The John Report: WWE NXT 07/30/24 (Great American Bash – Part 1) Review
This week on WWE NXT featured Roxanne Perez defending the NXT Women’s Title against Thea Hail, a Joe Hendry concert, and more.
As usual with NXT, I will do a summary style for most of the show and then play-by-play for one or two matches. This week’s show and next week’s show are on Syfy for those of you in the US.
There was a video featuring Hank Walker & Tank Ledger sneaking into the building, they blew the power in the building and then they flipped a switch to open the lights in the building. They mentioned being the hosts of the show as well, so we’ll see more of them. There was a barbecue grill and food set up in the building.
They showed arrivals earlier in the day including Roxanne Perez, Tony D’Angelo, and The Family and Oba Femi.
The commentary team was Vic Joseph and Booker T as usual.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn vs. Meta-Four – Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson (w/Oba Femi)
They had the red, white and blue ropes for this week. That’s cool to see. The four women started fighting before Mike Rome could finish the championship introductions. Fyre & Dawn sent Legend hard into the barricade. The champions double teamed Jackson leading to Fyre hitting a superkick. Lash cleared the ring with a kick and tossing Fyre over the top to the floor. Jackson hit a suicide dive as the show went to break.
(Commercial)
Lash was on fire against Dawn with punches and a clothesline. Lash gave Dawn a Chokeslam for two. Fyre did a cheap shot kick to regain momentum. After Fyre tagged in, she nailed an impressive Tornado DDT. Jackson made the tag for a double team neckbreaker/sitout slam for two because Dawn made the save. Dawn took out Lash with a double knee attack on the floor. Fyre superkicked Jackson. Dawn tagged in for a double team flatliner on Jackson and Dawn pinned Jackson to win. It went about ten minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn
Analysis: *** A pretty good match to give the champions a win. I thought they did a nice job with the nearfalls throughout the match because it made it look like either team could win. Lash and Jakara work really well as a team while Fyre and Dawn are obviously very talented as the champions. I liked the match.
This Friday on Smackdown, Fyre & Dawn will defend the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles against Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill.
Ethan Page showed up with the NXT Title to taunt Meta-Four for coming up short. Page spoke about beating Oro next week. Page said that this is the best look you’re ever going to get at the NXT Title. Page swung the title, Oro ducked it and Oro did a ROLLUP OF DEATH~! on Page, so Lash & Jakara counted the pin. The fans chanted “one, two, three” for Oro.
There was a clip from earlier today with Cedric Alexander talking to some young talent. Shawn Spears walked in talking about helping Brooks Jensen. Spears trashed Cedric, so then Cedric mentioned Spears manipulating Jensen and that led to Jensen arguing with Cedric. That also led to Cedric and Jensen agreeing to a match.
Hank Walker interviewed Tavion Heights, who said that he represented the US in the Olympics and won Gold in the Pan American Games. Heights said if Tony D’Angelo is a real grappler, he’s ready to fight.
Tank Ledger interviewed Tony D’Angelo, who talked about how Tavion Heights will find out what Tony can do in the ring tonight. That match is next.
(Commercial)
A video aired about Pete Dunne talking about being in this business for 18 years after starting at 12 years old. Pete Dunne said YxB is Young & Bitter. Dunne complained about the Butch run saying that he hated the nickname. Dunne said Ridge Holland ran away when things got tough while Tyler Bate is now hurt (torn pec, out for rest of year). Dunne said that Trick Williams hasn’t figured it out. Dunne said that Trick has all the tools and you would think that somebody would trust their instincts, but no he has to come to Dunne for answers. Dunne said next week he’ll make Trick figure it out.
Trick Williams was shown watching on a TV backstage. Trick said forget about “Whoop That Trick” because he’s going to whoop that ass.
Analysis: That’s a great match for next week with Trick facing Dunne. I’m all for the Dunne heel turn.
NXT Heritage Cup: Tony D’Angelo (w/Luca Crusifino, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo & Adrianna Rizzo) vs. Tavion Heights (w/Charlie Dempsey & Myles Borne)
I’ll go play-by-play here. This is a match that could last six rounds with three minutes for each round. It’s also two out of three falls.
