Jeremy’s WWE NXT Review 4.29.25

Hello everyone, and welcome to our live WWE NXT coverage on 411! It’s Jeremy Thomas, and we have a big episode of NXT this week. Tonight’s show will see Ricky Saints and Lexis King battle for the latter’s North American Title while Hank & Tank defend the NXT Tag Team Championship against Josh Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura. Plus IYO SKY will be here to team with Jordynne Grace against Giulia and Roxanne Perez and Tony D’Angelo will confront Stacks after the latter broke bad at NXT Stand & Deliver. Plus, Joe Hendry has an open invitation from Shawn Michaels to come by after Trick Williams attacked the TNA World Champion at Rebellion. Sounds like a fun show all in all.

Here at Thomas HQ I’m back in my movie-watching swing. I saw the new horror comedy Hell of a Summer which was a heavy disappointment to me, as well as the abjectly awful In the Lost Lands which marks my new least-favorite Paul W.S. Anderson film. McVeigh was a little better but proved why we don’t need a biopic of the Oklahoma City bomber — especially when there are solid documentaries about it like Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror. I also found myself not enjoying A Minecraft Movie even when I factor in that it’s not a movie that was made for someone like me.

On the plus side, the new Gareth Evans film Havoc on Netflix is a hyperviolent good time with a strong central performance from Tom Hardy. And the new thriller Locked was watchable, featuring Bill Skarsgard locked in a car and facing off with Anthony Hopkins. It’s not amazing but is a solid enough time. And finally, I rewatched 2016’s The Autopsy of Jane Doe for an episode of the Final Ghouls of Horror podcast and it’s still absolutely great.

Speaking of which! The latest episode of The Final Ghouls of Horror sees Holly, L and I discuss the John Carpenter classic The Thing. You can check it out below and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, including YouTube.

Meanwhile I was very busy on the TV side, though mostly with just one show as I binged Drag Race season 17. It was a bit of an improvement on season 16, which I liked but didn’t love, and gave us a strong winner. I’m also staying caught up on Dark Side of the Ring which remains good, and finally went back to finish up the true crime series Southern Gothic which is decidedly middle of the road.

As a reminder, the GoFundMe for Larry’s kids is still active and if you can make a donation, that would be awesome. Thank you so much to everyone who’s done so thus far.

* TUDUM.

* We get a recap of Oba Femi’s promo from last week’s NXT and his issues with Trick Williams, who interrupted and said he wanted his one-on-one title match, leading to Joe Hendry coming in and calling Trick a whiny bitch. Hendry stares off with Oba and then five nights later, Hendry retains his title at TNA Rebellion before Trick shows up and takes him out.

* We’re LIVE in the Capitol Wrestling Center and kicking off with —

SAY HIS NAME AND HE APPEARS! Joe Hendry comes out to the ring thanks to Vic Joseph mentioning him. It’s like magic, folks. Hendry’s shoulder sprain is mentioned by the announcers and he gets a mic. Joe gets a “WE BELIEVE” chant before he says he’s appeared and back in front of the NXT Universe. He says it’s been quite a journey. He wrestled Randy Orton at WrestleMania and he defended his TNA World Title at Rebellion, but unfortunately we know what happened next: Trick attacked him when his back was turned. He says he knows he embarrassed Trick and expected retaliation, but Trick crossed the line. Trick is worse than entitled; he used to be somebody the people could get behind and a locker room leader, but he couldn’t stand the fact that people talked about Hendry and not him. And what they were saying was, “We believe.”

Joe says Trick isn’t just entitled; he’s arrogant. He didn’t want to look within and see that he can’t win the NXT Championship. And he know that Oba wouldn’t just give him a title shot, so he went to TNA to take out the World Champion. He’s an entertainer but he knows what this is. He says he’s going to say Trick’s name and make him appear — so Trick, get out here now!

The lights go out! DarkState is here! They go after Hendry and beat him down, then throw him into the powerbomb.

