On the cusp of signing with Smackdown, “Badass” Bron Breakker pulled a Vince Carter and showed, “I got one more in me.” Alongside Baron Corbin, who himself has had a career resurgence in NXT, The Wolf Dogs went all-in on their Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament win, defeating the NXT Tag Team Champions The D’Angelo Family in tonight’s main event. Corbin captured his first WWE championship in six years, and for Breakker, it’s another addition to a soon-to-be long list.
Noam Dar and Oro Mensah vs Von Wagner and Mr. Stone
NXT’s cold open opens with cold cucumbers on Dar’s eyes in preparation, but Wagner and Stone disrupt the pre-match ritual. Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson ask Stone’s two boys where they went, and the kids point in different directions. “Sneak attack [was a] success,” they say. Stone is still cut out of it, but Meta-Four dominates over him until Wagner makes the comeback to rare “Von” chants. Stone hits an assisted splash, and a wildly energetic Wagner attempts a powerbomb on Dar. But the numbers game from Meta-Four leads to the latter’s cheat pinfall victory.
Winners: Noam Dar and Oro Mensah
A package recaps Carmelo Hayes’ eventful last Tuesday, where he verbally denounced “hype man” Trick Williams and attacked NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov.
Class is back in session at Chase University – including Andre Chase’s podium and Duke Hudson’s MVP trophy. The segment leans heavy into bad sitcom vibes as Jacy Jayne pays back The Family’s debt collection to Adriana Rizzo; everyone else pretends not to hear.
Ridge Holland vs Gallus – Gauntlet Match
The spirit of Big E continues through Holland as big meaty men slap meat, starting with Wolfgang. The feud has been contrarily spiritless, and Exhibit A, Holland gets the first pinfall in picture-in-picture. Mark Coffey enters next, and Holland fights back desperately until questionable interference from Joe Coffey cuts the match short. Holland goes nuts on Gallus with a steel chair, then snaps out of it in disbelief.
Winner: N/A
Lexis King rubs salt in Wagner and Stone’s wounds, telling the latter his kids deserve a winner to look up to. It’s easy to start rivalries with somebody as slimy as King.
Dar and Mensah find No Quarter Catch Crew admiring the Heritage Cup Championship, and Charlie Dempsey especially respects the years of British wrestling history. The group plans on bringing heritage back to the Heritage, but Meta-Four has been doing an entertaining job regardless.
Lola Vice vs Tatum Paxley
Vice shows aggression with her MMA background and controls the opening minutes. Tables turn when NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria joins her stalker Paxley, who continues fighting with her ringside motivation. Vice ultimately makes Paxley pass out with a leg triangle, and Valkyria empathetically carries her away.
Winner: Lola Vice
“Legal Eagle” Luca Crusifino wishes Tony D’Angelo good luck tonight – “The Don” could use an addition like this. Rizzo is fired up for her match, telling D’Angelo and Stacks to stay back via Ava’s orders.
Smackdown’s Shotzi brings Twitter fingers to a face-to-face, letting Valkyria know about their NXT Women’s Championship match next week with attitude. Paxley coincidentally revives herself after Valkyria slips that they aren’t really friends.
Adriana Rizzo vs Jaida Parker
Their encounter at Vengeance Day was a show lowlight, but maybe sans The Family and OTM distractions disappear. The bright lights are at least dimmer this time, and Parker’s offense connects with Orlando. She evidently shines more than Rizzo, and a final forearm blow gives Parker the win.
Winner: Jaida Parker
Cinematic cameras catch Dijak rewatching his run-in with Joe Gacy from last week, in his lair somewhere, and their discount Batman and Joker saga continues.
The Wolf Dogs have a lot on their minds: money trucks from Nick Aldis and celebrations with Travis Kelce in particular. But Baron Corbin promises to say “Wolf Dogs” if they dial and win the NXT Tag Team Championships tonight.
Carmelo Hayes vs Joe Gacy
Like a Detroit football team, Hayes has got his swagger back; to give Gacy credit too, he debuts a cool upside-down camera angle for his entrance. Orlando is subsequently split and vocal, but Gacy notably gets some love for his tactic of crawling under the ring and hitting a dive thereafter. After commercial, Gacy hits a snappy comeback before an action-packed back-and-forth, but Hayes comes out on top with Nothing But Net.
Winner: Carmelo Hayes
Dijak assaults a fallen Gacy with his nightstick and forces him into a straitjacket. The former continues the beatdown to tongue-in-cheek “free Joe Gacy” chants, but madman Gacy enjoys it anyway.
Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson bring personality into a Karmen Petrovich, Kehlani Jordan and Brinley Reece backstage segment. Jordan steps up to them and questions what Noam Dar sees in Legend. On the other hand, Roxanne Perez storms into another locker room with a right hand for Wren Sinclair – but it’s hard to take her new direction at all seriously.
“Goodness is a man’s struggle. Evil however, is human nature,” is the second vignette message for NXT’s unknown new face.
North American Champion Oba Femi speaks in-ring with unison tribal chants from Orlando behind him. “Send anyone… but don’t send anyone you want back,” Femi says. Lexis King understands the assignment and claims he softened up Dragon Lee for him before connecting with a cheap-shot. He scurries away, and Femi accepts a championship match for next week.
Josh Briggs talks shop with Dion Lennox and a debuting Je’Von Evans before former partner Brooks Jenson jumps him to “grow some balls.” Ava fails to cool tensions, but she has a potential-full tag split rivalry on her hands.
Kiana James vs Brinley Reece
Vic Joseph calls James the most calculated woman in NXT, a pun he’s surely proud of. The division itself, however, is in a creative drought with competitors like Reece being inauthentic, interchangeable fodder. Izzi Dame gives James the advantage, and the latter gets the win pretty easily.
Winner: Kiana James
Ava scolds Perez for hitting Sinclair like a middle schooler, but the culprit agrees to a match next week if it means getting another shot at the NXT Women’s Championship.
Edris Enofe and Malik Blade wait for a disappointed Reece, but she’s instead even more motivated. Blade realizes their team has “no excuses” – and NXT has no excuses for not spotlighting them more.
Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker vs Stacks and Tony D’Angelo (c) – NXT Tag Team Championships
NXT 2.0 poster boys Breakker and D’Angelo square off, but it’s crystal clear who has progressed more. The Family controls through picture-in-picture, but Corbin reverses momentum with Deep Six. D’Angelo makes a comeback with suplexes, what he does best, but The Wolf Dogs fight back with their innovative offense. They lariat one another to the floor consecutively to a standing ovation from Orlando, and Breakker gets double-slammed through the announce table. Corbin hits End of Days on Stacks, but a rabid Breakker spears D’Angelo to win the NXT Tag Team Championships to “you deserve it” chants.
Winners: Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker
NXT 2/13/24
Orlando, FL
It’s been great seeing names like Carmelo Hayes and Bron Breakker come into their own as the stars they are. For a lot of the newcomers featured tonight though, it’s hard to envision similar success.