Round 1 – They started out with some grappling on the mat to show off their amateur wrestling skills. Heights hit a hip toss. Tony hit a couple of suplexes followed by a shoulder block to knock Heights down. Tony grabbed a side headlock, then Heights broke free and got his own headlock. Tony tripped up Heights going for a leg lock, but Heights was also going for a submission and the time ran out after three minutes to end the round. Wren Sinclair was in the crowd to support the No Quarter Catch Crew guys.
(Commercial)
Round 2 –The end of the second round was shown as Tony hit a superplex and the three minute round ended. No picture-in-picture action is shown on Sportsnet here in Canada.
Round 3 – Heights went for a body slam, but Tony landed on top for two. Heights went for a suplex and collapsed. Tony hit a Forget About It neckbreaker slam for the pinfall. Tony D’Angelo leads 1-0
Wren Sinclair went into the ring to try to motivate Heights and slapped him in a face a couple of times.
Round 4 – Heights was on fire with clotheslines, a jumping forearm and a belly-to-belly side slam for the pinfall. The match is tied 1-1.
Round 5 – Tony charged at Heights against the turnbuckle, Heights moved and Tony hit the turnbuckle. Heights hit an impressive overhead suplex for two. Heights hit an overhead belly-to-belly suplex across the ring for two. Tony ducked a charging Heights, who hit the ropes hard. Tony got some offense going with a back elbow along with a belly-to-belly slam and a spinebuster. Tony hit another spinebuster for the pinfall win with 1:20 left in Round 5.
Winner by pinfall (2-1): Tony D’Angelo
Analysis: **1/2 It was just an average match. Tony is solid with the right opponent, but they didn’t seem to have much chemistry. Heights is very early into his career too. I figured Tony would retain and he did. It wasn’t an exciting match.
They showed clips of Fallon Henley, Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyx complaining about newer girls. That led to cell phone promos from Sol Ruca, Karmen Petrovic and Lola Vice responding. They have a six-woman tag team match later.
Brooks Jensen made his entrance for singles action.
(Commercial)
Cedric Alexander vs. Brooks Jensen
The match was joined in progress as Cedric hit a hurricanrana into the ropes and a dropkick. Cedric hit a suicide dive onto Jensen on the floor as well. Jensen got some offense going with a running knee lift. Shawn Spears walked down to ringside to support his associate Jensen. After Jensen was on offense for a bit, Cedric came back with some offense including a Michinoku Driver for two. Cedric went for something off the top, Jensen knocked him down and Jensen hit a top rope leg drop for two. Jensen went for a spinning leg drop on Cedric on the commentary table, but Cedric avoided it. Back in the ring, Cedric hit the Lumbar Check for the pinfall win after five minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Cedric Alexander
Analysis: **3/4 The match was okay for the time given with Cedric picking up a quality win over Jensen. The story was that Jensen’s big move on the floor didn’t work and Cedric capitalized for the win. The crowd doesn’t react to Jensen much, but at least his crazy man gimmick is helping him as a character.
A video aired about Je’Von Evans, who is 20 years old, and he spoke about how he watched wrestling from a young age. Evans said he fell in love with it when he watched guys like Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam. Evans recalled telling teachers to “suck it” and did some trampoline wrestling as well.
Analysis: I like Evans a lot. He has a very bright future in WWE.
Joe Hendry was shown walking backstage for his singing segment up next. Ashante Thee Adonis was also there chatting with some ladies about checking out the concert.
(Commercial)
A video aired featuring The Rascalz trio of Wes Lee, Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel. They were in a “magic treehouse” while Wentz said he couldn’t stop smiling. Lee said that The Rascalz are back in business. Trey said that we can’t forget what Wes and Zach did in NXT as MSK. Wes mentioned they never lost those Tag Team Titles. Wentz said that the “fire” main event last week reminded people how good they are. Wentz said that it proves they deserve a NXT Tag Team Title match. Lee said that he’ll text Nathan & Axiom to see what they say.
Analysis: It’s going to set up a NXT Tag Team Title match. I think it could lead to a title change too.
