NXT Review – 03.24.26

We all need to read more so here’s every word our incredible writing staff has churned out about WWE and WWE-related products recently: Evolve | Impact | Smackdown: Rewind | Smackdown | AAA Rey de Reyes 2 | Raw

There are ELEVEN days to go before we reach Stand & Deliver, and tonight’s NXT will have some major implications on that card as it comes to the CW/Netflix airwaves from the Performance Center in Orlando, FL. The announcing team for tonight’s show will be Vic Joseph and Booker T on match calls and analysis, Mike Rome on ring introductions, and Sarah Schreiber on backstage interviews and breaking news segments. Let’s watch some wrestling!

Then, Now, Forever….TOGETHER

A highlights package from last week‘s big show in Houston opens the evening. Shiloh Hill is with NXT Interim GM Robert Stone and Hill thanks Stone for the chance to be in tonight’s Elimination Gauntlet match while requesting to go first. NXT Women’s North American Champion Tatum Paxley barges into the scene to ask Stone what the hell was that (with Blake Monroe’s post-match attack) last week. Stone apologizes and says he hasn’t seen Monroe. Hill offers to help Paxley and cackles wildly as he and Paxley leave. Josh Briggs wanders up to Stone and questions how long they’ve been friends but a referee pulls Stone away before Briggs can get anything else out.

WWE Women’s Speed Champion Wren Sinclair and Kendal Grey vs Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid)

NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne is out with Henley and Reid. Sinclair and Henley start and Sinclair dumps her with an armdrag immediately. A pissed off Henley drives Sinclair to a corner and shoulders her before putting her boot on Sinclair’s face. Henley hoists Sinclair up but she slides down into a roll up that gets two. Henley slugs Sinclair down and then Sinclair cuts off the flurry with a back elbow when Henley charges. Sinclair trips up Reid on the apron and then smashes Henley with a back roundhouse kick. Henley goes back to clubbering and fires an uppercut at a dazed Sinclair. Reid tags in and her and Henley work some double-team stuff that ends with Reid dropping a double sledge on a prone Sinclair. Reid’s cover gets two. Sinclair fires up with a rana and then tags in Grey. Reid starts clubbering away on Grey as we see in an inset that Eli Knight and Elio LeFleur have been attacked backstage as a horrified Stone looks on. Sinclair tags back in and Grey wallops Reid with a dropkick before Sinclair hits a jacknife cover for two. Reid drives Sinclair into the Fatal corner and tags in Henley. Henley and Reid bully Sinclair but Sinclair responds with a shoulder tackle, a neckbreaker, and a double-underhook suplex on Henley. Reid gets a blind tag and she crushes Sinclair with a rolling neckbreaker before slugging Grey off the apron. Henley and Reid celebrate as we go to commercials.

Sinclair is desperately trying to make a tag when the show returns. Sinclair fights her way out of the Fatal corner but Reid gets a tag and slugs Sinclair in the head before she can fully get away. Henley dumps Sinclair down and Reid hits a springboard jawbreaker on Sinclair. Reid’s cover gets two. Sinclair kicks Reid away and then smashes her with a dropkick. Sinclair misses an enziguri and Reid tries to punch Grey again, but she ducks and Reid turns into a Sinclair back body drop. Grey and Henley get tags and Grey runs wild on both Reid and Henley. Grey pulls the straps down and tosses Henley halfway across the ring with a half-and-half suplex. Grey hits a running DDT and covers Henley for two. Henley hits a back elbow and Reid gets another blind tag. Grey hits a superkick on Henley but Reid yanks Grey neck-first onto the top rope as Henley hits a simultaneous German. Henley drives Sinclair off the apron and Reid smashes Grey with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Reid’s cover gets broken up at two when Sinclair bullies Henley onto the pile and then to the floor. Sinclair destroys Henley with a lariat. Grey counters another tilt-a-whirl with a stunner and then destroys Reid with a big back elbow. Grey covers and gets two. Grey slaps on the armbar but Reid prevents it and grabs a quick roll up for two. Grey tries for it again before sinking it in for real and Henley sprints into the ring only to get caught in the Final Wrench by Sinclair. Reid taps out finally and it’s over.

