Tag: cora jade

Tonight’s NXT is the final stop before Great American Bash.

One week after his North American title win, Dominik Mysterio will appear tonight. Dominik and Rhea Ripley are kicking off the episode. Ripley will also be in action against Lyra Valkyria.

With help from the rest of Judgment Day, Dominik defeated Wes Lee last Tuesday to win the NXT North American Championship. Lee was scheduled to defend the title against Mustafa Ali at Great American Bash this Sunday. Tonight should provide some clarity on WWE’s plans for Sunday’s title match.

Carmelo Hayes is putting his NXT Championship on the line against Ilja Dragunov at Great American Bash. Tonight, Dragunov will team up with Hayes & Trick Williams in a six-man tag against Joe Gacy & The Dyad.

Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson will provide an answer about his future as he appears tonight. A kendo stick match between Cora Jade and Dana Brooke has also been announced for the episode.

Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

The show opens with recaps of Dominik Mysterio matches from Raw and Smackdown. Out comes the new NXT North American Champion, alongside WWE World Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley, for an in-ring promo to kick off NXT tonight.

Ripley speaks first. She says Judgment Day runs all of WWE. They both brag on their faction. The live studio audience chants for Dom to cut his mullet. Ripley mentions the name of Lyra Valkyria before she was interrupted by former North American title holder Wes Lee. 

Lee hates seeing the title in Dom’s hands, because “for 269 days, that title represented hard work and opportunity.” Lee is rightfully upset at the way he lost a title, and he wants a rematch. 

Ripley says what NXT needed was a new champ. Wes agrees that they need a new champion tonight. Suddenly, Lee is interrupted by Mustafa Ali, as Ali barges into the conflict. 

Ali says he has respect and love for Lee. Keep that in mind for later on. Ali has no respect nor love for Dom. Ali accuses Dom of being a thief. Dom stole his catchphrases, his father’s finisher, his other daddy’s frog splash, and now Ali’s chance at a title shot.

Freudian slip by Ali as he calls Lee a dummy for putting his championship on the line last week. Ali goes on to say he tried to tell Lee not to take the match, but Lee was too stupid to listen. An angry Lee responds by getting in Ali’s face.

Dom interjects, and Dom says he does not mind who he faces at The Great American Bash. Mami even says he can defend the titles against both of them. Dom goes to leave, but he first punks Ali. Dom ducks when Ali charges towards him, and Ali inadvertently hits Lee with a lariat. 

The plot thickens in the North American title picture, as two challengers and former friends now seem at odds. Seems to set up a triple threat.

McKenzie Mitchell is backstage interviewing Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo. Tony D says he will not forget the reaction from the audience last week, and Stacks vows they will win the tag team titles. They are soon interrupted by Bronco Nima and Lucien Price. This sets up a tag match for later tonight.

A clip from last night, that was posted to social media, shows Lyra Valkyria challenging Rhea Ripley to a match tonight on NXT. Back at the Performance Center, McKenzie Mitchell is with Valkyria for a live interview. She wants to face Ripley tonight to show the world who she is, against what Valkyria called “the measuring stick” in WWE. 

Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams & Ilja Dragunov defeated The Schism (Joe Gacy, Jagger Reid & Rip Fowler with Ava)

Hayes pinned to win this six-man tag match. Good action, and a fun match. They wrestled through a commercial break. Just before cutting to the split-screen break, the babyface trio is standing tall. 

In the closing moments, Dragunov is holding his own against The Dyad until the double team is too much. Just as Gacy tags in and The Schism looks to be in control, masked guys at ringside tripped up Gacy. The masked figures at first seemed aligned with Schism, but are they really the Creeds? Meanwhile, Gacy leaps off the top rope for a splash, but no water in the pool.

Dragunov signals for a finisher when Hayes makes a blind tag, just when Dragunov was seemingly about to win. Hayes then climbs the turnbuckles, and leaps off to deliver Nothing But Net on Gacy. Hayes then covers Gacy for the deciding pinfall.