* Earlier today, Ava congratulated IYO SKY on her win and welcomed her back to NXT. She asks IYO if she’s found a tag team partner. She says no and Jordynne walks in, saying she’ll be IYO’s partner. IYO is down with it, they shake but too hard for IYO so they high five.

* Lexis King preps backstage while Ricky Saints WALKS.

* We get a recap of Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez defeating Gigi Dolin and Tatum Paxley last week and Karmen Petrovic says they were so close and almost won the Knockouts Tag Team Titles. Tatum says that they didn’t and Ashante walks in, calls Tatum and Gigi losers, and says he got Karmen a match against Sol Ruca tonight. Karmen says not to call them losers and Ashante says the match is tonight. Karmen says she needs to get ready and they head off while Ashante says it’s “their” title match.

NXT North American Championship Match
Ricky Saints vs. Lexis King

Lexis attacks Saints from behind to start the match and beats on him in the corner. Whip across the ring, King runs into a boot and Saints takes King down. Saints with chops to Lexis and then a series of punches to the gut. He tosses Lexis into the corner and chops him, whip into the ropes for a back elbow. The jacket comes off and he moves in but Lexis with a kick to the head.

King lays in some punches and then boot chokes Saints in the corner. Bit open-hand chop to the chest, he charges in but Saints dodges and hits some chops. Into the ropes for a belly to belly, King to the outside so Saints with a dropkick through the ropes and then hopes on the guardrail to showboat as we go to break.

We’re back as Saints and King hit simultaneous crossbodies. King hits Saints with a suplex and climbs up top — SWANTON! Cover gets two-plus. Saints on Lexis’ shoulders for a drop gutbuster, cover for a nearfall and King backs up in the corner, lying in wait. Saints up, he turns and dodges the superkick. A couple knockdowns, King into the ropes and gets picked up for a slam. Tornado DDT countered by King, roll-up gets a nearfall.

Into the ropes, King with a superkick. Coronation countered by Saints into the Tornado DDT. Ro Cham Bo finishes it.

Winner: Ricky Saints (8:31)
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Very solid first match for the show here. King was a good opponent for Saints, who picks up another win as champion. Works for me.

* This week’s NXT Spotlight has The Culling in their darkness. Saints says they’ve all fallen short of expectations with Brooks and Niko failing to get the tag titles and Izzi not winning the Women’s NA Title. If you fear failure, you’re putting limitations on your life. He says the NXT women’s roster is deep and Izzi needs to figure out how to stand out of the pack. Izzi needs to figure out how to rip the spotlight away and put it on herself. Hank & Tank are champions and they need to work deeper than surface level to find the results they seek. He says he’s here for them and they need to rise up and seek control.

* Here comes Tony D’Angelo out to the ring. The Don is suited up as always and looking pensive as he walks down to the ring. Tony says betrayal is something everyone can relate to, and that people are asking if he expected this to happen. Honestly, he didn’t. He expected him and Stacks to have a conversation man-to-man, but never this. He says Stacks has been passionate and he gave Stacks the benefit of the doubt, which made him think about when they were kids and Stacks would go after someone bigger than him; he’d step in. He always had his back because that’s what loyalty is about.

He says Stacks has always had his eye on leading the family. And there were plenty of times when Stacks had his back. When he was locked up, Stacks handled business. He did so when Tony got hurt, and he showed the world why he deserved to be underboss. But at the same time, Stacks’ impulsivity threatened the Family and he had to step in to show why he makes the decisions. So Stacks waited for the right moment, for the world to be watching at Stand & Deliver, and stuck the knife right in his back.

He says Stacks is going to pay for his sins and the family is in disarray. No one’s heard from Luca, Rizzo’s in hiding. A group of guys come out and Stacks appears on the Tron, saying he thought about coming out and that’s not what the Don would do. He’s going to tell Tony what he needs to hear. He’s sick of taking Tony’s orders. Tony’s getting soft and making decisions that make people like DarkState think they can push us around. He had to take the reins and put Tony in his place. He knows Tony better than anyone and he’s shaking. He’s losing more power every day and is probably thinking ‘What’s next? Can I even trust my own family?’ He says Tony doesn’t know who he can trust — and a bunch of the security attack Tony! He takes them out and suplexes one over the ropes!

