NXT: Vengeance Day Review – 03.07.26

Before the show, let’s catch up: Evolve: Succession II | Impact | Smackdown

NXT: Vengeance Day comes to the airwaves LIVE AND IN LIVING COLOR on Peacock from the Performance Center in Orlando, FL. The television presenters for tonight’s show are the Usual Suspects, Vic Joseph and Booker T on match calls and analysis, Mike Rome on ring introductions, and Blake Howard on backstage interviews and breaking news segments. Let’s watch some wrestling!

Then, Now, Forever….TOGETHER

Here’s Ricky Saints arriving, and here’s NXT Men’s Champion Joe Hendry showing up for work as well. Tatum Paxley steps off an elevator, and here’s NXT Women’s North American Champion Izzi Dame in the parking lot with her Culling pals, Niko Vance and Shawn Spears. Kelani Jordan is in a hallway, and Lola Vice arrives via Porsche. Dion Lennox is waiting in the NXT Parking Lot while being very sweaty. That Florida humidity will get you!

Orlando Street Fight: Blake Monroe vs Jaida Parker

Parker goes to ground and pound at the bell, and Monroe reverses for some of her own. There are kendo sticks literally mounted on the ring ropes which…I guess. Monroe grabs one and is immediately tackled by Parker, causing Monroe to drop the kendo stick. They roll to the floor where Parker hits a big elbow before driving Monroe’s head into the apron. Parker drags out a table but Monroe pounces on her to prevent that. Monroe gets yanked over in a back suplex after trying a DDT, and Parker assembles the table. Monroe uses a golf umbrella to smash Parker in the back and then she pushes the table legs down. Monroe instead grabs some chairs and tosses them into the ring before depositing the table back underneath. Monroe tosses Parker back and then waffles her with a kick to the ribs. Monroe grabs a chair but Parker flies up with a fist to the back. Monroe shakes that off and nails Parker with a neckbreaker that gets one. Monroe mounts a chair on two kendo sticks but Parker springs up and drops Monroe face-first onto the chair. Parker follows with some Greco-Roman kendo stick shots and a pump kick that sends Monroe to the floor. They blast each other with shoulders and then Parker finds another table but before she can fully get it upright Monroe comes over for some more fisticuffs. Parker misses a Hip Attack and crashes into the stairs, so Monroe runs her back in and ascends. Monroe hits a missile dropkick and covers for two. Monroe hammers away with a kendo stick and then hits a Side Russian leg sweep for two. Monroe pulls out some trash cans but runs into some Parker shoulder tackles when she returns to the ring. Parker mounts Monroe on a top turnbuckle and runs into a Monroe headbutt. Monroe grabs a chair and pulls Parker down to smash the back of her head against it. Monroe mounts another chair and mimics Parker’s high step walk before hitting her own Hip Attack against the chair. Monroe’s cover gets two.

Monroe has some pearls and smashes Parker in the face with them for two. Monroe pulls a kendo stick into Parker’s mouth and leans back with it. Parker rolls her over and gets a one count. Parker rises and wallops Monroe with kendo shots before snap-maring her over by her hair. Monroe eats a big kick and a second rope neckbreaker but she bails to the floor before Parker can inflict anything further. Parker kicks Monroe down and then sets up the table in front of the announce desk. Monroe flies in with a trash can lid and smacks Parker with it. Monroe finds a bag and a brick, but before she can use the brick Parker flies in with a couple of chairshots. Monroe gets mounted on the table and Parker ascends for a butt drop that puts Monroe through the table. Parker runs Monroe in and hits the Hipnotic for two. Parker gets run into a couple of kendo sticks and Monroe then follows up with a running knee that gets two. They slug it out and Parker gets run into a turnbuckle. Monroe pulls out the bag and it’s full of cubic zirconias. Monroe grabs a handful and throws them at Parker before hitting a rana that drops Parker onto the mat. Monroe hits the Glamour Shot on the “diamonds” and covers Parker for three.

