Kay Lee Ray made an unannounced return to the ring on Friday for her first match since being released by WWE.
The former Alba Fyre showed up for Pro Wrestling Eve in London, answering an open challenge that was issued by Molly Spartan. KLR’s return was a successful one, with her getting the victory after landing a Swanton.
During the open challenge, there was a fake-out at first with Abi Cartwright — as “Abi Fyre” — coming down to face Spartan. Eve then delivered on KLR’s heavily speculated return with the actual former WWE star entering. The commentary team put over KLR, a former Eve Champion, as embodying everything the indie women’s wrestling promotion stands for.
“Anyone who is anyone in women’s professional wrestling has stepped through those ropes,” commentary said. “Legends, pioneers, women in the beginning of their careers, women making a name for themselves, nobody has ever personified Pro Wrestling Eve more than Kay Lee F***ing Ray — and she is back home.”
During her time with WWE, KLR was featured on the main roster, NXT, and NXT UK, including a nearly two-year reign as NXT UK Women’s Champion that partially took place during the pandemic era. She is a former Women’s Tag Team Champion (with Isla Dawn) and had been recently aligned with Chelsea Green on SmackDown as one of Green’s “Secret Hervice” members.
Former WWE name Alba Fyre/Kay Lee Ray is being teased for a return to the UK independent scene this week. Pro Wrestling EVE will be hosting History Makers / Rule Breakers on Friday, June 5th and it looks like KLR will be coming in to face Molly Spartan.
EVE has sent out the following to promote the match: Molly Spartan has thrown out the challenge to someone for Friday June 5th, but is being ever so slightly vague with regards to this woman who she hopes will meet her in the middle of the ring at EVE 150 in London on Friday June 5th. All we know is this firey competitor is a former WWE Tag Team Champion, a former EVE Champion, and an absolute KiLleR in the ring…We’ll find out the answer to this mystery this coming Friday June 5 at EVE 150!
EVE 150 History Makers / Rule Breakers Card
Here is the card for the upcoming EVE event on Friday:
EVE International Championship Match: Kris Statlander vs Miyu Yamashita
EVE Championship: Session Moth Martina vs Alexxis Falcon
EVE Tag Team Championships: Lallie vs French Art
NYTE/SKYE vs Relentless All Stars
Lucy Sky vs Melissa Fierce vs Emersyn Jayne
Rhio vs Aliss Ink
🚨 Challenge Accepted? 🚨
A returning former WWE title holder heads to EVE in Walthamstow, London on Friday June 5th to answer @MollySpartan's challenge in the ring.
But who could it be?
…And was it really a wise decision to step up to a woman who is currently 6–1 in EVE… pic.twitter.com/qV3UKfD7kY
— EVE – Riot Grrrls of Wrestling (@ProWrestlingEVE) May 30, 2026
Sean Ross Sapp is reporing that Dexter Lumis and Erik Rowan have also been released, meaning the entire Wyatt Sicks stable is now gone from WWE.
All main roster releases have 90 day no-competes, while NXT releases are 30 days.
Original Story:
Just a few days after WrestleMania 42, WWE has started a new round of cuts.
Bryan Alvarez is reporting that Nikki Cross, Zoey Stark, Alba Fyre, and Joe Gacy have been released from the company. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp initially reported the releases that began on Friday afternoon, and is also reporting that Uncle Howdy (Bo Dallas) and Andre Chase have also been released.
Alvarez says: “The list of releases is expected to be fairly big, unfortunately.”
Stark had been on the shelf after suffering a knee injury during a Money in the Bank qualifying match on Raw last year. Both Fightful and Alvarez confirm that Stark had been cleared prior to her release.
Some of the wrestlers posted statements on social media shortly after the news broke. Fyre, formerly Kay Lee Ray, wrote: “Kay Lee Ray would batter Alba Fyre. Just saying….” Cross, meanwhile, thanked WWE, William Regal, Robie Brookside, and others for her time in the company.
Gacy summed up his feelings on the situation more succinctly, posting a peace sign emoji and the word “lol.”
A Brock Lesnar interview is one of the new additions to the lineup for tonight’s WWE SmackDown.
