NXT: Giulia vs. Roxanne set for CW debut

Thomas Starr

Giulia challenges Roxanne for The CW debut.

Tuesday night was the follow up to the critically acclaimed NXT No Mercy. If you have not watched No Mercy, it was a good show. WWE announced four matches for this show and a follow up to Ridge Holland turning on Chase U.

Trick Williams started the show. Booker T was so annoying when he walked out. The “Oh yeah, man!” routine is aggravating.

Trick calls out Dunne, but Ethan Page comes out instead. Page had penny loafers with no socks on. That is heat. He looked like such a jerk.

Ethan and Trick traded barbs, but Dunne interrupted by attacking Trick. In the middle of the pull apart, they went to Hank and Tank walking backstage and, by chance, running into Gallus.

As Gallus walked away, Jaida Parker was walking in and ran into Fatal Influence, by chance of course. The fake Kardashian said Jaida was missing something. That line would have made more sense if Jaida had been champion going into her match, but okay.

Gallus vs. Hank and Tank vs. The Rascalz – Number One Contenders

Tank came out with a World War 2 helmet on. Meanwhile, Hank was slapping his stomach. Okay.

Hank did the lawn dart spot with Trey Miguel, trying to throw him onto the top turnbuckle. He put too much force into it and Miguel nearly landed face first on the exposed metal connecting the turnbuckle to the post.

The typical light-hitting missed spots from the Rascalz. Hank and Tank managed to pick up the energy, but they did some bad looking spots as well.

To make things even messier, Je’Von Evans and Luke Gallows got involved. The Rascalz won.

Winner: The Rascalz

Thoughts: A hideous mess of a match.

Another triple threat mess to determine a number one contender. This is so lazy. Gallus and Hank and Tank could have had a nice little match and decided a number one contender. A mess of a match does nothing for anyone involved, no matter how much the crowd says it is awesome.

The Rascalz can stay on TNA’s programming. The thigh-slaps, the strikes that clearly miss, and the convoluted spots look indie.

Axiom and Nathan Frazer were backstage when The Rascalz showed up. They will face each other next week for the tag titles. My personal nightmare continues.

Lexis King vs. Oro Mensah

Lexis King’s entrance with the throne was a good visual. A typical modern match until Lexis told Oro he wished his father “burned to ashes.” Oro went crazy, but Lexis rolled him up and put his feet on the ropes. Lexis won.

Winner: Lexis King

Thoughts: Boring match with a bad finish.

I went down a rabbit hole trying to find out what Oro’s name means. I thought there would be a story behind it, but if there is I could not find it. The best I could find is a bad translation of “Gold Third-Born Boy.”

On another note, Oro once went by the name Mr. Exotic Erotic. That name is somehow less marketable than Oro Mensah. Wow.

He is part of the faction Meta-Four, too. Barry Darsow did not have as many bad gimmicks as this guy.

Lexis King stealing Christian’s gimmick is lame. Oro’s reaction was so over the top it was comedy.

Oba Femi interrupted The Family. Adriana Rizzo confronted him. Oba said, “In some cultures, the women are seen and not heard.” Yikes!

Tony said he is not done with Oba. Stacks is going to face Oba for the honor of the family.

No Quarter Catch Crew are walking in the back and just happen to run into Gallus. Gallus is kicking some plywood and metal pipes. Wren Sinclair tried to challenge Gallus, but Dempsey told her she needed to get that head right. He tapped her on the forehead when he said this. That was so weird.

Tatum Paxley vs. Rosemary

Wendy Choo was at ringside. Tatum inexplicably thought she and Rosemary could be friends. At the start of the match. So, she thought her opponent, who is partnering with Tatum’s rival, could be her friend. Tatum hit some weird move, that the announcers did not identify, for the win.

Wendy Choo jumped Tatum after the match. Rosemary threw some horrible punches at the air near Tatum’s head. Lyra Valkyria made a surprise save.

Winner: Tatum Paxley

Thoughts: Bad match.

Rosemary is being used as a jobber, which is what she should be. The problem is she is not good at it.

Paxley looked bad. I do not know if that was the opponent or her or both, but I did not like this match.

Trick and Pete started fighting again backstage. Ava screeched that they needed to go to the ring right now. She then shook her head like a disappointed parent sending her kids to timeout. Ethan Page saved this scene by mentioning to Ava that she has “lost control.” That was funny and heelish.

Pete Dunne vs. Trick Williams

The fight started as soon as both men were out. They were in and out of the ring throughout the match. Trick teased doing a Rock Bottom through the announce table, but Dunne turned it into a Russian Leg Sweet. Both men crashed through the table and were counted out, which led to another pull apart.

Winner: Double count out.