I’m not the biggest fan of plunder brawls but this was okay in a vacuum. The story became Parker’s early missed Hip Attack because she was hampered the rest of the way, and Monroe kind of hung in there through the violence and managed to triumph. I wouldn’t say this is something either lady will put in their potential HOF collection but it also didn’t stink out the joint like I thought it might. Monroe actually needed this win to right the ship, quite frankly, and we’ll see what happens with Parker from here. Will they run something back at S&D, perhaps? 2.5*

Winner – Blake Monroe (Glamour Shot)

Ricky Saints wonders where Ethan Page was during the Ricky Saints Experience. Page mentions losing the Men’s North American title and had some thinking to do. Saints says he needs Page to reclaim the title and assume being the face of the brand once more. Page agrees and says he’ll be there for Saints.

Here’s Tony D’Angelo pulling up in his convertible and he gets jumped by Darkstate en masse. D’Angelo and Dion Lennox get into it and D’Angelo tosses an empty beer keg into a car’s windshield. They fight into the building and D’Angelo lowers a garage door so the rest of Darkstate cannot enter. D’Angelo misses a forearm and gets smashed with a plastic trash can. Lennox picks up a chair but D’Angelo uses a metal clipboard to smash Lennox in the gut. They fight into another area where the rest of Darkstate finally arrive to rejoin things. A bunch of refs finally arrive but D’Angelo keeps tossing guys around. Lennox rams D’Angelo into a locker and keeps throwing haymakers. They tumble over some production carts and then D’Angelo rams Lennox into a ladder. They fight back outside and here’s the rest of Darkstate to attack again. Lennox has a crowbar and here’s OTM to get involved. The locker room empties and attacks the other Darkstate guys en masse, while D’Angelo and Lennox continue battling. A ref urges them to go to the ring and they come blasting through the NXT Roost as Mike Rome walks calmly away. Both guys get in the ring and the bell rings.

Tony D’Angelo vs Dion Lennox

D’Angelo rams Lennox into a corner but he comes flying out and plants D’Angelo in the same corner so he can put the boots to him. Lennox misses a charge but he plants D’Angelo along the ropes and leans on him before delivering a bunch of clubbering rights. Lennox hits a spinebuster and covers for two. Lennox rams D’Angelo into a corner but then misses a charge. D’Angelo hits some Germans and the fluffy-haired D’Angelo gets the crowd fired up. D’Angelo hits a torture rack neckbreaker and then sends Lennox to the floor with a lariat. D’Angelo runs Lennox’s head into the ring steps but he misses a subsequent charge and hits the steps hard. Lennox mounts D’Angelo’s leg on the steps and then grabs the top part of the steps. D’Angelo thankfully escapes as Lennox smashes the steps down on top of the bottom part. Lennox clubbers away and then runs D’Angelo into the crowd. Lennox follows and hits a superplex off the barricade through the announce table. Poor Booker and his candy. Lennox is up first and he tosses D’Angelo back in. Lennox hits a sit-down powerbomb and covers D’Angelo for two. Lennox starts throwing rights and D’Angelo goes to a certain place before walloping Lennox with a headbutt. D’Angelo hits a big spear and then smashes him with the Dead To Rights powerbomb. D’Angelo covers and gets three.

So that’s two garbage brawls to start the show, which I guess is okay but the creative seems kind of off-kilter in that regard. Anyway, this wasn’t a wrestling match so much as it was just an out and out brawl from the parking lot to the ring. Everything was hard-hitting and looked like it hurt a bunch, which I appreciate, and D’Angelo achieved his stated goal of running through Darkstate as a unit. We’ll see if this is the end of this whole thing as D’Angelo has said he has another goal in mind after accomplishing this one. This isn’t easy to rate because half of it happened before the bell rang, but we’ll call the whole thing 3*and just all move along.

Winner – Tony D’Angelo (Dead to Rights powerbomb)

Lola Vice is getting taped up. Next up is the Women’s NA Title match. There’s a video package to go over the entirety of the Paxley-Dame feud that sets up everything that’s about to happen.

