The next time that Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai face off, they’ll be doing so inside of a steel cage.
A steel cage match between Nox and Kai will take place on the Wednesday, March 4 episode of NXT. The stipulation stems from Kai defeating Nox in their street fight at NXT TakeOver: Portland due to Raquel Gonzalez interfering and slamming Nox through a table.
The steel cage match was announced during a segment where Kai and Gonzalez were being interviewed on NXT tonight. At the end of the interview, NXT general manager William Regal came up and told Kai that there will be no outside interference when she faces Nox in two weeks. He then revealed the steel cage stipulation.
Nox and Kai’s feud began when Kai turned heel and attacked Nox at TakeOver: WarGames in November. Nox returned in a number one contender’s battle royal last month, but Kai attacked her again and caused her to be eliminated.
Nox and Kai both have wins against each other. Prior to Kai winning their street fight at TakeOver, Nox defeated Kai on the January 29 episode of NXT. Candice LeRae stopped Kai from using a steel chair in that match, then Nox won after hitting Kai with her knee brace.
Raquel Gonzalez was formerly known as Reina Gonzalez in NXT. She was also an entrant in both of WWE’s Mae Young Classic tournaments.
Raquel Gonzalez made an impact tonight on NXT, making an appearance in one of the key matches.
Gonzalez appeared toward the end of the Dakota Kai/Tegan Nox street fight that took place tonight in Portland, Oregon. Nox had Kai set up on a table and was about to launch off when Gonzalez cut her off. Kai escaped from the table, allowing Gonzalez to throw Nox through the table. The table didn’t break, but it was still enough for Kai to cover Nox for the win.
After the match, Gonzalez entered the ring and helped Kai to her feet, seemingly forming an alliance. Kai looked confused by Gonzalez’s involvement.
Gonzalez has been signed to WWE since 2016 and has worked for most of her run under the name Reina Gonzalez. She had previously tried out for the latest season of Tough Enough prior to her signing.
She competed in both Mae Young Classic tournaments, but lost both years to Nicole Savoy and Kacy Katanzaro in the first round, respectively.
WWE Now announced Saturday that Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox will square off in a street fight at NXT TakeOver: Portland.
The two had a match on last Wednesday’s NXT TV show which Nox won after she hit Kai, distracted by Candice LeRae, with her knee brace followed by the Shiniest Wizard for the pin.
The rivalry between the former tag team partners goes back to November’s NXT TakeOver: WarGames when the two were part of Team Ripley. Kai’s spot to come out of the cage came up and instead of going to the ring, she turned around and booted Nox, viciously attacking her and focusing on her surgically repaired knees.
As it stands now, here’s the entire Portland, Oregon, card, set for Sunday, February 16th:
– NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa
– NXT Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair
– NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era vs. Pete Dunne/Matt Riddle
– Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano
– Dakota Kai vs. Tegan Nox street fight
The winners of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will be crowned on tonight’s episode of NXT.
Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne will take on The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) in the Dusty Classic finals. In addition to winning the Dusty Cup, the team that wins tonight’s finals will challenge Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish for the NXT Tag Team titles at TakeOver: Portland on February 16.
Riddle & Dunne defeated Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster and Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner) in the first two rounds of the tournament, while The Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Alex Shelley & Kushida and O’Reilly & Fish.
A grudge match between Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai is also advertised for tonight, WWE is hyping that NXT Champion Adam Cole’s challenger for TakeOver: Portland will be revealed, and Robert Stone has said that Chelsea Green will be in action.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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The show opened with a video recap of Worlds Collide in Houston from this past weekend. Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix and Nigel McGuiness are the announcers for tonight’s show. Beth Phoenix spoke briefly about Edge’s return at the Royal Rumble on Sunday.
Finn Balor defeated Trent Seven
They showed a clip of an angle shot last night at Raw. As Seven was getting into his car, Balor snuck up on Seven and threatened him for “sticking his nose” in Balor’s business.
Before Seven could get to the ring, Balor took Seven out with a baseball slide dropkick before the bell. Once the match started, Balor continued pummeling Seven in and out of the ring for a bit.
Seven countered after a few minutes with an inside cradle for two, Balor put him back on the mat with a Slingblade. It was around here where NXT cut to a commerical while the match continued in the left inset screen.