That was fifteen minutes of frenetic action to open the show. These ladies go FAST, friends. Reid is still a little awkward at times, but it didn’t actively hurt the match. Grey and Sinclair are a fun team and I’m really happy to see Sinclair leveling up right before our eyes, as she’s deserved this push for awhile now. Grey is going to really be the one to watch out of this four-some, though. She’s got the goods to be a big-timer on the main roster if she can stay healthy. The match itself was a bit too fast for my liking and the selling was kind of hit and miss, but everyone worked hard and as always, the PC crowd was into it. 3.25*

Winners – Grey/Sinclair (Grey armbar on Reid)

Grey grabs a mic post-match and tells Jacy Jayne that she’s going to take the Women’s title from her at Stand and Deliver. Lola Vice is out toting her AAA Mixed Tag Team Championship belt to tell Grey that everyone knows she’s going to hold a belt at some point but it’s not going to be at Stand & Deliver because she’s going to break Jayne’s jaw and win the title. Here’s Robert Stone out to make a number one contender’s match for NYC next week between Grey and Vice. Jayne puts the stink-mouth on both Grey and Vice as we go to commercials.

Sol Ruca is in the ring when the show returns and she mentions that part of her didn’t even want to say anything at all. Ruca says Zaria is not the Zaria she knew and thought they were stronger friends than where they are now. Ruca says that Zaria decided that Ruca wasn’t worth standing next to anymore. Ruca says she trusted Zaria as a partner and best friend and always gave her the benefit of the doubt. Ruca says she always got Zaria’s name out there whenever anyone mentioned her. Ruca tears up a little bit while saying that when Zaria couldn’t make her own moment, she decided to take Ruca out instead. Ruca believed they were better together and mentions all the events that they were at as a team. Ruca points out that she let Zaria defend AND LOSE her NXT Women’s North American championship, but she made sure Zaria got the call as well as her for Raw and Smackdown opportunities. Ruca says she sees Zaria, she hears her, and now she knows who she really is. Zaria finally emerges with a microphone to say that Ruca doesn’t get it because all Zaria wanted was them as a partnership. Zaria says Ruca didn’t give her anything and all she was was “Sol Ruca’s partner”. Zaria says the F5 she hit Ruca with was her taking back everything Ruca took from her. Zaria says it’s fitting that Ruca wants her at Stand & Deliver because that’s where it began and that’s where it will end. Zaria points out that Ruca kicked her off a ladder at Stand and Deliver last year to claim the Women’s North American title and she hated watching Ruca succeed because she was always going to have to stand behind her. Zaria says she does care and she knows that if Ruca’s standing she won’t be. Zaria says it’s about her finally choosing herself and if breaking Ruca is what she has to do, she will. Ruca wants to know how she’s the villain and tells Zaria that she gaslighted her and gave her the silent treatment. Zaria says she’s got it all wrong because Ruca isn’t the villain in her story, she’s the mistake. Zaria drops the mic and leaves.

The PC crowd is starting to turn on Ruca, there’s no getting around it. Now, that crowd is notorious for being, how can I put this nicely, up it’s own rear end…at times. I’ve said all along there’s a very fine line with this story and we’ll see how this goes outside the PC – I think Ruca will still be the babyface at S&D but the PLE crowds can be kind of smarky too. Just pointing it out. This was long and kind of chatty, but it’s sounding like it’s going to be a gimmick match and both of them used the word “stand” a lot so maybe LWS? We’ll find out soon, I’m sure.

Here’s Ricky Saints and Ethan Page backstage and Page admits that he wants to be NXT champion. Saints says he wants Hendry as well, and here’s a grumpy Josh Briggs interrupting to complain about Saints and Page complaining while he can’t get five seconds with Robert Stone. Briggs leaves and Page points out to Saints that he was the one who pinned Joe Hendry. Say his name and here’s NXT Men’s Champion Joe Hendry to say that if Saints doesn’t handle Tony D’Angelo tonight then Hendry will do it at Stand & Deliver. Saints promises that he’ll see Hendry at S&D and Page says it will be him, as Hendry leaves.