NXT Women’s North American Championship: Izzi Dame (C) vs Tatum Paxley

Paxley has Vance and Spears with her as usual. Mike Rome does the in-ring intros and we’re off. Paxley leaps on Dame to start throwing right hands at the bell. Paxley goes to a sleeper but Dame manages to shake her off by ramming Paxley into a corner. Paxley kicks away and dropkicks Dame to the floor. Paxley follows and smashes Dame with chops and a kick to the gut. Paxley hits a rolling tackle off the steps and Dame manages to fire up enough to ram Paxley into those steps. Dame eats a roundhouse kick and Paxley runs her back in. Paxley drops an elbow and gets a one count. Paxley goes to some forearms and a running splash in a corner. Paxley hits a gutwrench suplex and then wants the Cemetery Drive, but Paxley turns it into an inside cradle that gets one. Dame fires up with a big lariat to cut off the flurry. Dame and Paxley slug it out and Dame hits a couple of big kicks before stomping away. Dame mounts Paxley in a corner and stomps away. Dame lifts a knee a couple of times but Paxley turns the last one into a roll up before pulling Dame into a crucifix. Dame ascends and stomps on Paxley’s stomach before covering her and getting two.

Dame goes to an abdominal stretch and Paxley circles around and slaps it on Dame in response. Dame eats a series of Paxley forearms before firing up with a double knee lift, a backbreaker, and a running senton that gets two. Dame wants a crab and kind of gets it set in while leaning back. Paxley pulls out of it and kicks away. Paxley pulls Dame into a proper crab but Dame makes the ropes to cut that off. Paxley gets dumped to the floor and Dame follows. Paxley runs Dame into a corner post and they go back in. Paxley htis a superkick and fires up with some more forearms. Paxley hits a German and a big enziguri from the floor. Paxley hits a rolling Pele kick and covers Dame for two. Paxley goes to a corner and ascends but Dame meets her with a big slap to the chest. Dame ascends as well and they slug it out a bit. Dame gets kicked off and Paxley misses a 450. Dame waffles Paxley with a running shotgun dropkick and gets two.

They slug it out and Paxley hits a big boot and a sit-out High Drive. Paxley hits a 450 splash and covers Dame for two. Paxley gets pulled over to the apron and she ascends but Dame flies in with a high boot to cut that off. Dame hits a toss cutter and covers Paxley for two. Dame goes to the apron but Paxley kicks her dead in the chest. Paxley hits a running powerbomb over the top rope to the floor as Spears and Vance are left dumbfounded. Paxley yanks Dame back up and pushes her in, but Spears distracts until the ref counts nine. Dame launches up with a pop up powerbomb that gets two as Dame cannot believe that didn’t win it. Paxley turns Dame over for a roll up that gets two. Dame flies over to the ropes and wipes out Spears who had jumped up to distract Paxley. Dame wants a lungblower but Paxley nips right up and hits a rolling kick and the Cemetery Drive. Paxley covers and gets three!

Easily this is Paxley’s best match ever. Dame is what she is in terms of offense, some of it looks good and some of it looks, well….not. Paxley did a great job at using the psychology here of overcoming her own inner demons and the numbers advantage of the heel champion to steal a victory and the title. I liked this one a bunch, quite frankly. 3.75*

Winner AND NEW NXT Women’s North American Champion – Tatum Paxley (Cemetary Drive)

Post-match sees Paxley in the crowd with her new title belt while Dame looks on forlornly.

Kelani Jordan is gloving up prior to the underground. Here’s Blake Howard with OTM who stress what they did was not to help Tony D’Angelo. It was meant strictly to mess with Darkstate which Nima gets across emphatically. Price says it’s Stand & Deliver season and they want power and recognition.

Interim NXT General Manager Robert Stone is in the ring and he welcomes NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne along with WWE Women’s Speed Champion Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid. Booker keeps comically interrupting Joseph who’s trying to talk about the group. Jayne extends a hand and then yanks it back when Stone tries to shake it. HARF. Jayne grabs a mic and says she’ll be walking into S&D as the women’s champion. Jayne says nothing brings her more joy than watching all of the losers in the crowd eat their words. Jayne says she’s been through every up and down in THIS BUSINESS. Jayne says she was paranoid about getting a call that might be the end for her. Jayne says last year she was on the kickoff show for S&D and this year she’s walking in with one of the most dominant title reigns in NXT history. Jayne says she should be the main event, and don’t be surprised when she walks in next year and main events Wrestlemania. Jayne reminds everyone about beating Sol Ruca in six seconds, and had Zaria beat this week before Ruca interferes. Stone interrupts, and before he can get going, here’s Zaria to come out and tell Jayne she’s delusional for Jayne thinking she had Zaria beat last week. Henley interrupts Stone to say that Zaria and Sol are not Fatal’s problem because she couldn’t handle seeing Ruca succeed. Henley mentions helping Jayne winning the title, and Reid then chimes in to say she’s helped Jayne keep her title on multiple occasions. Reid says when she gets opportunities, Zaria always fails. Here’s Sol Ruca to join things. Ruca enters and tells Zaria she trusted her but she apparently forgot how well Ruca knows her. Ruca says Zaria will never touch the NXT title because she deserves it. Stone makes a three way title match for March 17th in Houston. Jayne seems less than pleased, but she still attacks Ruca with Henley and Reid. Zaria yanks them off and puts the stink-mouth on Ruca, but Jayne comes in with some rights. Ruca hits a Sol Snatcher on Zaria and then gets waffled by Reid. Jayne and Fatal stand tall to end the segment.

