NXT: Whoop that Trick? More like Thorpe whipped Trick.

Bob Kapur

NXT: Whoop that Trick? More like Thorpe whipped Trick.

Trick Williams had a pretty bad night on Tuesday’s episode of NXT. First, he had to begrudgingly team up with Oba Femi, the man who is walking around with the NXT Championship that Trick feels should still be his. As if that weren’t bad enough, he got whipped like a dog by Eddy Thorpe. First, during the match, resulting in Williams taking the pinfall in the match against A-Town Down. And then again after the match, for a prolonged beatdown that left Williams hurt and laying in pain in the middle of the ring. It was a strong ending to a show that was all about the build to February 15th’s Vengeance Day event.

Match 1: Jacy Jayne (w/ Fallon Henley and Jazmyn Nyx) vs. Stephanie Vaquer

Weirdly, both women wore black and dark green outfits, which if you were watching for the first time, could make you think they were a recent tag team that broke up and are settling their differences. They were not.

The match was pretty even-steven, with Vaquer getting the first big move, using a Leg Clamp to smash Jayne’s head into the mat repeatedly. Jayne rolled to the floor, where Vaquer got distracted by the rest of Fatal Influence and ate a big Boot to the Face by Jayne.

Jayce beat up Vaquer for a while, but after some stumbling on the ropes, Vaquer was able to take her down with a Superplex. Vaquer heat Eat DeFeet and Running Double Knees in the corner, but Jane countered with a huge Kick to the face. Some more back-and-forth action, until Vaquer hit a 619 and a Springboard Cross Body. Jazmyn ran in to break the count, but Vaquer moved and Nyx hit Jane by mistake. As she didn’t hit Vaquer, the ref did not call for a disqualification. Vaquer dispatched Nyx and hit Jane with a Package-style Backbreaker for the pin.

Good opener, and by beating Henley’s stablemates, it was a good continuation for Vaquer’s journey to her North American Championship match against Henley on Feb 15th at Vengeance Day.

Winner: Stephanie Vaquer

They showed clips from earlier today when Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend ran into Zaria and Sol Ruca in the dressing room. Zaria and Luca brought up JJ and LL’s loss last week in their Tag Team Championship match against Bianca Belair and Naomi. Before things got too heated, Gigi Dolin, Shotzi, and Tatum Paxley walked in. They all started chirping at one another.

It was noted that Roxanne Perez set a new Royal Rumble record for women by lasting 1:07:47.

Backstage, Sarah Schreiber interviewed NXT Champion Oba Femi who will be defending his title against Austin Theory and Grayson Waller in a Triple Threat match. He faces them in a tag team match with Trick Williams tonight. He didn’t have much to say about Trick, and certainly nothing good.

Lexis King holds court

The Heritage Cup Champion Lexis King was in the ring with the cup. He was cockier than anyone with that facial hair has any right to be. He badmouthed William Regal and NFL player Ryan Leaf. He then reminded everyone he was the son of Brian Pillman who was a loose cannon who would do anything to win. And said that he was his father’s son.

He said that he is going to change the way the cup is defended. He said that there will be no more rounds, no cornermen, no time limits. He said the cup will now be defended in singles matches, one fall to a finish.

He was interrupted by Fandango’s music. Fandango, who now wrestles in TNA as JDC, came out to his old theme song, and the crowd Fandangoed along and chanted “Welcome back!”

King brought up Fandango’s team with Tyler Breeze and how they used to dress up in costumes, and Fandango insulted King’s facial hair.

Fandango introduced himself as JDC and said he is there representing his TNA faction The System. He said that The System is always looking for gold, and he has his sights set on the cup. JDC said that he has a match against King for the Heritage Cup next week. King said that next week, they’re going to dance.

King wasn’t great on the mic here, but the return of Fandango was fun. And this interaction was better than any of his stuff in TNA has been.

They showed a clip of Tony D’Angelo in his role on the show Wild Cards. In it, he met with some people in a garage and they had some talk as if they were planning a Fast & Furious style heist.

Cut to him and the Family backstage talking about the show. Stacks made some passive-aggressive comments about it, and then D’Angelo told him to focus on his match against Ridge Holland later tonight.

Match 2: Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo (w/ the D’Angelo Family) vs. Ridge Holland

Stacks attacked Holland before the bell and rocked the big man with some big kicks from all angles. But Holland dodged one and smashed Stacks into the ring steps and then whipped him hard into the turnbuckles.

Stacks came back and started hitting Holland again with quick shots, and even took the big man down with a Springboard Chinbreaker. But Ridge caught Stacks in a top rope move and sent him crashing to the floor.

Luca Crusifino and Izzy Dame double distracted Holland and Stacks tried for a surprise rollup, but Holland kicked out at two. Holland then got up and dropped Stacks with a Lariat and planted him with the Redeemer for the pin.

