TNA, AAA, Evolve and main roster folks constantly and it just gets chaotic at times, I’m sure. I just hate this for Tater so much, but I’m sure Dame has receipts coming from Paxley and probably Lyra Valkyria at some point. The match itself was very good and with two heel groups at ringside, it still managed to work pretty well as it did when Paxley beat Jayne to win the title. 3.5*

Winner AND NEW NXT Women’s Champion – Jacy Jayne (Rolling Encore)

Post-match sees Joseph point out that Jayne joins Charlotte Flair, Shayna Baszler, and Roxanne Perez as two-time champions. Dame stands over a distraught and devastated Paxley as the credits roll and we’re out.

I’m giving this show thumbs up because the crowd was into it the whole way, everyone worked really hard, and the matches were all fairly decent affairs. Personally, I hated the finish to the main event as you may have surmised, but I’m not letting that stand in the way of giving the show it’s due. As I also mentioned before, next week’s show was taped after this one ended so let’s hope the crowd maintains it’s energy. I was surprised that we did not get either Evolve title matches on this show, but perhaps they were concerned about nerves for those folks and wanted to make sure they could edit appropriately if something went awry. Spoilers are out there if you want to know what’s going to happen, I’m going to do my best to avoid them for now. Please DO NOT discuss them in the comments if you read them.

Thanks, as always, for being awesome at reading and commenting. Please patronize all of our other recappers, they are THE BEST and we’re very lucky as readers to have them. I’ll be back on Saturday morning with Smackdown or you can holler at me in the Daily Thread as needed.