WWE NXT 4/18/2023

WWE NXT 4/18/2023

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/04/wwe-nxt-4112023.html 

We start the show off with Gallus, The Creeds and Schism all brawling and needing to be broken up.

WWE NXT Tag Titles - Gallus (c) vs The Creed Brothers vs The Dyad

Rip and Wolf take turns hitting Julius then Julius 2nd rope dropkicks both. Brutus grabs both of Julius' arms and flips him over his back onto Rip then Julius suplexes Brutus onto Wolf. Jagger drops Wolf with a forearm. Gallus catapults Jagger into a samoan drop. Wolf then sentons Brutus for 2.

Julius gets in and belly to bellies both opponents twice. Julius stretch mufflers Jagger then Mark suplexes Julius. Julius jumps up to the top rope then moonsaults Jagger in a good spot. Julius gutwrench deadlifts Mark and nearly drops him on his head. Everyone starts hitting moves.

Jagger monkey flips Julius but he lands on his feet. Mark gamengiri's Julius for 2. We go to PiP break and return. Julius hits a nice dropkick on Mark. Brutus hits a stiff lariat on Wolf. Brutus clotheslines Jagger in the corner then suplexes him while bridge pinning Wolf. Julius is forearmed off the apron. Wolf is pulled out then pushed into the steps as is Mark. Brutus takes a coriolis from Dyad then Julius suplexes them both at the same time. Ava Raine gets on the apron and Julius is distracted. Ivy Nile and Ava Raine nearly go at it then Jagger lands on Ivy. Brutus hits a Brutus ball on Rip then Brutus takes a flying knee into a fireman's carry F-5 style move to win it.

This was a good match as expected with lots of actions and highlights. The Creed's in particular looked great while Dyad was hardly in it. Gallus winning wasn't the best move, but I think they are trying to get them over and figure this may be the only way to do it.

Dijak yelled at a camera guy when he brought up Ilja Dragunov and Apollo Crews went up to him. He was told to stay out of his way and Apollo said he's in his way right now. Dijak said let's go tonight and Crews said his schedule is wide open.

We got another video on Noam Dar.

We got a news show segment with Nathan Frazier called Hard Hitting Home Truths with Nathan Frazer. He said he got injured in the Halloween Havoc ladder match and said things haven't gone well since he returned. He said this place is cutthroat and said he can't be down in the dumps if he never slows down. He said speed is important in real life and says unhappiness can't catch you if you go fast.

This was really bad. It's so clearly not going to work and I'm shocked they even aired this.

Noam Dar vs Myles Borne

Borne takes him down and Dar is wearing braids. Borne hits punches to the gut then takes a forearm. Dar elbows him in the head then kicks him. Borne blocks a punch then hits punches and a dropkick. Borne does a nice fallaway slam then slid into a knee. Dar then hits a spinning back elbow then running enzugiri's him to win it.

This one was real short and there wasn't a lot to say about it.

Roxane Perez talks on video. She said Zoey doesn't have free reign to run down people and said she will learn that character charms over talent. Perez said she wants to regain the NXT Women's title and said she will go through Tiffany if she has to. She said she shuts Zoey tonight.

We go to Kiana James' office with her and Briggs. Josh asks her to talk to Jensen for him. KJ says Jensen doesn't want to see him. Briggs said they share a bond and they started together. KJ asks him to talk to him himself then Jensen walks in with a new look. He now has long hair, glasses a button down shirt and dress pants. Jensen said they are not family and said he's tired of being treated like a kid. He said Kiana treats him as a man. Briggs says he doesn't know this man. Jensen said he's a man who makes decisions and told him to leave now.

