Join 411’s Live WWE NXT Coverage

Hello everyone, and welcome to our live WWE NXT coverage on 411! Jeremy Thomas here as always, and tonight NXT presents its go-home show before NXT No Mercy on Sunday. Tonight’s show was pre-taped (don’t be an asshole and post spoilers in the comments), and we’ll see Joe Hendry holds a concert before his match with Ethan Page at NXT No Mercy. In addition, Zach Wentz and Wes Lee come face-to-face before their No Mercy match while Kelani Jordan will face a mystery opponent chosen by Wendy Choo. No Quarter Catch Crew and The D’Angelo Family battle in mixed six-person tag team action, Fatal Influence take on Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson, and Karmen Petrovic seeks revenge against Izzi Dame. It looks to be a fun show!

Here at Thomas HQ, my movie-watching continued strong as I started with Dave Bautista’s perfectly fine action comedy sequel My Spy: The Eternal City on Prime Video. Next up was the new Spanish dark comedy film The Coffee Table, which was fucked up as all hell in the right way. I did a rewatch of the Alien films I haven’t seen recently in Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, AVP: Alien vs. Predator, and Aliens vs Predator: Requiem which go from great to literally unwatchable in that descending order. I also rewatched Repo! The Genetic Opera, which remains a messy horror comedy musical than I adore.

The back half of my movie-watching was new watches starting with Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s follow-up to Inside with Livid, which I quite liked. The new animated Watchmen: Chapter I was solid and faithful to the source without hitting its heights, and the Netflix documentary Untold: The Murder of Air McNair was typical slick Untold documentary making but did not do a good job of balancing its story well at all, nor laying things out for someone not familiar with the story already. And finally I saw the new serial killer thriller Strange Darling, which was fantastically stylish, twisty, and slick with phenomenal performances by Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner.

For TV, I watched a couple Netflix true crime docuseries in American Murder: Laci Peterson and Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam, both of which were quite good.

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 start with the In Memoriam graphic for Sid that aired on last night’s Raw as well. RIP, Softball Man.

* Jazmyn and Fatal Influence WALK backstage and say they’re going to show Meta-Four what it’s all about, while Lash and Jakara say Fatal Influence are about to find out they made a mistake and they are NXT.

Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson vs. Jacy Jayne & Fallon Henley

Jakara and Jacy start off and lock up, Jakara with an armdrag. Jacy comes back with a kneelift and knocks Jakara down, she’s shot into the ropes and Jakara follows to run Jacy over, then tags in Lash who holds Jacy for body shots. Jacy put on the mat and splashed for one.

Jacy slides out of a bodyslam and tags in Fallon, who charges in and leaps on Lash for a front facelock. Lash picks her up and puts her on her back, tags in Jakara who takes it to Fallon but gets sent into the ropes for a forearm. Jakara fires back with an elbow and dropkick, Fallon on her shoulders but slides off and decks Jakara.

Lash and Jacy tag in, Fallon try to double team Lash but she catches them both and drops Jacy, then uses Fallon as a battering ram to knock her down. Jakara tags in, they send Fatal Influence to the outside and Jakara dives through the ropes onto them as we go to PIP break.

We’re back with both Jacy and Jakara down. They make the tags and Lash knocks Fallon down a couple of times, then catches her off the ropes for knees to the side. She nails a charging Jacy and hits a fallaway slam. Jacy charges and is caught in a swinging backbreaker, then chokeslams Fallon for two-plus.

Jakara tags in and goes up top as Lash pucks up Fallon, clothesline and then cover but Jacy tackles Lash into them to break up the pin. Fallon and Jakara trade shots but Fallon tripes Jakara on the middle rope and tags in Jacy. Neckbreaker by Jacy gets a nearfall. Jacy talks shit to Jakara and shoves her head, goes for a short-arm clothesline but she ducks and hits a sitout neckbreaker. Jazmyn gets involved and pulls down the ropes so Fallon goes over, Jacy sent to the outside and she knocks down Jazmyn, but when she gets back in the ring Jacy takes her out. Tandem knee strikes from both sides get the pin.

Winner: Fatal Influence (10:02)
Rating: ** 1/2
Thoughts: It was fine but went on too long. A couple sloppy moments in there too. It wasn’t awful but could have run about two minutes shorter.