WWE has announced that, ahead of his match against John Cena at Wrestlepalooza, there will be an “exclusive interview” with Lesnar on SmackDown tonight. The Lesnar vs. Cena match is set to open the Wrestlepalooza card on Saturday, serving as the official start of WWE’s new PLE era on ESPN.
“Brock Lesnar returns to SmackDown and gives an exclusive interview ahead of his blockbuster match with John Cena at Wrestlepalooza,” WWE.com wrote. “Don’t miss all the action of SmackDown, tonight at 8 ET/7 CT on USA.”
Along with that, it’s been confirmed that Women’s Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss will defend their titles against Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre tonight. The champs have been feuding with Green and the Secret Hervice since shortly after winning the belts at SummerSlam.
Flair & Bliss are making their second title defense this week after having already defeated Izzi Dame & Tatum Paxley at NXT Homecoming.
The Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio is hosting tonight’s show. Here is the updated card:
WWE SmackDown (Friday, September 19) —
Exclusive interview with Brock Lesnar
WWE Champion Cody Rhodes appears
United States Champion Sami Zayn defends against Carmelo Hayes
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss defend against Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre
WWE has announced a change to Friday’s SmackDown lineup, with Piper Niven no longer set to compete on the show.
Niven & Alba Fyre were supposed to challenge Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles on today’s SmackDown in France. But WWE posted a video this afternoon with SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis announcing that Niven is “unavailable tonight.” The Secret Hervice will still be getting their title shot, though, with Chelsea Green stepping in for Niven.
Charlotte & Bliss won the Women’s Tag Team titles at SummerSlam earlier this month and began feuding with the Secret Hervice shortly after. On SmackDown last week, Niven defeated Charlotte in a singles match with interference by Green and Fyre helping her get the win.
Lyon is hosting SmackDown today in advance of Clash in Paris. Outside of the United States, the episode will air live on Netflix at 2 p.m. Eastern time. It will then be shown in the U.S. later tonight in its regular 8 p.m. Eastern time slot.
WWE SmackDown (Friday, August 29) —
John Cena appears
United States Champion Solo Sikoa defends against Sami Zayn
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss defend against Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre
WWE Tag Team title number one contender’s match: The Street Profits vs. Carmelo Hayes & The Miz
On WWE Speed today, Sol Ruca was successful in the first of three title matches she has set for this week.
Ruca retained her WWE Speed Women’s Championship over Alba Fyre, delivering a Sol Snatcher to get the victory with 49 seconds remaining of the five-minute time limit. This was the second title defense Ruca has made as champion. She won the Speed belt from Candice LeRae this April and has now defeated Ivy Nile and Fyre during her reign.
The full title match can be watched below. It was taped at the WWE Performance Center last night prior to NXT.
Coming up this weekend, Ruca has both a title defense and title challenge scheduled. She’s defending her NXT Women’s North American Championship against Izzi Dame at NXT Great American Bash this Saturday afternoon. She’ll then be part of a fatal four-way match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles at Evolution the following night. Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez are defending the titles against Ruca & Zaria, Asuka & Kairi Sane, and Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss.
Alba Fyre has the chance to bring some gold to the Secret Hervice.
Next Wednesday, Fyre will challenge Sol Ruca for the WWE Speed Women’s Championship. The title match was confirmed with Fyre prevailing over NXT wrestler Thea Hail in the finals of a number one contender’s tournament on Speed this week. The energetic Hail started strong and seemed poised to win in the closing moments after getting her knees up on a Swanton attempt. But when Hail tried to follow that up with a springboard, Fyre caught her in mid-air with a Gory Bomb for the victory.
Ruca became Speed Champion in April and has made one defense so far — a victory over Ivy Nile. Ruca also currently holds the NXT Women’s North American Championship.
Fyre is part of the SmackDown roster, where she and Piper Niven are aligned with Chelsea Green as the Secret Hervice. To earn this title shot, Fyre defeated B-Fab in the first round of the contender’s tournament before advancing to face Hail.
After next week’s Ruca vs. Fyre match, we should get some clarity on what’s going on with the men’s WWE Speed Championship. Chad Gable — who holds the title as El Grande Americano — underwent shoulder surgery this week. There was a backstage segment on Monday’s Raw where Ludwig Kaiser briefly appeared as the Americano character.