Odyssey Jones comes out and gets speared by Bron Breakker. Bron said this is what happens when you get in his way. He calls the crowd fat rednecks. He complained about the Chase U ceremony, saying everyone gets a trophy. Bron said they are clowns and told them to join the circus. Bron said Odyssey felt it, Melo felt it, Chase felt it and then Duke Hudson interrupted from the stands. Duke had his MVP trophy with him and told him to keep Chase's name out of his mouth. Duke said Bron made a big mistake and said he tore the Chase U flag. Duke accused him of being sad over losing the NXT title and said nobody puts down Chase U and gets away with it. Duke challenges Bron at Spring Breakin' then interrupts him again. Duke said he's not done talking and we get an "MVP" chant. Duke said it'll be a battle of legends when Bron goes up against Andre Chase. He said Chase will give him an Andre Chase sized @ss whooping. Bron told him to enjoy the last 7 days he has left to breathe as he will spear his little @ss in half. This was a good segment with Duke and Bron both being good here. Bron did a good job here as a heel.

Cora Jade is interviewed by Mckenzie. Cora said she didn't regret tearing down the other women. She said there's more she could have said. Gigi Dolin then walks in. Gigi said she learned to take her anger out in the ring and said she'd bat her up in the ring tonight.

Pretty Deadly is interviewed. They said the only way to speak to the D'Angelos is to speak their language, which they did by attacking them. Kit said they won't be ambused again and said they are not just two good looking guys. They then challenged them to an anything goes match. They said they will be the ones in the trunk next week and will be sleeping with the fishes.

Zoey Stark vs Roxanne Perez

RP armdrags her out of an armlock then headlock takeovers her. Zoey headscissors her. RP walks up the buckles with a bulldog and takes her over. Zoey kicks her in the ribs then RP satellite headscissors her. RP dives on her but is caught and dropped on the apron.

We go to break and return. Zoey hangs her in the corner and kicks her then catapults her into the buckles. Perez fights back with forearms then just swings wildly at her. Perez topes her. Perez pumping knees her then russian leg sweeps her for 2. Zoey hits a superkick then suplexes her. Zoey flips her but Perez rolls her up. Zoey throws her into the buckles but RP climbs the buckles and hits a code red off of them to win it.

The break really came at a bad time and hurt some of the match quality here but it was a good effort by both girls.

Indi Hartwell comes out. She said she wouldn't be NXT women's champ if it wasn't due to her. She said she wants to be a fighting champ and challenges her next week. Perez agrees then Tiffany Stratton comes out. She wants to know why she was passed up for a title shot. She said Indi's reign is just luck. Tiff says Perez is a beatable opponent and Perez takes offense to it. Indi offers to fight both of them at Spring Breakin'.

Grayson Waller is interviewed. Waller said his loss to Gargano was unsanctioned and therefore didn't count or happen. Waller said Melo has what he wants and he's taking it tonight then physically taking it next week.

We see clips of Von Wagner pleading with Mr. Stone from last week. Von says he is ready. Stone asks why he thinks he is ready and says he doesn't believe that he's ready to open up. Von says this is in his blood and his dad is a Beverly brother. Stone says this is a good start and said let's go.

Axiom looks into a mirror. He said he doesn't see a man in a mask, he only sees Axiom. He said Scrypts disguises his voice and asks why. He said Scrypts is not his arch nemesis. He said he will beat him and be done with him.

We see Dani Palmer and Sol Ruca doing a dancing video together on TikTok. Hank Walker then walks in with Tank Ledger. Tank said he felt the energy out there and said Dani will crush it on her debut. Dani is then on Sol's shoulders and Hank jumps on Tank's back.

Gigi Dolin vs Cora Jade

Cora armlocks her then Gigi rolls and bridges into a kick on her. Gigi arm throws her then PK's her for 2. Gigi bronco busters her in the corner then Cora upkicks her. Cora uses the bottom rope and double stomps Gigi's back. Gigi does a backcracker on her then hits bad high kicks. Gigi high kicks her in the head and Jacy Jayne comes down on the apron during this. Gigi pulls Jacy in then fights with her outside. Jacy is thrown into the post then is thrown over the table onto Booker T, knocking him over. Cora step up knees Gigi on the ropes then ddt's her to win it.

This wasn't good. They had multiple sloppy moves her and this was only a few minutes long.

Lyra Valkyria appears with smoke. She said she will fight Cora next week at Spring Breakin'.

