NXT Review – 02.17.26

Let’s see where we are, shall we? Evolve | Impact | Smackdown | No Surrender | Raw

It’s a big night for NXT, and the show comes to the airwaves on the CW and Netflix from the Performance Center in Orlando, FL. The announce team for tonight’s show includes Vic Joseph and Booker T on match calls and analysis, Sarah Schreiber on backstage interviews and breaking news segments, and Mike Rome on ring announcements. Let’s watch some wrestling!

Then, Now, Forever….TOGETHER

Lola Vice vs Kelani Jordan

Vice and Mr. Iguana just won the AAA Mixed Tag titles so she’s got that belt with her. Vice’s hand is taped following a couple of previous attacks from Jordan on it. Vice charges Jordan before she can even enter the ring and levels her with a kick. The bell sounds and Vice immediately goes to ground and pound. Vice smashes Jordan around with kicks and a left and appears to be not trying to use her right hand at all. Jordan fires up with a lariat and a body slam before smashing Vice’s bad hand into the mat. Vice drops a knee on the right hand a couple of times and then goes to SMALL JOINT MANIPULATION. Jordan escapes some leg scissors and gets a quick roll up for two. Vice rolls it over and gets a quick two. Vice puts on a shoulder submission but Jordan escapes. Vice fires up with some kicks but Jordan grabs a hammerlock and smashes Vice into a turnbuckle. Jordan slams Vice on the bad hand and covers her for two. Jordan misses a knee drop and eats a reverse thrust kick. Vice hits a pump kick and then starts driving knees into Jordan’s gut. Vice hits an armdrag and then uses the right hand to smash Jordan in the midsection. Vice dumps Jordan to the floor and Jordan responds by tripping Vice on the apron. Jordan drives a knee into Vice who”s poised on the ring steps and then puts the boots to her. Jordan removes the brace from Vice’s hand and then drives the hand into the ring steps. We go to commercials.

Jordan is working the hand but Vice slaps on a sleeper as the show returns. Jordan rolls it over and gets a two count to break that up. Vice trips up Jordan and then starts firing off lefts. Vice hits some kicks as Jordan gets planted in a corner. Vice hits a German and then the Hip Attack. Vice hits a side suplex and covers Jordan for two. Vice grabs a roll up for two and Jordan bails to the floor. Vice hits a split-legged tackle and then fires a back fist into the NXT Roost as Jordan ducks out of the way. Jordan tries a 450 that mostly misses and Vice pulls her into a submission hold. Jordan stomps on Vice’s hand to break the hold. Jordan grabs a submission hold on Vice’s arm and hand and Vice taps out!

The end sequence got a little janky but overall this was one of Jordan’s better showings lately. She focused heavily on working Vice’s damaged hand and used it to get the victory. Vice tried to work around the damaged body part but ultimately ended up losing because of it. We don’t have to write novels here, sometimes wrestling psychology can be simple and clean like this was. Now, the 450 sequence looked awkward because Jordan was clearly meant to be short on it so Vice could pull her into the submission hold, so I’m not going to penalize either of them too much. This was a solid opener for me, no major complaints here. 3*

Winner – Kelani Jordan (Submission)

Here’s Tony D’Angelo to talk about facing Cutler James tonight while putting over James amateur work at Duke University. D’Angelo says that Darkstate took everything from him and tonight he starts doing the same thing to them. Here’s Darkstate backstage watching D’Angelo’s promo and promising that D’Angelo isn’t taking anything tonight. Dion Lennox will accompany Cutler James and he tells Saquon Shugars and Osiris Griffin to stay in the back.

Here’s a smiling Ricky Saints walking through the NXT Parking Lot only to get jumped by NXT Men’s Champion Joe Hendry. Security pulls them apart and everyone yells as we go to commercials.

Sarah Schreiber is with Shiloh Hill in a Jason mask when the show returns. Hill removes the mask and talks about his gameplan for tonight. Hill says he’s done his research and he’s ready to go. Here’s Hank Walker and Tank Leisure joining the scene to put over Hill’s “Stanford mind”. Hank and Tank end up baffled as Hill leaves the scene after talking about space and time.