Unrest among the winning trio after the match. Williams is angry with Dragunov, and Williams is held back by Hayes. Later in the show, Williams and Dragunov are arguing backstage. They get in each other’s face, which sets up something for later on tonight. Hayes is unhappy with how Williams handled the situation, but Williams vows to call out Dragunov.

NXT Women’s Champion is the focus of a video package that hypes her title defense against Thea Hail at The Bash. 

Von Wagner (with Mr. Stone) defeated Javier Bernal

Wagner pinned Bernal in a glorified enhancement match. Booker T on commentary brags on Bernal, and then Bernal proceeds to get squashed by Wagner. Bernal is pummeled before Wagner executes a Rock Bottom into a spinebuster, and Wagner pins Bernal.

Wagner is not done yet, as he powerbombs Bernal through the announce desk after the match. Out of nowhere comes Bron Breakker with a spear that wipes out Wagner. Breakker grabs a metal folding chair. Referees pour out to stop Breakker from using the chair. This clearly sets up a singles grudge match with Wagner against Breakker.

Gable Steveson challenges Baron Corbin to a match at The Great American Bash, in what will be Steveson’s debut match in NXT

Gable Steveson is headed to the ring to announce his decision. He introduces himself to the audience for those that do not know him. He talks about being a Gold Medalist, and says he could go to Paris for the next Olympics to became the first American to win two gold medals in his sport. Or, Steveson says he can go back to college to win a national championship.

Steveson is just about to announce his decision when he is interrupted by Baron Corbin. He sarcastically tells Steveson to either go back to college or go to the Olympics, but do not come to NXT.

Corbin warns Steveson that his decision could determine his entire future. Corbin tells Steveson that he will make Steveson fail. Corbins warns this wrestling ring will humble him. It will make someone question their entire existence. Corbin cautions Steveson that in NXT he will be swimming with sharks. Corbin calls himself a Great White, and says he is “starving” while smelling blood in the water. 

Steveson responds by telling Corbin that he just made Steveson’s decision that much easier. Steveson challenges Corbin to a match at The Great American Bash in what is Steveson first match in NXT. A scuffle ensues. Steveson waistlocks Corbin, and he gives Corbin a German suplex. Steveson then does an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Referees pour out to break up the melee.  

Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio are seen talking in the locker room. 

Dana Brooke (with Kelani Jordan) defeated Cora Jade in a kendo stick match

Brooke pinned Jade to win a match that had more kendo sticks shots than a Sandman match in ’95. 

Jade dominated most of the match, as she pummeled Brooke with shots from a kendo stick. Jade retrieved even more kendo sticks, and continued to use them as weapons. Brooke took a lot of hard strikes, but Brooke fights back. Jade dashes a hope spot, but not for long.

Jade sets up a chair in the ring, and she sits Brooke down in the chair. That backfires as they do the Raven spot where Brooke does a drop toe hold, and Jade smashes into the chair. Jade then grabs a pink kendo stick, and it is time for receipts. Brooke repeatedly hits Jade with the kendo stick. 

As they go home, Brooke piles up a bunch of kendo sticks and suplexed Jade onto the pile. Brooke then does a senton atomico, and she covers Jade for a pinfall.

Dragunov and Hayes have words in the locker room. Tension build ahead of their title bout on Sunday. Something is also building for later tonight with Trick Williams planning to call out Dragunov, who seems not the slightest bit scared to answer the call. 

The Family (Tony D’Angelo & Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo) defeated Bronco Nima & Lucien Price

Scrypts is ringside to provide guest commentary. Not sure why, except it set up Axiom doing a run in where he jumps Scrypts. Then, Scrypts escapes after going through the ring. Axiom gives chase, and Axiom does a dive through the ropes.

Despite Nima & Price looking strong during the match itself, I think it was a terrible idea to beat them so early in their run. But whatever. Here they apparently got distracted by the Axiom run-in, which is a pretty lame excuse for a lose. But whatever. The Family is the team getting the title shot on Sunday, so they went over.

Hot tag to Tony D, and he cleans house on Nima & Price. Bada Bing finisher on Price, and Tony D covers him for a pinfall.  

After the match, Gallus appears on the Titantron to cut a promo on The Family. This hyped up the tag title match on Sunday. 