Taped last Friday at SmackDown, the match ended with Fyre using a Gory Bomb to get the victory with 30 seconds remaining of the three-minute time limit. B-Fab had momentum on her side in the final minute after a pump kick, but Fyre was able to counter with a superkick before hitting the Gory Bomb.
The tournament continues this Friday with an opening-round match between NXT wrestlers Thea Hail and Nikkita Lyons. The winner advances to face Fyre next Friday to determine the next challenger for Women’s WWE Speed Champion Sol Ruca.
Ruca currently holds both the Speed Championship and NXT Women’s North American Championship. She’s the second wrestler to ever hold the Women’s Speed title, dethroning inaugural champ Candice LeRae back in April. Ruca’s only title defense so far was a victory over Ivy Nile.
Fyre (the former Kay Lee Ray) is a heel on the SmackDown roster, aligned with Chelsea Green and Piper Niven as one of Green’s “Secret Hervice” agents.
After Michin hit Chelsea Green with a senton through a table during their street fight on SmackDown, a hooded figure dragged Green out of the ring before the three count, preventing her from losing the Women’s United States title. The figure soon unmasked revealing herself to be Fyre, who laid out Michin with a Canadian destroyer. Fyre put Green back into the ring, who then covered Michin and scored the win to retain her Women’s United States Championship.
Earlier in the night, Green’s usual backup Piper Niven wrestled Tiffany Stratton after a confrontation between the two backstage. Stratton won that match following the prettiest moonsault ever. Niven was still selling the effects of the PME prior to Green’s match.
Fyre had mostly been working Main Event since the release of her tag team partner, Isla Dawn, last month. Prior to that, the Unholy Union last appeared on NXT in January where they lost a number one contender’s match for the Women’s Tag Team titles to the Meta-Four’s Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend.
Prior to her street fight, Zelina Vega confronted Green, saying she was next in line to get a shot at the Women’s US title.
WWE Main Event this week took place at the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on Monday.
Alba Fyre w/Isla Dawn defeated Ivy Nile (5:17)
Ivy Nile looked good here as she controlled the match bell to bell, but a mistake at the end meant she picked up the loss.
Nile was able to show off both her strength and improving in-ring work in this one as Fyre let her take control. The highlights were a delayed suplex, complete with squats, as well as a belly-to-back suplex that left them both gasping for air.
Dawn was essentially just there to distract and she did so twice, once early on and then again later to play into the finish.
A chinlock partway through slowed things down but did go to show that this crowd likes Nile. WWE probably needs to pay attention to that, because she for sure has a lot to offer.
The finish made Nile look pretty stupid, though, as Dawn hit the apron to distract her and, after Nile took her out, she got nailed from behind and finished off with the Gory Bomb to give Fyre the win.
For those keeping count, the loss here means that Nile is without a singles win since February and only has two wins to her name in all of 2024. She has certainly looked a little better than those stats would indicate.
This was a solid rematch from last week to leave these two teams evenly booked. The Creeds remain wildly entertaining, but this one never really got to that level.
It has felt a little jarring to see The Creeds being beaten on this show over the last few months. You have, in Julius and Brutus, raw talent that can provide you with some frankly jaw-dropping moments. That isn’t supposed to be hyperbole, it’s just how it is. Why they are being beaten is just as questionable as why they aren’t mainstays on a main roster show right now.
They kind of booked this match like a mirror of last week. LWO took the early going and nailed The Creeds with stereo dives over the top rope, instead of what they did last week where The Creeds took us to the ads on top.
The Creeds have been significantly more cocky of late, with Brutus attempting a pin with one foot on Lee in this one. But eventually, the tide turned and Wilde got the hot tag. He used a smooth-looking tornado DDT on Julius that brought Brutus back in.
The finish saw Lee get taken off the top rope and Wilde get knocked off the apron so that Julius could superplex Lee and Brutus could hit the Brutus Bomb for the win.
A possible rubber match next week would be good and it will be interesting to see which way they book it. Based on this, it seems like LWO will get the nod, but we will stay tuned to find out!
