Tag: NXT vs. TNA Showdown

Both brands pick up wins at WWE NXT vs. TNA Showdown

Posted on by Bryan Rose

In the end, it was a tie.

Four matches took place at NXT vs. TNA Showdown on Tuesday, with brands walking away with two wins each. In the opening match, TNA Tag Team Champions The Hardys defeated DarkState to win the NXT Tag Team titles for the first time, becoming double champions.

That was followed by the women’s Survivor Series elimination match, which saw Team NXT (Jacy Jayne, Lola Vice, Sol Ruca, and Jaida Parker) defeat Team TNA (Kelani Jordan, The IInspiration, and Mara Sade). It boiled down to Jordan taking on both Jayne and Rouca. Jordan hit a Spanish fly but missed a 450 as Ruca got the knees up. Ruca hit a sol snatcher but didn’t realize Jayne tagged herself in, pinning Jordan to steal the win from Ruca.

After Ethan Page defeated Mustafa Ali, the main event took place pitting Team NXT (Ricky Starks, Trick Williams, Myles Borne, and Je’Von Evans) against Team TNA (Mike Santana, Moose, Frankie Kazarian, and Leon Slater) in the men’s Survivor Series elimination match. The key point of the match had Williams ditch Starks, leaving him as the only man remaining on team NXT. Starks battled all four TNA wrestlers by himself, managing to eliminate Kazarian and Slater. But the numbers game proved to be too much, as Moose and Santana ultimately picked up the win for their team after Santana connected with a discus clothesline.

The end of the show saw the NXT GM Ava and TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella congratulate each other on their team’s successes. Ava then invited the Knockouts division to compete on next week’s NXT in a battle royal to determine Jacy Jayne’s challenger for Halloween Havoc. Santino accepted the offer to close out the show.

WWE reveals opening match for NXT vs. TNA Showdown

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A title vs. title match will kick off tonight’s NXT vs. TNA Showdown broadcast.

DarkState vs. The Hardys will be the opening match of Showdown, WWE announced this afternoon. It’s a winner-take-all bout where Dion Lennix & Osiris Griffin’s NXT Tag Team titles and Matt & Jeff Hardy’s TNA Tag Team titles are both up for grabs.

The Dudley Boyz could potentially play a role in the result of the match, with Bubba Ray tweeting that he and D-Von will be watching closely from the front row. They’re slated to challenge Matt & Jeff for the TNA Tag Team titles in a tables match at TNA’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view this Sunday. It’s being billed as the last time these two legendary tag team rivals will ever face each other.

Matt & Jeff Hardy have never held the NXT Tag Team titles before — but winning the belts is a goal they hope to accomplish before their careers end.

Tonight’s show airs live on The CW starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Here is everything that has been announced:

NXT vs. TNA Showdown (Tuesday, October 7) —

  • Team NXT (Ricky Saints, Trick Williams, Myles Borne & Je’Von Evans) vs. Team TNA (Mike Santana, Frankie Kazarian, Moose & Leon Slater) with Joe Hendry as special guest referee
  • Team NXT (Jacy Jayne, Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker & Lola Vice)  vs. Team TNA (Kelani Jordan, The IInspiration & Mara Sade) with Jordynne Grace as special guest referee
  • NXT North American Champion Ethan Page defends against Mustafa Ali
  • Title for title: NXT Tag Team Champions DarkState vs. TNA Tag Team Champions The Hardys

The Dudley Boyz to appear at NXT vs. TNA Showdown

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The Dudleyz are heading to Showdown.

Bubba Ray Dudley revealed on social media Monday that he and D-Von will be sitting in the front row at Tuesday’s TNA vs. NXT Showdown. He made the announcement while replying Matt Hardy, who was plugging The Hardys vs. Darkstate title-for-title match on Tuesday.

The Hardys will take on The Dudleyz in a tables match this weekend at Bound for Glory in what is being pushed as the final match between the two teams, whose feud stretches back to the initial TLC matches that took place in the early 2000s in WWE.

Bubba Ray Dudley has also made appearances in NXT over the last year, wrestling last November at NXT’s ECW Arena show. He has also been a judge and mentor on WWE LFG.

Here is the updated lineup for NXT vs. TNA Showdown:

WWE NXT vs. TNA Showdown —

  • Team NXT (Ricky Saints, Trick Williams, Myles Borne & Je’Von Evans) vs. Team TNA (Mike Santana, Frankie Kazarian, Moose & Leon Slater) — Joe Hendry as special guest referee
  • Team NXT (Jacy Jayne, Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker & Lola Vice) vs. Team TNA (Kelani Jordan, The IInspiration & Mara Sade) — Jordynne Grace as special guest referee
  • Title for title: NXT Tag Team Champions DarkState vs. TNA Tag Team Champions The Hardys
  • NXT North American Champion Ethan Page defends against Mustafa Ali
  • The Dudley Boyz appear

Joe Hendry named guest referee for NXT vs. TNA Showdown match

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Joe Hendry will be refereeing on Tuesday.

TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella announced on social media Sunday that the TNA star will be the special guest referee for the upcoming men’s NXT vs. TNA Survivor Series Elimination match that takes place on this Tuesday NXT Showdown. Santino’s announcement came after Joe Hendry on social media shared his reasons for wanting to be part of the Survivor Series elimination matches, pointing out his Royal Rumble and WrestleMania appearances as TNA Champion.

On this Tuesday’s NXT, Jordynne Grace and Hendry were both disappointed to find out that neither team NXT or TNA had any interest in them, with the TNA captains seemingly not sure what team they really supported. After Jordynne Grace asked NXT General Ava to fix the situation on social media, Ava announced that Grace had been named the special guest referee for the women’s Survivor Series elimination match.

https://twitter.com/avawwe_/status/1974581272417824785

Here is the updated lineup for Tuesday’s NXT special:

WWE NXT vs. TNA Showdown lineup:

  • Team NXT (Ricky Saints, Trick Williams, Myles Borne & Je’Von Evans) vs. Team TNA (Mike Santana, Frankie Kazarian, Moose & Leon Slater) w/ Joe Hendry as referee
  • Team NXT (Jacy Jayne, Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker & Lola Vice)  vs. Team TNA (Kelani Jordan, The IInspiration & Mara Sade) w/ Jordynne Grace as referee
  • Title for title: NXT Tag Team Champions DarkState vs. TNA Tag Team Champions The Hardys
  • NXT North American Champion Ethan Page defends against Mustafa Ali

Joe Hendry to appear at NXT vs. TNA Showdown special

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Joe Hendry — currently stuck in the middle between WWE NXT and TNA — will be part of Tuesday’s Showdown special.

On social media today, Hendry posted a video announcing that he is coming to Showdown despite not having a spot on Team TNA. In storyline, Hendry was not chosen by team captain Mike Santana because Santana did not know where his true loyalties lie.

“Joe Hendry changed the entire landscape of NXT vs. TNA. I was the guy that got the call as TNA Champion to be in the Royal Rumble, to face Randy Orton at WrestleMania. My first appearance in NXT was the most-watched video in all of wrestling last year,” Hendry said. “And now you’re going to tell me that I’m not involved in Showdown? No. Guess what? They’re going to say his name — and he is going to appear at Showdown next Tuesday.”

At the moment, Hendry is being featured in both TNA and NXT. He remains a member of the TNA roster but is expected to sign with WWE full-time soon.

Santana, Frankie Kazarian, Moose & Leon Slater will be representing TNA against Ricky Saints, Trick Williams, Myles Borne & Je’Von Evans in the men’s Survivor Series-style elimination match on Tuesday.

Along with Hendry, Jordynne Grace — a former TNA wrestler who is now in NXT — tweeted out a promo voicing frustration that she was not trusted to be on either Showdown team.

The Showdown special is airing live on The CW at 8 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday (October 7). Here is the updated lineup:

WWE NXT vs. TNA Showdown —

  • Team NXT (Ricky Saints, Trick Williams, Myles Borne & Je’Von Evans) vs. Team TNA (Mike Santana, Frankie Kazarian, Moose & Leon Slater)
  • Team NXT (Jacy Jayne, Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker & Lola Vice)  vs. Team TNA (Kelani Jordan, The IInspiration & Mara Sade)
  • Title for title: NXT Tag Team Champions DarkState vs. TNA Tag Team Champions The Hardys
  • NXT North American Champion Ethan Page defends against Mustafa Ali
  • Joe Hendry appears

WWE changing name of upcoming NXT vs. TNA TV episode

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

Next Tuesday’s WWE NXT vs. TNA themed show on The CW is no longer named Invasion and will now go by Showdown, according to WrestleVotes.

The reason was backlash to the name that emerged from Israeli fans due to the date: October 7 which is the second anniversary of the Hamas attacks in southern Israel that killed 1200 people and began the current war in Gaza. Some also reportedly took umbrage with the logo used: a red letter V as it “unintentionally resembles the downward-facing red triangle used as a Hamas symbol.”

The name and logo were the same used during the WWE vs. WCW pay-per-view Invasion from 2001. References to the old name have disappeared from both the WWE and TNA websites with social media posts using the name also having disappeared. As of this writing, the show is being referred to as “next week’s special event.”

Next Tuesday will feature wrestlers from NXT and TNA going head-to-head as part of an angle that has been playing out for several weeks.