Dijak in a vignette cuts a promo on Eddy Thorpe. 

Zion Clark is seen sitting at ringside among the live studio audience.

“Exclusive footage” shows Roxanne Perez attacking Blair Davenport in a convenience store. Not exactly a classic like Booker T and Stone Cold brawling in a grocery store, this here was still an entertaining brawl in an unusual area. It similar to a brawl at a concession stand in Tupelo. 

Davenport and Perez brawl around the store, knocking over merchandise and other gimmicks. Perez stands tall as sirens wail in the distance. The sound of sirens get closer as Perez walks out of the store with Davenport still down on the floor.

The Meta-Four are in the ring for a Supernova Sessions talking segment. Noam Dar is still doing the Weekend at Bernie’s gimmick where he is unresponsive. Jakara Jackson, Lash Legend and Oro Mensah flank Dar in the ring. 

They present Dar with a replica of the Heritage Cup trophy, which snaps Dar out of his condition. Dar takes a phantom bump out of his wheelchair, and he jumps to his feet. Dar hugs the trophy and hold it like a baby. 

A now jubilant Dar is soon interrupted by reigning Heritage Cup Champion Nathan Frazier and Dragon Lee. This leads to a brawl where Dragon Lee and Frazier get the better of Dar and Mensah. Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon also run in to counteract Jackson and Legend. This all sets up a eight-person mixed tag match for pre-show before The Bash on Sunday.

 A vignette shows Thea Hail training for her title challenge at The Bash, as he trains alongside Andre Chase and Duke Hudson. The vignette itself is fun and quirky, but there is maybe too much comedy in this title program. But its Thea Hail, so the comedy works well with her character. 

Un-aired footage from last week showed the partnership further deteriorate between Los Lotharios, as Humberto Carillo storms off after an argument with Angel Garza.  

WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley (with NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio) defeated Lyra Valkyria in a non-title match

Ripley pinned Valkyria to win the main event match on tonight’s show. It would not actually close the show as the last segment, but it was indeed given plenty of television time.

The match goes through a commercial break. Ripley is looking strong as Valkyria is a babyface-in-peril fighting from underneath. Valkyria kicks out of a near fall, and she also counters a Riptide. Her comeback is seemingly thwarted by Ripley, as Ripley uncharacteristically climbs the turnbuckles. 

Ripley does the Eddy shimmy in honor of Dom, but that backfires as Ripley is tripped up and shoved off the top rope by Valkyria. Dom sacrifices himself for his “Mami” when he takes a wrecking ball dropkick from Valkyria. Ripley then takes a flying Frankentsteiner off the apron by Valkyria.

Back in the ring, Valkyria counters a vertical suplex to give Ripley a DDT. Valkyria off the top with a frog splash for a near fall. Valkyria with a series of kicks, and then she attempts a springboard off the middle rope. Ripley cuts her down in mid-air with forearm shiver. Ripley then plants Valkyria with The Riptide, and Ripley folds up Valkyria for a pinfall.

After the match, Ripley gets in Valkyria’s face to motivate her. Ripley tells Valkyria to prove her right and defeat Jacy Jayne. Valkyria tells her she will. 

Great American Bash go-home segment closes the show

Trick Williams is heading to the ring to call out Ilja Dragunov, and Williams does just that. He calls out Dragunov. Out comes Dragunov, and a brawl erupts. Brawling around ringside, Williams pummels Dragunov. Williams throws him into the barricade, smashed him into the steps, and bodyslams Dragunov on the floor.

Dragunov fights back as he cuts off Williams. Dragunov with a trifecta of suplexes on the floor. Dragunov rolls Williams in the ring, and Dragunov chops him like Wahoo McDaniel, and then Dragunov chops him some more. Dragunov measures and delivers a lying forearm on a prone Williams. 

Dragunov looks to deliver Torpedo Moskau. In runs Carmelo Hayes, and the NXT Champion sacrifices himself for his friend. Hayes takes a bullet for Williams, as Dragunov levels Hayes with Torpedo Moskau. 

Dragunov on the house mic vows to win the NXT title on Sunday. He poses with the title belt as the show goes off the air.