Clash at the Castle was a successful homecoming for Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn.
The Scottish duo picked up a big victory at Saturday’s event in Glasgow, winning a triple threat match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles. Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill were the champions heading into Clash at the Castle, but neither took the pin. Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark also competed in the match.
As Cargill was going for a pin on Baszler, Dawn swooped in and gave Cargill a German suplex. Fyre then held Belair back as Dawn pinned Baszler to win the titles.
It was an emotional moment after the match as Fyre & Dawn celebrated with their loved ones at ringside and were presented with flowers.
The moment comes less than a month after Fyre (Kayleigh Rae) lost her mother. Bridgeen Mitchell, 51, passed away when she was struck by a car while in Florida visiting her daughter. Fyre’s father was also hit by the car but survived.
On social media, Paul “Triple H” Levesque congratulated Fyre & Dawn on their “massive, statement-making hometown victory.”
Congratulations to @IslaDawn and @wwe_alba on a massive, statement-making hometown victory. What a night for your NEW WWE Women's Tag Team Champions. #WWECastlepic.twitter.com/9T3ojpOTPv
This is the first main roster title reign for Fyre & Dawn, though they once held the NXT Women’s Tag Team titles. Fyre is also a former NXT UK Women’s Champion.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the EnMarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia before Monday’s episode of Raw.
Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre defeated Kayden Carter & Katana Chance (5:05)
This was fine and had a good finish. Dawn and Fyre look better each time they tag and it made sense that they got the win here.
They built the match around Carter getting a hot tag before they made things unbalanced in the end to get the win.
Carter came in all guns blazing and she got a two count on Dawn so that Fyre had to break it up and make a save. Dawn then took out Chance to leave Carter outnumbered.
Dawn and Fyre did a cool finisher on Carter where they kind of hoisted her up and nailed her with a double-team DDT/Flatliner combo. Road Dogg wasn’t sure what it was either, but it looked pretty good to me.
Pete Dunne defeated Dijak (7:10)
This was really strong in the last few minutes as these two delivered a really good match by Main Event standards.
This was the first outing for Dijak on this show under his new moniker. His last match here was back in September 2022 when he was working as T-Bar. As he has attested many times, he did not enjoy that gimmick.
Dunne worked a tag match a few weeks ago with Tyler Bate, but his last solo bout on Main Event was actually against T-Bar in January 2022. This time round it was a vastly superior match, despite it having the same outcome.
The early going was mostly Dunne but they went to a break a few minutes in as Dijak caught Dunne with a big boot as he came off the top rope.
The second half was all about Dunne mounting a comeback and when he did it was pretty fun. He used a cool snap German for two and then locked in a choke.
Dijak powered out with a sit-out powerbomb for a near fall of his own. The crowd was into it by this point and they started to trade superkicks and big boots.
It took a counter and a small package for Dunne to get the win, but I kind of hope that they do it all again next week as it could have gone either way and the crowd was left pumped to see Raw.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina before Monday’s episode of Raw.
Kiana James defeated Ivy Nile (6:46)
This was a good little opener from the two NXT Level Up graduates and the crowd seemed into it which helped as they went longer than you would expect from a Main Event curtain jerker.
Nile is now 32 and so six years James’ senior, but despite her relatively young age, James continues to look good here with Nile quite a generous opponent.
The early going was James trying to avoid the chase from Nile and they did some mat work until Nile showed off her strength to an appreciative crowd with a vertical suplex that had some serious delay.
It felt like it could go either way here with Nile putting in a strong showing, but James was typically plucky, avoiding the charge so that James was posted. They started to trade some two counts as they went to the finish.
It kind of came out of nowhere, which is probably an issue with the pacing of the match, but after a gut-wrench from Nile for two, James essentially just got Nile into the corner to set up for the 401 K.
Natalya defeated Alba Fyre (w/ Isla Dawn) (7:07)
Natalya continues to be the veteran on the women’s roster who gets a great reaction wherever she goes and the Sharpshooter is still a finisher that is very much over here 2024.
As is often the way in these matches at the top of the show, they tend to take a break quite jarringly early into the bout, but as a result, really get into their grove after the ads.
