Reviews

The John Report: WWE NXT 08/27/24 Review

By John Canton • Published 28th August 2024
WWE NXT August 27

This week on WWE NXT featured Joe Hendry in a concert, plus Jacy Jayne & Fallon Henley facing Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson, and more.

They taped this episode after last week’s show. They do that because some of the production team is needed for the WWE Bash in Berlin PLE this Saturday, so when that happens, we see NXT tape a week earlier. I didn’t look at the spoilers. Even if I did, it doesn’t really have an effect on the review. It’s the final NXT episode before the NXT No Mercy PLE on Sunday. I’ll have a preview of No Mercy that will probably go up on Saturday.

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.

There were backstage promos from the Fatal Influence ladies and the Meta-Four women ahead of their match to start the show.

It was Vic Joseph and Booker T on commentary as usual.

Fatal Influence – Jacy Jayne & Fallon Henley (w/Jazmyn Nyx) vs. Meta-Four – Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson

The entrance and presentation of Fatal Influence is similar to Toxic Attraction in some ways, which I don’t think is an accident. Jackson was impressive early on with a dropkick on Jayne. Lash used her power to drive Henley into the turnbuckle. Henley and Jackson punched eachother at the same time, so they tagged out. Lash caught both opponents in her arms and tossed them down. After Meta-Four cleared the ring, Jackson hit a suicide dive on both opponents on the floor.

(Commercial)

Lash was dominant with a fallaway slam on Henley and a backbreaker on Jayne. Lash hit a Chokeslam for a two count on Henley, who looked like she had a bloody nose. Jackson did a top rope clothesline that didn’t have a smooth landing. Jayne got a running neckbreaker on Jackson for two. Jayne kicked Lash out of the ring and Lash nailed Nyx with a pump kick on the floor. That allowed Jayne to hit a spinning punch to the jaw. Henley tagged in for a double team kick/knee on Lash and Henley pinned Lash to win. This went about ten minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Fatal Influence – Jacy Jayne & Fallon Henley

Analysis: **3/4 It was a solid tag team match. Fatal Influence is still new as a group so it’s important to give them wins to give them some momentum. I like Jayne the most out of everybody in this match while Henley is doing a nice job as a heel. Legend is featured more than Jackson usually, but they are both getting better all the time.

A video package aired about MSK’s success as a tag team in NXT. They edited the video to say that it was Wes Lee and Zach Wentz even though Wentz was known as Nash Carter. It showed how in April 2022 they had to relinquish the titles. That’s because Nash was fired due to out of the ring issues. Wes ended up having a great run as NXT North American Champion and then came back after back surgery. That led to The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel) coming to NXT to support Lee. After Wes and Zach lost the NXT Tag Team Title match, Wes turned heel on Zach and Trey Miguel after the loss.

Analysis: Great video package. Some heel turns are obvious, but I didn’t expect Lee’s heel turn when it happened.

Karmen Petrovic made her entrance for singles action.

(Commercial)

Eddy Thorpe was shown doing his DJ thing as some ladies were standing around watching it. They said that Eddy played at the Orlando live events. Ashante Thee Adonis said that he needed to go to those shows to pick up some women. In the background, Brooks Jensen attacked Edris Enofe with a steel chair, so Thorpe left to stop it.

Izzi Dame vs. Karmen Petrovic

Dame attacked Karmen last week so now they have a match. The taller Dame hit a backbreaker onto the knee. Karmen jumped onto Dame from the turnbuckle, but Dame caught her and hit a spinebuster for two. Karmen countered a slam into a pin attempt for two. Karmen hit a running spin kick. Dame hit a boot to the face and a one-foot pin attempt for two. Karmen countered a move leading to a sunset flip pin for the win after four minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Karmen Petrovic

Analysis: **1/4 It was okay for a shorter match between two women who are looking to make an impression. It really could have gone either way. Karmen’s strikes look good while Dame is using more power moves, which is smart because she is taller than most women in the division.

The No Quarter Catch Crew was training backstage. Wren Sinclair was trying to get them warmed up. Charlie Dempsey told Myles and Wren to follow his lead. Wren said if it wasn’t for her, “Charles” wouldn’t be the champion.

Tony D’Angelo and The Family were backstage when two guys in beards said they wanted to talk to him. Tony said no and told them to wait until after the match.

(Commercial)

Jaida Parker Interview

Jaida Parker did a sitdown interview with Sarah Schreiber, who said it was about a year ago when Parker made her debut. Parker said she signed two years ago and said she was a D1 soccer player at LSU. Parker said she has taken everything one step at a time. Parker talked about her big matches over the last year and winning the eliminator last week to earn her NXT Women’s Title match at No Mercy. Parker said she’s a little sore and tender going into the match. Parker knows that Perez is overlooking her while Parker says she’s a WWE superstar who used to be a soccer player that is used to performing in front of thousands of people. Parker said her actions speak for themselves.

