The John Report: WWE NXT 04/07/26 Review
This week’s WWE NXT features Lola Vice and Tony D’Angelo celebrating big title wins, a Briggs-Carver-Troy triple threat, Sol Ruca facing Izzi Dame, and more.
The WWE NXT brand held the Stand & Deliver PLE last Saturday in St. Louis, and I thought it was an excellent show. Congratulations to Tony D’Angelo for becoming the NXT Champion for the first time and to Lola Vice for winning the NXT Women’s Championship for the first time. Both of them have faced many challenges in NXT over the years, and I was happy to see them both win gold. It was an excellent show overall that I rated 8 out of 10. A fun show from start to finish.
They were at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando for this week’s show. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport and check out my NXT TV review archive. Let’s get to it.
A video package aired showing highlights of NXT Stand & Deliver.
The commentary team was Vic Joseph and Booker T, as usual. Mike Rome was the ring announcer.
Let’s Hear from Tony D’Angelo
The new NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo made his entrance wearing the championship around his waist and looking serious as usual. The fans chanted, “You deserve it” for Tony D. Tony said that a lot of fans were with him at the beginning when he was just a kid and he barely recognizes that guy. Tony said now he is “The Man” and finally he has become NXT Champion. Tony also added that he’s the first-ever NXT Grand Slam Champion in history. Tony said that along the way, he’s made decisions he agreed with and some not so much. Tony admitted that those decisions made him the man he is today. Tony said that his hands have an iron grip on this title and there’s not even a man that can take it from him, not even Ethan Page, not even Ricky Saints, and not even Joe Hendry.
That was the cue for the former NXT Champion Joe Hendry, who made his entrance. Joe praised Tony for being the NXT Champion and he executed his plan. Joe said that at Stand & Deliver, Tony was the better man on one night. Joe wonders if Tony would be the champion if it were just the two of them in the match.
Ethan Page joined the promo party, saying if anybody deserved a singles title match, it was him after he beat Joe. Page said that if it wasn’t for his “best friend” Ricky Saints, then he’d be the NXT Champion instead of this Punisher as champion.
Ricky Saints interrupted the promo to remind his friend Page that he attacked Ricky first. Ricky said if Page put his ego aside, then Ricky would be a 2-time NXT Champion. Tony told them to get in line because it’ll be the same thing again with Tony beating their asses.
Analysis: It was the usual kind of promo where a new champion gets a moment to celebrate, and then he was interrupted by challengers who were also in the match at Stand & Deliver. I don’t think the title picture is going to change too much in the months ahead because all four of those guys should keep on feuding.
The Darkstate foursome made their entrance from the crowd, and they got into the ring for a brawl with the four wrestlers in the ring. Security was in there to try to break it up. They went on a break for some fans as the brawling continued.
It was Tony, Joe, Page, and Ricky fighting against the Darkstate foursome of Saquon Shugars, Dion Lennox, Cutler James, and Osiris Griffin while security was trying to break them up. The Darkstate music was also playing, and there were spotlights flashing all over the ring. NXT GM Robert Stone brought out members of the locker room to try to break up the fighting. The lights came back on and the music stopped also. Tony D jumped off the apron onto the Darkstate guys, so then the others joined in. More wrestlers came out of the locker room to try to break up the fighting. The wrestlers were eventually separated.
Analysis: That was chaos that was done to set up a match later. They certainly timed it well with the breaks.
The show returned from the break, and NXT GM told Joe Hendry, Tony D’Angelo, Ricky Saints, and Ethan Page that they will team up at the top of the hour against the four Darkstate guys. The four wrestlers agreed to it.
Analysis: A big match for later in the show, even though Hendry, D’Angelo, Saints, and Page aren’t always going to be on the same page.
Sol Ruca vs. Izzi Dame (w/Shawn Spears & Niko Vance)
There was some offense from Sol early on, but Dame tripped her up and hit a clothesline. Dame worked over Sol with shoulder tackles to the ribs. Sol kicked Dame into the turnbuckle and hit a knee attack. Sol avoided a move and hit an X-Factor face into the mat. Sol dropkicked Dame out of the ring. Sol jumped off the bottom rope with a springboard cross body block onto Dame on the floor. They went on a break for some fans and I’ll take a break too.