Thoughts: Decent match. The finish was flat.

I am not sure why these two hate each other so much. The announcers did not explain it well either.

The execution was significantly better here. Both men could be on the main roster. Obviously, Pete Dunne already is.

Trick’s push had stalled, so it was good seeing him get involved with Ethan Page. I am assuming they matched him with Dunne to gain experience with a veteran worker. His feud with Dunne is not over, though.

Ridge Holland did a promo explaining his heel turn. He said Duke Hudson always criticized him. He called the group mediocre. Next week, he starts his destruction of the group.

Shawn Spears ran into Brooks Jensen backstage. He thanked Brooks for helping him. Then he walked to a nearby corner. A wrestler who was sitting on a nearby equipment trunk, walked up and said Brooks was being manipulated by Spears. They did not identify the wrestler, and I had never seen him before.

Je’Von Evans vs. Joe Coffey

Je’Von did a dive in front of the announce table and went over Coffey and landed flat on the announce table.

Gallus tried to interfere, but Cedric Alexander took the other two members out. The distraction allowed Je’Von Evans to get the win.

Winner: Je’Von Evans

Thoughts: Okay match.

I said it last week, but Coffey is so much bigger than Evans that it makes the match look ridiculous to me. I did not recognize Cedric when he came out, but it was nice to see him back on TV.

Lyra Valkyria and Tatum Paxley had a strange moment backstage. They are going to team up against Rosemary and Choo. I thought for a minute they were going to kiss. It was weird.

Ava announced a Last Man Standing match between Dunne and Williams. She then made some weird faces at the camera. She is so awkward.

Oba Femi vs. Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo

Booker was unbearable at the beginning of the match. He busted out the “shucky shucky quack quack” catchphrase. Then he screeched and peaked the mic.

Oba hit Stacks repeatedly in the back. The announcers pointed out the welts forming on Stacks’ back. Oba picked him up for a slam and dropped his legs into the ropes. He then stomped on Stacks’ leg. Brutal.

Stacks made a comeback and took Oba off his feet. It did not last long, and Oba won with a popup powerbomb.

Winner: Oba Femi

Thoughts: Good match.

This was hard-hitting and well-executed. Stacks did an excellent job of making Oba look like a monster.

Oba Femi is a star. I do not know how long they will keep him on NXT, but he has everything he needs to be a main roster player.

Ashanti “The” Adonis presented a rose to Eddie Thorpe’s two female friends. Thorpe asked what he was doing. Ashanti said if Thorpe is not going to do anything with the two women, he is.

Wren Sinclair was backstage talking to Je’Von Evans. She interviewed him for a match with Dempsey. I mean that literally. She was interviewing him for a match with someone else. Wren said he could have the match and to go tell Ava. This is bizarre.

Jaida Parker vs. Jazmyn Nyx

Fatal Influence are Fallon Henley (The Cowgirl), Jacy Jayne (The Boy George Impersonator), and Jazmyn Nyx (The Fake Kardashian).

Nyx is in her Valentine’s Day lingerie. Jaida is in her French Maid outfit. What am I watching?

Nyx had Jaida on the mat and front flipped onto her. Nyx landed wrong and dropped her butt right into Parker’s stomach.

You could tell Nyx has a limited move set because she repeated the same routines.

Parker hit a hip check to win. It looked bad. Then it got worse when the rest of Fatal Influence jumped Jaida. Henley threw some horrible punches.

Winner: Jaida Parker

Thoughts: Bad match.

Both women need new gear. Jaida is a D1 level athlete and should look the part. This French Maid ring gear looked like she picked it up at Walmart. She has potential, though.

Nyx’s work is bad. Not much else to say. I do not know what her ceiling is, but it does not look high.

The entire women’s locker room got together to talk about Giulia and Roxanne. Fatal Influence made fun of them. Kelani Jordan said they do not need Fatal Influence sowing bad seeds in the locker room. Whatever.

Roxanne came out for an in-ring promo. They went into an overrun. It was past my bedtime by the time Roxanne came out.

This segment was overly rehearsed. Roxanne delivered lines instead of doing a promo. Her body movements were mechanical.

Chelsea Green came out and the crowd got behind her. She referred to Roxanne as “fun sized.” That was funny. She stated she was the number one contender. The energy picked up the moment she came out.

Now Giulia enters. Chelsea confronted her and Giulia laid her out. Giulia got on the mic and said, “Me, you, CW.” Then she dropped the mic.

Overall thoughts: Ethan Page was a highlight anytime he was on-screen. The final segment was good once Chelsea came out. She was obviously there to take bumps for Giulia, but it worked. Oba Femi and The Family is my favorite feud on NXT. The rest of the show ranged from boring to bizarre to bad.

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