Roxanne Perez walked in as the NXT Women’s Champion and told Sarah to get out. Perez said that she’s a confident challenger. Perez mentioned beating the likes of Lola Vice and Thea Hail, but their stories ended in disappointment. Perez said Parker is a future champion for sure, but she’s not the Prodigy. Perez said that Parker would find out there was nobody better than her. Perez said she’d slap the taste out of her mouth, Perez said she’d like to see her try and Parker slapped Perez hard! Parker spoke off-screen to somebody: “What are you doing here? Yeah, I heard about you. You can get some too.” Perez was down selling the slap and then had a shocked look seeing the mystery person.

Analysis: That was a hard slap! Perez and Parker are both heels right now, but I think the fans will be behind Parker in the match. It was cool to learn more about Parker’s story including her success as a collegiate soccer player at LSU. As for the off-camera tease, I assume that is to tease Giulia’s NXT debut. I think that’s going to happen at No Mercy on Sunday. I think Perez will beat Parker and then Perez will lose the title to Giulia whenever that match happens.

No Quarter Catch Crew – Charlie Dempsey, Myles Borne & Wren Sinclair vs. The D’Angelo Family – Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, Luca Crusifino & Adrianna Rizzo (w/Tony D’Angelo)

It’s men against men and women against women. I’ll go play-by-play for this match.

Stacks hit a dropkick on Dempsey, who came back with a backbreaker. Luca tagged in leading to a kick on Dempsey, who was against the ropes. Borne tagged in so Luca hit a backslide pin attempt. Stacks was back in with knees to the back of Borne. There was a belly-to-back suplex for Borne. Wren tagged in so Rizzo had to come into the match and the ladies exchanged strikes. Wren hit a running bulldog. Rizzo hit a dropkick followed by a forearm that knocked Wren out of the ring. They went to a break. The two bearded guys went up to Tony D at ringside and told him something, so Tony left for the backstage area.

(Commercial)

The match returned as The Family trio all about hit leg drops to the lower regions of their opponents. Borne got a hold of Stacks’ leg and wrenched it against the middle rope. Dempsey jumped off the top with a stomp on the back of the right leg. Dempsey applied a reverse STF-style submission and Stacks got out of it. Dempsey kept on working on the right leg of Stacks and even tried to rip off the brace. Dempsey hit a German Suplex on Stacks. Borne tagged in, Dempsey hit him by accident because Stacks moved. Luca tagged in with clotheslines and a leaping double clothesline. Luca knocked Dempsey out of the ring with a clothesline. Luca hit a hiptoss into a neckbreaker for two because Wren broke up the pin. Borne punched Luca out of the ring. Rizzo dove onto Wren on the floor. Rizzo also did a fireman’s carry on Dempsey on the floor! That drew a pop. Stacks & Luca did a Shatter Machine on Borne and Luca covered Borne for the win. It went about 11 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: The D’Angelo Family – Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, Luca Crusifino & Adrianna Rizzo

Analysis: ***1/4 This was a pretty good mixed tag with a lot of fast paced action. They worked well together to involve everybody in the match. I’m not surprised by Borne taking the pin since he rarely wins on NXT while Dempsey is the Heritage Cup Champion. The girls did well with Rizzo taking out Wren thanks to that dive on the floor. I’d like to see Stacks & Luca team up more as a tag team because they work well together. Luca was great after the hot tag in that match.

Pete Dunne was interviewed by Kelly Kincaid backstage. Dunne said that the NXT Title is still the goal, but first he’ll teach Trick Williams a lesson. Dunne warned Trick and said he’ll see him next week.

There’s a Wes Lee-Zachary Wentz face off after the break.

(Commercial)

Ethan Page, the NXT Champion, was backstage talking to NXT GM Ava. That led to Ava telling Page he can’t be manhandling referees like he did last week. Page said that she should suspend him so didn’t have to defend his title at No Mercy. Ava said no to that because he has to defend the title. Ava told Page she had to figure some things out and she’ll let him know what she comes up with.

Face To Face: Wes Lee and Zachary Wentz

The ring had six security guys along with two referees. Zachary Wentz entered alone without his TNA tag team partner Try Miguel. Wes Lee was up next and the fans were booing him.

