wrestling / TV Reports
Jeremy’s WWE NXT Review 8.13.24
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...Hello everyone, and welcome to our live WWE NXT coverage on 411! Jeremy Thomas here as ever, and tonight NXT gives us three title matches as we deal with the fallout from the Great American Bash. Chase U will challenge Nathan Frazer and Axiom for the NXT Tag Team Championships, while Tony D’Angelo defends the NXT Heritage Cup against Charlie Dempsey and Otis battles Oba Femi for the NXT North American Title. Plus we’ll see Eddy Thorpe and Lexis King face off — again — and Wes Lee will explain his vicious assault on his Rascalz brethren that closed last week’s show. Should be a fun show, and I’m looking forward to digging into it.
Here at Thomas HQ, my movie watching has continued strong into August. I finished out my Horror in the High Desert rewatch with the sequel Part 2: Minerva and then checked out the third film, Firewatch which is the best of the found footage series thus far. I got a lot of 2024 watches done including Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 which was a vast improvement on the first and is merely bad as opposed to staggeringly incompetent, the dull thriller Miller’s Girl starring Martin Freeman and Jenna Ortega, the unnerving psychological thriller Stopmotion, and Daisy Ridley’s affecting romantic drama Sometimes I Think About Dying.
I also watched the brutally badass Indian action thriller Kill, which I heartily recommend, Twisters which is an improvement on the 1996 original, and the Tubi Original Slay which is a campy and fun horror comedy about drag queens fighting vampires. Finally for 2024 watches, I watched two Screambox originals in the babysitter horror comedy Here for Blood (it was fine) and the zombie comedy We Are Zombies, which I quite liked and you can see my review of here.
For older films, I did a rewatch of the Fulci slasher The New York Ripper, which I liked a bit better this time around. I checked out the erotic thriller documentary We Kill for Love on Tubi which was a very well-done piece (albeit long), and crossed Risky Business off my “needs to watch” list and found it a stellar coming of age dramedy with lots of thematic depth and a couple of knockout performances. Finally, I rewatched Unfriended: Dark Web on a lark and it remains a criminally underrated (albeit bleak as hell) ScreenLife horror flick.
For TV, I watched the new season of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix which was mostly quite good and went back to make my way through American Horror Story: Cult after stopping two episodes in. I’m four episodes in now and — we’ll see if I continue it or just move on to the Apocalypse season. Like a lot of AHS there’s some good stuff, but man that season has its rough points.
Anyway, we’re gonna have a lot to cover tonight so let’s hop right in.
As a reminder, the GoFundMe for Larry’s daughters 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.
* We kick off with the traditional special episode recap from last week’s Great American Bash night two including Ethan Page’s title defense, Wren Sinclair winning a spot in NQCC, Joe Hendry beating Joe Coffey and saying he might stay a lot longer, and MSK vs. Nathan Frazer & Axiom which led to Lee’s heel turn.
* Wes Lee makes his way into the CWC and Sarah asks him why he turned on his brothers last week. He says it’s time for him to start taking what’s his and walks off. Ethan Page takes the mic and walks with it, recapping what happened. He says he’s about to address the NXT Universe and walks to the ring!
He says that the NXT Universe wanted Oro Mensah to dethrone him, but what Oro and all of us found out is that when Ethan Page says it, it comes true. He said he was talented and had the skills, he’s All Ego and he earned it. The Ego Era is rolling strong and no one is taking the title from him. He heard Wes Lee chirping but he’s not taking the title. If Trick figures out Pete Dunne, he’s not taking it. Dunne can break every finger he has and it won’t loosen his grip on the title because the Era of Ego will roll on. It’s not NXT, it’s NXT-Me.
JOE HENDRY IS HERE! And my head starts nodding of its own accord. Hendry apologizes for the interruption, but he did say last week you wouldn’t need to see his name for him appear. He can see why Page thinks he’s the talk of NXT; after all, he is the NXT Champion and he shocked the world at Heat Wave when he won the title, becoming the talk of WWE for 90 seconds until his face closed the show. He says Page had a great performance against Mensah. But again, the fans are talking about NXT.
