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NXT: Tag Team title Tuesday & do you smell what Schism is cooking?

Boris Roberto Aguilar

Greetings and Salutations! I’ll be taking over the NXT report until mid-December. I have covered just about every other promotion including GCW so I am pumped to get into NXT. I already have an NXT podcast over at Sunday Nights Main Event so this is just natural for me as I am already taking notes for the show.

We are coming off the latest Premium Live Event, Halloween Havoc and tonight it is Tag Team Title Tuesday. Both the Men’s and the Women’s Tag Team Titles are on the line. Also, from the fallout of Halloween Havoc we have Lash Legend vs Shotzi. We are also getting a new member of Schism being unveiled. This episode looks to be interesting as we begin setup towards WWE NXT Deadline on December 10th. Without further ado, let’s get to it!

The show started with a rundown from Halloween Havoc and the final shot was Bron Breakker holding the NXT title up. We go to the performance center and both women’s teams are already in the ring waiting for the intros from Alicia Taylor.

Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Zoey Stark and Nikkita Lyons for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships

Lyons and Carter start the match and locked up. They are performing holding combos and this ended with both on the floor and Lyons in a splits position while they squared off face to face. Stark was tagged in and took down Carter with a helluva lariat for but it was only good enough for a two-count. Chance tagged into the match and her and Carter double teamed Stark with some great double team action including a plethora of sliding offense. Chance went for a huracanrana on Stark but Stark on her way down turned this into a handstand. Chance then hit Stark with a Huracanrana. Lyons was back into the match and used her Karate background on Chance for a two-count. Lyons then hit Chance with a Torture rack. Carter made her way back into the match and ate a kick from Lyons. Lyons quickly locked in a reverse ankle lock.

Chance came back into the match and got a victory roll for a two-count on Stark. The Champs then kicked Lyons off the apron to separate the challengers from each other. Stark and Lyons eventually hit planchas on the champs and Lyons hit a back body slam as we went into picture and picture.

The intensity of the match continued with some hard hitting action as Carter hit Lyons with a jawbreaker. Lyons hit Chance with a Bossman Slam but it was only good enough for a two-count. Chance and Carter once again teamed up against Lyons and got a pin attempt that was broken up by Stark as she shoved Carter into Lyons and Chance. Stark officially tagged back in and hit Chance with a Snake Eyes followed by a Half and Half suplex. Chance reversed the GTS to a rollup for a two count. A quick tag happened from the champs and Carter went for a standing kick but Stark reversed this for a rollup and THE PIN!

Winners: AND NEW NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions – Zoey Stark and Nikkita Lyons

After the match Chance complained to the ref that she wasn’t legal as she tagged out. A second referee came out and had words with the original ref and instructions were given to Alicia Taylor. The match would re-start right away….

Chance hit Stark with a top rope Spanish Fly for a very close nearfall that easily could have been the end of the match! The crowd is loving every second of this. Carter was tagged into the match and Stark hit a German Suplex. Lyons quickly came back into the match and hit Chance off the apron. Lyons with a Tornado Kick and her Leg Drop Pin for another close two-count as Chance used her speed and agility to fly in and break the pin. Carter and Lyons traded kicks and this got Lyons on dream street. Chance and Carter hit their 450-Backbreaker combo finisher for the WIN!

Winners: AND STILL NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions – Katana Chance and Kayden Carter

A video package aired. It ran through the main event of NXT Halloween Havoc, where Bron Breakker beat JD McDonagh and Ilja Dragunov to retain the NXT Championship. Dragunov said that McDonagh stopped him from fulfilling his destinty so he now vows to eliminate McDonagh once and for all. This set up a match for later in the night.

Wes Lee is seen walking towards ringside from the back

A promo aired for a returning superstar. Its quite obvious who it is and he was even talked about in the Post Halloween Havoc Scrum but I’ll let you find it if you are curious….

Wes Lee in-ring Promo

The newly crowned NXT North American Champion Wes Lee came out to a great ovation from the NEXTRAS (NXT crowd). He thanked the fans for their support and said that he never thought he’d be a champion, much less even making it into WWE. Lee said that winning the belt after some dark times makes him feel loved and validated and he is forever grateful to everyone.