* A vignette shows the long friendship of Wes Lee and Zach Wentz and their Tag Team Championship win before Wentz was released, all set to Lee’s heel promo. We see his talking about his run as NXT North American Championship, health issues and struggle to regain the North American Championship from Oba Femi. We see The Rascalz reunion, MSK losing their Tag Team Championship match and Lee turning on Trey and Zach. We hear Lee’s promo where he wishes Zach the best in his future endeavors, and then Wentz’ return to attack Lee last week.

* We see video of Eddy Thorpe’s DJ set and he’s talking with the ladies about it. Ashante walks up and says it’s dope and says if the ladies are at the live events, he’s going to have to start showing up. My feed cut out but when it comes back Eddy says he’s in it for the music. Meanwhile, Brooks Jensen walks behind them into a room and attacks someone.

Karmen Petrovic vs. Izzi Dame

Karmen ducks an Izzy lunge and lays in the kicks, but Izzi catches her by the throat. Karmen kicks out and locks in a headlock, Izzi picks her up to break it to no avail. Karmen shot into the ropes and Izzi knocks her down. Off the ropes, Karmen with a drop toe-hold but Izzi blocks it. Into the ropes, Izzi with the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and then drives Karmen into the corner. Backbreaker, cover gets two.

Izzi whips Karmen into the corner and hits a clothesline, she charges in again and Karmen gets her boot up. Izzi catches Karmen with a sit-out powerbomb for two, then gets her on her shoulders for a torture rack. Karmen eventually knees out of it, then gets sent into the ropes and hits a crossbody for two. Kick to Izzi’s gut, she is sent into the corner but hits a leaping back kick and then a running kick to the jaw. Spinning clothesline for a two count.

Izzi hits a kick and then a big boot, arrogant cover for two. She talks trash but Karmen with a kick to the head, back up and she strikes at Izzi but gets booted down. Karmen counters a back rack into a sunset flip for three!

Winner: Karmen Petrovic (4:08)
Rating: ** 1/2
Thoughts: A short and sweet match that was generally pretty competent but didn’t get out of second gear. Karmen needed a win and this served that purpose.

* NQCC are sparring and Wren wants to get in, Charlie asks her what she’s doing and she says she’s trying to get them warmed up. She says to follow their lead and Charlie says he’s the champion, they follow his lead. Wren says he wouldn’t be champ without her.

* Tony is hyping up the Family and a couple of goons walk up and need to talk to him. He says no and the goons say to each other that “this is so bad” as they look at a phone.

* Sarah talks with Jaida Parker about getting a Women’s Title Shot at No Mercy. She talks about making the transition from the soccer field to the ring and her NXT highlights, leading into her Women’s Title match. Sarah says Jadia took a hard hit from Sol and asks if she’s ready, she says she’s sore but is ready to go.

Sarah asks if Roxy is underestimating her and she says absolutely. She gives Roxy her flowers but talks about her achievements and says she isn’t a soccer player who became a WWE star; she’s a WWE star who played soccer. Her actions speak for herself and she’ll prove it on Sunday.

Roxy walks in and tells Sarah to get out, then takes the seat. She tells Jadia congrats and says she’s a confident challenger, but notes she was actually talking about Lola and Thea. She says everyone has a story and they all lose. She says Jaida is a future champion and has it all except one thing: she’s not the Prodigy and she’s going to find out there’s no one better than her. Jaida says she’s going to slap the taste out of her mouth and Roxy says she’s like to see her do it. So she does!

Jadia asks someone off-screen what she’s doing here and says she’ll do the same to them too. She walks off, Roxy sees the person and gasps.

D’Angelo Family vs. No Quarter Catch Crew

Stacks starts and attacks Dempsey, beating on him but Charlie back up with a strike and hits a backbreaker for less than one. Euro uppercut, Stacks battles back and whips Dempsy into the bottom rope. Luca tags in, hits a shot and covers for one.