Kelani Jordan makes her entrance as we go to commercials.

Thea Hail vs Kelani Jordan

Hail went to the hair salon this week, and as Booker would say, I LIKE IT. Jordan does some acrobatics and slugs Hail. Hail hits a Thesz press and goes to ground and pound. There’s some rope-running and Jordan dumps Hail over to hit some ground and pound of her own. Jordan hits a snap suplex and covers Hail for two. Jordan rams Hail into a turnbuckle a couple of times but Hail blocks another attempt and runs Jordan’s face into a turnbuckle a bunch of times. Hail hits some double sledge blows and then a couple of back elbows. Hail has a suplex reversed and Jordan waggles her finger, but Hail springs up and slaps on the Kimura. Jordan smashes hail down but misses a rolling legdrop as Hail slips away. Hail leaps onto Jordan and puts the Kimura on again but Jordan falls and drives Hail into a middle turnbuckle. Jordan drops Hail with an X-Factor and then hits the One of a Kind split-legged moonsault. Jordan covers and gets three.

That was short and to the point. I don’t think I’m ever going to get a handle on Thea Hail’s booking but I guess her niche at this point is “scrappy underdog who rarely wins”. Jordan has been treading water since she dropped the TNA Knockouts title awhile back and she doesn’t really have a program for S&D unless this thing with Jaida Parker has legs so we’ll see if this win leads anywhere. 2*

Winner – Kelani Jordan (Split-Legged moonsault)

Post-match sees Jordan continue the attack on Hail before slapping on an armbreaker. Here’s Jaida Parker out to even the odds and smash Jordan around a bit. Parker barks at Jordan from the ring.

THE NXT SPOTLIGHT PRESENTED BY PROGRESSIVE is on Jasper Troy talking up how much he admires Booker T while being really pissed at Keanu Carver for his actions in Houston. Troy and Carver will meet in NYC next week and Troy promises to make Carver regret messing with Booker’s big night.

Tatum Paxley and Shiloh Hill are backstage and Hill knows where Monroe is by geo-scraping her location from a photo Monroe posted earlier. Hill says it’s weird that people post their whole lives online because there are creepy people out there. Paxley seems happy to have the info and Hill’s music hits so he cackles with Paxley and leaves. Hill makes his entrance as we go to commercials.

NXT Men’s North American Championship Gauntlet Eliminator: Shiloh Hill vs Jackson Drake vs Charles Dempsey vs Dion Lennox vs ???

Drake is fresh off of losing his Evolve Men’s championship last week (see Phred’s excellent recap for details – the link is above!). The rules for this match are as follows: Hill and Drake will start and a NEW SUPERSTAR will enter every three minutes until all five entrants have entered. Eliminations can occur at any point and must be by pinfall or submission. Got it? Good.

Hill trucks Drake down and covers for one. Drake grabs a roll up for one and then kicks Hill in the gut. Hill snaps off an armbreaker, and Drake responds by dropping Hill over the top rope. Drake hits a running dropkick and then puts the boots to Hill. Drake drops a knee on Hill’s chest and covers him for two. Drake kicks Hill in the back and then stomps on his face. Hill fires up with some rights but gets caught in a Side Russian Legsweep by Drake. Drake’s cover gets two, and then he wallops Hill with an elbow that also gets two. Drake gets dropped on the top rope and Hill then drops him belly first onto the mat. Hill hits a tilt-a-whirl slam and a standing reverse senton before covering and getting two. Hill yanks Drake up and runs him into a corner before smashing Drake with an elbow that gets two. Dion Lennox is out next and he smashes Drake and Hill around a bunch before ending the sequence with a huge spinebuster on Drake. We go to commercials.

