SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT TV REPORT
APRIL 15, 2025
ORLANDO, FLA.
AIRED LIVE ON THE CW
REPORT BY DAVID MILLER, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Backstage Correspondent(s): Kelly Kincaid
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[HOUR ONE]
-The show opened with outdoor shots of Orlando at dusk. In the ring, the four men participating in the Fatal Four-Way were already in the ring as North American Champion Ricky Saints made his way to ringside.
(1) ETHAN PAGE vs. EDDY THORPE vs LEXIS KING vs. WES LEE – Fatal Four-Way for the number one contender to the North American Title
Early in the match, King was pinballed by the other three participants. Wes Lee was at the bottom of a pyramid superplex out of the corner, with Page and Thorpe in the middle, and King at the top. Thorpe and Lee traded forearms. Lee dove through the ropes and onto the floor into King, knocking him into the barricade. Page threw Thorpe into Saints, who was seated at the announce desk, on purpose. Saints took exception to this and pushed Thorpe aside, then looked like he was going to throw down with Page, who was taunting him. The referee stepped in between them and instructed Saints to leave the ringside area. [c]
Back from the break, Page bodyslammed Lee onto King. Page put King in a Boston Crab while Thorpe applied a crossface, but it was broken up. King was the victim of a Whisper In the Wind while he was perched on Thorpe’s shoulders in a dazzling spot. Lighting quick action with lots of pin attempts. After the men traded finishers, Page hit his Twisted Grin on King for the win.
WINNER: Ethan Page at 12:20 to become the number one contender to the North American Title.
-Page grabbed a mic to run his mouth after the match, but Ricky Saints charged the ring and speared him.
(Miller’s Take: This was action-packed. King seemed to be on the receiving end of a lot of the punishment. Very good, exciting opening match to start the show and get the live crowd fired up.}
-A video package on Jordynne Grace aired, highlighting her incredible body transformation. She said she wanted people to say, “Yeah, the women in WWE are killing it, but have you seen Jordynne Grace in TNA?” [c]
-In the women’s locker room, Kelani Jordan, Izzi Dame, Sol Ruca, and Zaria bickered about who was going to win the North American Title.
(2) TATUM PAXLEY (w/Gigi Dolan) vs. LOLA VICE – qualifying match for the six-woman ladder match for the North American Title at Stand and Deliver
Vice took Paxley down to the mat early and grounded her. They traded submission moves, with Vice coming out on top in the exchange. Paxley rolled out of the ring and crawled under it. Vice went after her, but Paxley grabbed her arm and pulled her shoulder into the steel ring frame. They cut to a split-screen commercial break. During the break, Vice took control of the match.
Back to full-screen, Paxley whipped Vice from corner to corner, but Vice came back with those ridiculous-looking double kicks to the outside of the thighs that Naomi used to do. She followed that up with a hip attack in the corner. With Vice perched on the top turnbuckle, Paxley hit a superplex for a two-count. Vice recovered to nail a back-fist for the pin.
WINNER: Lola Vice at 9:54 to qualify.
(Miller’s Take: Solid showing for both women. With Paxley not being pushed as a singles wrestler lately, it made sense for Vice to come out on top.)
-In a taped promo, Giulia, in Japanese, said Jordynne and Jaida were obstacles in her way to get to Stephanie. She said beating her for the title only made her more dangerous.
-Trick Williams was shown driving up to the building. [c]
-All the women were trying to talk to Ava at once in the back. She said they’d all be in Stand and Deliver in a triple-threat tag team match. Roxanne Perez walked up and told Ava she knew she’d do this, knowing she didn’t have a tag team partner. Ava said if she could charm someone into being her partner, she’d make it a fatal four-way.
(3) HANK WALKER & TANK LEDGER vs TYSON DUPONT & TYRIEK IGWE vs. THE CULLING (Brooks Jenson & Niko Vance) vs. NO QUARTER CATCH CREW (Tavion Heights & Myles Borne) vs. JOSH BRIGGS & YOSHIKI INAMURA – Gauntlet match to determine the number one contenders to the NXT Tag Team Titles
Hank & Tank started vs Tyson & Tyriek. Quick, high-impact offense was followed up by a Hank & Tank sandwich and a smooth double-team move for a quick pin to eliminate DuPonte & Igwe.
The Culling was up next. Vance & Jensen started hot, but Hank & Tank were on a roll and dominated with double-team moves. They cut to a split-screen commercial break. The action continued outside the ring as someone was singing opera in a Bounty commercial.
They replayed a big move that happened during the break, where Hank was bulldogged off the shoulders of his opponent on the outside face-first onto the announce desk. Yikes. Hank got worked over back in the ring as the Cullen kept him away from his corner. He finally hot-tagged a fired-up Tank, who went into obliteration mode before eating a spinning heel kick. The Cullen tried a fancy double-team move off the top, but it was reversed and Hank & Tank pulled off another surprise pin.
Next up was No Quarter Catch Crew. They immediately took it to a weary Hank & Tank with high-octane offense. Hank & Tank gutted it out and commenced to thumping on The Crew. Yet another split-screen commercial break. Nice of The CW to air a little NXT during their commercials. At least I got to hear Johnny Cash sing Personal Jesus.
They took an NXT break from the commercials to show Tank and Heights slugging it out. Hank was a little bit late breaking up a pin, but the referee stopped counting anyway. Tank got a surprise pin on Heights.
Briggs and Inamura hit the ring and quickly took control. Hank wearily tried firing back on Briggs, but took a shoe sole to the teeth. Briggs only got a two-count. Inamura speed-chopped Hank in the corner. A very short time later, Hank managed to pull off an inside cradle on Briggs for the final victory.