Page says that he doesn’t have to sit here and listen to Hendry ramble. He tells Hendry to take his victory from last week and get his ass to TNA. He doesn’t know why Hendry is hanging around NXT. Hendry says he’s here for the same reason everyone is: to win the NXT Championship! Page says of course he is; it makes sense. Everyone believes in Joe Hendry. TNA believes in him, NXT believes in him, the entire world believes in Joe Hendry! The only problem is, he doesn’t. He does believe that Joe’s song makes him sick to his stomach every time he hears it. He also believes that Joe is on his 14th minute of his 15 minutes of fame. And in his heart of hearts, he belives that if Joe is silly enough to come after him and the title, he’ll expose him as a flash in the pan.
Hendry says he’s no flash in the pan, he’s been grinding for 10 years and has made believers out of everyone including the likes of Kurt Angle and Booker T. He says even HBK believes in Joe Hendry, and he will make a believer out of Page when he takes the NXT Championship and takes it to…and yeah, he sings his song and Page flips out, leaving.
And Wes Lee attacks Hendry! Superkick out of nowhere. Page loves it and talks trash.
* Wren Sinclair interrupts sparring between Dempsey and Myles Borne. Dempsey says he needs to focus because he has an NXT Heritage Cup to win. Wren says she’ll see him there.
* Ava says that next week will have a No Mercy Gauntlet Eliminator of women who haven’t yet had a title match with the winner taking on Roxy at No Mercy. The competitors will be chosen at random. They do the draw and Wren Sinclair, Adrianna Rizzo and Sol Ruca are the first three picked. Stone then cuts in and says it was his idea, not Stevie’s.
NXT Heritage Cup Match
Tony D’Angelo vs. Charlie Dempsey
Round One (0 – 0)
Tony with a double leg takedown to start and punches, he picks Dempsey up and takes him down again. Dempsey with a headlock that gets reversed, Tony shot into the ropes and runs Dempsey over. Back up and Tony with a fireman’s carry, he tries for another and Dempsey counters. He starts to work the arm and takes Tony over to the mat, bending the shoulder back but Tony gets out and takes Dempsey down.
Off the ropes for a spinebuster but Dempsey counters with a chickenwing. Front facelock but Tony pushes Dempsey into the corner. They jockey for position, Dempsey goes for a triangle choke and Tony picks him up but Dempsey counters with an armbar. Tony gets up and hits a backdrop, Dempsey goes for an anklelock as time runs out.
Round Two (0 – 0)
Lockup to start, they go to the mat and Tony rolls Charlie up but Charlie’s hand on the ropes. Knee to the ribs by Dempsey, he gets shot into the ropes and runs Tony over. Back into the ropes, they trade counters and Dempsey sits down for a two-count. Tony counters a submission into Fuhgeddaboutit for three! And we’re on PIP break.
Round Three (D’Angelo 1 – 0)
We’re back and Dempsey is sent into the corner but hits an elbow to the jaw as Tony comes in, he rolls Dempsey up for two. They jockey for position and Tony with a pin attempt at the last second but time runs out and Charlie nails Tony after the bell.
Round Four (D’Angelo 1 – 0)
Wren smacks Charlie around to fire him up between rounds. Tony attacks from the bell but gets put in the corner and stomped down. Dempsey with a Euro uppercut and more stomps, he gets backed off and Tony hits a clothesline out of the corner. Tony with strikes and a couple clotheslines, standing belly to belly and another one! He powerslams Dempsey for two.
Tony goes for Fuhgeddaboutit but Dempsey counters with a pin attempt for two. German suplex by Tony, he gets a waistlock but Dempsey turns it around. Dempsey sends Tony into the turnbuckle and bridges for a pin for three!
Round Give (1 – 1)
Charlie and Tony tee off on each other, Dempsey with a takedown and cover for two. Tony gets his own two count and then hits a spinebuster for two. Back up, Tony nails Dempsey but Dempsey with a Northern Lights Suplex for a nearfall. Tony sends Dempsey into the ropes for a backdrop but Dempsey counters into an armbar! He transitions into a triangle but Tony gets free. Dempsey pulled up to the top, Borne gets involved so Stacks takes him out! Wren trips Tony, Dempsey with the Butterfly Suplex for three!
Winner: Charlie Dempsey
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Strong for the most part with some sloppiness in the last going. The win seemed likely as it solidifes Wren as a force in the NQCC. I’m okay with this, Tony had a good run with the title and the Crew needed a big win.
* Lola and Kelani are walking backstage and talking about Tatum’s performance last week. Lola walks up to Tatum who is talking to herself and she snaps, saying that she has nothing and not everyone can be popular MMA fighters who have everything handed to them. Lola doesn’t know what she means like that and Kelani says she’ll show her.