Here’s a really grumpy Joe Hendry coming to the ring and grabbing a mic. Hendry says he’s not in a singing or dancing mood, he’s in a “kicking Ricky Saints ass” mood and wants Saints out there right now. Saints appears in the Roost and says Hendry’s got it twisted. Saints feels sick that Hendry has the title and claims he stole it from Saints. Saints says he sees through all of Hendry’s act and Hendry brings the title down several levels. Saints says he’s a WWE Superstar and now the title is held by a “social media superstar”. Saints says “being attractive” makes a difference, and Hendry says he deals in facts, and the fact is he’s something Saints isn’t and that is CHAMPION. Saints says Hendry is the best at marketing and puts over Hendry’s DLC for the new video game. The crowd starts turning on this promo as Saints just keeps on going. Hendry wants Saints to come down and prove all his chatter, but Saints says he wants Hendry at Vengeance Day. Hendry accepts the challenge and says Saints will be using all his usual excuses after it’s over. Hendry waves the belt at Saints as we go to commercials.

Ricky Saints is not a good promo. AT ALL. Hendry tried here but Saints just kept on going and even the crowd turned on it after a bit. So there’s one of your Vengeance Day main events, I guess, and that means more Ricky Saints promos for a couple weeks. Delightful.

NXT Women’s North American Champion Izzi Dame is watching Tatum Paxley’s promo from last week when the show returns. Shawn Spears and Niko Vance join the scene and Dame chuckles over Paxley promising change in her character. Dame says that every version of Paxley ends with Dame keeping the title. Spears and Vance then promise to bring the tag titles to The Culling.

Cutler James vs Tony D’Angelo

James is seconded by Dion Lennox as promised earlier. D’Angelo hits a Saito suplex and then smashes James in a corner. James hits a big boot in response and then starts firing off kicks. James drives a shoulder into D’Angelo but D’Angelo shakes that off and starts smashing James around before waffling him with some Germans. D’Angelo hits a spear and a pop-up spinebuster that gets three.

Well then, that was quick and to the point. James is easily the gooberiest goober in Darkstate, which is really saying something, but calling this emphatic might be underselling it a bit. 1.5*

Winner – Tony D’Angelo (Pop-up Spinebuster)

Post-match sees Dion Lennox charge in to attack D’Angelo from behind. D’Angelo spears Lennox and then dumps both James and Lennox to the floor. D’Angelo runs Lennox hard into the ring steps and then slams his leg onto the bottom of the steps. James pulls Lennox to safety before D’Angelo can wreck his leg with the top half of the steps. There’s a pull-apart with Security intervening as everyone yells at each other.

Here’s NXT Men’s North American Champion Ethan Page chatting with The Vanity Project. Myles Borne enters and Page says he’s never giving Borne a shot at the title because Borne ignored his advice. Borne confirms that Page will never give him a shot and then leaves while promising “we’ll see about that”. Ricky Saints enters and calls Borne rude, and he and Page commiserate over the interaction with Joe Hendry. Saints and Page shake hands and promise to both be title holders.

NXT Tag Team Number One Contenders Match: OTM (Bronco Nima and Lucien Price) vs Swipe Right (Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes) vs The Culling (Niko Vance and Shawn Spears) vs Hank Walker and Tank Leisure

Evolve Men’s Champion Jackson Drake is out with Swipe Right. I have a feeling this is going to be difficult to recap but we’ll see how it goes. Price and Spears start and Price drops Spears with a headbutt. Nima tags in and crushes Spears with a running lariat before covering and getting two. Spears fires up with a knee lift and Smokes gets a tag only to get hammered by a Nima lariat. Tank tags in and Smokes fires up with a kick and a knee lift. Hank tags in and he and Tank smash Smokes around before Tank tags back in. Tank hits a splash and covers Smokes for two. Vance gets a blind tag and he drops Tank with a right. Price tags in and he and Vance have a hoss battle that ends with a huge Price lariat. Smokes and Baylor sneak in from behind and go to chokeslam Nima and Price, but that gets reversed and they get dumped on the floor with everyone else. We go to commercials.

