“You’re out here popping off like your knees ain’t got no expiration date,” TNA Champion Trick Williams said about The Undertaker during last night’s Monday Night Raw break. After disrespecting LFG’s Team Undertaker on Tuesday and main-eventing a record-breaking TNA Slammiversary on Sunday, he heads to Houston, Texas, to meet the “American Badass.”
Houston’s own Booker T opens the episode onstage, hyping up the roughly 1,500 in attendance at the 713 Musical Hall. He gets a little too excited, mistakenly calling Blake Monroe “Monica Monroe” instead.
Zaria, Sol Ruca, Hank Walker and Tank Ledger vs The Culling
The four-on-four tag team match jumpstarts to “NXT” chants, and Niko Vance and Shawn Spears gain the upper hand. Corey Graves aptly calls The Culling a “well-oiled machine,” especially after replacing Brooks Jensen with Tatum Paxley. Jensen, meanwhile, quietly debuted on WWE Evolve on Tubi recently. The opposition hit quadruple powerslams and “honk honks” on Vance before commercial in their fun Tune Squad-esque get-ups. Women’s North American Champion Ruca receives the hot tag, riding the wave of rising fan support. She hits opposing outside dives with Izzi Dame, and Zaria F5s Spears before the latter hands Paxley her toy doll. The lights dim, and Darkstate broods around the arena, lending Paxley the incognito victory.
Winners: The Culling
Footage from earlier shows NXT General Manager Ava banning Jordynne Grace from the building, but “The Juggernaut” plans on getting to Blake Monroe regardless.
“Shucky ducky quack quack!” is in order for Jacy Jayne, who made history at TNA Slammiversary for reigning as both NXT Women’s and TNA Knockouts Champion. With Fatal Influence, she brags in-ring before Lash Legend and Jaida Parker interrupt consecutively to Houston’s warm welcomes. Fallon Henley and Jazmyn Nyx refuse Jayne’s request to attack, and Legend and Parker clear the ring, uniting for now.
Backstage, Ricky Saints asks Je’Von Evans for tips on tonight’s opponent Jasper Troy. They tell each other not to overthink, and Evans says he’ll be watching. After break, Myles Borne meets up with former No Quarter Catch Crew members as Lexis King fools around behind them like confused Shelton Benjamin.
Jasper Troy vs Ricky Saints
Saints looks to avenge his loss to Ethan Page at Great American Bash, where Troy slammed him into a crate. Troy shows improving intensity, and Saints finally catches him with a tornado DDT. They splash over the ropes and brawl onto the stage, where off-camera, Saints mistakenly drops through a rigged section of the ramp. Troy dives onto him anyway, beating the count for victory. He can’t catch a break with another faulty finish – two for three.
Winner: Jasper Troy
The High Ryze tell TNA Champion Trick Williams they have his back, and Je’Von Evans’ excitement frustrates him. “I have to go see this!” Evans says about Williams’ encounter with The Undertaker.
Vic Joseph pays respect to the late Ozzy Osbourne, who cameoed at WrestleMania 2, the WWE Hall of Fame and more. “Thank you Ozzy” chants ring out before break.
“It’s time!” Williams says in-ring, where he boasts beating Joe Hendry and Mike Santana at Slammiversary, one of TNA’s biggest live events yet. He recalls disrespecting Team Undertaker last week and calls them snitches. Williams claims WWE LFG made The Undertaker soft – and then the gong sounds. Dueling “Undertaker” and “whoop that Trick” chants surround the “American Badass” and Williams, who dons a fitting black cowboy hat. “You got it all, man… except one thing: respect,” Undertaker says. “That guy had that dawg in him,” he says, referring to the once hungry Williams who held the NXT Championship. Williams shuts down talk about Undertaker’s LFG team, and the TNA Champion calls himself a superstar above. Undertaker promises to make him famous and counters Williams’ attack with a chokeslam.
Michelle McCool walks in on Fatal Influence backstage, who suggests Jazmyn Nyx should take on Jaida Parker. “My odds of beating Lash [Legend] are way better than hers,” Fallon Henley says about her own stablemate.
Wren Sinclair vs Blake Monroe
With a vanity mirror onstage, Monroe makes her NXT singles debut against NQCC’s Sinclair, the home-state underdog. Sinclair has the technical advantage, but a headbutt and underhook DDT gives Monroe the pinfall victory to crickets. Before Monroe can speak, Jordynne Grace shoves and suplexes past security. But Monroe catches her with a headbutt, planting her with a DDT on a steel chair.
Winner: Blake Monroe
Behind a podium, North American Champion Ethan Page opens up Canadian flags to drowning “USA” and “shut the f- up” chants. He discards the belt ringside and unveils a new one with a Canadian flag strap. The remaining promo is muted by patriotic Texan chanting, and Page proceeds to sing Canada’s national anthem. TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella interrupts, and Houston erupts for the Canadian Italian. “You got a big mouth, Ethan Pag-ay,” Marella says. “You’re a bumhole boy!” Marella threatens to see him next week and flashes the cobra, making Page retreat.
“Excuse me, boys,” double-champion Jacy Jayne says between TNA Champion Trick Williams and NXT Champion Oba Femi. The latter, enjoying Undertaker’s chokeslam to Williams, walks away with a smirk.
Charlie Dempsey tells Myles Borne to go away, and Bubba Ray Dudley becomes Upstander Ray. He hugs Wren Sinclair and suggests one more match between Dempsey and Heights with the same exact stipulation. Lexis King accuses Borne of being deaf and says wearing noise-cancelling headphones, and hearing, proves it. “Everyone around here sure wishes you were mute,” Borne responds. The same can be said for Dudley.
Josh Briggs vs Yoshiki Inamura vs Oba Femi (c) – NXT Championship
Inamura asks Je’Von Evans if he’s a bad friend for not listening to Briggs. “Sometimes you can love somebody and not like them, you feel me?” Evans says. Inamura grasps Evans’ shoulders to confirm he can feel him. Inamura and Briggs work together to be bodied by Femi anyway, and the former tries to capitalize off a Tower of Doom after picture-in-picture. Inamura swiftly hoists Femi into a powerbomb, and Briggs halts the count. Inamura responds with a senton, hits Femi with a frog splash, and Briggs breaks it with a moonsault. The former teammates trade stiff shots, and Femi one-ups them with an uppercut and Fall From Grace to Briggs for victory. Femi and Briggs in a triple threat is a historically great input.
Winner: Oba Femi
Briggs trucks Inamura into the steel steps, and cameras cut to The Undertaker and Je’Von Evans backstage. “You still trying to figure out what to do next?” Undertaker asks. “You continue going after the biggest dog in the yard.”