* Eddy Thorpe and Lexis King have a vignette talking about their music choices and King says he did Thorpe’s tribe a favor by smashing his hand, saying Eddy is as demonic as the music he creates.
Eddy Thorpe vs. Lexis King
King attacks Eddy during his entrance and rolls him in. He goes for a superkick but Eddy ducks and lays in kicks in the corner, then does more kicks in the other corner. Eddy nails King with his injured hand and King takes over, putting him through the ropes and kicking him in the head. Back in the ring and a stomp to the hand, then he manipulates the fingers.
King continues working on the hand by wrapping it in the ropes for four. He moves back in and Eddy nails him, then sends him into the ropes for a backdrop. Eddy with knife-edge chops but is hit with a drop toe-hold into the bottom rope. King pounds on Eddy and pulls him up, but Eddy knocks King down and hits more chops and a kick. Release German suplex to King and a leaping elbowdrop.
Eddy picks King up for a DDT but King blocks it and goes back to the wrist, slamming it into the mat. Coronation, that’s it.
Winner: Lexis King (3:07)
Rating: ** 1/4
Thoughts: This was…fine. Don’t know what this is doing for Eddy, but it’s arguably helping King. Either way, too short to mean anything and was basically a protected squash.
* Trick says Petey, let’s talk about it. He says he will figure Dunne out because he solves problems. Issue: Hayes stabbed him in the back. Solution: he beat him. Issue: can’t beat Dragunov. Solution: he beat him again. He talks about how a trio of guys threw rocks at his car and he went after them, but got beat up. He figured it out by the end of the year. He says he isn’t coming to Dunne for advice; he’s coming to him for a rematch. One way or another, he’ll figure him out.
* Kelly asks Pete if he’s giving a rematch and Pete says no chance because he has figuring out to do. He’s moving forward to the NXT Championship.
The camera goes to the girls as Fallon is talking shit to Jakara and Lash. Jacy says all the women in the locker room should be following in Fallon’s footsteps. Jakara says she doesn’t see them as anything but opponents if they’re in the gauntlet match.
Lola Vice vs. Tatum Paxley
Kelani is on commentary for this match. Lockup to start, Lola takes Tatum down with a headlock takeover and another. They roll a bit and trade one-counts before getting back up, Tatum puts Lola in the corner and leaps into her back. Cover gets two. Tatum with a front facelock and a strike across the back, Tatum goes into the ropes but Lola with a powerslam. She charges into the corner for the hip attack, knee to the head and a cover gets two.
Lola picks Tatum up but she turns it into a sunset flip for two. Dropkick by Tatum and she rolls through into a single leg crab. Wendy Choo attacks Kelani at the booth, Tatum is distracted but still hits the Psycho Trap. 450, Lola dodges it and hits the spinning backfist for three.
Winner: Lola Vice (2:19)
Rating: N/A
Thoughts: Squash match that was mostly about the angle.
* Rizzo thanks Ava backstage for getting in the match, saying it was a rough night for the Family and she needed that. The final participants in the Gauntlet Match are Jaida Parker, Kendall Grey, and Karmen Petrovic. They ladies leave and Brinley says she’s happy for Karmen. She hopes Karmen wins and Karmen is sorry it didn’t work out for her. Izzi walks up and says she deserved to be in the match, and says she can’t stand Brinley.
* Wes Lee WALKS backstage.
* Wes Lee is walking to the ring! He soaks up the boos a bit and says he gets it. Last week he shocked the world, and honestly he shocked himself. He believed he would win the Tag Team Titles with his best friend, but Zack let him down again. He says it goes back to when Zack first let him down two years ago. One of the greatest tag teams in NXT history was dead, and everyone was feeling sad for Zack, but they were feeling sorry for him. They doubted him and asked what he’d do now: find a new tag team partner? Everyone had him slotted as a tag team guy so it made sense, but he picked himself up and became the greatest NXT North American Champion of all time.
He says Zack & Trey were not here, they reunited in TNA and killed it while he broke his back to become a top star in NXT. He says they all aspired to reach greatness together and wanted a legacy, but he was the one who achieved that greatness. We don’t know it, but Zack does. He’s done being a caretaker and worrying about what Zack says or does. He was the one keeping them together, squashing the beefs, waking Zack up for his flights. He’s tired of taking care of Zack.