Eddy Thorpe is interviewed. He talked about paying dues and said he wanted to make sure he was prepared when this came. Eddy said he's ready to succeed in NXT then Damon Kemp walked in. Kemp said he's just checking out the new guy and seeing what the buzz is about. Kemp says he's impressed and said he may have something.

Fallon Henley and Briggs are at the bar. Fallon said Jensen is wrapped around her finger and maybe he'll cool off in time. Jensen walks in and says he isn't drinking. Jensen said he meant every word he said. He said Fallon is jealous and Briggs held him down. Briggs said he isn't going to let Jensen talk down to them. They ask for a mixed tag next week of Briggs and Fallon vs Kiana James and Brooks Jensen. Fallon then kicks him out and Jensen mocks them. I'm really interested in this but I think it's too soon.

Dijak vs Apollo Crews

Crews takes him down then running back elbows him. Crews side headlocks him and hits germans on him later. Crews is knocked off the apron into the commentator's table and we go to break. We return and they are on the apron again. Crews brings his neck down over the top rope then top rope chops him. Crews jumping lariats him then top rope blockbusters him. Crews pump kicks him then Dijak superkicks him. Crews hits an enzugiri then Dijak does his spinning facekick for 2. Dijak is knee'd on a chokeslam attempt. Crews standing moonsaults him then is caught with a sitout chokeslam for 2. Crews then takes a GTH and Dijak wins it.

It was a little too flippy and spinny for me. I don't like Dijak being thrown around.

Dijak grabs Crews after then Ilja Dragunov comes down. He spinning chops him then headbutts him. Ilja then facekicks him through the ropes. Both men have to be held back.  

Jacy Jayne is interviewed as she leaves. She said if Gigi thinks her life has been tough so far, she should wait and see what she puts her through. Jacy said she left her brother when she was a kid instead of protecting him. Jacy said Gigi will run from NXT when she's done with her.

WWE NXT North American Title - Wes Lee (c) vs Charlie Dempsey

Wes jumps off the steps and is nailed by Drew Gulak outside. Charlie hits forearms and euros him. Wes sunset flips him and headscissors him form the mat. Wes hits a nice dropkick and his lip is busted open. Wes tope con hilos him and we go to PiP break. We return and they both have their legs locked up. Charlie rolls and throws him out of the leg lock then arm throws him. Charlie hammerlocks him then throws him intothe buckles.

Charlie hits a nice karelin's lift and continues to stretch the arm. They trade strikes then Wes snapmares him int oa dropkick on the back of the neck. Wes takes a dragon screw then is butterfly suplexed. Charlie germans him for 2 then does another with a nice bridge. Wes knocks Drew off the apron then does a backflip into a pele kick and wins it.

This was a good match with the two matching up well together. Both men came out of this looking good.

Drew nails him after. Wes is stomped on by both and takes a dragon suplex.

We went to a restaurant with Tony D and Stacks. They discussed what to do with them. Stacks wanted to take them down to the docks and break a hand or two. They said next week they have a trunk match. Tony said they will stuff them in the trunk and take them on a nice long drive. They then toasted "to business". That's a fun little twist and likely will just be a casket match variation.

We see a video of Oba Femi shotputting stuff and throwing it like a couch, tv and a keg. They said he's coming next week. This was cool.

The Grayson Waller Effect with Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams

Melo said Waller takes losses but keeps finding himself in the main event. Melo said that Waller has so many bricks, he can build a place outside of the Performance Center. Waller said he became just as a big of a star as Melo without a title while Melo had one. Waller said Melo isn't him, he's them. He said everything he got has been because of Trick Williams.

Melo said Waller stole every oppurtunity he had. Melo said Waller may not be built for the championship lifestyle and may not be that guy. They ask to put up banners for Waller but say there are none to put up. Waller said Melo won the title at Stand and Deliver, but Waller stole the show. Waller said next week will be the biggest night of his life and says he will win the title. Melo held up his title and Waller held up his shoe and they argued to close the show.

Overall thoughts: I liked the opener, the PD/Tony D stuff and the stuff with Jensen and Briggs. Lee/Dempsey was also a good match and Oba Femi's vignette was good as well. I still don't feel like it was a great show, but it was a good enough show.