WINNERS: Hank & Tank at 20:47
(Miller’s Take: Whew! I’m exhausted after just watching that. I’m not sure what was quicker, the in-ring action or the speed with which they cut back and forth to split-screen commercial breaks. I think everyone anticipated this outcome. It’ll be a barn-burner of a tag match, but I don’t think Fraxiom is going to lose the belts anytime soon.)
-In the GM’s office, Stevie Turner talked to Kali Armstrong about her upcoming match on Evolve, as Ava and Robert Stone chatted about the upcoming women’s qualifying match. They cut to Oba Femi, who was shown entering the building. [c]
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of “Wrestling Coast to Coast” with Chris Maitland and Justin McClelland, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
-Back from the break, a video package on Jaida Parker aired. It showed her walking the streets of her hometown, Port St. Lucie. She talked about growing up there and playing soccer, with her dad being her coach. She cried about losing her uncle, who she said was her best friend. She said life made her hard, so she didn’t need any friends. She said she’d show the world that Jaida Parker don’t play and she’d take the NXT Women’s title with her.
-In the parking lot, the D’Angelo family was shown getting ready to throw down with Dark State, sans Tony, who Stacks said wasn’t in on this. Dark State appeared and the family began beating the daylights out of them with crowbars as they took the fight inside the building. Chaos ensued as crowbars were swung, stiff chair shots were delivered, and Crucifino was speared through a drywall. Dark State channeled their inner firefighter and began spraying a fire extinguisher everywhere. Back in the parking lot, a concrete block was shattered, and we had the obligatory chokeslam on the hood of a car. At that moment, a car sped onto the scene, and Tony D’Angelo emerged with a crowbar of his own. He chased off all of Dark State as sirens wailed. In the illumination of flashing red and blue lights, Tony yelled at Stacks for putting this brawl together. He said he was doing business and that business would take place at Stand and Deliver. Tony told Stacks not to question him again and gave him a hug. [c]
(Miller’s Take: It was a bit over-the-top with the crowbars, but entertaining. One of those chair shots looked like it connected with a cranium. The spear through the drywall looked pretty cool. Tony chastising Stacks for doing things on his own without his consent is going to lead to an obvious heel turn for Stacks, but will it happen at Stand and Deliver?)
-A video package of Stephanie Vaquer aired, showing her on local TV in her home country of Chile. She said her dad was initially worried about her when she said she wanted to become a wrestler. She was shown with family, presenting her dad with replica belts of the two titles she won in NXT.
-Kelly Kincaid interviewed a jubilant Hank & Tank, who said they learned who they are, and now they have a chance at Stand and Deliver. Fraxiom walked up to them, and Frazier said he knew they could do it. Axiom sarcastically told Frazier he had given them the worst advice ever. Axiom shook their hands as Frazier walked away.
-Roxanne told Ava she would be her own tag team partner. An exasperated Ava said, “One of you is plenty.” Cora Jade walked into the picture. It looks like Perez may have found her way to Stand and Deliver. [c]
-Andre Chase was in the back with his fanboys, contemplating Chase U. Chase said he let everybody down. Thea Hail walked into the picture and said he didn’t let her down. When Chase asked what she was doing here, she said she was here make her way to Stand and Deliver.
(4) KARMEN PETROVIC vs. THEA HAIL – Qualifying match for the Women’s North American Title six-woman ladder match at Stand and Deliver
The crowd chanted “welcome back” at Hail, who went on the offense early. Petrovic rolled to the outside and smacked a charging Hail in the face to take over. Back in the ring, Hail very quickly tapped Petrovic with a Kimura Lock.
WINNER: Thea Hail at 2:44 to qualify.
-As Hail stood in victory, the other participants in the ladder match were shown standing among the fans, looking down at the ring. Hail acknowledged their presence with vigorous, self-assured nodding. [c]
(Miller’s Take: It’s good to see Hail back in action. She was very aggressive from the start and made short work of Petrovic.)
-Back from the break, Trick Williams made his ring entrance. He referenced Evans calling him Carmelo Hayes and told Femi he’s coming back to get his crown. Oba Femi strolled out to his music and told Williams he’s not the man, just a broken record playing the same hits over and over again. He said the spotlight is moving on, and Williams should do the same. As Williams was responding, Je’Von Evans emerged and told Williams to please “shut your ass up,.” He said Williams comes out week after week talking about a match he doesn’t deserve. He told Williams he’s dismissed, then turned his attention to Femi. He talked about dropping the NXT Champion twice.
Evans began rambling about WrestleMania and Femi being drafted. He just lost me at this point. Evans is not good on the mic and began dragging the segment down. Femi told him he was a phenomenal rookie, but he is the man and called Evans a child. Evans said he’d wrestle circles around both of them. They each grabbed Evans and tossed him over the top rope like a sack of potatoes, then began slugging it out with each other. Evans re-entered the ring and was promptly tossed out the other side. As Femi and Williams traded punches, Evans climbed back to the apron, bounded off the top rope, and laid out both Williams and Femi. He grabbed the NXT belt and raised it over his head as the show went off the air.
(Miller’s Take: This was a pretty good segment until somebody decided Je’Von Evans and a microphone would make a good match. Evans was the one to come across a bit heelish in this segment, as he seemed a bit overconfident and sounded like a braggart. I think he’s much better suited as a humble underdog that the fans want to root for. He’s fun to watch in the ring, but his promos are stilted and shaky. He definitely needs some work on the stick.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a fine go-home show leading to Stand and Deliver. The video packages on Grace, Parker, and Vaquer were especially well done and showed a personal side of the ladies that made me care about them and their journey. Honestly, any match on the card for Stand and Deliver has the potential to be a show-stealer.
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