Where he wants to go, he knows he can’t have his best friends riding his coattails, and he knows they came back only for the WWE rub. And he knows how this is about to go. He knows he and Zack will have a match, and he knows No Mercy is coming up, which is a fitting title. But when they have their match, he’ll learn that everything Wes said is true. Wes says he’ll have No Mercy and Zack and Trey can go back to TNA and have a wonderful career there, while he aspires to bigger and better things like the NXT Championship. So on behalf of WWE Superstar Wes Lee, he wishes Zack the best in all his future endeavors.
PETE DUNNE IS HERE! Dunne walks down and says look at this! He’s impresed because finally someone around here is starting to figure it out. But don’t get too carried away because he beat Trick last week and his eyes are fixed on the NXT Title.
JOE HENDRY’S music plays. Hendry attacks Wes from behind and officials are quickly out to break the three of them up.
* Kelly asks Axiom and Nathan about their title defense and Frazer says they haven’t been on the same page. Axiom says they kicked each other, but that’s a thing of the past. Frazer says no chasing other titles, they arrived together. They put over Chase U but say they’re locked in and the match will end the same as last week.
* The Family walks and Tony is asked about losing the title. Tony starts to talk and Oba cuts him off for a promo saying he’s ready for battle against Otis tonight.
* Chase U is pumped up and Duke apologizes for last week, noting that it doesn’t matter who takes the gold home as long as they do. Riley agrees and Ridge says he’s excited and grateful. He says Thea came out of a situation where her trust was betrayed but she believed in him. And he feels like the rest are behind him now, so he’s doing everything in his power to win. He says tonight will be the title reign to end all title reigns.
NXT North American Championship Match
Oba Femi vs. Otis
The two stare off and then lock up, pushing against each other. Femi turns and puts Otis in the corner, then breaks cleanly. Lock back up, Femi pushes Otis and shoves him. Otis fires back but is caught in a headlock, Oba tries to take Otis over to no effect. Femi shot into the ropes, he runs into Otis and neither go down. They go into the ropes and Otis slams into Femi, sending him to the outside as we go to break.
We’re back and Femi has Otis on the made in a chinlock. Back to their feet, Otis backs Femi into the corner to break the hold and hits a sidewalk slam for two. Femi to the outside, Otis onto the apron and Femi decks him hard. Charging Euro uppercut by Femi sends Otis into the steel steps. Femi breaks the count, then grabs Otis and rolls him in for a two-count.
Repeated elbowdrops by Femi, who covers for a nearfall. He lies in wait and charges in for repeated uppercuts in the corner, cover gets almost three. Femi sets Otis up for a powerbomb, but Otis counters with a backdrop. He throws haymarkers at Femi and hits a headbutt, then charges into the corner for an avalanche. Second charge but Femi dodges, then hits a hard forearm to the back of the neck that sends Otis to the outside.
Femi to the floor and Tozawa yells at Femi, so he gets laid out. Otis is up now and runs over Femi! He rolls Oba into the ring and knocks him into the ropes, hitting him with a backfist. Back elbows in the corner and then a clothesline in the center of the ring. Bodyslam drop from Otis, and the shirt is off! It’s the Caterpiller and elbow for two. Otis hits a Vader bomb for a nearfall.
Otis sets Femi in the corner and climbs, but Oba grabs him for a sitout powerbomb for three.
Winner: Oba Femi (10:37)
Rating: ***
Thoughts: This match honestly shouldn’t have gone on this long. We all love Otis, but he’s a comedy character. Still, the match was quite good on the whole so I won’t complain too much.
* Brooks talks about how he was spiralling out of control and hit rock bottom, and while some guys (Briggs) were looking out for him they were empty words. But there’s one guy who stuck his neck out for him in Shawn Spears, who got him rehired and made sure that he was getting home safe. He says he ahs someone looking out for him besides himself and Spears was a leader and mentor.
“Does that work?,” he asks. Spears, who is directing the spot, says yes.
* Malik and Edris aren’t happy bout Brooks and how he’s being manipulated. Tank asks Hank if he talked to Ava and he said yes so they have a match with The O.C. next week.
Izzi Dame vs. Brinley Reece
Aggressive lockup from both to start, Dame puts Reece on the mat but Reece dodges an elbowlock. They trade counters, Reece put in the corner but dodges a clothesline and hits one of her own. Izzi with a bodyslam but Reece escapes, Izzi puts her on the mat with a bodyslam and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, then charges into the corner for a shoulder to the gut. Backbreaker gets two.