The match continued with Sol going for a pin attempt for two. Dame went for a move against the turnbuckle, but Sol blocked it. Sol hit a flip off the top into a clothesline. Dame and Sol exchanged strikes. Sol hit an uppercut and two back elbows in a row. Sol connected with a German Suplex out of the corner. Sol hit a missile dropkick and a running knee for two. Sol hit a jumping kick and then jumped up to the top rope, but Dame knocked her down. Dame hit a double knee attack for a two count. Sol countered Dame into a backslide for two. Dame went for a kick, Sol avoided it and Sol hit a Spear. Spears distracted the referee, so Niko Vance pulled Dame out of the way while Ruca tried a moonsault. Zaria showed up at ringside and hit a Spear on Sol on the floor. The referee never saw it. Dame hit Dame Over, which is a sitout Powerbomb, for the pinfall win after 12 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Izzi Dame
Analysis: ***1/4 A big win by Izzi Dame that was cheap because of Zaria’s interference. It was obvious that Zaria was going to show up at some point to cost Ruca and it was done in a way that was right before the finish. They worked hard and had an entertaining match. Ruca has improved so much in the last few years and so has Dame. They both know their roles so well and how to be the characters they’re supposed to be.
After the match, Zaria was in the ring with Sol Ruca and said she will say when this ends. Zaria kissed Ruca on the forehead, and Ruca was down on the mat, selling.
Analysis: In my Stand & Deliver review, I said that Sol Ruca winning likely means the feud will continue because I expect Zaria to get a big win at some point, likely in a stipulation match of some kind.
The Vanity Project and Blake Monroe went into NXT GM Robert Stone’s office. The Vanity Project said that Blake is the real NXT Women’s North American Champion. They gave Blake a custom title. Stone said she’s not the real champion. Stone said that Blake can have a mixed tag team match with a member of The Vanity Project against Tatum Paxley and Shiloh Hill. Blake picked Jackson Drake as her partner.
Keanu Carver made his entrance for a triple threat match.
A commercial aired for WrestleMania 42 promoting the Stephanie Vaquer-Liv Morgan match.
(Commercial)
Elio LeFleur was backstage with his right shoulder in a sling since he recently had surgery. Sean Legacy was in the background. Elio talked to EK Prosper and Dorian Van Dux about how he wants to be the next WWE Speed Champion. Dorian shared how excited he is to be there, and EK said that Dorian will face him next week and that EK is locked in.
Josh Briggs vs. Jasper Troy vs. Keanu Carver
There are no countouts and no disqualifications in WWE triple threat matches. They are three of the biggest dudes in NXT. Carver was sent out of the ring.
Troy tackled Briggs into the turnbuckle. Carver pulled Troy out of the ring and sent him into the steel steps. Briggs gave Carver a sidewalk slam and a splash for two. Carver headbutted Briggs and hit a running elbow. Troy was back into it to run over both opponents with a running body attack. Briggs and Carver worked together to hit a double team spinebuster on Troy. Carver punched Briggs, and Carver covered Troy for two because Briggs broke up the pin. Carver decked Briggs with a clothesline. Carver sent Briggs into the turnbuckle two times in a row. Carver went after Troy on the floor, and Carver sent Troy into the ring apron. Back into the ring, Carver tossed Briggs into the air so that Briggs took a bump onto the mat. Briggs left the ring and hit a boot to the face of Troy. That led to a break as the match continued.