Charles Dempsey entered during commercials and Birthright is out with him sans Lexis King who is not medically cleared. Dempsey is working over Lennox but Drake springs up as does Hill and everyone has sleepers sunk in. It breaks apart and Hill stacks everyone else in the middle of the ring for a triple pin attempt that gets two. Dempsey dumps Hill over and works a bridging submission. Drake breaks that up and he and Dempsey start slugging it out. On the floor, Lennox rams Hill through a barricade section before running in to waffle Dempsey and Drake with a combined German. Lennox and Dempsey start slugging it out and here’s Candice LeRae‘s voice to let us know that she’s sorry for interrupting this match but she’s tried everything to snap “him” out of this funk and nothing is working. LeRae thinks that the place they call home will finally do the trick, and here’s Sad John Wrestling being pushed out from the back as “Rebel Heart” plays. Gargano gets a huge pop and a chant as he enters to an immediate boot to the head from Drake. Drake gets smashed by a slingshot back suplex as Lennox covers Drake and gets two. Dempsey and Lennox start throwing uppercuts at each other and Dempsey yanks Lennox into an armbar submission. Lennox yanks Dempsey up for a slam and then gets walloped by a Drake dropkick that sends him to the floor. OTM rush in from outta nowhere and start beating the crap out of Lennox on the floor. Bronco Nima crushes Lennox with a curb stomp on the broken barricade from earlier and then he and Lucien Price run Lennox back into the ring. Hill yanks up Lennox for a pop up neckbreaker that gets three. Lennox is eliminated. We go to commercials.

Gargano has been doing the Sad John routine basically since he got kicked in the head by Drake after entering, and he’s still doing it when the show returns. Hill, Dempsey, and Drake are battling mid-ring and then Hill and Dempsey go to the floor. They slug it out and Drake hits both of them with a huge tope con hilo. Drake runs Hill back in and ascends for a 450 splash. Drake’s cover gets two. Dempsey hits a chop block on Drake but Drake fires up and dumps Dempsey to the floor with a lariat. Drake hits a tope suicida on Dempsey and then gets caught by a Hill backdrop neckbreaker that gets three. Jackson Drake is eliminated. Dempsey comes flying in and starts smashing Hill with elbows before covering and getting two. Dempsey yanks Hill over in a bridging suplex and then rolls over for a double underhook suplex that gets two. Dempsey gets caught with Hill’s backdrop neckbreaker and his subsequent cover gets three. Charlie Dempsey is eliminated. A pissed off Stacks Lorenzo and Uriah Connors yank Hill out of the ring following the Dempsey elimination and run Hill into the ring steps. Dempsey hits Hill with a German on the floor and then tosses him back in. LeRae pushes Sad John on top of a prone Hill and he gets a three count. Shiloh Hill gets eliminated.

Listen, we have a small but very vocal comment section here and I’m guessing this particular booking decision is going to have some traction on Wednesday morning and throughout the day. Gargano did not do one offensive wrestling move in this entire match and he’s in a title match at S&D? Sincerely, why? The character is completely useless on Smackdown and now it’s here in NXT just because Gargano is basically what passes for an active NXT legend at this point? Jesus wept. Anyway, of the four actual NXT competitors Hill and Drake really stood out for me, plus I got to see a Darkstate goober get smashed to bits with no repercussions! That was fun. Dempsey is just a body at this point, sadly. I think he could be doing more. Hill was excellent again and he’s a guy who can be something big if his creative stays…creative. The match rating is purely for the NXT guys because this finish and booking sucked the air right out of the room, despite the PC crowd loving it. 2.5*

Winner and new Number One contender for the NXT Men’s North American Championship – Johnny Gargano (stupidest pinfall ever on Hill)

Post-match sees NXT Men’s North American Champion Myles Borne come out to go face-to-face with a suddenly interested Gargano.

Here’s NXT Tag Team Champions Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes wondering what the hell is going on with this tag tournament after LeFleur and Knight were attacked, and Robert Stone says he’s got a team on standby. Once again, Josh Briggs wanders in to try to get a word but is immediately interrupted by an official to tell Stone that no one wants to ref the match between Keanu Carver and Jasper Troy next week due to safety concerns. Stone promises to handle it, and here’s a pissed off Jaida Parker to demand a match with Kelani Jordan. Stone makes it for NYC next week!