Reece put in the corner and Dame splashes her, she charges in but Brinley with a boot up. She comes off the ropes for a pop-up powerbomb for two. Dame pulls Brinley into am over the shoulder rack, Reece escapes and they counter each other, Dame charges into a knee to the face. Reece builds momentum and hits a big knee, then drops for several mounted punches.
Dame with a knee to the side, but Reece picks her up for a delayed Northern Lights suplex for two. She gets Dame on her shoulders but Dame slides down for a shot to the back. Reece sent into the corner and goes up and over, but Dame with plants her for the pin.
Winner: Izzi Dame (4:10)
Rating: ** 1/2
Thoughts: Fine for a slightly extended squash match.
* Kelly asks Ava about next week’s show and Ava says it’s an exciting him in NXT and hypes the Eliminator. She also announces the triple threat #1 contenders match between Hendry, Wes Lee and Pete Dunne. Roxy walks in and says no one is on her level but it’s a chance for someone to get on her level and maybe become the next Roxanne Perez. But they’re going to be waiting a long time before they come close to the title. She’s excited to watch.
* Shawn Michaels hypes the debut of NXT on The CW and taking place in Chicago.
* Up next: the main event. Chase U and the champs WALK backstage.
* A couple of the women are upset that they aren’t in the gauntlet match and Ashante says they have a shot with him. He sees a couple other woman around Dion Lennox and he walks over to hit on them, they leave. He says that books aren’t his thing and he’s a bit more ballsy. He asks Dion what he’s reading and he answers It Ends With Us. Ashante decides it can end with them next week and Dion says “That’s the name of the book!” Nice to see HBK is paying attention to box office numbers; hey Shawn, you can read them here on 411!
Set For Next Week:
– NXT Championship #1 Contenders Match: Wes Lee vs. Joe Hendry vs. Pete Dunne
– NXT Women’s North American Championship #1 Contender’s Gauntlet Match: Wren Sinclair vs. Adrianna Rizzo vs. Sol Ruca vs. Jaida Parker vs. Kendall Grey vs. Karmen Petrovic
– Hank & Tank vs. The O.C.
– Lola Vice vs. Wendy Choo
NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Nathan Frazer & Axiom vs. Chase U
Chase and Axiom stary off in the ring and trade reversals, they go into the ropes and Chase hits a kneelift for one. Wristlock, Axiom flips out and hits a dropkick, Frazer tags in and goes off the ropes until he rolls Chase up for one. Tag to Ridge, he runs over Nathan and goes for a suplex but Frazer with a knee to the head to counter. The champs send Ridge to the outside, Chase is in but knocked to the outside, Frazer dives on Chase, Axiom dives on Ridge and they repeat it as we go to PIP break.
We’re back as Frazer and Chase both go down from a clothesline. Ridge gets the hot tag and runs over Axiom with clotheslines, then hits a belly to belly on Frazer. He grabs Axiom and pulls him up into a powerbomb into a DDT for two.
Axiom gets a kick in and drops Ridge in the mat, up top for a splash and Frazer for a 450 for two-plus. Axiom and Frazer kick away at Ridge, but Ridge runs over Frazer and grabs Aziom. Chase tags in, he goes up top for a stomp to the back of Axiom on Ridge’s shoulder for two.
Frazer dives on Ridge on the outside, Chase with a double underhook but Axiom floats over. Enzuigiri to Chase on the rop, Frazer catches Ridge and Axiom nearly hits Frazer with a kick! Ridge sent to the outside, suplex and superkick combo! Axiom covers, Chase kicks out at the last instant. The champs are shocked!
Axiom kicks away at Chase but Chase catches a kick and Axiom catches a boot. Ridge is in, powerbomb into a backstabber that gets two and nine-tenths! Ridge and Frazer are both down, Ridge up and grabs Frazer who hits a superkick. Axiom tags in, Ridge to the top and an ezuigiri from Axiom. Super Spanish Fly! Frazer is up — but Chase shoves Frazer off the top into the booth! Axiom takes out Chase, Chase hits the DDT for three!
Winner: Chase U (10:07)
Rating: *** 1/2
Thoughts: Great stuff, and I’m always happy to see Chase U get a big win. Hopefully this reign lasts a bit longer but either way, kudos to all for men here for a strong main event and a big Chase U moment.
Chase U celebrates to close the show.
And with that, we’re done for the night!