The match continued with Troy and Briggs arguing after working over Carver together. Briggs ran the ropes and hit a cross body block on Troy. Carver hit a running powerslam on Briggs for two. Carver hit a spinebuster on Troy for two. Carver stomped on Briggs against the turnbuckle. Troy fired up with strikes on Carver and a body slam on Briggs. Troy splashed Carver against the turnbuckle and a Bossman Slam on Briggs. Troy hit a Chokeslam on Carver and covered Briggs for two. Troy went to the turnbuckle, so Briggs knocked him down to the floor. Briggs and Carver exchanged strikes. Briggs hit a back elbow. Carver punched Briggs in the ribs. Briggs knocked down Carver with a kick. Troy was back in with a body attack on Briggs. Carver hit a Pounce on Troy over the top to the floor. Briggs punched Carver. Carver avoided Briggs and hit a Pounce to knock him. Carver hit a move almost like Jackhammer slam for the pinfall on Briggs to win the match. It went about 14 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Keanu Carver
Analysis: ***1/4 This ended up being pretty good as the three men showcased a lot of their power moves throughout the match. I’m not surprised by Carver getting the win because you can tell by the way he’s booked that the NXT bosses want to push that guy. I admit I’m surprised this match went as long as it did. I thought it would be more like 7-10 minutes. Anyway, Carver continues to impress me while Troy did a nice job as well, and Briggs is always a consistently good veteran.
Shiloh Hill was backstage talking to NXT Women’s North American Champion Tatum Paxley. They spoke about their mixed tag team match tonight. Ricky Saints walked up to them saying people think they are weird since they are always laughing. Hill fired back that Ricky has to worry about Darkstate, and Ricky called them freaks. Ricky left.
Joe Hendry made his entrance for the big tag team match. Booker was singing Joe’s theme song. They went to a break for those of us watching on Netflix and that was followed by the entrances of the other wrestlers in the match: Ethan Page, Ricky Saints and NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo. The Darkstate foursome was next.
Darkstate – Dion Lennox, Saquon Shugars. Osiris Griffin & Cutler James vs. Tony D’Angelo, Joe Hendry, Ricky Saints & Ethan Page
The babyfaces were in control, with Joe hitting a delayed vertical suplex on James. I missed a few minutes before that. Ricky tagged in with a double axhandle on Cutler’s arm. Ricky did some rope walking that led to a punch to the arm. Ricky hit a leg drop to the head like a Fameasser. Page tagged in and Ricky didn’t love it. Page and Ricky hit a double back body drop. Griffin was in there for his team and hit a cross body block on Page and Saints. Shugars tagged in, Page got his knees up to block a move and Page avoided a move, leading to Tony D tagging in. Tony slammed Dion on Shugars. After Tony was distracted by the Darkstate guys on the apron, Dion hit a spinebuster and trash-talked Tony. They went on a break.
Darkstate was in control of Joe, who was trying to fight back against Shugars. Griffin tagged in and Joe slammed Shugars off his shoulders. Joe tried to tag out, but Page and Ricky didn’t want a tag. Shugars was back in to put Joe down, and James worked over Joe with punches. James hit a running back elbow to knock Joe down. James hit a body slam for a two count. Joe tried to fight back, but James hit a backbreaker. Griffin was legal with a Vader Bomb-style splash off the turnbuckle for two because Ricky and Page broke up the pin. Dion cheap shotted Joe on the floor. Myles Borne jumped out from the crowd and fought with Dion to the backstage area since Dion attacked Borne at Stand & Deliver. Joe finally broke free, and Tony got the tag. Tony hit a German Suplex on Shugars and a German Suplex on James. Tony also hit a German Suplex on Griffin. Tony hit a Fisherman’s Buster on Shugars for two because Griffin made the save. Ricky hit a jumping forearm on Griffin, and Page kicked Griffin out of the ring. Ricky hit Griffin with a forearm on the floor. James hit a backbreaker on Page. Tony sent James out of the ring. Joe hit a high jump leap over the top onto the heels on the floor. Tony hit a spinebuster and a Dead to Rights slam. Page tagged in, kicked Tony D, and Page hit Twisted Grin on Shugars for the pinfall win. It went about 15 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Tony D’Angelo, Joe Hendry, Ricky Saints & Ethan Page
Analysis: ***1/2 I thought it was a very good match that was entertaining, with the four singles wrestlers not working together well, but they did enough to get the win. Myles Borne, taking out Dion Lennox, continued their story from Stand & Deliver when Lennox did the cheap attack. Tony D getting the win felt like what would happen, but instead it was Ethan Page doing a blind tag and kicking Tony out of the ring so that Page could hit his finisher to win. Clever way to finish the match.
