SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT SHOWDOWN
OCTOBER 7, 2025
ORLANDO, FLA. AT THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON THE CW
REPORT BY DAVID MILLER, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome, McKenzie Mitchell
Backstage Correspondent(s): Sarah Schreiber
-A video package was shown highlighting the history of both NXT and TNA, and how they got to tonight’s showdown between the two promotions.
-Both men’s and women’s teams from their respective organizations were shown walking into the building. They cut to a shot of the inside of the arena, with a big logo of “NXT Showdown” behind the stands, and the NXT and TNA logos on either side of it.
(1) THE HARDY BOYZ (c) vs. DARKSTATE (c) (Dion Lennox & Osiris Griffin w/Saquon Shugars & Cutler James) – TNA Tag Team Championship vs. NXT Tag Team Championship
The Hardy Boyz WWE entrance theme hit to a huge pop from the crowd. The Dudley Boyz were shown in the crowd, observing their future opponents intently. TNA President Carlos Silva was standing next to them. All four members of DarkState rushed the ring, but The Hardys fought them off. DarkState retreated to the apron, where Lennox and Griffin were dragged in by their opponents as the referee ejected Shugars and James.
The Hardys immediately took over on Lennox as the referee called for the bell. The NXT Women’s team was shown receiving pre-match instructions from special guest referee Jordynne Grace. In the meantime, the rather large Griffin took control of Jeff. Matt tagged in and made a comeback for his team, but Lennox made a blind tag and nailed Matt as he was setting up for a Twist of Fate. [c]
Back from the commercial break, Lennox had Jeff grounded and was clubbing the back of his head. He tried rushing over to tag his brother, but Griffin wouldn’t let him go. Jordynne Grace was shown now talking to Team TNA while Jeff continued taking a beating. The Dudleys looked like they were trying to restrain themselves from jumping the barricade. Jeff managed to hit the Whisper In the Wind on both opponents, then made the hot tag to Matt.
Matt went into “delete” mode and almost got the pin, but it was broken up. A pin attempt by Griffin was subsequently broken up. Griffin lifted Matt onto his shoulders for what looked like a Doomsday Device attempt, but he lost his balance and dropped to his knees. Matt was close enough to the corner to throw a punch at Lennox. He hit a Twist of Fate on Griffin, then another on Lennox. Jeff got the tag and landed a swanton for the three count.
WINNERS: The Hardy Boyz at 10:45 to retain the TNA Tag Team Championship and capture the NXT Tag Team Championship.
(Miller’s Take: Finally, TNA gets a little satisfaction by being able to take some WWE title belts over to TNA. That being said, it IS The Hardy Boyz, who are more WWE than TNA, despite their current promotional affiliation. Still, it was good to see them win a title they’ve never held and further cement their legacy as one of the greatest tag teams of all time.)
-The Dudley Boyz were shown applauding The Hardy Boyz as the announcers marveled at WWE belts being held by TNA-contracted wrestlers for the first time in history. [c]
(2) TEAM TNA (Jessie McKay & Cassie Lee & Mara Sade & Kelani Jordan) vs. TEAM NXT (Lola Vice & Jaida Parker & Sol Ruca & Jacy Jayne) – Survivor Series Elimination Match
Lots of hardware got worn to the ring for this match. The Iinspiration are the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions and Kelani Jordan is the TNA Knockouts champ, while Sol Ruca holds the Speed and North American titles, and Jayne is the NXT Women’s Champion. Jayne rudely shoved aside Parker and Vice as she came out. As noted earlier, Jordynne Grace was appointed Special Referee for this match.
Jayne started out against Jordan at lightning speed. Vice tagged herself in, which didn’t sit well with Jayne. The Iinspiration soon took control with some “iconic” teamwork. Sade came in, but quickly fell victim to a double team effort by Vice and Parker. Things heated up as all eight women faced off mid-ring, and Grace let them go. Everyone started flying to the outside of the ring, with the NXT ladies getting the better of the exchange. Team NXT (including Jayne) hugged enthusiastically before they cut to a break.
As they came back, Ruca was being thumped on by TNA. Sade got a near fall, then tagged out to The Iinspiration. They attempted a double suplex, but Ruca reversed it into a double DDT then got the hot tag to Jayne, who came in and cleaned house. Parker and Sade each tagged in. Parker soon stacked up McKay and Lee in the corner and hit her hip attack. Sade missed a moonsault in what appeared to be a mistimed move, as Parker didn’t budge.
Again, it all broke loosed with every woman getting licks in. Sade was able to roll up Parker for the first elimination of the match.
ELIMINATED: Jaida Parker at 12:56 by Mara Sade.
As Sade was celebrating near the ropes, Sol Ruca executed a Sol Snatcher for a quick pin to even the score.
ELIMINATED: Mara Sade at 13:07 by Sol Ruca. [c]
Back from commercial, Jayne was fighting to get to her corner for a tag, which she eventually got to Vice, who came in with feet flying. She hit alternating hip attacks as Booker T lost his mind. She hit a quick, fierce back fist on Cassie Lee for the easy pin.