Much like I have said before in these reviews, Natalya’s matches follow a particular pattern these days. She spends her time looking to hit her Sharpshooter and, realistically, it makes a ton of sense: why wouldn’t you just try to lock in your most dangerous move to get the thing won as soon as you can? Perhaps that’s an oversimplification of wrestling psychology, but when you’re only given seven minutes every other week, I like that logic very much.
Fyre is a feisty competitor and looked to do anything she could to avoid getting trapped in the submission. Dawn was also employed well on the outside, looking to disrupt things as much as she could, and this played into the finish.
After Natalya used a high cross for a near fall, Fyre went outside and this allowed Dawn to get involved. Natalya tried to lock in the Sharpshooter on Dawn, but she still had the wherewithal to shove Fyre into Dawn so that she was taken out.
Natalya finally reversed a roll-up attempt into her finisher and Fyre tapped to give Natalya a win that went over very nicely with the Greenville crowd.
In advance of tonight’s event, WWE has confirmed a few new participants who will be taking part in the women’s Royal Rumble match.
Alba Fyre, Shotzi, Zelina Vega, and Michin will be competing in the women’s Rumble tonight. Their participation was confirmed in a video that WWE uploaded after Friday’s SmackDown. Fyre, Shotzi, Vega, and Michin were shown picking their Rumble numbers.
SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis told Isla Dawn in the video that she won’t be taking part in the Rumble.
There have now been eight participants confirmed for the women’s Rumble match:
Bayley
Nia Jax
Becky Lynch
Bianca Belair
Alba Fyre
Shotzi
Zelina Vega
Michin
The men’s Rumble has 14 announced entrants:
Cody Rhodes
CM Punk
Shinsuke Nakamura
Bobby Lashley
Drew McIntyre
Gunther
Damian Priest
Kofi Kingston
Jimmy Uso
Santos Escobar
R-Truth
Carlito
Austin Theory
Grayson Waller
There will be 30 entrants in each Rumble match.
The Royal Rumble is taking place from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida tonight. The show streams live on Peacock/WWE Network starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time. An hour-long pre-show will air before that.
WWE Royal Rumble 2024 card —
Men’s Royal Rumble match
Women’s Royal Rumble match
Fatal four-way match: Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Randy Orton, LA Knight, and AJ Styles
United States Champion Logan Paul defends against Kevin Owens
With the WWE Draft now over, changes are coming to NXT.
NXT Women’s Champion Indi Hartwell, NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn, Apollo Crews, JD McDonagh, Zoey Stark, Von Wagner, Pretty Deadly, Katana Chance & Kayden Carter, Cameron Grimes, Grayson Waller, Indus Sher, Odyssey Jones, and Xyon Quinn are all moving on from NXT after being included in the draft.
The new WWE rosters will take effect after this weekend’s Backlash pay-per-view.
Before both teams depart NXT, Fyre & Dawn will defend their Women’s Tag Team titles against Chance & Carter tonight.
McDonagh is also set for his final NXT match. He issued an open challenge that was accepted by Dragon Lee.
A North American Championship match with Wes Lee defending against Drew Gulak has been announced for tonight. The show is also set to feature a grudge match between Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne, Joe Gacy vs. Joe Coffey, Axiom vs. Scrypts, and the debut of Dani Palmer.
Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
**********
The show begins with a recap of the recent draft, where a group of NXT wrestlers join the main roster on either Raw or Smackdown.
NXT North American Champion Wes Lee (with Tyler Bate) defeated Drew Gulak (with Charlie Dempsey) to retain his title
Lee pinned Gulak in a match that was just getting good when they went home. All they needed was more time.
Dempsey got involved early on by distracting Lee, which allowed Gulak to get a near fall. Lee soon fought back, and they tease a superplex. Instead, Lee flips backwards off the top rope and rolls through, only to get met by a flying lariat off the top. Gulk then grounds Lee on the mat.
Moments later, a slugfest gives way to a comeback by Lee. He goes on to fly through the ropes with a tope. Dempsey interferes again by pulling Lee off the apron. Bate leaps in to make the save as he springs off the ring steps with a flying uppercut.