Tony says if Stacks wants to be the Don, he’ll have to come down and take it himself. Stacks is frustrated.

* We get a recap of Noam Dar’s return and NXT Heritage Cup win. Ora Mensah is back! The Meta-Four are reunited backstage. Dar says he’s thinking reunion time and Lash says they need to talk. Lash says a lot has changed; Lash was in the Royal Rumble, she and Jakara were in Saudi, and Ora’s been killing it on Evolve. She says it’s time for Ora to be Ora’s main main on Evolve and it’s time for Jakara to be her own main man. It’s time for her to do her own thing too.

Dar says it’s true and if they need to go their separate ways to be stars, they will. They embrace and say they love each other. Noam sits down after they leave and says it’s just him and the Cup again.

NXT Women’s North American Championship Match
Sol Ruca vs. Karmen Petrovic

Karmen with kicks to the thigh to start, followed by a headlock. Sol shoots Karmen into the ropes and hits an X-Factor. Karmen to the outside, moonsault by Sol but Karmen moves and Zaria catches her. Back inside, they dodge some shots to each other. Spin kick by Karmen, Sol into the ropes but Karmen with a kick to the head, cover gets two.

Karmen with a front facelock, pushed into the corner but she knocks Sol down, takedown in the center of the ring and cover for two. Sol battles back though, they trade shots and Sol with a whip into the ropes and shoulder tackle. Springboard shoulder tackles, Karmen sent into the corner, backpack slam and a knee to the jaw. Sol goes for the Sol Snatcher but Karmen blocks it and sends Sol to the floor! Back in, cover but Sol reverses for a two-count.

Into the corner, Karmen with a back kick but Sol dodges and hits the Sol Snatcher for three.

Winner: Sol Snatcher (3:27)
Rating: ** 1/4
Thoughts: Acceptable for the time it had, but things were a bit rushed and not as crisp as they could have been.

Post-match Ashante is trying to talk to Karmen but she doesn’t want to hear it. He yells — and Karmen roundhouse kicks him!

* Time for Trick Williams go come out. He wants to talk about it. Trick says “Joe Hendry” but he doesn’t show up. He says he’s been calling Joe’s name all along but he’s disappeared and he’s lucky DarkState got to him first because even they know he doesn’t belong here.

Trick says Joe got his number last week and he was acting out of character; some might think he crashed out. So he looked up his schedule, says he got a ticket to LA and showed up on Hendry’s show, made it his own show. He says while he was there he got some friends and is hitting the big screen, promoting his All American appearance which is not the big screen.

Williams says he and Joe Hendry aren’t on the same level, and the fans chant “HOLLYWOOD TRICK!” He says that’s right; he’s Hollywood and Hendry is local talent. Hendry is trying to figure out his lane while he’s in the lane of people like Rock and John Cena, saying Hendry can’t see him and he’s moving on to bigger and better with the NXT Title. He wants his title back and it belongs to him.

HERE’S AVA! Ava asks Trick what he’s doing, and Trick says he did some thinking. He used to think Trick Williams is NXT, but he realized after Sunday that he’s bigger than NXT. After Sunday he became the biggest superstar in TNA too.

Ava says those are bold claims and that if Trick wants another title shot, he can have one. But Trick is not going to cut the line. Next week is a battle royal for a title shot at Battleground and he has to beat 24 other men to earn it.

* Roxy and Giulia are backstage and Roxy says that Giulia wasn’t her biggest fan when she arrived, but being in the ring with her she understands —

Giulia cuts her off and says Roxy is a great champion and she understands Roxy was right. They say together, they’re unstoppable.