ELIMINATED: Cassie Lee at 19:01 by Lola Vice.
As Vice was swiveling her hips, McKay attempted a rollup from behind, but Vice turned it into a submission. Jordan tried to make the save, but couldn’t reach McKay before she tapped out.
ELIMINATION: Jessie McKay at 19:28 by Lola Vice.
A distraught Jordan suddenly found herself all alone. Jayne arrogantly tagged herself in. Jordan hit a split-legged moonsault on Jayne and had her covered, but Grace was busy trying to get The Iinspiration to the back and was late counting the pin. Vice and Jayne weren’t operating on the same wavelength, which allowed Jordan to get one back on Vice.
ELIMINATED: Lola Vice at 21:19 by Kelani Jordan.
Ruca then faced off against Jordan to resume a classic feud. Jordan got a near fall, then went to the top, but was followed up by Ruca. The TNA champ hit a Spanish Fly on Ruca from the top turnbuckle, then went back up for a 450 splash, but Ruca got her knees up. Jordan stopped a little short of following through with it and barely touched Ruca’s knees, but she sold it anyway. As Ruca hit the ropes for a Sol Snatcher, Jayne tagged herself in and ran in to cover Jordan after the move had been executed.
ELIMINATED: Kelani Jordan at 23:12 by Jacy Jayne.
WINNERS: Team NXT at 23:12 with Sol Ruca and Jacy Jayne as the sole survivors.
(Miller’s Take: I wasn’t crazy about Parker eating the first elimination and I really hope they have bigger and better things in store for her. The action was outstanding throughout the match, with Jayne becoming comically enthusiastic about her team. Other than The Iinspiration, who have been away long enough and changed their look, it did seem like NXT vs. NXT Lite. No real complaints, though, and I’m glad that Grace wasn’t a determining factor in the outcome.)
-After the match, Jayne ecstatically hugged Ruca and seemed genuinely confused when Ruca shoved her away. Sol went over to the corner and helped Jordan to her feet. After a defeated Jordan left the ring, the sole survivors posed on the ropes and celebrated their team victory together.
-Mustafa Ali and Ethan Page were both shown making their way to the ring entrance before they cut to a commercial break. [c]
-The Progressive NXT Focus was on Matt Cardona with Ava, who asked why he’d been blowing up her phone all day. He apologized profusely for getting involved in the match last week between Josh Briggs and Myles Borne. Ava wasn’t buying it and told him so. He stepped back and hid behind the door as Briggs burst in to demand a match with Cardona. She told Briggs she’d get with Santino and make it happen next week. Ava told Cardona he could come out now as Briggs left. He said he loved how this place worked and said he’d see her next week.
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]
(3) ETHAN PAGE (c) vs. MUSTAFA ALI – NXT North American Championship Match
Page took control early with a knew to the gut, but Ali came back with some beautifully innovative offense. Special guest referee Joe Hendry was shown speaking to Team TNA as Ali continued to take the fight to the champ. Page tried putting distance between himself and Ali on the floor, but the challenger cut him off and hit a tornado DDT onto the floor.
Back in the ring, Page tripped up Ali, pulled his legs out of the ring, and swung them in the opposite direction of the ring post, so Ali’s body swiveled around and his head hit the post. Split-screen commercial break. [c]
Following Ted Danson standing next to a giant piggy bank, Burger King shilling it’s Halloween menu, and ICE begging for recruits, they went back to full-screen as Ali hit a thunderous powerbomb. As he climbed the turnbuckle, Page knocked him off balance. Page climbed the ropes, lifted Ali, and delivered snake eyes from the second rope. He followed that with a boot that turned Ali inside out and covered him, but he amazingly bridged out of the pin to a standing position.
Page tried an Ego’s Edge, but Ali slithered out and hit a crunching tornado DDT for another near fall. He climbed to the top and went for a 450, but Page moved. The two men went into a series of very believable near falls before slowing it down a bit. With Page on the outside, Ali dove through the ropes onto him with such force that they flew over the announce desk and nearly took out the barricade behind it. As Ali went to climb back into the ring after Page, his foot got tangled in Booker T’s headset cord, and Page shoved him off the turnbuckle, where he crashed hard to the floor. A Twisted Grin later and it was over.
WINNER: Ethan Page at 14:19 to retain the NXT North American Championship.
(Miller’s Take: Not a completely unexpected finish, despite the hoopla about Ali finally getting his North American title match years after it was originally supposed to happen. This was a great match, though, and really highlighted what WWE lost in Ali. I would look forward to seeing a rematch between these two.)
