SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT TV REPORT
MAY 6, 2025
ORLANDO, FLA. AT THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER
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): Sarah Schreiber
[HOUR ONE]
-Half of the roster was shown walking into the building, crossing paths and interacting with each other.
(1) HANK & TANK (Hank Walker & Tank Ledger) & JOE HENDRY vs. DARKSTATE (Dion Lennox & Cutler James & Osiris Griffin)
The TNA World Champion and NXT Tag Team Champions all did the Joe Hendry turn into cheesy grin. That made me smile. The six men began brawling at the bell before settling into a one-on-one bout. Hank & Tank did some good teamwork spots before tagging in Hendry, who performed a delayed vertical suplex. Lennox took the advantage briefly before becoming the meat in a Hank & Tank sandwich. The face trio cleared the ring and did the turn and grin mid-ring before they cut to a split-screen commercial. [c]
Am I the only person who finds it hard to pay attention to the match during these split-screens? They might as well just cut away completely. Back to full-screen, Shugars shoved Hank off the top turnbuckle, allowing Osiris to take the advantage. The three men effectively triple-teamed Hank. Cutler got a couple of near-falls, and Osiris showed some fire here. Tank took the hot tag and cleaned house. He hit a cannonball on Shugars and James outside the ring.
The match again broke into an uncontrollable brawl. Hendry hit a fall-away slam on James. Trick Williams came to the ring and pulled Hendry out of the ring. The referee didn’t see it, but he did turn to see the two men fight towards the back, so no disqualification here. Dark State hit their three-man throw slam finisher for the win.
WINNERS: DarkState at 11:43
(Miller’s Take: This was a fun opening match. For some reason, I can’t get enough of Hank & Tank doing the Joe Hendry turn and grin. DarkState is in desperate need of individual character development. Right now, they still just seem like four interchangeable guys. No surprise in Trick Williams making his presence known after what happened between him and Hendry last week.)
-Thea Hail was talking to Karmen Petrovic when Jaida Parker interjected herself into the conversation in her usual obnoxious way. She dismissed Hail as the same yappy little dog she was before she left, then told Petrovic, “I told you so” regarding Adonis. They faced off with a bit of trash-talking before their upcoming match.
-In the back, LFG and Evolve talent were shown warming up ahead of the battle royal for the number one contender to the NXT Championship. [c]
-Charley Dempsey was giving No Quarter Catch Crew a pep talk about doing it for the team, but in a way that seemed somewhat selfish. There was some question about Myles Borne being on the same page, as he was a bit late for hands in the middle.
(2) KELANI JORDAN vs. ZARIA (w/Sol Ruca)
Jordan started with a dropkick to the face, but Zaria responded by slapping her face off. Jordan came back with some forearms and attempted a hurricanrana, but Zaria held on. The two women traded blistering chops as the announcers debated whether Zaria had nefarious intentions in her protectiveness of Ruca. As they took the fight outside the ring, Jordan connected with a hurricanrana off the ring steps. Another split-screen commercial break. [c]
A State Farm superhero commercial distracted me during the split-screen break, followed by talking pigeons and Domino’s fooling people into believing they used to have stuffed crust pizza. Back to full-screen, Zaria had Jordan in trouble. She sat on the top turnbuckle and lifted Jordan into the air by her neck with a sleeper. Jordan threw her off the turnbuckle and took over with her speed and agility.
Jordan got a near-fall after a DDT, then climbed to the top. She rolled out of an attempted 450 splash when Zaria moved, but then got speared out of her boots for a believable near fall. A “this is awesome” chant broke out. Jordan pulled the top rope down as Zaria charged, sending her tumbling to the outside. Zaria pushed Jordan into Ruca, who caught her. The two women stared at each other briefly before Zaria speared Jordan right out of Ruca’s arms and through the barricade. She threw her back in the ring and hit her version of the F5 for the victory.
WINNER: Zaria at 11:23.
(Miller’s Take: This was very good. Kelani Jordan is always fun to watch, and we don’t see enough of Zaria. This was a speed vs. power story, with the backstory of Zaria being Ruca’s gatekeeper.)