For the finish, Lee jumps back into the ring to deliver his Cardiac Kick. Gulak then takes the fall as Lee covers him for a three count.
A video package recaps an angle from last week on NXT television where Bron Breakker speared NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes through a gimmicked wall in a stunt.
NXT Tag Team Champions Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre are using a Ouija board to for a promo about their title defense later tonight.
Trick Williams is heading to the ring for a monologue. Williams talked about being friends with Hayes since high school. Williams goes on to say he took a spear for Hayes last week (which he did before the stunt where Hayes is speared through the wall). Williams says he would do it again.
Williams mentions Bron Breakker’s name, and out comes Breakker to interrupt. This will set up a match between Williams and Breakker on the go-home show ahead of NXT Battleground. Breakker confronts Williams in the ring. Williams asks if Breakker is accepting Hayes’ challenge for a title match at Battleground. Breakker not only accepts, he talks about how he will embarrass Hayes in Hayes’ hometown in front of his friends and family.
Breakker goes to leave, but Williams says not so fast. Williams challenges Breakker to a match, and Williams to fight right here and now. Breakker heels on him and books the match for next week.
JD McDonagh in being interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell when Noam Dar interrupts to ask if McDonagh would injury Dragon Lee. Dar wants to protect his Heritage Cup, but McDonagh threatens to take it from Dar if he does not leave McDonagh alone.
Jacy Jayne defeated Gigi Dolan
Jayne pinned Dolan, and a bloody Jayne also attacked Dolan again after the match. Jayne was busted open just before they went home.
Dolan’s little brother, Miles, is watching from the front row. Jayne taunts him during the match, and Dolan embraces him later in the match. He also has to watch Jayne assault his sister after the match.
A cover on the actual turnbuckle itself is removed during the match, and it comes into play for the finish. Jayne smashed Dolan into the exposed turnbuckle, and Jayne follows up with a pump kick. She then covers Dolan for a pinfall.
Jayne delivers another pump kick after the bell, and she attacks Dolan for a post-match beatdown. Jayne smashed Dolan into the ring steps, she puts the boot to her, and Jayne taunts Dolan’s brother.
Axiom defeated Scrypts
Axiom pinned and unmasked Scrypts in a match that was short but good. Scrypts is Reggie.
Lot of flying and high spots, but they also told a little story. The epilogue to that story includes Scrypts being unmasked by Axiom after the match. Scrypts was dominating early on when Axiom fought from underneath.
Scrypts leaps off the top rope, and Axiom cuts him down with a kick. Golden Ratio by Axiom a second later, and Axiom covers Scrypts for a pinfall. Axiom is then unmasked after the match.
A skit in Fallon Henley’s bar shows Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen are best buds again, and the band is back together. Women hit on Jensen, and Henley remarks that Jensen is all grown up. Too bad his character barely evolved aside from no longer being a virgin. Women are attracted to him now according to this skit, so there is that. Good for him.
JD McDonagh defeated Dragon Lee
McDonagh pinned Lee, in what was billed was McDonagh’s last match in NXT. They had a banger. Noam Dar interfered just before the finish. Dar and Dragon Lee brawled after the match.
Hard-hitting match went through a commercial break, as a match on this show is finally given enough time this week. Because of that, this became the best match on the show so far tonight. McDonagh is working over Lee when the show returns from the break.
Dragon Lee makes a comeback, setting up a tope con hilo. Lee then leaps off the top with a double foot stomp for a near fall. That double stomp is common in a Dragon Lee match, but I was somewhat surprised to see that in WWE as its Finn Balor’s finisher.
McDonagh later cuts off Dragon Lee, and McDonagh gives Dragon Lee a Spicolli Driver on the ring apron. That led to them teasing a countout, but Lee barely breaks the count to continue the match. Lee with a second comeback gives McDonagh a snap dragon and a poison rana. McDonagh cuts off Lee again, turning Lee for a flip with a lariat.
They trade strikes down the home stretch. Liger bomb by Dragon Lee for another near fall. They fight while perched on the turnbuckles, setting up a Spanish Fly where McDonagh gets the upper hand. McDonagh then delivers a brainbuster for a the closest and best near fall of the match.