Grayson Waller interrupted and made his way into the ring. Waller said that Lee deserves nothing. He then somehow tried to justify his loss from Halloween Havoc and have it come off as a win. He aid that he technically won his match on Saturday. He said mocked Lee for just climbing a ladder a=and winning a belt as he does that every weekend at Home Depot….

R-Truth interrupted Waller and rapped his way to the ring. He welcomed fans to Halloween Havoc (LOL). Truth then made fun of Waller’s British accent.

Waller was upset and told Truth that he’s in fact Australian. There was a lot of back and forth where Truth thought it was Halloween Havoc but Waller and Lee told him that it already passed. Truth then gave in and put his attention to Lee and congratulated him for his title win as Lee showed off his belt to Truth. Waller was getting frustrated by all of this and said that he wants a shot at R-Truth in his house. Waller said that he will give Truth an extra week to prepare. Waller then went for a cheap shot on Truth but Truth dodged it and punched Waller. Lee then punched Waller. Truth kicked Waller to the ground and threw him out the ring. Truth accepted the match for next week.

In the locker room, Malik Blade and Edris Enofe were chatting. They reference Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” and say that they will make the most to their title opportunity tonight.

In the ring, Quincy Elliot introduced Shotzi.

The hardest working reporter in all of professional wrestling, Mackenzie Mitchell interviewed Apollo Crews. Mitchell asked if Waller is now behind Crews. Crews said that Waller is very talented but very annoying and he’s moving onto his original focus for returning to NXT which is to win the NXT Championship. He said he went off-course but the vision is clear now and he’s very interested in what Bron Breakker has to say as he will be on NXT next week.

Lash Legend vs Shotzi

The match started off with Leen tossing Shotzi around the ring and really dominating the early parts of the match. Legend chopped Shotzi down, a drop toehold was blocked. Legend then stomped Shotzi some more and rought her back up and hit a Float over slam and threw her to the corner. Legend continued to dominate Shotzi int he match and put a boot to Shotzi in the corner. Elliot said something to Legend which distracted her and this gave Shotzi the small window she needed to get back into the match.

After a bit of offense from Shotzi, Legend hit a scoop and slam on Shotzi which was only good for a two-count. Legend now locked in a Stretch Muffler on Shotzi. Shotzi eventually escaped via desperation as she reached the roped for the break and began to fight her life with punches and kicks to Legend. Shotzi with a head kick to Legend. Shotzi then hit a Never Wake Up which spiked Legend’s head to the ring. Shotzi goes for the pin and win.

Winner: Shotzi

We see the Creed Brothers and Ivy Nile high fiving each other in the gym as we go to commercial.

Creed Brothers make their entrance to the ring and Vic Joseph announced that Brutus has 5 minute with Damon Kemp in the ring.

Creed Brothers Promo

Julius got on the mic and said that his hands are still battered and bloodied from Saturday. He said that he put his body through hell but it was worth saving his brothers career and now Brutus gets to put the final punctuation mark on Kemp’s lesson. Brutus grabbed the mic and thanked his brother and said that he loves him but now its his turn (With Kemp)

Damon Kemp appeared on the Tron and said that Julius was lucky at their match. He said that he’s not medically cleared for the five minutes with Brutus so he will see him later. Brutus said that every extra day he has to wait, the ass-whooping will get worse and worse and worse because its Diamond Mine Forever (Forever….Forever…Forever).

As the Creed’s shake hands, Sanga and Veer Mahaan attacked the Creed’s and laid waste to them. Ivy Niles came out to check on the Creeds and questioned Veer and Sanga WHY.

Pretty Deadly are in the back and they discuss their match with Enfoe and Blade saying that they couldn’t lace their boots. They ended their promo with a “Sideplate check”

Gigi Dolin is tanning as we get a facetime/cell phone promo. Mandy Rose connected to the call from a car. They didn’t know where Jacy Jayne was. Dolin connects her to the call and she was at the gym. Gigi Joked that Jayne was at the gym getting buff to fight zombies. Rose talked about how Toxic Attraction beat Alba Fyre. They all get cocky about beating Fyre. Rose then announced that next week we will have a celebration in dedication for her one year title reign.