-In the back, Wes Lee, Tyriek Igwe, and Tyson Dupont interrupted Tony D’Angelo as he was on the phone. Lee ran his mouth about Tony not being in the battle royal tonight and accused him of being scared without the family around. The Don was not impressed with Lee’s bravado and began to warn him before Lee quickly dismissed himself.
-Trick Williams entered the ring to his entrance ahead of the battle royal. [c]
-Back from the break, Lola Vice was giving Stephanie Vaquer a slight pep talk, but then said she’d be standing on the other side waiting for her. Giulia walked up and said she hadn’t forgotten and would see her at Battleground.
(3) 25-MAN BATTLE ROYAL – #1 Contender to the NXT Championship
Ethan Page made his full ring entrance for the battle royal as the ring was already full. The lights went out. A familiar guitar strum was followed by a spotlight on Elijah (formerly Elias), much to the crowd’s delight. As he sang his way to the ring, an “Elias” chant was censored. NXT, TNA, Evolve, and LFG talent were involved. This is pretty cool. Eliminations started early, with Lexis King being one of the first. Swipe Right didn’t last long. Yet another split-screen commercial break. [c]
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of “PWT Talks NXT” with Kelly Wells and Nate Lindberg, 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)
[HOUR TWO]
Back to full-screen, about a dozen guys were still left. Timothy Thatcher was eliminated, followed by Niko Vance and LFG’s Shiloh Hill. Brooks Jenson was standing on the ring apron slugging it out with Ridge Holland. Yoshiki Inamura charged Holland but accidentally knocked Briggs off the apron and to the floor instead. Interesting development, there. Zach Wentz was eliminated. Guess what happened next? Another split-screen commercial break. Yay. [c]
Nine men were left when they returned full-screen. Inamura and Holland were locking horns. Williams eliminated both by clotheslining them over the top rope. Joe Hendry’s music hit, and Williams lost his mind. As he was distracted by Hendry walking to the ring, Elijah eliminated him, then was quickly eliminated himself. Evans came within a hair of both feet hitting the floor after being thrown over the top by Sean Legacy, who was making a great showing of himself before being eliminated.
It came down to Evans, Spears, Borne, and Page. Evans hit a beautiful double clothesline off the top to Page and Spears, but another aerial attempt resulted in Spears and Page catching him and tossing him over the top rope and harshly into the announce desk. As Page and Spears tangled with each other near the ropes, a Borne dropkick eliminated both men.
WINNER: Myles Borne at 22:58.
(Miller’s Take: This was much better than I anticipated. Swipe Right got swiped right over the top rope and eliminated pretty early. LFG’s Shiloh Hill and Evolve’s Sean Legacy both shined. Elijah was an extremely popular participant with the fans. Je’Von Evans had a few great spots where his feet were only about an inch or two off the floor. Myles Borne was a surprise winner. Very well done.)
-In the back, Sarah Schreiber interviewed Jordynne Grace ahead of her upcoming match with Giulia. Izzi Dame and Lash Legend both entered the picture to assert their dominance. Grace looked about two feet tall standing between the towering Dame and Legend.
-Jaida Parker made her ring entrance as the fans chanted “Miss Parker”. [c]
(4) JAIDA PARKER vs. KARMEN PETROVIC
Parker shoved Petrovic in the corner, but broke clean. Petrovic did a move where she basically sat down on Parker’s face. That looked pretty stiff, and Parker sold it for a bit. Some good back-and-forth action slowed down when Parker applied an arm submission. Petrovic came to life with a series of clotheslines, then climbed the middle rope and came off with a sling blade for a near fall. Parker took the win after Petrovic missed a kick and ate a hip attack. After the match, she continued to beat on Petrovic. Thea Hail ran out and pushed Petrovic out of the way of another hip attack and ate the move herself. Petrovic checked on a fallen Hail as Parker flapped her gums at the pair on the way to the back.
WINNER: Jaida Parker at 4:09
(Miller’s Take: Pretty much any Karmen Petrovic match looks the same and this wasn’t much different. Parker has a great ring presence and can talk her tail off. I give her less than a year before she’s on the main roster, while Petrovic will most likely be at a high school gym near you. Maybe ROH.)
-A spot for Stephanie’s Place with Pat McAfee aired.