* Oba is with Kelly who asks about Trick and the Battle Royal next week. Oba says Trick’s complaints sound like the cry of a grown child. He’ll face him if he wins the battle royal, but it doesn’t matter if he faces him one more time or 1,000,00 times, the title is staying on his shoulder.

Undertaker shows up and tells Oba this is his yard — for now. He says he has some guys from LFG who are coming for him really soon. His guys show up and Oba looks forward to the challenge.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Hank & Tank vs. Josh Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura

Inamura runs over Tank to start! He stomps him down and whips him into the ropes, Tank holds on. Hank tags in, they take down Inamura with a bulldog and senton for two. Inamura with a throat thrust to battle back and tags in Briggs. Hank sent into the ropes and his hit with a back elbow ans Briggs knocks Tank off the apron.

Hank and Briggs into the ropes, Briggs with a big shot to Hank and tags in Inamura. Into the ropes, HYank with a sunset flip for two. Into the ropes, Tank with the blind tag and he runs over Inamura, then picks up Hank into a bomb on sitdown Inamura for two.

Tank works in Inamura’s shoulder, but Inamura with a shot to the gut. Tank into the ropes and gets knocked down, he lays in strikes to Tank and sends him into the ropes — cartwheel dodge but Inamura with a big chop to the chest. Tank batters into the corner, Briggs tags in and hits a charging big boot. Splash by Inamura, Briggs kicks Tank down as we go to break.

We’re back as Hank hits Inamura with a big boot — but Inamura no-sells! They trade shots in the center of the ring, with Inamura taking over until he’s got with a kick. Briggs with the blind tag and he comes in with a big boot to Hank. Tank knocked off the apron, sidewalk slam and an elbowdrop. Inamura tagged in, he hits a big boot by Briggs into a German suplex for a nearfall.

Inamura puts Hank on the top and climbs. Briggs elbows Inamura off, goes up top — flying clothesline! Tank tags in, and drops Hank into a splash! They take aim — but Briggs pulls Hank out of the ring and tosses him into the ring steps! Inamura rolls Tank up for two. Chokeslam by Briggs, frog splash by Inamura, cover BUT HANK BREAKS IT UP!

Briggs pulls Hank out of the ring and tags in, chop to the back, chokeslam attempt but Inamura accidentally knocks Hank into Briggs while picking him up! Inamura sent out of the ring, Hank and Tank wipe out Briggs and get the pin!

Winner: Hank & Tank (10:30)
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Decent enough match for a first defense Hank and Tank have grown nicely and I am okay with them holding the titles for now.

* Myles Borne walks up to Heights and Wren and says the battle royal will include EVOVLE talent, NXT talent and maybe TNA talent. He asks where Charlie is, but Charlie’s still pissed on his tagging with Je’Von Evans last week. Borne says that it’s time for them to step out. He leaves and Wren says Charles is a complex man. Tavion asks what that means and she says she doesn’t know.

* It’s time for Chase U! He has a new class and welcomes them back. He says it’s been a while since Ridge ended the U as we know it. He forced him to let go of the people who made it what it is, and he wasn’t sure if he would open the doors. Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors come in late and Chad asks if they were supposed to be on time, and that goes about how expected. “FUCK YOUR QUESTION, CHAD!” He says that just feels right and Chase U is back!

* Sol and Zaria are backstage and talking as Kelani walks up and says when she was champion, she defended it every single match, and she thought Sol would do the same but she was wrong. And she defended the title against the most distracted girl in NXT. Sol says Kelani can try and take it from her. Zaria says Sol isn’t defending the title against Kelani yet and Kelani will have to beat her first.

* Joe Hendry is being checked out when Hank & Tank walk in and ask if he’s okay. He says he needs to deal with DarkState and they say just say “Honk Honk” and they’ll be there. They give a Honk Honk as a trio.