Entrances take place for the Men’s Tag Team Title match. Malik Blade and Edris Enofe are out first. Blade’s sweater vest game is on point. It was pointed out by the commentary team that Blade wears the sweater vests in honor of his father. Pretty Deadly came out. Alicia Taylor handled the formal entrances…

“Pretty Deadly” Kit Wilson and Elton Prince vs. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade for the NXT Tag Team Championships

Blade and Wilson got the match started and Blade hit a Shotgin dropkick and tagged in Enofe. Enofe with a blockbuster on Wilson followed up by a quick elbow drop from Blade and a quick pin but Prince barely broke it up to save an upset from happening. Pretty Deadly cut the ring off from Blade as he got beat up. Pretty Deadly with uppercuts, back elbows, quick tags, and punishment. Blade hit Wilson to stop the offense and tagged Enofe in.

Enife and Blade have complete control of the champions as they send them to the outside of the ring. During the break, Pretty Deadly recaptured control of the match and Prince bodyslammed Enofe and quickly hit a knee to the face. Elton with a devastating Lariat on Enofe. Wilson was back in the match and Enfoe slingshots back into the ring and tagged Blade in. Blade with the hot tag and took down the champions with lariats and axehandles. Blade sent Prince outside the ring and Blade goes over the top and hit a Tope con Giro (Summersault Plancha) onto Prince. Blade threw Prince into the ring and hit a crossbody but all of this was only good enough for a two-count.

The champions make a comeback as they hit an assisted gutbuster for a two-count of their own. After some back and forth, Enofe connected with a diving Knee on Wilson followed by a shoulder block from Blade but Wilson kicked out at the very last millisecond. Enfoe with a Fireman’s Carry but his knee gave out. Prince now with a low bridge and Wilson threw Blade to the turnbuckles. Both legal men trade victory rolls and Prince kicked out from one with another super close pin. Prince then tagged in Wilson and Pretty Deadly recovered and hit Blade with Spilled Milk on Blade for the victory.

Winners: AND STILL NXT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS – Pretty Deadly

We get a promo with a well lit but creepy JD McDonagh. JD said that Ilja is like a disease to him that keeps spreading and keeps ocming baclk. JD said that he likes being known as “Neccesary Evil”. JD mentioned that he wants to draw our pain from Ilja in their first one on one match in North America. JD ended the promo by saying that Ilja will be damage beyond repair after their match and will regret the day he came to NXT.

Zoey Stark is backstage and looks angry and depressed. Stark said she had the tag team titles in the palm of her hands and they were just taken away from her. She called Carter and Chance the luckiest two in WWE eight now. Nikkita Lyon’s enters stage left and apologized to Stark. Stark then got angry at herself saying she didn’t notice the tag but they need to focus on the rematch that they have and they will win the titles the next time around.

Schism Gets a New Member

All of Schism came out with masks on and are ready to introduce their new member to the group. Joe Gacy got on the mic and said that pride and arrogance are commonplace in WWE and they have the strength from being and staying humble and together. He said that the three behind him understand that togetherness is the greatest accomplishment and their mission is clear. He then challenged the three members to remove their masks and join Schism or be torn down.

Rip Fowler was up first. he took off his mask and said that NXT is a den of selfishness and greed envious of others good fortunes. He said that fans and wrestlers alike put themselves before the greater good.

Jagger Reed was up next as he took off his mask je said that wrath is a manipulative state and for one to be truly healthy you must learn to control it. Anger divides but love builds and the Schism only grows stronger as they unite.

Gacy said that there are people in the world who appear to have everything in the world. There are people who appear to have everything once could ever want but the reality is that they are still empty and depleted on the inside. He said that the Dyad learned the path to everlasting unity comes from showing their true selves. It is now time for the next step. He turned to the last masked member and challenged them to reveal their true self as there is no going back.

The last masked member slowly took off their hoodie and as they take their mask off they said that the love and acceptance of Schism has given her defies any preconceived notions of who she was supposed to be. She said THIS Family completes her. She unmasks completely and it was revealed to be Ava Raine (Real life daughter of The Rock).

The hardest working reporter in all of professional wrestling, Mackenzie Mitchell is with Sol Ruca backstage. Ruca she said she is nervous for her match tonight against Indie Hartwell. Before Ruca can say more, Indie enters the shot and said that doing tricks and flips to wow the audience would only taker her so far in NXT. Its all about winning and shes going to learn that right now.

Back from commercial we cut to a recording of someone calling the WWE Performance Center front desk. This person, who sounds like Soundwave from Transformers encouraged everyone to let go of their pain and vow to rip NXT apart.. The person ended the promo saying their name was SCRYPTS….