Dempsey escapes and tags in Borne who is caught with a backslide for two. Headlock by Luca, Stacks tags in and Luca whips Borne into his knees. MYles hits a shot to Stacks head and puts him in the hostile corner, beating him down — and Wren tags in! Rizzo in now and they trade shots, Wren knocks RIzzo down and hits a facebuster for one, but Rizzo with a dropkick and kippup to send Wren to the outside.

The goons walk up and talk to Tony, and he looks frustrated before leaving as we go to break.

We’re back as all four guys are in the ring and Stacks & Luca grab the NQCC. Wren walks in and gets dropped by Rizzo — triple Badda Bing Badda Boom! Stacks ends up on the apron but gets nailed by Borne, who throws him back in the tring and starts working over the braced knee. Dempsey tags in and comes off the top for a stomp to the knee, cover gets two.

Dempsey with an anklelock, twisting him over and locking in an inverted STF. Stacks breaks the hold but is hit with a Euro uppercut. Borne tags in and they batter Stacks, Borne with an anklelock and Stacks has the ropes for four. Dempsey tags back in and continues to work the knee over, trying to rip the brace off! Stacks fights out and goes for a tag, he’s caught in a waistlock but rolls Dempsey into a pin for two.

Dempsey hits Stacks with a German suplex and tags in Borne, who grabs him. Swing but Stacks ducks and Myles is hit! Stacks tags in Luca who comes in hot and runs over both guys. Dempsey to the outside, massive hiptoss into a neckbreaker and Wren breaks it up! Luca gets in Wren’s face but Borne nails him from behind. They go to the outside, Rizzo leaps on Wren and then tosses Dempsey! Back in the ring, Stacks and Luca catch Borne in an elevated lungblower for three!

Winner: The Family (11:09)
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Very good match here with some storyline intrigue and solid in-ring work. No complaints.

* Dunne is backstage and asked about his loss last week thanks to Trick, and he says he’s not moaning and bitching about it. The NXT Championship is still a goal but he’s teaching Trick a lesson by beating him down next week.

* Wes Lee and Zach Wentz separately WALK backstage.

* Ethan Page walks into Ava’s office and Ava says he is in trouble for attacking the ref last week. Page wants to be punished and suspended and Ava says no, he’s defending his title. Page says that Ava doesn’t want a Swinging Scotsman as Champion, Ava says don’t assume anything and orders him out of her office.

* Zack Wentz comes down to the security-filled ring and Wes Lee is next! He comes out into the ring and gets a mic. Lee tells Wentz to say what he needed to say. Zach thought they would be different and not break up like every team in wrestling. Lee says Wentz is showing his naivete, and Wentz says Lee is throwing nine years away because he thinks he’s a star?

Lee says he knows he is and that Wentz came to NXT for the rub. He says they are on different levels, and Wentz says no one was more proud of Lee than him. He says he messed up, MSK was one of the greatest tag teams in NXT history and he ruined it. But he owned up to his mistakes and Lee became the superstar he wanted to be. Wentz grew up and became a man, and had that picture of Lee in the ring crying and wondering what would be next. He says it motivated him to return to NXT and be with his brother.

Lee says he’s glad for him and they would have had the nostalgia of the Tag Title run for a couple weeks, but that’s it. Wentz says Lee wants to be cold but is one of the most sensitive people on the planet. He says when Trey and him came out, Lee was about to quit NXT for the third time. He asks who was getting Lee food, taking him to therapy and keeping him up emotionally throughout his therapy. He couldn’t be on camera but he was always his brother behind the scenes!

Lee says Wentz can say what he needs to sleep at night, but on Sunday he’ll prove he’s above him. Wentz says he’s going to make sure Lee fails starting this Sunday. He says he and Trey did something in TNA they never did — become TNA Tag Team Champions. Wes says at No Mercy, he’ll show Wentz why he’s never going to be anything more than a TNA wrestler. Wentz says this TNA wrestler will beat his ass.

* Trick walks backstage and Joe Hendry walks up and thanks him for the assist last week. Trick says he believes in Joe Hendry and he deserves it. Hendry says if he defeats Ethan Page — Trick says “when.” Hendry says when he beats Page, Trick has next shot.

* Kelani Jordan WALKS backstage.