There’s fighting on the floor and in the ring when the show returns. Nima tosses Baylor into Smokes on the floor and Vance starts dominating in the ring. Tank starts smashing Price but he and Nima combine to send Tank packing before dropping Vance with a backdrop. Everyone flies in to break up the cover as Joseph confirms that no one has any idea who’s actually legal. Of course the crowd starts chanting “this is awesome”. There’s a contrived four-way superplex spot and everyone is down. Hank and Tank face off with OTM and Tank sends both guys packing. A bunch of guys get dumped out and Spears hits the C4 on Baylor. Drake breaks up the pin at two, but OTM hammer Spears into Drake. In the midst of a bunch of guys flying around on the floor, Baylor falls on top of Spears and the ref counts three.

I don’t even know what to say about this. There was an attempt at structure at the beginning and it quickly dissolved into a gigantic chaotic mess. Look, I’m old, right? I grew up watching the Midnight Express, the Rock and Roll Express, the Road Warriors, Tully and Arn, et cetera. That’s my basis for the best of the best of tag wrestling. Whatever this new style is, be it WWE, AEW, NXT, what have you, is just…so wildly different and not enjoyable for me. No one sells. There’s zero psychology. Everything goes a million miles an hour. The fans, who have been conditioned to this, lap it up because they don’t see anything resembling the fundamentals of tag wrestling in ANY of these matches and it’s all high spot after high spot after high spot. I grant that lucha tag matches are a very different animal but they’ve been that way forever and I don’t have a problem with how they work because my expectations are that they will do the things they normally do. This change in non-lucha companies to this breakneck chaos is just not my jam. If you like this and feel this was some type of classic, please tell me why in the comments. I’m happy to hear your thoughts. I hated it. 1*

Winners – Swipe Right (Baylor covered Spears)

THE PROGRESSIVE SPOTLIGHT is on Keanu Carver. Carver talks about growing up in Washington, DC. Carver mentions enjoying football because he could smash guys without getting in trouble for it. Carver talks about getting kicked off his college team because he wouldn’t listen to his position coach and they apparently had a fight. Anyway, he’s coming for Sean Legacy next week.

Here’s Joe Hendry with NXT Interim GM Mr. Stone. Hendry still wants to fight Ricky Saints and doesn’t want to wait until Vengeance Day but Stone mentions kicking Saints out of the building, and then asks Hendry to leave as well. Here’s Sol Ruca asking Stone if he’s seen Zaria who happens to conveniently be feet away from everyone. Zaria is in no mood and accuses Ruca of stealing her title shot last week. Zaria says she’s done being used and is done with the friendship. It ends with Zaria telling Ruca to go to hell as we go to commercials.

I mean, are we getting to the fireworks factory FINALLY with these two? I hardly care at this point, but I guess we’ll see what happens next week.

Fatal Influence make their way to the ring when the show returns. NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne is first to speak and says she’s not here to complain about having to defend against Sol Ruca next week. Jayne says she’s looking forward to it, actually, and says she’s going to be vulnerable by admitting that she’s jealous of Ruca. Jayne gets a hand for talking about her streak of her amazing matches but then can’t believe that the crowd constantly tells her that Ruca is the better talent. Jayne mentions beating Stephanie Vaquer for her first title and that Vaquer is now walking into Wrestlemania as the Women’s World Champion. WWE Women’s Speed Champion Fallon Henley then brings up that Ruca was named NXT Women’s Superstar of the Year instead of Jayne despite Jayne being the champion. Jayne talks about being at home during John Cena’s final match at SNME and that Ruca was on that card. Jayne also talks about being at the Royal Rumble and making her debut in that match but having to listen to everyone chatting about Ruca making the final three in that match. Jayne says Ruca has sacrificed her best friend to get this opportunity. Jayne says she won the title because she’s the best woman in the division. Here’s Sol Ruca to interrupt and say that she agrees with Jayne but mentions that Jayne really hasn’t evolved since day one. Ruca says she’s not going to let Jayne talk about her friendship with Zaria. Jayne says that because the friendship has ended that has also ended Ruca’s chance to win the title. Ruca says Zaria stands in her own light, not in Ruca’s shadow. Ruca promises to win the title next week. Fatal has had enough and they jump Ruca, but here’s Zaria running in to help. Zaria wants them to hold up Ruca, but instead she spears Henley and Reid before yanking Jayne up and dropping her to the floor on top of Reid and Henley. Zaria extends a hand and pulls up Ruca for a hug.