-Ava was talking to Joe Hendry in the back about how this situation between him and Trick Williams has to stop. She told Hendry she talked to Santino and they came to the agreement that Hendry would face Trick Williams at Battleground and, for the first time in WWE history, it would be for the TNA World Title. [c]
-OTM cut an over-the-top promo.
-In the back, Wes Lee was talking on the phone and told Igwe and Dupont that “everybody has a price.” I half expected Ted DiBiase to show up. Elsewhere, Josh Briggs caught up with Inamura, who sadly told Briggs he was sorry for letting him down and told Ava he was going back to Japan tonight. Briggs begged him not to go. The Culling came up and rubbed it in to a crestfallen Briggs
-Elsewhere in the back, Charley Dempsey declared to the rest of the No Quarter Catch Crew that he would be the one to face Oba Femi at Battleground. Borne said he won the battle royal, not Dempsey. Dempsey said it had to be him to be the one to stretch out that big meathead. Femi walked up and congratulated Borne. Dempsey told Oba he would be the one facing him. Femi said he was confused because he saw Borne win the battle royal. Borne spoke up and said yes, he won the battle royal, and he’d see him at Battleground. He then suggested Dempsey could face him next week, since he said something about “stretching out that big meathead”. Oba gladly accepted. Dempsey criticized Borne for his “selective hearing”, to which Borne replied, “What?” Funny segment.
-Giulia made her ring entrance before they cut to a break. [c]
-Just when I thought I was going to be spared a Chase U skit, we get Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors asking Andre Chase to model a couple of new Chase U outfits, including an ill-fitting sweater and a 70’s-era track suit. Everyone liked it. Everyone but me.
(5) GIULIA vs. JORDYNNE GRACE – #1 Contender Match for the NXT Women’s Title
The match started with the two women trading forearms in the middle of the ring. Grace dumped Giulia on her head in a scary-looking tilt-a-whirl suplex variation. The referee swooped in to check on her, but she was surprisingly okay to continue. Grace held Giulia in a vertical suplex as she screamed bloody murder before being dropped. Grace braced Giulia’s back with one arm as she slammed her with clotheslines with the other. Guilia made a comeback and dragged Grace to the ring apron and dropped her with a neckbreaker to the floor before they cut to what must be the last split-screen commercial break. [c]
Guilia remained in control as they returned to full-screen. She locked Grace into a guillotine, but Grace stood up with it and threw her overhead. Guilia was screaming in pain. A “this is awesome” chant broke out as the two ladies rose to their feet and traded forearms. They slapped the taste out of each other’s mouths before Grace hit a series of bodyslams. Grace hit Beast Mode for a two-count.
Giulia climbed to the top, but Grace climbed with her and hit an incredible delayed vertical superplex into a jackhammer for a two-count. That popped the crowd big-time. Giulia came back with a Northern Lights Driver for a two, then spiked her with a DDT. Grace countered another Northern Lights Driver by placing Giulia in position for a tombstone piledriver, then flipping backwards and tossing her overhead. Guilia rose to her feet with a defiant, determined look on her face, but ate a back fist and fell victim to a second Beast Mode.
WINNER: Jordynne Grace at 12:44 to become the number one contender.
(Miller’s Take: That was excellent. Both women showed what they’ve got, here. Grace may be vertically challenged, but she’s a real powerhouse of a woman. Giulia, despite the slight tweaking of her look along with a heel turn, has that elusive “it” factor and has “star” written all over her. The final minute of this match was amazing.)
-Stephanie Vaquer’s music hit as she confidently strode to the ring, walked up to Grace, and held her title belt aloft. The two women exchanged words as the show ended.
FINAL THOUGHTS: They made some good strides toward Battleground tonight. The inevitable Williams vs. Hendry match is happening for the TNA Title on a WWE show, which is pretty big. I’m predicting an NXT wrestler holding the TNA World Title. It was good seeing Elijah in a WWE ring again, and I hope management takes note of the warm welcome he received. Jaida Parker continues to be pure gold. Grace vs. Vaquer should be excellent if they give them enough time. How about that Myles Borne? Didn’t see that one coming. What about Luca Crusifino? Is he still dead
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