Canadian Destroyer spikes McDonagh, and McDonagh rolls out of the ring. Lee goes to retrieve McDonagh, and Noam Dar interferes with Lee. So, Lee drops Dar with a superkick. However, the distraction was enough to cost Lee the match. McDonagh head butts Lee, and then comes The Devil Inside suplex. McDonagh then covers Dragon Lee for a three count.
Joe Gacy (with The Schism) defeated Joe Coffey (with Gallus)
Gacy pinned Coffey in a battle of the Joes, thanks in large part to interference by The Schism.
The Dyad interfere at ringside when Rip Fowler puts Gacy’s foot on the rope to break a count. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang then chase The Dyad around ringside, and the two teams brawl.
Amidst the melee at ringside, Ava jumps into the ring like she is about the jump Coffey. He turns around to confront her, and Ava does an Eddie Guerrero phantom bump acting like Coffey hit her. That distraction allowed Gacy to execute his Upside Down clothesline finisher, and he covers Coffey for a pinfall.
Dani Palmer defeated Tatum Paxley
Palmer pinned Paxley after an Art Bar frog splash. Palmer wins in her “debut” match on NXT television, and she was pushed strong.
Andre Chase is not in class to teach his class, after he was written off the show last week in a loss against Bron Breakker. Thea Hail is freaking out about what to do about Mr. Chase, and Duke Hudson has an idea. He will teach the class, and his first order under his leadership is to rip up the pop quiz.
Von Wagner and Mr. Stone are looking at Wagner’s family photo album. They discuss some pictures of Wagner father (Wayne Bloom) in a tag match at SummerSlam inside Wembley Stadium. That was ironic given that tickets for AEW in that same stadium went on sale today.
Wagner gets angry and shuts down when Stone sees a childhood pic of Wagner with stitches on his head. Wagner does not want to discuss it, much to Stone’s dismay. Stone continues to want Wagner to open up to him, but Wagner is reluctant. No sure where this is going, but it at least give Wagner’s character some depth.
NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre defeated Kayden Carter & Katana Chance to retain the titles
Dawn pins Chance to win the match. The champs retain on their way out of NXT. What happens to the titles is anyone’s guess, so the champs are heading to Smackdown.
This match goes through a split-screen commercial break. Chance & Carter are on a roll until the show returns from the break. Soon thereafter, Chance is cut off and she is briefly worked over. Chance makes her own comeback, and she tags Carter so they can execute their tandem finisher for a near fall. Moments later, Carter & Chance use a Spanish Fly for another near fall.
As they go home, Chance & Carter again attempt their tandem finisher, but they are thwarted. Dawn & Fyre then execute a tandem finisher of their own, and Dawn covers Chance to win the match and retain the titles. The announcers on commentary sell it like the women’s tag title are headed to Smackdown.
Dijak in a pre-taped montage issues a dire warning to Ilja Dragunov.
Apollo Crews, who is headed back to the main roster, offers Trick Williams some encouraging words.
Indi Hartwell vacates the NXT Women’s Championship
NXT Women’s Champion Indi Hartwell heads to the ring to address the audience. Hartwell is walking with a crutch and the title belt draped over her shoulder. Her right foot is in a walking cast. She reflects on her time in NXT, and she talks about getting drafted to the main roster.
Hartwell also announces that next week a tournament begins to crown a new NXT Women’s Champion, which culminates in four weeks at Battleground. Hartwell vacates the title. She kisses the belt before laying it in the center of the ring.
Hartwell jokes that now she has to figure out how to get out of the ring (since she is walking with a crutch). Dexter Lumis pops out from underneath the ring, and he carries Hartwell backstage with her in his arms. There are smiles and thumbs up a plenty between the two as this ends like a rom-com, if a rom-com ended with a wild brawl.
Tiffany Stratton suddenly appears in the ring. She picks up the title belt, and in comes Cora Jade. They are having a tug-of-war with the belt when a bunch of women on the NXT roster run in for a big brawl. The show ends with bedlam as the women brawl in the ring. The ending reminds me of a go-home show for the Royal Rumble, but its only May.