After the match, Page was smiling about getting the win. Tony went up behind him and hit Dead to Rights on Page to put him down.
Analysis: That makes me think they will go with Tony D against Ethan Page for the NXT Title at the next PLE because Tony got the win in this tag team match.
Jaida Parker was featured in an NXT Spotlight video talking about her issues with Kelani Jordan. Parker beat Jordan last week, and then Jordan attacked her backstage. Parker and Jordan have also fought at the Performance Center. Parker said that next week, she’ll show Jordan that Parker doesn’t play.
Lexis King made his entrance, joined by his Birth Right allies Charlie Dempsey, Uriah Connors, Stacks and Arianna Grace.
(Commercial)
WWE Speed Tournament: Lexis King (w/Charlie Dempsey, Uriah Connors, Stacks and Arianna Grace) vs. Chazz “Starboy” Hall
I don’t know much about Chazz Hall, but there was a video featuring Hall talking about his experience in wrestling, and he was excited to be here.
Hall hit a spin kick to the throat for a pin attempt. Hall hit a hurricanrana for a two count. Hall hit a Sliced Bread neckbreaker and a standing, twisting splash for two. King hit an elbow to knock Hall down. King went to the turnbuckle, so King hit a jumping kick to knock King down. Hall did a cartwheel and backflip over the top onto King on the floor. Hall went for a Shooting Star Press, but King got his feet up. King hit The Coronation for the pinfall win at 2:06.
Winner by pinfall: Lexis King
Analysis: ** The newcomer Hall got a lot of offense in the first two minutes of the match, but then it took King one counter move and a finisher to get the win. Hall’s offense was impressive.
NXT GM Robert Stone was talking to Myles Borne about how Borne can’t be interfering in matches. Borne said it was payback for Dion Lennox attacking him. NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo walked up to Stone, so Borne left. Tony D said he wanted to face Ethan Page and Stone said he can make that happen. Tony looked to his right, and Keanu Carver was staring at him.
Analysis: Is that Carver staredown a tease of a future NXT Title win over Tony D’Angelo? It might be. I think Carver will win most of his matches and be the NXT Champion, perhaps this year.
Shiloh Hill and the NXT Women’s North American Champion Tatum Paxley made their entrance for tag team action.
A commercial aired for the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on April 17.
(Commercial)
A clip aired of the Shawn Michaels documentary that debuts on Peacock on April 13th. They showed clips of people talking about the great work that Michaels does in NXT. It should be a great documentary.
Blake Monroe & Jackson Drake (w/Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes) vs. Tatum Paxley & Shiloh Hill
It was men against men and women against women here. Paxley tripped up Blake and hit a shoulder tackle. Drake tagged in against Hill with some punches. Hill set up Drake across the top rope and hit a running knee lift to knock Drake out of the ring. Hill chopped Drake on the chest while they were by the apron. Blake tried to help her partner, so Paxley kicked Blake. Hill went up top and hit a clothesline for a two count. Blake didn’t want to tag in and left the match, so Drake was shocked by it. Paxley got the tag and grabbed Blake, which meant Blake was back in the match. Paxley went for Cemetery Drive, but Drake stopped that. Hill hit a shoulder tackle on Drake. Blake splashed Drake by accident because the babyfaces moved out of the way. Paxley and Hill applied the same surfboard-style submission on their opponents. Blake and Drake were on the apron, so Baylor caught Blake on the floor while Drake was down on the floor. They went on a break there as the match continued.