Shawn Spears, Brooks Jensen, and Niko Vance were shown in the crowd applauding Holland’s win. Meanwhile, D’Angelo looked disappointed with his underboss for losing.

This was quick and felt a bit rushed at times. Lots of storyline threads weaved into this one, and this was clearly done just to do that.

Winner: Ridge Holland

In the locker room, the Tag Team Champions Axiom and Nathan Frazer were approached by Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura who basically threatened to take their titles if they ever met in the ring. Fraxiom told them they would need to earn a title shot, so suggested they find opponents to beat to do just that.

Match 3: Sol Ruca and Zaria vs. Gigi Dolin and Tatum Paxley (w/ Shotzi)

This one saw Gigi and Tatum struggling to deal with the explosive intensity of Zaria, so they tried to keep her out of it as much as they could.

Zaria nearly pinned Gigi after a big Spear, but Tatum made the save. Zaria caught Paxley in mid-air in a High Cross Body attempt and dumped her hard onto Dolin. A dazed Dolin got to her feet only to get hit with a Sol Snatcher out of nowhere, and that was all she wrote.

Good match, though the psychology seemed a bit backwards. Zaria and Sol came off like heels, but when Zaria came in, it was like it was like Jim Neidhart coming in to clean house after the heels had been beating down Bret Hart for several minutes, just dominating both opponents until he and Bret hit the Hart Attack for the win. And Sol’s move is even more babyfacial because of how neat it looks.

Winners: Zaria and Sol Ruca

They showed clips of Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia competing in the Royal Rumble. Then they showed the participants in the Women’s Championship match at Vengeance Day walking around (separately) backstage.

In the back, Sarah Schreiber interviewed Trick Williams. He said he hadn’t talked with Oba Femi all day. But words didn’t matter. Tonight, he was going to show Theory and Waller that he should be getting the title shot at Vengeance Day. And he’d show Femi that, too.

Women’s Championship Match summit

Challengers Bayley and Roxanne Perez had their separate entrances and got in the ring. Before the announcement for Women’s Champion Giulia, Perez interrupted to boast about her Royal Rumble record, and to put down Bayley. Perez said that her goal is to win every women’s title. And women like Bayley are just standing in her way.

Bayley stopped her and said that Perez needs to respect the people who came before her, like herself. Bayley said that Perez lost her mind when she lost the title. Bayley suggested that Perez’ obsession might actually cost her her best friend (with Cora Jade, though Bayley didn’t name her). Bayley said that she would rebound if she didn’t win the title at Vengeance Day, and questioned if Perez could say the same. Perez dismissed Bayley’s comments and went back to her plans to win all of the company’s women’s titles, including on RAW and Smackdown, and said that if she decides to vacate the NXT title, maybe Cora could finally win one.

Cue Giulia’s music and the champ hit the ring. Giulia said that Roxanne is nothing without a title. And then told Bayley that she would beat her, too.

And then Charlotte Flair made her return to NXT, much to the delight of the crowd who gave her a warm welcome. She addressed the three in the ring from the entrance way. She said that NXT would always be her home. She reminded everyone that the last time she won the Royal Rumble, she chose to face the NXT Champion at WrestleMania and won the title.

Charlotte told Roxanne that just like she was runner-up at the Royal Rumble, if she won the title at Vengeance Day, she would be runner-up to Flair at Mania. She told Giulia that she respects her and that she’s the champion of the greatest women’s division in the world… but Charlotte’s better. Finally, she acknowledged Bayley and told Giulia to ask Bayley and she’ll tell you that if Charlotte competes for the title, she wins the title.

As Charlotte wrapped things up, Cora Jade slid into the ring and attacked Bayley and Giulia with a Singapore cane. Perez tried to play nice with her, but Cora took a swing at her too, forcing Perez to duck and skedaddle. Cora picked up the title and posed with it as all the others looked on from the floor.

In the back, NXT GM Ava was with Ethan Page and Je’Von Evans, who were both flanked by security guards, who were there to maintain control. Ava said that Je’Von has, for the past two weeks, gone into the ring and messed with the security detail, despite not having been cleared physically. As a result, Ava suspended him. Page suggested that instead of suspending him, she punish him. By putting him in a match against Page at Vengeance Day. Ava agreed, as long as Je’Von is medically cleared to compete in the match.

In the back, Josh Briggs talked with Hank Walker and Tank Ledger. He challenged them to a tag team match next week against him and Yoshiki Inamura, and they agreed.

Ridge Holland went up to the D’Angelo Family and said that if he had a straight 1-on=1 match – with no interference – he would beat D’Angelo for the North American Championship. Izzy Dame suggested they have a steel cage match for the title next week. Both men agreed. Spears and his cultists were shown in the background watching this exchange.