* Kelani comes out after the break and gets a mic. She says she’s not waiting and wants to find out which of her creepy, demonic little friends it’s going to be. Wendy appears on the Tron and points and a woman walks — IT’S ROSEMARY! MY DEMON’S ASSASSIN GODDESS HAS ARRIVED!

Kelani Jordan vs. Rosemary

They circle and Rosemary charges in, manhandling Kelani who manages to escape. Rosemary into the ropes, Kelani off the ropes with an armdrag and a dropkick. Splash in the corner, snapmare and crossbody splash off the ropes for one. Kelani charges into a back elbow and Rosemary catches her in the headscissors in the ropes for four.

Rosemary charges into a splash in the corner and an Exploder suplex for two. Rosemary locks in a sleeper with a bodyscissors, Kelani fights out of it and elbows her but Rosemary with a shot to the head. Back up and they trade shots, Kelani catches a kick with a step-through heel kick.

Kelani knocks Rosemary down and hits a cartwheel elbow, steps through and hits a modified Flatliner, then a dropkick — but Rosemary is back in her face! Handstand into the ropes but Rosemary spears her for two. Rosemary with a double underhook, Kelani counters but gets nailed with a shot. Rosemary charges into the ropes, caught with a leaping stomp and then a split-legged moonsault for three.

Winner: Kelani Jordan (4:22)
Rating: ** 1/2
Thoughts: This was fine. Nice to see Rosemary on WWE NXT, but we knew Kelani would win.

After the match, the lights go out and a Wendy graphic appears on the Tron, distracting her as Choo appears behind her and puts her to sleep.

* Oro Mensah consoles Lash and Jakara on the loss as Lexis King walks up and says no one wants to hear his sob story and the ladies don’t care about his dad. He says Noam is the Dad of Meta-Four and Oro was sad when Noam got taken out. Oro says Lexis lacks a father figure and gets decked, officials break it up.

* Chase U time! Chase and Ridge celebrate with their titles but Duke is feeling depressed, saying he’s sorry Riley and he didn’t get the job done. Ridge says they fought in honor for Mr. Chase and he vowed never to be in a group again but they accepted him. He’s never giving the title up and as long as he has the title, he’ll always have their backs.

Nathan Frazer and Axiom walk in and Nathan recalls being their flag bearer but says that he hooked up with Axiom then. Axiom says they have a lot of running left to do and Frazer says no one in NXT doesn’t love Chase U, but when they win the titles at No Mercy it all comes crumbling down.

Malik Blade vs. Brooks Jensen

Malik leaps onto Brooks before the match starts! He throws him into the steps and gets him in the ring, bell rings. Blade knocks Brooks to the apron and charges, Brooks pulls down the ropes and they end up on the apron together. Blade goes up the turnbuckle but Brooks kicks him down.

Back in the ring, Brooks splashes Blade. He picks Malik up, Malik fires back but eats an elbow to the head and a spinning neckbreaker for two. Brooks with an elbow to the shoulder but Blade battles back, Brooks knocks him down with a kick. Chinlock to Blade who picks Brooks up, springboards him off the ropes to the mat. Blade is laying in fists, into the ropes and he knocks Brooks down and then hits a leaping neckbreaker.

Blade up top and Brooks cuts him off, but Blade with a blockbuster and covers for a nearfall. Blade goes for a frog splash but Brooks gets the knees up, DDT and Brooks is up on the top. Elbow drop finishes it.

Winner: Brooks Jensen (3:26)
Rating: ** 1/2
Thoughts: When does Brooks storyline get interesting? I like him but this story is just dull so far. Match was good for the time it got.

* Je’Von is approached by Sarah and is asked about his match with Coffey. He says Joe thinks he can’t wrestle and doesn’t like his style, but he can and can throw hands. Joe is about to find that out now, “mate.”

* Tank and Hank are looking at their show Fill Up the Tank and say it’s doing great. They say it’s a stacked show and then talk about believing in Joe Hendry before OTM walk up and say they know nothing about winning championships. Tank says they beat The O.C. and OTM say they checked the box. OTM say when they eliminate Hank and Tank, they’ll get their shot.

