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Hot damn, the majority of NXT last night was packed with women’s content! My reviews are long enough as is but going forward for the NXT recap articles I’ll give an overview of each segment instead of detailing the play by play.
First match of the night saw the returning Shayna Baszler take on new talent Karmen Petrovic and this match is booked exactly how it should’ve been. Shayna really had little to no problem dominating Petrovic, which she shouldn’t, and makes short work of Nattie’s training partner. Feels like the story between these two teams is over and they’ll be going their separate ways, hopefully we still get Natalya vs. Shayna though while they’re both in NXT
Winner: Shayna
Recap of Fallon Henley’s heel turn last week.
Kelani Jordan is in the locker room fuming over Fallon’s betrayal and vents to the other women. Fallon comes into the segment and defends herself by reiterating her point from last week that “Fallon comes first.”
We see highlights of the NXT Combine. It consisted of 9 grueling events to test each performers Speed, Power, Strength & Conditioning. Thea Hail and Kelani Jordan are frontrunners in the Speed portion of the Combine!
Backstage our prayers have been answered as we cut to Chelsea Green, Arianna Grace and Gigi “Georgina” Dolin discussing tonight’s NXT Women’s Championship match. Really fun segment, Chelsea and Arianna play off each other perfectly, the segment ends with Gigi claiming she’s had enough and storming out of the locker room.
We cut to an interview backstage with Roxanne who seems completely unbothered by the match tonight because she’s “The Prodigy.”
Michin vs. Arianna is up next, Michin made her entrance before the commercial break, so great seeing her in NXT (or really just be used ya know). Arianna struts to the ring and does her “violence is not the answer schtick” to which Michin just scoffs at.
After some brief offense, Arianna takes control of the match as she works on Mia’s arm. Yim reverses the arm bar into a powerbomb for a 2 count!
Arianna looks to almost have victory secured when she has Michin in a pinning attempting, holding onto the ropes for leverage but before the ref counts three, he spots the attempted foul play and dismisses the fall. Grace argues with the official which ultimately ends up in her eating da-feat as Michin scores the pinfall!
Winner: Michin
This is Michin’s first televised victory since defeating Tamina on Main Event in February, 2023.
Women’s Combine is back and this time we’re measuring Power! I understand why these segments are pre-taped but it would be cool to see some of the competitions uploaded to youtube or something. Jaida Parker and Michin are frontrunners in this category!
Kelani vs. Fallon is up next!
NXT wastes no time pushing their talent into action, Fallon just turned last week and is already putting her new character on display against the incredibly likable Kelani. A snap of Kelani’s neck has Fallon in control, slow build to the match as we go into commercial.
This match gets a good amount of time, over 10 minutes, allowing both Henley and Jordan to show off their in ring repertoires which imo was needed for both. While Kelani still has a lot of fleshing out to do with her character overall, her personality comes through in her ring work and I do find myself rooting for Jordan based on her expressions and mannerisms. Fallon just turned heel last week and already has great foundation from her previous work to build upon in NXT. I’m thinking we’ll get a rematch between these two to qualify for the N.A. Championship with Henley once again being victorious.
Winner: Fallon Henley
Strength is up next in the Combine, there were multiple standouts noted here with Lash Legend, Monday Night Raw’s Ivy Nile, Sol Ruca and Izzi Dame to name a few. The twelve superstars moving on to the next round will be announced later tonight!
General Manager Ava has me busy tonight bc she’s up next and announces the 12 Superstars advancing to the match qualifiers:
1. Sol Ruca
2. Thea Hail
3. Jaida Parker
4. Brinley Reece
5. Michin
6. Fallon Henley
7. Lash Legend
8. Ivy Nile
9. Izzi Dame
10. Kelani Jordan
11. Tatum Paxley
12. Wren Sinclair
Jazmyn Nyx has a backstage promo asking why Thea Hail hasn’t been fined or suspended for being reckless after breaking Jacy Jayne’s nose last week which explains why Jacy isn’t participating in the Combine.
Qualifying Matches next week are announced:
Izzi Dame vs. Sol Ruca
Ivy Nile vs. Lash Legend
Speaking of Lash, just gonna leave this here between MetaFour and Trick Willy Wonka
NXT Women’s Championship match is up next and I am strapped in for this championship bout!
Chelsea gets a nearfall early on in the match and shows she’s all business, a championship is on the line! Perez literally slaps the taste out of Green’s mouth and zips around Chelsea like it’s nothing, so arrogant. Chelsea get’s her lick back on the champ with viscous slap of her own as we cut to commercial!
Admittedly I haven’t watched much of Chelsea’s work outside of WWE so as a newer fan of hers, I appreciate getting the opportunity to see what Green can do when she gets the chance to really go in the ring. Chelsea doesn’t work with the same intensity as a Bianca Belair or Rhea Ripley but she still has personality in spades. All the more reason a women’s mid-card belt needs to be introduced on the main roster.
Roxanne would ultimately end up being the victor of the bout to which I had no doubt and was the right call. This isn’t a dig against Perez’s ability between the ropes because she’s excellent from a technical standpoint, but I’m still not connecting to this version. It comes across to me that Roxanne is trying to portray a character that requires a level of range from the performer that goes beyond what the WWE PC usually teaches. That’s just my two cents though.
Match was solid, if you’re a fan of Chelsea Green and her antics, definitely worth checking out. She looked great in defeat and the champ has another successful title defense on her notch.
Winner: Roxanne Perez
Great show again from NXT and I didn’t even get to the Lash/MetaFour/Trick Williams stuff. Sound off in the comments with your pick for the 6 Superstars that should compete in the Ladder match to crown the first Women’s North American Champion!