Match 4: Kelani Jordan vs. Karmen Petrovic (w/ Ashante “Thee” Adonis)

Early on, this one was a fast-paced affair with the women exchanging fast strikes and moves. Maybe too fast, as it seemed a bit frenetic. At one point, Jordan went for a big Springboard Somersault Cross Body and landed on Adonis instead of Petrovic.

Right after that, Adonis was back up on his feet quickly, but the attention was drawn by Jaida Parker who made her way down the entrance ramp. This distraction allowed Petrovic to hit Parker with a Flying Dive to the floor, and they went back to the ring to go back to their blistering pace.

Even a commercial break didn’t slow things down that much or for that long. At one point, Petrovic took a page out of Trish Stratus’ playbook with the Corner Headstand into the Hurancarana. But then Jordan hit a Northern Lights Suplex. And then more quick moves, including a Twisting Angle Slam by Jordan, which she followed up by some Moonsaults. She then locked on a Chicken Wing for the submission win.

After the match, Jordan snapped and clamped on another Chicken Wing. The official tried to get her to release the hold, but she wouldn’t. He called for backup, and a few other referees ran in and they got Jordan to break the hold. The commentators said that Jordan was trying to send a statement to Parker and snapped.

Senior official Adrian Butler called over the ring announcer and had him announce that he had reversed the decision, and awarded the win to Petrovic.

A livid Jordan screamed at Parker from the ring.

This was much too busy, with them going a mile-a-minute and nothing really breathing. The ending seemed a bit silly, too. They could have accomplished the same thing more organically by having Jordan snap and refuse the break the hold in the match forcing the DQ. Or have her shove the referee when he tried to break it up. The way they did it seemed a bit too contrived and something you’d do an indie show just to make the kids in the crowd happy.

Winner: Karmen Petrovic

Stephanie Vaquer was interviewed in the parking lot, and she said that she was going to beat Fallon Henley for the North American Championship at Vengeance Day, and that the other members of Fatal Influence could do anything about it.

Highlights were shown of Lash Legend and Jaida Parker competing in the Royal Rumble.

In the back, Bayley barged into Ava’s office and demanded a match with Cora Jade. Ava agreed to the match, setting it up for next week.

After Bayley left, Briggs and Inamura came in and told Ava they wanted a tag match next week. Briggs said that Hank and Tank agreed to facing them. But unbeknownst to Briggs, Inamura had challenged No Quarter Catch Crew to one, and Inamura said that they had agreed. Ava said that she would make it a three-way match. Fraxiom, who were in the office with Ava before all of this started, were amused by this turn of events.

Backstage, Sarah Schreiber interviewed Theory and Waller, who were confident going into the main event against Oba Femi and Trick Williams. They had a bit of a disagreement when they argued as to who would beat Femi in the three-way match at Vengeance for the NXT Championship, but before it got too heated their music started and they made their way to the ring.

Match 5: A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) vs. Oba Femi and Trick Williams

The dissension between Williams and Femi was on display early, with Williams tagging himself in before Femi could even start the match. Trick then tried to do it all by himself, until Femi finally forced his way with a tag. That dynamic happened a few times.

In the middle of that, there was some good wrestling going on – with Trick and Waller exchanging the loudest chops you may have ever heard. Wow.

The friction between Williams and Femi grew deeper still and at one point, Femi was on the floor and deliberately grabbed his own partner’s leg and tripped him, leading to them jawing on the floor, where they were both wiped out by a Flying Somersault Dive by Waller.

Waller and Theory then isolated Williams in their corner and took turns beating him up while Femi seethed in his corner. Waller beat him down for an extended period, all of it looking really solid. But when he tried for a running attack, Williams stopped him cold and got the tag into the monster, who was on fire.

Femi juggernauted his way through Waller and Theory, at one point lifting them both up on his shoulders and dropping them both with a Samoan Drop. But before he could land the killing blow, Williams tagged himself in once again, much to Femi’s frustration.

Femi tried to get back into the mix but Theory took him over the ropes and to the outside. It looked like Williams was going to finish things off, but Eddy Thorpe ran to the ring and whipped Trick from behind with a leather strap while the referee checked on Femi and Theory.

Williams was stunned by the strapping and Waller capitalized, hitting the Grayson Waller Effect for the 1-2-3.

This was good with Theory and Waller in particular getting to show off some good stuff.

Winners: A-Town Down Under

After the match, Thorpe slid in to the ring still brandishing the strap. He glared down at Femi on the floor, but Femi simply collected his title belt and left, leaving Williams to fend for himself. Then, Thorpe pounced on Williams and then strapped him repeatedly. A bunch of referees finally ran in to stop him, and Thorpe posed over top Trick’s body with the strap.

A Vengeance Day test pattern appeared on screen to end the show. But then it flickered and switched to a shot of four people in silhouette, with their faces hid in shadows. One of them had his hair in dreadlocks and another looked to be wearing a bandana. The others seemed to have short hair and one could have been wearing a mask. Curious.

More Reports