Niko Vance and Shawn Spears make their entrance as we go to commercials.

NXT Origins is on Tiffany Stratton and is the same piece that was shown on Raw – see Kat’s excellent recap for details!

Sarah Schreiber is backstage with OTM and they are still fired up about Darkstate. Nima says there’s a six man next week in New York City and Schreiber wants to know who their partner will be. A video board fires up behind the group and here’s TNA Men’s World Champion Mike Santana to tell everyone that when OTM put in the call, he was happy to answer it. Santana reminds everyone that it’s Madison Square Garden and everyone better pay their respects before stepping into Papi’s home.

This got me fired up because A. I LOVE MIKE SANTANA and B. I get to see him wreck Darkstate. Just a big old win-win for your boy Niz right there.

NXT Tag Team Tournament: The Culling (Niko Vance and Shawn Spears) vs Los Americanos (Rayo and Bravo)

The Americanos are taking the spot of LeFleur and Knight since they got a win over the Vanity Project last week. It’s Bravo and Spears to start and Spears works a wristlock before Bravo fires up with some acrobatics. Spears hits a kick and snaps Bravo over before cartwheeling and showing Bravo his ass flexing. Sure. Bravo hits a rana and then dances for the crowd. Rayo and Vance tag in and the Americanos get waffled by a double lariat from Vance. Vance takes some slaps from Rayo but then drives a knee into Rayo’s gut to cut that flurry off. Rayo grabs a quick roll up for two but then runs into a big back elbow from Vance. Vance doesn’t see a blind tag to Bravo and the Americanos team up to hit a double kick to Vance’s head. Spears charges in and he gets dumped to the floor before Bravo flies out to hit a cross-body. Vance catches Rayo’s attempt at one but Bravo comes flying in with a tope suicida to wipe out Vance. The Americanos dance mid-ring as we go to commercials.

Spears is tearing at Bravo’s mask when the show returns. Bravo fights out of it and ascends for a cross-body on a charging Spears. Vance and Rayo tag in and Rayo smashes both Culling guys around. Rayo ascends and hits Vance with a flipping neckbreaker. Bravo tags in and he and Rayo get caught by Vance who yanks up Bravo to slam him on Rayo. Bravo shakes it off and yanks up Vance for a body slam. Bravo hoists a charging Spears and puts him him in an airplane spin. Vance stops that and knees Bravo in the chin. Vance ascends but misses his dive as Rayo pulls Bravo to safety. Spears tags in and smashes Bravo into Rayo sending him off the apron. Spears yanks up Bravo for a Death Valley Driver that gets two. Rayo loads up his mask on the outside as Spears grabs a roll up on Bravo for two. Bravo kicks Spears right into a headbutt from Rayo through the ropes while Bravo headbutts a complaining Vance. Bravo headbutts Spears and covers him for three.

I will tell you that the loaded mask gimmick works better in Mexico than it does here and I can’t really explain why, it just does. Rayo and Bravo are obviously solid pros who’ve been around a long time so I don’t think this does much to hurt the Culling guys in the long run, but man oh man is Shawn Spears just another guy at this point. It’s rough times for the Culling kids at the moment in general. Rayo and Bravo move on to the finals. It was just a match, though, nothing you really have to seek out. 2.5*

Winners – Los Americanos (Bravo headbutt on Spears)

Here’s a very grumpy Keanu Carver with Robert Stone who tells him there isn’t a referee yet for next week’s match. Carver says it’s not his fault and here’s Josh Briggs to volunteer as ref for the match with Carver and Troy while pointedly telling Carver he’s not scared of him. Stone says if Briggs thinks he can handle it, it’s a done deal.

Here’s Tatum Paxley walking a hallway saying she’s here for Blake Monroe. We go to commercials.

Here’s Blake Monroe in a bath with the NA title belt next to her. There’s a knock at the door and it’s Tatum Paxley grabbing Monroe by the hair to say they’re going face to face next week and Monroe better bring that title belt. Joseph and Booker mention that Sexxy Red will be in St. Louis for Stand & Deliver and Booker is delighted, to say the least. They run down the card for next week and I’m excited for Kendal Grey-Lola Vice.