Wentz trashed Lee for pissing away nine years because he thinks he’s a huge star. Lee said he knows he’s a huge star. Lee told Wentz he was jealous of everything that Lee has accomplished. Lee said that they are on different levels. Wentz said nobody was more proud of Lee than him, but Wentz admits he missed up. Wentz said he ruined MSK being one of the greatest tag teams ever. Wentz said that Lee went on to be a main event superstar while Wentz has become a man. Wentz said that Lee motivated him to pick himself up, come back to NXT and reunite with his brothers. Lee said if they won the Tag Team Titles, nostalgia would have been good for a few weeks, but then he’d realize they are not on the same level. Lee said that this isn’t 2022 anymore.

Wentz said that Lee was about to quit NXT for the third time. Wentz told Lee that he got food for him when his wife was at work and took him to physical therapy – that was Wentz. Wentz said he couldn’t be his tag team partner in the ring, but behind the scenes, he was always Lee’s brother. Lee said on Sunday, he’s going to show Wentz that they are on different levels. Wentz said that Lee had underestimated him their entire lives. Wentz said he’s going to make sure that Lee fails starting this Sunday. Wentz talked about being TNA Tag Team Champions with Trey Miguel.

Lee said that on Sunday, he wants Wentz to forget everything they have done. Lee said that he’s going to show Wentz why he is a WWE superstar while Wentz is just a TNA wrestler. Wentz said that this Sunday, this TNA wrestler is going to beat the ass of this WWE superstar Wes Lee. Referees held both guys back to end it.

Analysis: That should be a great match at No Mercy. I still think that Wes Lee was so good as a babyface that was easy to root for, but I’m eager to see how well he does as a heel. Wentz did a nice job of making the point that he was there for Lee when he was hurt while Lee comes across as a jerk by saying he is on a different level than Wentz. I think Lee should win at No Mercy.

Joe Hendry spoke to Trick Williams backstage saying thanks for watching his back and helping him last week. Trick said he believes in Joe Hendry and he deserves it. Joe said that when he beats Ethan Page for the NXT Title, he promises that the next NXT Title match will be for Trick Williams. Trick said he appreciated that and wished Hendry good luck with his concert.

Kelani Jordan was walking backstage for a match up next.

(Commercial)

The NXT Women’s North American Champion Kelani Jordan was in the ring called for Wendy Choo’s friend to come out now. It was TNA’s Rosemary as the opponent. The fans popped for it since it was a surprise due to Rosemary being a TNA wrestler.

Kelani Jordan vs. Rosemary

The idea behind this is that Choo is a mysterious, crazy wrestler and Rosemary is too, so they are buddies and Jordan has to try to prove she can handle it.

Jordan connected with a dropkick followed by a running splash on a seated Rosemary. There was some choking by Rosemary using her legs around the throat. Rosemary hit a fallaway slam. Jordan got some offense with a jumping side kick. Rosemary no sold a move and then sat right up leading into a Spear for a two count. Jordan kicked Rosemary down by the turnbuckle. Jordan hit her One of a Kind split-legged moonsault off the top for the pinfall win after about four minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Kelani Jordan

Analysis: **1/4 It was a solid match for something that was kept under five minutes. Rosemary managed to get some offense and look like a bit of a threat before Jordan found a way to put Rosemary away. It was the right result.

After the match, the lights went out in the building and Wendy Choo’s face was shown on the screens while laughing at Jordan. That led to Choo showing up behind Jordan and Choo applied her Cobra Clutch sleeper to choke out Jordan. Choo posed with the title.

Analysis: A cheap attack to make Choo look like a threat to beat Jordan. I doubt there’s a title change at No Mercy.

The Meta-Four group was backstage with Oro Mensah encouraging Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson saying there was nobody better than them. Oro gave some advice from his father. Lexis King walked in saying that Noam Dar is the real daddy of Meta-Four and he was a father figure for Oro. That led to Oro saying that was rich for somebody lacking a father figure. Oro and Lexis exchanged strikes, so referees showed up to break it up.

Analysis: That’s a simple way to set up a match between King and Oro. The Meta-Four group are babyfaces now, I think.

(Commercial)

Chase U was shown in “class” as Andre Chase & Ridge Holland were at the front of the class as the NXT Tag Team Champions. Ridge said he swore he would never be in another group again, but Chase U has accepted him. Ridge said these titles mean the world to him, so he won’t let them go. Thea Hail said they’ll have the reign of all reigns. Nathan Frazer & Axiom walked up to them saying they knew they were better together as a team. Frazer said they’ll take the NXT Tag Team Titles on Sunday and Chase U will come crumbling down.

Analysis: There isn’t much of a storyline there for that match at No Mercy. It’s Chase U defending the titles against the former champions Axiom & Frazer, who are a team that is easy to like.