-In the back, Sarah Schreiber interviewed AAA Latin American Champion El Hijo del Dr Wagner Jr, who said he was coming after the North American title. He was interrupted by Lexis King, who claimed he knew it was really Tavion Heights under the mask because he looked it up and there is no Dr Wagner practicing medicine in Mexico. Wagner uttered something in Spanish and then walked away as Tavion Heights walked up behind King, who looked confused. Funny segment. [c]
-In the back, Jacy Jayne congratulated her partners. Sol Ruca told her, “You’re welcome for that last one.”, to which Jayne replied snarkily, “Whatever, I’ll take it.”, and walked off. Zaria walked up and congratulated Sol, noting how she was celebrating with her “new friends”. Sol tried to pump her up by telling her they were going to win the tag team titles, then Blake Monroe walked up to stir the pot. She told Zaria she’d never get anywhere with Ruca as a friend, but Zaria saw past her and shut her down quickly.
-Team TNA made their ring entrance through the crowd before they cut to commercial.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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(4) TEAM TNA (Leon Slater & Frankie Kazarian & Moose & Mike Santana) vs. TEAM NXT (Je’Von Evans & Myles Borne & Trick Williams & Ricky Saints) – Survivor Series Elimination Match
Some hardware was worn into this match as well, with Slater being the TNA X-Division champion, Williams holding TNA’s top prize, and Saints wearing his newly-won NXT belt. Evans and Slater intended to start the match, but Williams and Kazarian both tagged themselves in. Within moments, everyone was in the ring brawling. As they carried the fight to the outside, Borne flew over the top rop with a cannonball. He more or less rolled over the top of all of them, but they still went down. Back in the ring, Kazarian got a quick pin on Borne to score the first elimination.
ELIMINATED: Myles Borne at 2:25 by Frankie Kazarian. [c]
As they returned from the break, Kazarian had Evans down. He attempted a pin with his feet on the ropes, but Hendry caught it. Evans made it to his corner to tag Williams, who went at it with Slater. The X-Division champion was overpowered by the much larger TNA champ, who landed some vicious chops. Slater turned it around with some blistering chops of his own and took Williams down with a springboard cutter. Williams tagged himself out to Evans when Santana got in the ring with him. Evans began flying all over the place, taking out Team TNA on the outside. When he tried it with Moose, he was caught, but turned it into a huricanrana. Back in the ring, he got rolled up by Slater for a count of three.
ELIMINATED: Je’Von Evans at 11:19 by Leon Slater. [c]
During the split-screen commercial break, an Xfinity ad featured Frankenstein’s monster, which caught my attention because I’m a Halloween kinda guy, but I quickly turned my attention back to the match when that stupid Liberty ostrich appeared. Back to full-screen, Williams got away from Moose long enough to dive to his corner, but Kazarian had distracted Saints on the floor, leaving Williams with nothing to tag but air. Saints hopped back up on the apron and tagged himself in, with Williams being a little irate at the timing of it. When Saints needed a tag, Trick hopped to the floor, shook his head, and walked to the back. Kazarian had Saints in a full-nelson, but the NXT champ shoved off the turnbuckle and rolled him up for the pin.
ELIMINATED: Frankie Kazarian at 17:53 by Ricky Saints.
Slater immediately nailed Saints for a very close near fall. He charged into the corner and nearly separated Ricky’s head from his shoulders with a dropkick. As he leaped off the ropes for a 450, Saints got his knees up and rolled up Slater for another elimination.
ELIMINATED: Leon Slater at 19:08 by Ricky Saints.
Moose entered the ring and started clubbering on Saints. He then dropkicked him off the top turnbuckle. Santana threw him back in and Moose got a two count. Saints sneaked in a DDT, but Santana broke up the pin. He charged into the corner with a hard chop and tried finishing him off, but couldn’t get the job done. Moose accidentally hit Santana with a spear, but Saints couldn’t quite get the three count. Back on their feet, Santana shoved Saints into Moose, who nailed a popup powerbomb. Santana followed up with a discus clothesline for the pin and victory for his team.
ELIMINATED: Ricky Saints at 22:52 by Mike Santana.
WINNERS: Team TNA at 22:52 with Mike Santana and Moose as the sole survivors.
(Miller’s Take: This went exactly the way it should have gone. It’s no surprise that Trick bailed on his team, and I assumed that friction between him and Saints would lead to their downfall. Santana came out of this looking strong enough to win the TNA title, and a Saints vs. Williams match is practically guaranteed now. As with the previous team match, the special referee was not a factor, which was a good thing.)
-In the back, Ava and Santino congratulated each other on their respective victories. Ava said she needed a new number one contender for the NXT Women’s title, which she would be holding a battle royal to determine. She extended an invitation to the TNA Knockouts division, which Santino happily accepted.
FINAL THOUGHTS: After the WCW invasion angle many moons ago that made all of them look like punks, it was very easy to be wary of how tonight would go. Considering that two NXT wrestlers currently hold the two top TNA titles did nothing to alleviate that wariness. That being said, I think this was a mild success for TNA. The only issue I have is that so many of the wrestlers competing on behalf of TNA tonight were former WWE wrestlers. The men’s team was all TNA, but the same couldn’t be said for the rest of TNA representatives. The problem is that there are only so many places to go once a wrestler leaves WWE, and TNA is one of the higher-profile places for them to land. Still, I’d say tonight was a success any way you look at it. See you all for Evolve!
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