The action during the break was Drake on offense against Hill for several minutes. Hill punched Baylor on the apron, so Blake helped Drake knock down Hill to take control. Drake dropkicked Hill out of the ring. Hill came back with a massive Powerbomb. Paxley tagged in against Blake with a dropkick and an enziguri kick. Paxley hit an armbar/dropkick combo. Paxley hit a Powerbomb-style move for a two count. Paxley went up top, Baylor was on the apron and Paxley kicked Baylor down. Hill hit a somersault dive over the top onto Baylor and Smokes on the floor. Paxley jumped off the top, Blake avoided it, and Drake went into the ring, so Paxley kicked Drake. Blake headbutted Paxley. Blake hit a Glamor Shot DDT on Paxley for the pinfall win after 12 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Blake Monroe & Jackson Drake
Analysis: *** It was another entertaining tag team match on this show. Mixed tags can be a bit messy at times, but I thought they did a nice job of featuring everybody in the match. Blake and Drake got some help from TVP on the floor, but it wasn’t that cheap of a win for Blake. I assume Blake winning leads to another title match against Paxley.
NXT GM Robert Stone announced that next week starts a two-week special called NXT Revenge. Stone announced a bunch of things: Next week: Tony D’Angelo defends the NXT Championship vs. Ethan Page. In two weeks: Sol Ruca vs. Zaria in a Last Woman Standing Match. Stone also said Joe Hendry in concert, Kali Armstrong’s debut, a new Speed Champion, and a lot going on.
Lola Vice is up next as the new NXT Women’s Champion.
(Commercial)
A video aired about Kali Armstrong coming to NXT soon. Kali is a former Evolve Women’s Champion, and she’s about results.
Next week on NXT Revenge Week 1:
* NXT Championship: Tony D’Angelo vs. Ethan Page
* Joe Hendry live in concert
* Jaida Parker vs. Kelani Jordan
Let’s Hear from Lola Vice
The new NXT Women’s Champion, Lola Vice, made her entrance to cheers. Vice is also an AAA Mixed Tag Team Champion. Vice said she’s the new NXT Women’s Champion, so the fans chanted “You deserve it,” of course. Vice said that at Stand & Deliver, she became the first Cuban-American Champion in WWE history. Vice said she thought she was ready for the title when she first walked through the door. Vice claimed she was a big signing in 2022 and with all the hype, she thought she’d go to the top. Vice said she took Ls and started from scratch. Vince said she had to earn her place in this division. Vice said she wasn’t ready. Vice went to AAA in Mexico, got more experience and took Vice City worldwide. Vice said she is ready and she is undeniable. Vice said that earning something will always mean more than having it handed to you. Vice said she’s no longer a woman from MMA because she’s a WWE superstar.
Jacy Jayne of Fatal Influence interrupted with her allies. Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid. Jayne said that was the only win that Vice will have over her. Jayne said she’s going to become a 3-time World Champion. Reid said that Jayne is the definition of evolving. Jayne said she held the NXT Women’s Championship for 286 combined days. Jayne said she wanted her rematch.
NXT GM Robert Stone showed up for the interruption. Stone said that Jayne can have her rematch for the NXT Women’s Championship next week at NXT Revenge. Vice said she’d knock out Jayne again. Henley and Reid attacked Vice, who tried to fight back. Vice hit a German Suplex on Reid. Vice hit a back fist to knock Jayne down, but Jayne avoided it. Vice posed in the ring with her titles and Jayne yelled at her from the aisle. That was the end of the show.
Analysis: It’s another big title match for next week’s show with Vice defending against Jayne. I don’t expect a title change there, but it’s a big match to do on the NXT Revenge show.
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Three Stars of the Show
- Ethan Page, Tony D’Angelo, Joe Hendry & Ricky Saints
- Keanu Carver
- Izzi Dame/Sol Ruca
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The Scoreboard
This week: 7.5 out of 10
Last week: 8
2026 Average: 7.14
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Final Thoughts on WWE NXT
A good show with plenty of entertaining matches, including the last two tags, which I enjoyed a lot. There was some talking, but not that much. I thought it was a nice balance overall.
They built two big matches for next week with Tony D’Angelo defending the NXT Title against Ethan Page, while Lola Vice defends the NXT Women’s Title against Jacy Jayne. I don’t expect either title to change hands.
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John Canton
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Twitter/X @johnreport