So this likely means Jacy is losing the title in Houston and Ruca and Zaria will be going to S&D for the title a few weeks later. Jacy really doesn’t have anything left to accomplish and this way she can lose without getting pinned, presumably. This was fine for what it was but it went on awhile.

Here’s Tavion Heights and Charles Dempsey backstage being approached by Birthright. Lexis King wants a decision and Dempsey declines the offer to join the group. King asks Dempsey when he’s going to stop running from who he is and accept it. They leave, and Heights proposes a one night NQCC revival on Tuesday night, and Dempsey likes that idea.

NXT Underground: Kelani Jordan vs Lola Vice

This all started when Lola Vice kicked Jordan out of the locker room during her run as TNA Knockouts Champion. It’s been going for quite some time, so one can assume this should be the blow-off. The rules here are that only a knockout, a TKO, or a submission can end this. The ring is surrounded by PC folks who seem pretty fired up for this. Vice has family at ringside and Mike Rome does in-ring intros for this for some reason. Vice gets a takedown to start and tries for an armbar before rolling Jordan over for some ground and pound. Jordan fires up with some rights and they break apart. Jordan wants aa single leg but Vice goes for a rear naked choke. Jordan rolls through and pulls Vice’s injured hand in for some punishment. Vice hits some kicks and Jordan responds by smashing Vice’s hand into the ring post. Jordan hits a rear suplex and then stomps on Vice’s hand. Jordan drops a knee on the hand and then takes off the tape and glove. Jordan drops another knee on the hand and then smashes it into the canvas. Jordan hits a standing moonsault and then starts clubbering away when Vice tries to fire up. Jordan smashes Vice’s hand into another ring post a few times but Vice manages to pull Jordan face-first into the post when she keeps going back to it. Vice fires off some lefts and a back kick. Vice hits a German and some roundhouse kicks before kicking Vice right out of the ring to the floor. Jordan pulls a floor goof into the way of Vice’s tackle and then puts the stink-mouth on Vice’s father. Jordan runs Vice back in and climbs back in herself. Vice fires up with a backfist followed by some hammerfists and the ref steps in immediately as Jordan appears knocked out.

Maybe people should think twice about challenging Vice to these matches because she does not lose them. Ever. I don’t really know how to rate this so I’m not going to, but it was a cool spectacle as these things almost always are.

Winner – Lola Vice (Ref stoppage after backfist/hammerfists)

Jacy Jayne is apoplectic about Stone’s decision to make a triple threat and is letting Reid and Henley know about it. Reid tells her to calm down and they’ll figure things out. Jayne points out the triple threat stip and Reid offers to take care of Ruca on Tuesday. Henley declines to do anything about Zaria because she also has a title match in Houston. Joseph runs down the card for this Tuesday’s show and it looks decent so far.

Here’s a look at how Joe Hendry came to win the NXT Men’s title in the seven-way ladder match a few weeks back. Ricky Saints was this close to claiming it when Hendry smashed him in the face with the belt before pulling it down and claiming the title.