Malik Blade vs. Brooks Jensen

There were clips shown of Shawn Spears trying to start a fight last week, but Malik Blade & Edris Enofe took him out. Jensen took out Blade’s partner Edris Enofe earlier in the night.

Blade dove over the top onto Jensen on the floor before the bell rang. They battled on the apron where Brooks kicked Blade’s leg to knock him down. Jensen got some basic offense and then Blade came back with a backbreaker. Blade hit a jumping neckbreaker and then he hit a blockbuster-style like move off the top. Jensen blocked a Frog Splash attempt with two knees to the ribs. Jensen hit a DDT. Jensen jumped off the top with an elbow drop for the pinfall win after about three minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Brooks Jensen

Analysis: **1/4 An easy win for Brooks Jensen as he continues to build momentum as a heel while Malik Blade is a tag team guy. Blake does have potential as a babyface in singles if he ever got the chance, but I’m not sure if they will use him that way. I think Brooks needs a better finisher than that.

Je’Von Evans was interviewed backstage by Sarah Schreiber. Evans said that Joe Coffey doesn’t like his style, but Evans can wrestle and Joe is about to find out right now.

(Commercial)

Hank & Tank were talking about the show that they do. I have no idea what it is, nor do I care that much. The OTM team walked up to them so they exchanged words. The argument led to the teams agreeing to a match.

Je’Von Evans vs. Joe Coffey (w/Wolfgang & Mark Coffey)

I’ll go play-by-play here since it’s the last match on the show. Joe knocked down Evans with a shoulder tackle. Evans came back with a sunset flip for two. Evan got a headscissors followed by a springboard hurricanrana. Joe charged, Evans sent him into the turnbuckle and Evans went to the apron where he punched Joe. Evans dove onto Wolfgang onto the floor since Wolfie tried to get involved. Back in the ring, Evans hit a dropkick on Joe.

(Commercial)

The match continued with Joe giving Evans a stun gun onto the top rope. Evans bounced off the ropes with a clothesline. Evans kicked Joe down followed by a leaping punch. Evans hit an incredible flipping kick to the head. That’s not easy to do because he gets so much height on that move. Evans hit a springboard cross body block for two. Joe came back with an impressive German Suplex followed by a running shoulder tackle for two. Joe charged at Evans, who caught him with a jumping kick. Evans hit a superkick. Joe came back with an uppercut. Joe jumped off the top and Evans hit a Cutter, but it didn’t connect that well. Evans jumped off the top with a Cutter for a two count. Evans jumps so high off the top and it looks amazing every time he does it. Evans hit a Swanton Bomb off the top onto all three Gallus boys on the floor. Back in the ring, Evans punched Joe. Wolfgang was on the apron, Mark pushed Joe out of the way and Evans jumped off the top with a Cutter on Mark. Joe capitalized with a headbutt followed by the Best of the Bells clothesline on Evans for the pinfall win. It went about nine minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Joe Coffey

Analysis: *** The dreaded numbers game finish came into play here with Joe getting the win because of his allies at ringside. I thought Evans might get the win here, but this is a match they can do again in the future with Evans perhaps getting some allies to prevent Gallus from cheating to win. I say it all the time when Evans is in a match, but it’s worth repeating by saying that Evans is one of the most fun wrestlers in all of WWE. I liked the match.

Tony D’Angelo was shown walking backstage in a restaurant where he was told somebody had taken his room. Tony walked into a restaurant to see that Oba Femi was seated there with the NXT North American Title. Tony said that Femi had a lot of balls being in this room. Femi said that Tony is the Don of NXT who is a powerful man. Femi said that he’s the Ruler of NXT so he doesn’t need his acceptance. Tony mentioned Femi interrupting him a few times and now Femi is in Tony’s place to scare these people. Tony said they could talk this out like men or…Femi stood up. Femi said he’ll wait until Sunday. Tony said that it was inevitable – the Don vs. the Ruler. Tony said he’ll show everybody that Femi is mortal. Femi said many have tried, but none succeeded and Tony will be no different. Femi left.

Analysis: There hasn’t been that much of a story between them, so at least having them exchange words in a restaurant setting like that gives them a way to tell their stories. I doubt Femi loses to Tony. I don’t know who will be the one to beat Femi, but it doesn’t feel like the right time for it.

Joe Hendry was shown walking backstage for his concert up next in the main event spot.

(Commercial)

The announcers did a rundown of the NXT No Mercy card for this Sunday, September 1st in Denver.