Joe Hendry Concert
Joe Hendry was seated in the ring with a guitar and a microphone. The fans were singing Joe’s song even after it stopped playing. Joe welcomed us to his first-ever concert in WWE. Joe said he knew he needed to create something special because the world says they believe in Joe Hendry and said here’s a song that almost everyone is going to love.
Joe sang a song about how he made things better for everyone in NXT. Joe said that the chef’s been in the kitchen and he summoned Joe Hendry, which led to a chef Shawn Michaels pic. Joe laughed about how the president of his fan club is Booker T, which drew a pop.
Congrats to @BookerT5x on becoming the new President of the Joe Hendry fan club 👏 👏 pic.twitter.com/O86nWMJ10k
— Joe Hendry (@joehendry) July 31, 2024
Joe mocked Joe Coffey saying he looked like the son of Dutch Mantel. Joe sang a song about how if you hate Gallus then wave your hands in the air and said they got deported for having awful facial hair. Joe got the crowd to sing “if you hate Gallus” with him. After the song was done, the fans chanted “We Believe” at him. Joe wanted to do an encore, but here comes Gallus with the interruption.
The Gallus trio made their way down to the ring. Joe Coffey threatened Hendry saying he feels like he’s heard that song before and then Hendry punched Coffey. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang attacked Hendry while Joe Coffey joined them. Hendry was being held, so Joe Coffey hit Hendry with the guitar in the back. The guitar was broken. The Gallus trio posed over Hendry while the fans booed.
Analysis: It continued the story of Gallus having an issue with Joe Hendry being in NXT. They are all from Scotland and have a long history together. It will probably lead to Hendry facing Joe Coffey in a singles match. I think Hendry needs an ally in this rivalry. The song was fun. I think some of the songs he has done in TNA were better, but this was effective in terms of introducing the WWE audience to what Hendry does.
Roxanne Perez, the NXT Women’s Champion, was getting ready for her main event match when Hank & Tank approached her. They spoke about Perez being a history maker and record breaker. Hank & Tank tried to paste Post-It-Notes on their faces. Perez said she was getting ready for her championship match. Jaida Parker walked by saying it was a championship she may not have after tonight. Hank & Tank did an “ooohhh” reaction to that.
(Commercial)
The NXT Champion Ethan Page and Oro Mensah were seated in NXT GM Ava’s office. Page said that Oro didn’t deserve a title match. Oro said that Page runs every week because he knows that Oro will pin him. Page said that Oro can’t beat him and won’t beat Page. That led to Page signing the contract. Oro said he didn’t respect what Page thinks he is. Oro said when he beats Page next week, that title will fit perfectly around Oro’s waist. Oro signed the contract.
Analysis: It’s a contract signing backstage rather than in the ring, so that’s different, but I don’t mind it. They only got about two minutes for this and that was enough for it.
Kendal Grey (w/Carlee Bright) vs. Jaida Parker
Parker drove Grey into the turnbuckle leading to a knee to the ribs. Parker hit a reverse vertical suplex for a two count. Grey showed some fighting spirit with some forearms followed by a neckbreaker. Myles Borne and Wren Sinclair confronted Bright at ringside, so Grey gave Borne an overhead suplex on the floor just like she did last week. Grey gave Parker an Olympic Slam for two. Parker trapped Grey against the turnbuckle followed by a hip drop to the ribs. Parker did a front suplex, then she ran the ropes and hit a running hip attack for the pinfall win after four minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Jaida Parker
Analysis: *1/2 An easy win for Parker, who is pushed as a midcard heel with a lot of potential while Grey is early in her career. I think Grey looks the part of a credible athlete with a bright future. We need to see more of her as a character. I’d like to see a push for Parker. I think Parker could become NXT Women’s North American Champion before the end of the year.
Thea Hail was interviewed by Ridge Holland, who told Hail to do whatever it takes to become NXT Women’s Champion. Chase U’s Andre Chase, Duke Hudson & Riley Osborne walked in. Hail said that Ridge told her to do whatever it takes so she’s going to tap out Roxanne in the match.
The trio of Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Jazmyn Nyx entered for tag team action.