I guess I’m confused as to what we’re all doing here but we’ll see how this plays out with the title match next week. The promo went a bit long for me, and Jacy is starting to feel kind of stale. Perhaps it’s time for a face turn for her? She really hasn’t done that side and usually they want to see prospects they want to call up do both sides of the coin. I’m also really over the Ruca-Zaria will they-won’t they thing. Either do it and move on to them feuding or cement their friendship and end this flirtation with conflict.

Here’s Elio LeFleur warming up with Eli Knight ahead of their Speed finals match, as Sean Legacy joins the scene. Knight puts over Legacy’s match with Keanu Carver next week, and then LeFleur and Knight dap it up while saying “may the best man win” to each other. We go to commercials.

WWE Men’s Speed Tournament Finals: Elio LeFleur vs Eli Knight

Knight hits a kick but runs into a LeFleur clothesline after the bell. Knight hits an Exploder and covers LeFleur for two. Knight and LeFleur go to the floor and LeFleur hits a reverse leg lariat. LeFleur misses a moonsault attempt and then gets mashed by a Knight springboard moonsault that includes a very awkward Knight landing. Knight checks the clock before running LeFleur back in. Knight hits a springboard legdrop and that gets two as Knight once again comes up holding his ankle. LeFleur catches a charging Knight and ends up hitting kind of a short powerbomb before rolling Knight up for two. There’s a series of roll-ups that get two. LeFleur dumps Knight over but Knight immediately responds with a superkick. Knight runs into a LeFleur sit-down powerbomb and that gets two. LeFleur and Knight exchange slaps and clotheslines. LeFleur shakes it off and ascends but when he comes down Knight waffles him with a knee lift. LeFleur hits a double underhook from the top rope as the time runs out. Here’s Mr. Stone to say that he’s making a Triple Threat Speed championship match that will have a seven minute time limit for next week.

So this was okay for a Speed match but the non-finish hurts it for me. I guess the three-way next week might be a way to get the Speed title off Troy without him getting pinned? I don’t know but this is going to be a wild styles clash and I guess we’ll see how the whole thing goes. This ended up just being an angle disguised as a match to get to the end result of the three-way for next week. 2*

No Winner – Time Limit Draw

Shiloh Hill is firing himself up backstage and here’s Myles Borne walking by. Hill asks Borne to stay away from the match and Borne says maybe he will but he also might not. Tempers predictably flare and here’s a pair of referees to keep it from turning into fisticuffs. We go to commercials.

Here’s Uriah Connors and Charles Dempsey chatting backstage about the Birthright stuff. Connors talks about their history growing up together and Dempsey leaves to think about things as Lexis King (King is giving off distinct Michael PS Hayes vibes at this point.), Stacks Lorenzo, and newly-crowned TNA Knockouts Champion Arianna Grace enter the scene. Connors tells King he’s still in and King mentions that Connors will have a match with Kale Dixon next week. Lorenzo mentions that he’s marrying into the Birthright and puts over Grace winning the Knockouts title.

Here’s Mr. Stone telling Fallon Henley that a women’s Speed title tournament is going to happen. Blake Monroe enters and finds out from Stone that Jaida Parker is suspended for striking a referee during last week’s brawl. Stone also mentions Parker is out with a neck injury and then Henley finds out that Monroe will be in the tournament and will face Thea Hail in a first round match next week.

Joseph runs down the big card for next week, which sadly had to be moved back to the PC after the Atlanta venue had permit complications. There are three big title matches next week, plus Carver-Legacy and the beginning of the women’s Speed tournament.

Ethan Page makes his entrance as we go to commercials.

Dion Lennox and Cutler James are consoling each other backstage and Osiris Griffin and Saquon Shugars join the scene to mention that they are going to retain the tag titles next week.