NXT Men’s Championship: Joe Hendry (C) vs Ricky Saints

Booker sings along with Hendry’s theme since he doesn’t have Trick Williams around any longer. Mike Rome does the in-ring intros and we’re finally off. Saints comes out quickly with some rights but Hendry shakes it off and smacks Saints around with rights of his own. Saints drives Hendry down where he gets caught in the ropes. Saints puts the boots to Hendry before the ref releases him. Hendry eats some chops and a big right before getting rammed into a top turnbuckle. Saints gets trucked by Hendry who then fires off some chops of his own. Hendry beals Saints over and then hits some more chops and stomps in a corner. Hendry tosses Saints over and pulls Saints in for a suplex, but Saints reverses so Hendry dumps him to the apron. Hendry hoists Saints up for a vertical suplex before covering and getting two. Hendry gets caught by a Saints swinging neckbreaker that gets two. Saints gets hit with a Rude Awakening-type neckbreaker but he shakes that off and decides to rope walk. Hendry kicks him down and crotches Saints before punching him to the floor. Hendry follow him out and and Saints fires up by ramming Hendry into the ring steps. Saints runs Hendry back in and covers for two.

Saints puts the boots to Hendry and then hits another neckbreaker followed by a running dropkick that gets two. Saints puts on a rear chinlock but Hendry fires up with a headbutt. Saints cuts that off with an elbow before ramming Hendry into a corner. Saints mounts Hendry and smashes him with rights. Saints puts his boot on Hendry’s jaw and drives him to the floor. Saints smashes Hendry’s face into the announce table and runs him back in. Saints throws some rights and then hits a belly-to-back suplex for two. Saints goes to the apron and leaps in for a roll up that gets two. Saints pulls Hendry face-first into a turnbuckle and then hits a running shotgun dropkick that gets two. Saints yanks Hendry up for a fall-away slam and nips up to pose. Hendry hits a spear OUTTA NOWHERE and then starts walloping Saints with rights and a clothesline. Hendry catches a Saints rope fun and fires him over in a fall-away slam. Hendry catches an elbow but then he hoists Saints up for a powerbomb that gets two. They slug it out a bit and Hendry gets pulled into a backslide and then an Air Raid Crash as Saints covers for two. Saints slaps on a cross face but Hendry rolls through as Saints transitions to a guillotine. Hendry fires up and yanks Saints over for a back suplex. Saints wants Roshambo but Hendry slides off but right into a Saints superkick. Hendry hits an Attitude Adjustment and covers Saints for two.

Saints ascends and eats a Hendry uppercut. Hendry flies up and hits a fall away slam from the second rope, and Hendry’s cover gets two. Saints grabs a roll up for two and then Saints hits a high knee and a DDT before getting another two count. Here’s Ethan Page out to grab the title belt and gaze at it before Hendry grabs a roll up on Saints for tow. Saints hits a spear and Page slides the title belt WAY too far into the ring and much closer to Hendry. The ref takes the belt and Saints goes low before hitting the Revolution DDT for two. Page and Saints are shocked, so Saints goes to ground and pound. Saints fires off some rights but Hendry fires up and almost smashes the referee. Hendry goes low as the ref doesn’t see it and then pulls Saints in for the Standing Ovation chokeslam. Hendry covers and gets three.

Ricky Saints is a really average wrestler who’s made the right friends along the way. I don’t know any other way to put it. Nothing about him makes any of his matches feel like big deals. Hendry will never be a main eventer on the main roster but he’s got a future in the mid-card for sure, assuming he makes it there at some point. Saints is just boring and pedestrian and really mid, as the kids say. Hendry gave him a bunch of offense here and Saints did what he normally does, before the overbooked ending with the equally boring Ethan Page. I’m glad Hendry retained and hopefully he’ll make it to S&D as the champ. Hendry did the lion’s share of the good stuff in this match so if you like him, seek it out. Otherwise, I’ll just say this could have been on the regular television show and leave it at that. 3.25*

Winner AND STILL NXT Men’s Champion – Joe Hendry (Standing Ovation Chokeslam)

Post-match sees a despondent Saints being helped to the back by Page, while Hendry celebrates with the crowd. The credits roll and we’re out.

I guess my final thoughts on this show would be that it was a bit better than I was expecting, but still nowhere near the “great” level that we’ve seen from other NXT PLE efforts. It’s now Stand & Deliver season and hopefully we’ll start getting some clarity around that card soon. The women’s North American title match was the MOTN for me, and the only title change that happened on the show. D’Angelo-Lennox was a physical war, and the Underground was decent enough. The opening street fight left a bit to be desired, and the main event was fine in a vacuum but at some point we HAVE to move on from Ricky Saints as a top contender. Thumbs are in the middle for this one as there was some good and some bad. Let’s hope things coalesce around a solid card for the big show in St. Louis.

Thanks for reading and commenting. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.