(Commercial)
Axiom was shown talking to the LWO backstage. Nathan Frazer walked in to talk to Axiom, his NXT Tag Team partner. Mr. Stone walked in with the NXT Tag Team Title contract to face MSK next week. Axiom signed it. Frazer wasn’t sure about it, but Axiom said they’ll be fine.
Lola Vice, Karmen Petrovic & Sol Ruca vs. Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Jazmyn Nyx
Sol hit an X-Factor on Henley followed by some surfing on the back. Petrovic worked over Nyx with kicks along with a neckbreaker. Vice faced off against Jayne, who got a pin attempt for two. Jayne and Vice each got two counts followed by Vice picking up Jayne leading to a spinebuster. Ruca saved Karmen from a double team move. The babyface trio cleared the ring followed by Karmen diving on the floor. Sol hit a twisting moonsault off the top onto the three opponents. Well done.
(Commercial)
Nyx battled Karmen as the match returned. Karmen managed to break free leading to Vice tagging in with a barrage of kicks on all three opponents. Ruca hit a springboard somersault clothesline on Henley and Jayne. The three babyfaces all hit some running hip attacks. Ruca gave Henley a Powerbomb for two. Jayne hit a nice neckbreaker on Ruca, who was by the ropes. Nyx hit a bridging pin on Ruca, but the babyfaces tackled the heels onto the pin to stop the count. Jayne dove onto Vice on the floor. Karmen was legal against Nyx with multiple kicks to the body and a bulldog for two. Nyx hit an impressive Pele Kick. Jayne tagged in with a forearm, Henley got tagged and Henley lifted up Karmen so it was like a suplex into a cutter. Henley pinned Karmen for the win after 13 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Jazmyn Nyx
Analysis: ***1/4 It was a very good tag team match that got plenty of time. Kudos to the six ladies for working well together and having a fun match together. The story is a bit flawed since two of the babyface women have been in NXT longer than Nyx, who is on the veteran team, but it was still a fun match. It’s a big win for Henley as a midcard heel who is looking to move up into title contention soon.
Kelani Jordan was shown walking backstage with the NXT Women’s North American Title. Tatum Paxley wanted to play with her. Jordan said she didn’t want to play with her. Wendy Choo was in the background looking weird and Jordan asked her what was she looking at? Jordan left.
The Roxanne Perez/Thea Hail main event was next.
(Commercial)
A replay was shown of Gallus beating up Joe Hendry.
Joe Hendry was shown leaving the building. Hendry said that he was excited about tonight and called it a milestone in his career. Hendry said that Gallus had to ruin it. Hendry wants to prove he can belong here in NXT, so next week he’s ready to kick Joe Coffey’s ass and cause Gallus to believe in Joe Hendry.
Next week on NXT Great American Bash Part 2:
* NXT Championship: Ethan Page vs. Oro Mensah
* Trick Williams vs. Pete Dunne
* Joe Hendry vs. Joe Coffey
* NXT Women’s North American Championship: Kelani Jordan vs. Tatum Paxley
* NXT Tag Team Championships: Nathan Frazer & Axiom vs. MSK – Wes Lee & Zachary Wentz
Analysis: That’s a very good card. The Tag Team Title match should be amazing.
It was main event time as Thea Hail made her entrance with Chase U’s Andre Chase, Duke Hudson, Ridge Holland & Riley Osborne. Congratulations to Riley getting married to Blair Davenport over the past week. Roxanne Perez was up next as the NXT Women’s Champion. Ring announcer Mike Rome did the championship introductions.
NXT Women’s Championship: Roxanne Perez vs. Thea Hail
It was noted by Vic that this is the youngest NXT Women’s Championship Match in history. Perez is 22 years old (23 in November) and Thea Hail is 20 years old (21 in September). It’s cool to watch them so early in their careers and see how much they will grow over the years.
Hail wanted a handshake, but the heel champion Perez kicked the hand away. They each got pin attempts for two count. Hail went for the Kimura Lock on the left arm, but Perez got to the ropes. Perez ran the ropes, Hail did a headscissors and Perez landed on her feet. Hail with an armdrag followed by an overhead suplex. Perez left the ring, so Hail went up top and Hail hit moonsault onto Perz on the floor.