Je’Von Evans vs. Joe Coffey

Circle and a little jabbing at each other, Joe grabs Evans for a snapmare and runs him over, then puts him on the mat with a wristlock. He cinches it in and puts him on the mat again, Evans kips up but gets yanked back down. Evans with a kippup armdrag, he’s shot into the rope and Joe knocks him down. Into the ropes, he leaps and Joe catches him but Evans with a sunset flip for two.

Evans with a rana on Joe and springboards off the ropes into another rana. Gallus distract Evans but Evans still dodges a charge by Joe, then dives onto Wolfgang and Mark! Back in the ring, he takes out Joe as we go to PIP break.

We’re back as Evans hits a rana piledriver-type move but gets thrown into the ropes. Coffey grabs Evans’ hand and shoves him, but Evans comes back with strikes. Off the ropes and he hits a big clothesline. He blocks a charge by Coffey in the corner and kicks him, then knocks him down. Off the ropes with a twisting spinning heel kick, then a high crossbody off the top for two.

Coffey gets Evans on his shoulders, and drops him into a German suplex that bounces him back to his feet. Coffey hits the Glasgow Sendoff for two-plus. Coffey sets up and charges in but Evans with a superkick and another. Coffey fires back with a Euro uppercut and goes up top to leap — Evans with a cutter! And then another off the top for a nearfall.

Coffey escapes to the outside, Evans up top and hits a somersault dive on all three Gallus members. He tosses Coffey in and leaps over him, into the ropes and Wolfgang on the ropes to distract the ref. Mark in the ring and takes a cutter for Joe, Joe then wipes out Evans for the win.

Winner: Je’Von Evans (8:58)
Rating: ***
Thoughts: A bit of a clash of styles here but it played out well. Coffey getting the win makes sense and Evans will have his chance for revenge.

* Tony D’Angelo walks through his restaurant up to the guy in charge who says “he” took your room. He walks into the back and Oba Femi is there in the private room with the North American Title. Tony sits down and says this is how Oba wants to handle things? He has balls. When he’s powerful and mean you can walk into anyplace. It’s his kind of guy.

Oba says he doesn’t need Tony’s compliments. He’s the Don of NXT, but Oba is the king. He doesn’t take disrespect. Tony says he doesn’t either. He gets the message. He says they can talk this out like men or keep running around —

Oba stands up and says he can lay waste to all these people and Tony but doesn’t have to. He’ll wait for Sunday. Tony says Oba had a hell of a run but at No Mercy, just like last week, he’ll show everyone Oba has mortal. Oba says many have tried, none have succeeded and Tony will be no different.

* Joe Hendry WALKS backstage.

* Vic and Booker run down the No Mercy card.

* Say His Name and He Appears! Joe Hendry is here to give us a concert. He comes down to the ring and straps on the guitar. He says he wants to thank the NXT Universe for choosing to spend their evening with him. He has a potentially career-defining opportunity against Ethan Page at No Mercy and can’t thank us enough for our support. To show his appreciation, he’s written another song and it’s about Ethan.

I am not quick enough to transcribe lyrics but he makes fun of Page’s cosplay and action figures, then shows a picture of Page working out in a costume. The chorus is:

“Ethan sucks/Beleve in Joe
Ethan put om some clothes”

Page interrupts and tells the refs trying to stop him that its fine, and says the singalong is over. He says those pics are out of incriminating and context as the NXT Universe sings the chorus over and over. Page says to ignore them and listen to him. He’s the NXT Champion, who does Joe think he is trying to embarrass him? Is that what he’s trying to do, entertain everyone? Whatever they’re singing, Joe is not an NXT superstar but he is, he’s the champion and he knows what’s best for the people — keeping Joe out of NXT and away from the NXT Title. So this Sunday, he promises —

Here comes Ava! Ava says Ethan should be flattered Joe took the time to write the song. But seriously, she has sorted her things out and because of the blatant disrespect to officials he’s shown, the match will have a special guest referee.

WHOOP THAT TRICK! Trick WIlliams is here in a referee shirt and Page is losing his shit. Page tries to hit Joe with the title but Joe ducks and hits the Standing Ovation. He covers Page and Trick counts to three! Hendry grabs the title and holds it high, waving his hands.

Pete Dunne watches from backstage and tells Trick to consider himself lucky tonight, but he doesn’t think Trick is making it to next Tuesday.

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