Here’s Zaria and Sol Ruca chatting once again and Zaria says things changed during Ruca’s knee injury but if things are going to go back to the way they were, Ruca has to win the title. Myles Borne happens by and says that he knows exactly what he has to do now after Ruca questions if he’s okay.

NXT Men’s North American Championship: Ethan Page (C) vs Shiloh Hill

Page gets dumped by Hill after working an arm. Page grabs a side headlock and Hill breaks out of it to grab an armlock. Hill trips up Page and goes back to the armlock. Page makes the ropes to break it up and then Hill shoves him to the floor. Page grabs a chairand Hill immediately takes it away and sets it back up next to Mike Rome. Page and Hill start exchanging elbow locks and then punches. Hill hits an Atomic Drop and then Page runs into an inverted Atomic Drop. Page takes control with a back elbow but Hill pops up with a huge right to end that brief flurry. Hill starts clubbering away and then wallops Page with a knee lift. Page grabs the title belt and Hill snatches it right away before placing it back on the stand it’s been sitting on. Page eats a huge Hill clothesline but here’s The Vanity Project out to distract Hill as we go to commercials.

Page wallops Hill with a big boot and gets a two count when the show returns. Hill runs into a Page knee and Page follows with a swinging neckbreaker that gets two. Page wants Twisted Grin but Hill shakes it off as Page dumps him to the apron. Page smashes Hill with a right and a headbutt before ascending. Page hoists Hill for a second rope powerslam that gets a LONG two. Page and the Vanity Project cannot believe Hill kicked out, so Page has them expose the concrete on the floor by pulling back the mat. Page wants the Ego’s Edge on the concrete but Hill slips off and tosses Page away. They end up back in the ring and Hill runs into a big Page sit-down knee. Hill yanks out his bridge and looms up behind Page. Hill starts firing off right hands and then wallops Page with a shoulder tackle. Hill hits a sidewalk slam and then a rolling senton but here’s Jackson Drake on the apron. Hill drops Drake and then drags in Ricky Smokes to clothesline him out. Hill backdrops Brad Baylor and then tosses Smokes again. Hill drops Drake on the announce table but a recovered Page hits Hill with Twisted Grin on the exposed concrete. Page runs Hill back in and hits a second Twisted Grin before covering and getting three.

I think the main problem with announcers saying “the referee is using his discretion” is that it gives them an out for open blatant cheating to be allowed. I mean, wrestling in and of itself is meant to be a morality play where sometimes the good guys don’t win due to bad guy shenanigans and it’s been that way forever. It’s just this new thought that referees now openly see cheating and just decide “well, the face is kind of dealing with it so we’ll just allow it” .This is maybe not the best thing for our so-called sport. Anyway, Hill did fine here for his seventh televised match and I reiterate that I think they have something with him that they can build on. Page remains as boring and bland as ever, just cutting off every bit of fun that a crowd might have with a babyface comeback with his predictable pedestrian offense. It is what it is at this point. 2.5*

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

Post-match sees the Vanity Project celebrating with Page over a fallen Hill before attacking en masse. Here’s Myles Borne out to smash the heels around before Hill hits a tope on the Vanity kids. Borne smashes Page around while screaming for a title match. Borne has a chair and puts Page’s ankle in it as Page yells that he’ll never get the match. Borne threatens to Pillmanize the ankle and Page relents to give Borne the match. Borne decides to smash the ankle anyway and then grabs the belt to scream at a devastated Page as the credits roll and we’re out.

I would tell you that I’ve seen better go-home shows for big television cards than this one was. The opener ended up being the best match for me and that isn’t a great statement for the show, quite frankly. The D’Angelo thing was a total squash, there was a non-finish in the Speed match, the four way tag match was an absolute shit-show, and the main event had Ethan Page sucking all the fun out of the room. There were two boring promos, one from Ricky Saints and the other endless gab-fest from Jacy Jayne and Sol Ruca, and other than the Birthright thing being semi-interesting, this show just did not have it tonight. Thumbs leaning down is my verdict, and let’s hope next week’s big card redeems tonight’s “effort”.

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