Set For Next Week:
– NXT Championship #1 Contenders Battle Royal
– Kelani Jordan vs. Zaria
– Joe Hendry, Hank & Tank vs. DarkState
–

Roxanne Perez & Giulia vs. IYO SKY and Jordynne Grace

IYO and Roxy start off, Roxy dodges to the outside but runs into Jordynne. Roxy ducks a clothesline that hits Giulia, IYO back in the ring with Roxy and stomps her down in the corner before hitting a swinging double stomp. Bodyslam but Giulia saves Roxy, they double team IYO who goes into the ropes, ducks a clothesline and handsprings into a double dropkick.

Jordynne tags in and IYO on her shoulders — into a senton on Roxy! Cover by Jordynne gets two. She sets Roxy in powerbomb position but Roxy floats over and tags in Giulia, who takes Grace down. Back up, Giulia goes for a sunset flip but Grace stays standing. Off the ropes and she runs over Giulia, bodyslams her and hits a delayed vertical suplex into an inverted gutbuster for two-plus.

Giulia on Grace’s shoulders, ROxy comes in and distracts the ref as Giulia rakes the eyes and puts Grace in the corner. Roxy tags in and stomps Jordynne down, then is sent into the ropes. Floatover into a side Russian legsweep for two.

Giulia tags in now, double whip but Jordynne catches them and slams them into each other. Takedown, IYO takes in for a double springboard dropkick. Jackknife pin on Giulia for two. Giulia gets IYO In the corner but Grace tags in and hits a big back elbow off the ropes. IYO tags back in, gets on Grace’s shoulders but Roxy saves her and they yank Jordynne and IYO to the floor as we go to break.

We’re back as Giulia gets a pin attempt on IYO for two. Roxy tags in, she picks IYO up but IYO rolls her into a takedown. Giulia in but gets kicked by SKY, Roxy nails Jordynne and goes for a crossface on IYO, but IYO turns it into a backbreaker! Both women down — Grace gets the hot tag! She runs over Giulia and hits a big suplex, then batters Roxy in the corner. Roxy on her shoulders, she runs over Giulia and hits a somersault slam on Roxy. Stacked German suplex, covers but only gets a nearfall on Giulia.

Jordynne grabs Giulia across her back and slams her into the rocner. IYO tags in and Grace picks Giulia into a Gory rack, IYO with a double stomp! Cover but Roxy breaks it up off the top rope!

Roxy to the outside, all three others are down in the ring. Giulia is moving, IYO is up. Roxy tags in but drops to the apron! IYO with Meteora, she goes for her moonsault and Roxy nails her! Superrana, superkick, Giulia with the Northern Lights bomb and Roxy with an Asai Moonsault! Cover but Grace breaks it up.

Giulia put on the apron by Grace, headbutt but Giulia hits her own! They’re on the apron, Giulia drops Grace and they go to the floor where they’re brawling toward the back! Roxy watches them go — IYO with a waistlock but Roxy counters into a rollup for two. IYO with a rollup for two, they trade bridge pins and IYO with a shot to the jaw! Roxy goes for Pop Rocks, countered, superkick from Roxy and a kick to0 the knee. Roxy off the ropes sunset flip but IYO flips through! Kick to the head! Moonsault! That’s it!

Winner: IYO SKY & Jordynne Grace (14:24)
Rating: *** 3/4
Thoughts: That’s about as good of an NXT TV main event as you’ll see. Fast-moving, big impact moves, some nice innovation and all four women had great timing as partners and opponents. Just fantastic stuff all around.

Roxy is frustrated as IYO celebrates.

* Backstage, Stephanie Vaquer is with Ava and asks who her next opponent is. Ava says there’s a #1 contender’s match between Giulia and Jordynne for next week.

And with that, we’re done for the night!

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Up until the last match, this week's NXT was cruising to a Perfectly Acceptable Show rating. It was mediocre on the whole, but nothing was awful and there were a couple solid matches. Then the main event hit and it was instantly elevated. You could easily just watch that tag team match, but if you watch the whole two hours you probably won't be suffering too much.