Tony D’Angelo vs Ricky Saints

Ethan Page is out with Saints. Saints gets a kick attempt turned into an ankle lock until he makes the ropes. They grapple and Saints gets caught by D’Angelo’s catch abilities. Saints gets dropped on his side by D’Angelo and Saints retreats to the floor. Saints trips over the ring steps as D’Angelo comes out to continue the fight. Saints fights out of a belly-to-belly attempt but D’Angelo shakes it off and presses Saints over his head and into the ring. Saints hits a slide kick on D’Angelo and then tries a cross-body, but D’Angelo catches him. Saints slips off D’Angelo’s shoulder and he drives D’Angelo into the ring steps as we go to commercials.

Saints has D’Angelo in a rear chinlock when the show returns. D’Angelo shoulders his way out of it but runs into a Saints neckbreaker that gets two. Saints slaps on another chin lock and D’Angelo fires him over before hoisting Saints for a Saito suplex. Page interferes and draws D’Angelo’s ire. Saints tries to use the distraction to try for his Revolution DDT, but D’Angelo catches him and drops Saints with a suplex. Saints hits a quick shotgun dropkick and then follows with a second. Saints hoists D’Angelo up but he slips off, so Saints runs the ropes and spears D’Angelo for two. Saints fires D’Angelo into a corner and then stomps on his back. Saints runs D’Angelo into the opposite corner and chops away. Saints kicks D’Angelo dead in the back and then bully kicks him in the head. D’Angelo fires up and he slaps the shit out of Saints before crushing him with a lariat. D’Angelo hits an overhead belly-to-belly and then waffles Saints in a corner with a running splash. D’Angelo hits another overhead belly-to-belly and then spears Saints down. Page jumps on the apron and eats a D’Angelo forearm. Page flies in and clips D’Angelo’s knee and the ref calls for the DQ.

Man, I hate DQ finishes in television main events something fierce. As a story-telling device, it’s lame as hell. D’Angelo tried his best here but Saints is just so bland and his offense is just so pedestrian. This is another not-so-great finish on a card with a lot of them tonight. Shawn’s having a rough week. Regardless, this was going along okay until the overbooking gremlin came in to play. 2.5*

No Winner – Page interference leads to a DQ

Post-match sees Page and Saints kicking the crap out of D’Angelo and here’s Joe Hendry out to prevent further damage. Hendry smashes Saints and Page around and sends them both to the floor. Hendry then yanks up D’Angelo for the Standing Ovation chokeslam and puts the stink-mouth on him. Page and Saints tug on the NXT title belt as D’Angelo grins up at Hendry. Hendry’s music plays as Joseph again runs down the card for the big NYC go-home show next week.

Sarah Schreiber is with Robert Stone and he makes a Fatal Four-way match for the NXT Men’s title for Stand & Deliver. There will be a contract signing in MSG next week. The credits roll and we’re out.

I enjoyed the opener tonight and then things kind of went off the rails from there. Jordan basically squashed Hail, the eliminator gauntlet pissed me (and apparently everyone else) right off with that horrendous finish, the tag match was kind of a wet fart, and the main event had a DQ finish to set up a match for S&D. Not a great night overall for Shawn and the crew, but I don’t blame the performers. Johnny Gargano being back for an S&D title match is just flat dumb, he’s fine in small doses when they do alumni nights but this thing with Borne has all the makings of a Gargano Special with a shit-ton of near-falls and endless finisher spamming. Things I liked: Kendal Grey moving forward and getting a shot to face Jacy Jayne if she can overcome Lola Vice next week, and Mike Santana showing up to team with OTM. I also think adding Josh Briggs into the mix with Carver and Troy could be interesting as long as whatever he’s booked to do isn’t….Briggsian. I guess we’ll see. Thumbs leaning down tonight, but there were some good things in the mix so it’s not a total downer.

Thanks for reading and commenting. Enjoy your week and make sure to visit all of the reviewers stuff, capisce?