Indi Hartwell vs. Sol Ruca

If you blink, you could have missed this match as it was a super squash. Hartwell had control through the match and hit a few slams on Ruca. Ruca got some quick offense as she scoop slammed Hartwell and got a two count. Hartwell came back with a series of clotheslines and gave Ruca a Northern Forearm for the quick win.

Winner: Indi Hartwell

After the match, Elekta Lopez left both women lying on the floor after she attacked them. Elektra gave Ruca a Blue Thunder Bomb. She yelled that La Madrina is back and coming for each and everyone of you…

We go to Chase U. Bodhi Hayward was missing. Duke Hudson said he wasn’t sure where Hayward was. Chase said that Hayward was supposed to give his report on WWE Holiday traditions. Hudson was in Hayward’s seat. Hudson was reluctant to take notes which made Chase angry as he berated him. Hudson Apologized and stole a pen from a classmate.

Ilja Dragunov made his entrance for the main event. We get a promo for the NXT Deadline Premium Live Event.

A Roxanne Perez sit-down promo aired. She said she didn’t like the person that she was forced to become at Halloween Havoc. She said it was two best friends destroying each other. Perez was not sorry though. She claimed that Cora Jade is afraid of Perez’s potential. Perez said that she may have lost a friend but she found new belief in herself. She ended the promo by saying she will stay true to who she is and why she’s there.

Edris Enofe and Malik Blade were leaving the performance center very upset about losing their title shot. Odyssey Jones pulled up in a pickup with women literally hanging out the windows. Elliot invited them to party. Enofe was content to join them and Blade eventually gave in and literally jumped in the truck.

Next Week:

Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh

Dragunov ran to the ring and attacked JD. He hit a German Suplex but JD answered that with some chops to the chest of Ilja. Dragunov then tried to gain the advantage as he punched JD. JD turned things around and whipped Dragunov to the ropes and sent him right outside infront of the commentators ribs first. As soon as Dragunov landed he clearly had a hard time breathing and WWE trainers and medical staff flew to check up on him as we go into commercial.

Back from the commercial, Dargunov was cleared to continue but he is visibly not at 100% anymore. JD dominated the match and put the boots to the mid section of Dragunov. After a slew of attacks aimed at his ribs, Dargunov was able to come back with a bit of offense of hsi won. Dragunov hit JD with some punches and stiff moves then went for a suplex but his ribs stopped him from delivering the move. Both men were down and Dragunov charged him with a knee in the corner and a dive. JD was able to block a Senton attempt from Dragunov and hit knees to his ribs which further injured Dragunov.

The two men brawled on the top rope and Dargunov hit a superplex on JD and followed this up with a basement forearm. Dragunov was ready to hit a Torpedo Moscow but he collapsed from the rib injuries. JD then reversed another Torpedo mosow attempt with a Rear Naked Choke and adjusted it into a reverse crossface. Dragunov’s face was going red and blue and blood began running down his mouth. The referee kept checking on Dargunov as JD yelled at Dargunov to tap out. Dragonuv eventually passed out and the referee put a stop to the match.

Winner: JD McDonagh

As the match ended JD McDonagh wouldn’t let go of the crossface. He eventually did and medics came out to check on Ilja Dragunov. They set up a stretcher as JD stared at Ilja with a half smirk on his face as the show closed…

3.8

NXT: October 25, 2022

This was a very strong episode of NXT. Long are the days of short matches and embarrassing skits. The two title matches delivered and while the women’s match may have been overbooked with a Faux Dusty Finish and restart, it kept all four women strong and sets the stage for a rematch that will deliver.

The men’s Tag Team Title match was also very strong. I have been following Pretty Deadly since their NXT UK days and am so happy they are picking up momentum stateside. Blade and Enofe worked great and overall surprised me. The match had some great close pins but the right team won.

Sanga was looking super promising as a face so immediately I fear for him being a heel again with Veery but I am willing to see where they go with this.

Indi Hartwell needed a win badly so hopefully this is the start of rehabbing her current NXT run. Elektra is back!

The main event was fantastic. It furthered JD being a sick F*CK and showed that Ilja Dragunov has no quit and all fight in him. Even in a loss Dragunov looks strong.

Overall, this episode was strong with some furthering of overall stories and setting the stage for major stories as we head to NXT Deadline on December 10. I am looking forward to the upcoming weeks of NXT TV.

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