(Commercial)
Perez went for a suplex, but Hail countered with a DDT. Hail was selling a left arm injury since Perez uses the Crossface submission move. Perez decked Hail with a forearm. Perez taunted Hail by calling her a “little girl” so Perez fired back with punches. Hail hit a running cross body block, a kick to the leg and a rolling neckbreaker. Hail hit a front slam and springboard back splash missed because Perez avoided it leading to Perez getting a two count. Perez went for the Crossface submission, but Hail rolled out of it and Hail got her hand on the bottom rope. Perez hit a suicide dive onto Hail on the floor. Perez trash talked Chase while calling him a loser. Hail came back with a suicide dive on the floor. Hail jumped off the top with a cross body block off the top followed by a Michinoku Driver for a two count. Perez wrenched on Hail’s left arm. Perez went for Pop Rox, Hail got out of it and Hail got a two count. Hail applied a Kimura Lock, Perez rolled through, Hail applied the Kimura Lock again and Perez countered it with a Crossface submission. Hail got back to her feet and delivered a rolling senton. Hail hit a springboard backsplash onto Perez for two. The fans chanted “this is awesome” for them. Perez held onto the ring apron, the referee put the apron back, so Perez eye-gouged Hail which is a cheap move, and Perez hit a belly-to-back suplex. Perez hit a running body attack against the turnbuckle. Hail tossed a charging Perez into the ring post. Hail applied the Kimura Lock submission on the left arm again, but they rolled out of the ring to the floor. Perez rammed Hail back/arm first into the steel steps. Perez threw Hail into the steps again. Perez applied the Crossface submission again, but Hail countered it for two. Hail applied the Kimura Lock again and Perez applied the Crossface again. Perez kicked herself off the ropes and then got back to her feet to deliver Pop Rox for the one…two…and three! Perez wins. It went 12 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Roxanne Perez
Analysis: ***1/2 This was an awesome match and a terrific matchup to put in the main event for the NXT Women’s Title. Perez & Hail did an excellent job of having a very competitive match. I keep thinking about how good Perez and Hail are for their age. It’s not an insult to point out their age. It’s praise for two women that have worked so hard to be good at this and they are proving it every time they are in the ring. There were a lot of submission attempts from both women with Perez going for the Crossface repeatedly while Hail kept on going for that Kimura Lock. They also mixed in a bunch of nearfalls in the match too, so that helped the excitement level as well. I don’t know when they’ll wrestle again, but there’s an obvious chemistry between Perez and Hail that should produce more awesome matches whenever they have a match in the future.
Roxanne Perez celebrated her victory by posing with the NXT Women’s Title in the ring while Hail looked dejected about the loss. There was no post-match angle or attack. It was the end of the show.
Analysis: I figured that Perez would retain because we know that newcomer Giulia is coming soon (most likely in August) and perhaps Stephanie Vaquer as well, so I think Perez will drop the NXT Women’s Title to one of them. If I had to pick I’d go with Giulia.
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Three Stars of the Show
- Roxanne Perez
- Thea Hail
- Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Jazmyn Nyx
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The Scoreboard
This week: 7.5 out of 10
Last week: 8
2024 Average: 7.16
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Final Thoughts on WWE NXT
I thought it was a pretty good episode of NXT. Roxanne Perez (age 22) and Thea Hail (age 20) had a terrific main event. Having a nearly four-star level match in 15 minutes isn’t easy to do, but they did it and the fans were into it. The fact that they are that good so early in their careers is very impressive. I enjoyed the competitive match they had and look forward to more matches between them.
The women’s division was represented strongly with two title matches. There were four women’s matches on the show including the last three matches. The last two matches were the best parts of the show, so give the women a lot of credit for boosting this episode quite a bit. The 6-woman tag team match was better than the Women’s Tag Team Title match. I just think it’s great that the women are a part of so many big matches.
Next week’s card looks great thanks to Axiom/Frazer vs. MSK, Trick vs. Dunne and Page vs. Oro so I’m looking forward to that.
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John Canton
Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com
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