* NXT Women’s Championship: Roxanne Perez (c) vs. Jaida Parker

* NXT North American Championship: Oba Femi (c) vs. Tony D’Angelo

* NXT Tag Team Championships: Chase U – Andre Chase & Ridge Holland (c) vs. Nathan Frazer & Axiom

* NXT Women’s North American Championship: Kelani Jordan (c) vs. Wendy Choo

* Wes Lee vs. Zach Wentz

* NXT Championship: Ethan Page (c) vs. Joe Hendry

Joe Hendry Concert

Joe Hendry made his entrance with the fans singing and clapping along to his theme song. They also did the arm waving at the right time as well. Anyway, the ring was set up with a guitar and microphone along with the red carpet.

Hendry thanked the NXT Universe for choosing to spend their evening with him. Hendry spoke about his career-defining opportunity against Ethan Page for the NXT Title this Sunday at No Mercy. Hendry thanked the fans for their support. Hendry sang a song about Ethan Page saying he gets most excited when he plays with himself. Hendry played a clip of Page working out while dressed up like a turkey. Hendry’s song: “Ethan sucks, believe in Joe, Ethan put on some clothes.” The fans sang along with the simple lyrics.

Analysis: They aren’t the most compelling song lyrics ever, but it was effective in having Hendry make fun of Page.

Ethan Page, the NXT Champion, interrupted to say we are done with singalong with Joe Hendry. After the music stopped, the fans kept on singing while Page was trying to do a promo. Page said he’s the NXT Champion and he asked Joe, who does he think he is? Page said no matter what these people are singing or doing, Joe is not an NXT superstar. The fans kept singing. Page said that he’s a NXT superstar and he wants to keep Joe out of NXT and away from the NXT Title.

Ava the NXT GM showed up for the interruption. Ava said that Ethan should be flattered that Joe wrote a special song about him. Ava said because of Ethan’s disrespect toward the officials, the Page-Hendry match will have a special guest referee.

The special guest referee is…Trick Williams. The fans were singing “Whoop That Trick” for Trick. Page tried to attack Hendry, who avoided that and Hendry hit his Standing Ovation slam. Trick, who was wearing a referee’s shirt, counted the pinfall and the bell even rang too. Hendry celebrated with the NXT Title. Pete Dunne was by the entrance saying Trick can consider himself lucky tonight, but he won’t make it to NXT next Tuesday. Hendry continued to celebrate with the NXT Title while Page was down on the mat selling. That was the end of the show.

Analysis: It was a fun way to end the show while teasing the idea that Hendry could beat Page to become the NXT Champion this Sunday at No Mercy. I know I’ve written before that I think a title change is possible and I think it’s something that would get some attention for the NXT brand since an active TNA wrestler like Hendry could be the NXT Champion. Why not make history like that? It would be cool. I don’t know if it’s going to happen.

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Three Stars of the Show

  1. Joe Hendry
  2. The D’Angelo Family – Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, Luca Crusifino & Adrianna Rizzo
  3. J’Von Evans/Joe Coffey

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The Scoreboard

This week: 6.75 out of 10

Last week: 7.75

2024 Average: 7.18

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Final Thoughts on WWE NXT

I thought it was a solid episode, but it was also weaker than usual for NXT. I think the match quality was not close to the last couple of weeks, so that affected the overall show. They did a nice job of building the six-match NXT No Mercy card for this Sunday, but I wouldn’t say there was anything that stood out as being amazing or must-see on the show.

It was a strong night for the women’s division since they had three singles matches and then they were part of a mixed tag as well. I liked Jaida Parker’s interview and the hard slap she gave Roxanne Perez as well. Jaida is a star on the rise for sure.

There was some big news with the addition of Trick Williams as the referee of the NXT Title match between champion Ethan Page and challenger Joe Hendry. That adds some intrigue to the match while also giving Trick something to do since he wasn’t on the card before that. They haven’t done much with Trick over the last month or two, which is a surprise, so maybe this referee role will set up something for him. Bring on NXT No Mercy this Sunday.

Here’s the lineup for the NXT No Mercy PLE on Sunday, September 1st in Denver.

* NXT Championship: Ethan Page (c) vs. Joe Hendry – Trick Williams is the referee

* NXT Women’s Championship: Roxanne Perez (c) vs. Jaida Parker

* NXT North American Championship: Oba Femi (c) vs. Tony D’Angelo

* NXT Tag Team Championships: Chase U – Andre Chase & Ridge Holland (c) vs. Nathan Frazer & Axiom

* Wes Lee vs. Zach Wentz

* NXT Women’s North American Championship: Kelani Jordan (c) vs. Wendy Choo

You can watch NXT No Mercy, streaming live on Sunday, September 1, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else.

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Thanks for reading. My contact info is below.

John Canton

Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter/X @johnreport