Balor looked to take most of the offense during the break, but Seven was back by the time we were back. He laid in some nasty chops that left Balor with a bright red chest, then landed the Acid Rainmaker for two. When Seven went to the top turnbuckle, Balor clipped his knee and knocked him to the mat. Balor used the Coup de Grace diving double-stomp and followed up with 1916 for the win. Good match that builds Balor’s angle for Takeover in Portland in a few weeks. Balor has been excellent in his heel role recently.
The Broserweights were interviewed by Cathy Kelley next. Dunne said he was going to break Gibson, and Riddle mentioned he’d show why Dunne is the “life of the party,” which got laughs.
Next was a quick preview video of Dakota Kai vs. Tegan Nox’s bout for later on in the evening.
Shotzi Blackheart defeated Deonna Purazzo
Short match. Blackheart came out in a small tank and a battle helmet type thing. When Purazzo came out, she waved off the tank, now parked atop the entrance.
Purazzo worked over Blackheart’s left arm early on. When Blackheart went for a flying armdrag, Purazzo blocked it and continued targeting Blackheart’s arm. There were a number of chants for Shotzi in this. She landed a Question Mark Kick (Arisa Hoshiki’s Brazilian Kick), then went to the top and landed a diving senton for the win. It was short but OK, and Blackheart sounds to be popular with the Full Sail crowd.
Next up was another video package of from NXT vs. NXT UK from Worlds Collide last Saturday.
Keith Lee walked to the ring for a promo next. The crowd sang and chanted for him as the announce team explained how he “stopped” Brock Lesnar at the Rumble this weekend. The crowd chanted “you deserve it” at Lee for winning the NXT North American title. Lee has a great voice and should be on the mic as much as possible.
Before Lee could announce his next challenger for the title, Punishment Martinez’s music hit. Inside the ring, he held the mic upside, for some reason, and talked about how he gets what he wants, which is the North American title. He said all he needed to know is how Lee was going to give the belt to him. On cue, Dominic Dijakovic’s music hit. Dijakovic got in the ring and implied that because of the past between he and Lee, referring to the PWG matches back in 2017, that he deserves the first shot at the title, not the ” bootleg Marilyn Manson,” referring to Martinez. As Lee left the ring, Martinez and Dijokovic got into it, and within moments a ref was in the ring and we had a match.
Dominic Dijakovic defeated Damian Priest
Dijakovic landed a springboard splash from the middle of the second rope moments after the bell, but Priest recovered and used a Razor’s Edge onto the apron to take Dijakovic out before the next commercial break.
After commercials, we saw Dijokovic use a release vertical suplex on Priest. He used a chokeslam into a Liger Bomb for two, then an Asai moonsault to the floor. Priest did a flip dive to the floor. They landed simultaneous high kicks and were out for a few. Priest used an avalanche reverse frankensteiner off the top rope. He’s 6’5″, Dijokovic is 6’7″, in case you’re wondering. Dijakovic kicked out of that and ultimately used his modified GTS to put Priest away.
The crowd really enjoyed this but what it was, at its core, were two huge, athletic guys doing crazy moves. Not much selling, plus the audience at home couldn’t see half the match. But again, the crowd sounded to enjoy it.
After cutting to a brief segment with the Grizzled Young Veterans ahead of the Dusty Rhodes Classic match later on.
Tomasso Ciampa told Cathey Kelly that “Goldie’s coming home,” referring to the NXT Championship. When NXT returned from commercials, we saw most members of the Undisputed Era laid out backstage with Ciampa standing over them. People chanted “Daddy’s home.” Ciampa brought a table with him and brought it into the ring and spraypainted a yellow X onto it.
Adam Cole found his unit laid out and then ran out to the ring to confront Ciampa. Cole asked Ciampa if he was supposed to feel sorry because he was injured. Ciampa said Cole’s belt belong’s to him, “Daddy.” Ciampa then said he was going to take back the title, and his life, in Portland at Takeover. He also said he was going to power bomb Cole through the X he made on the table in the ring.
William Regal came out and said that while Ciampa was taking out the Undisputed Era backstage, he was with Cole signing a contract for Takeover, and Cole didn’t care who his opponent was. Cole went into the ring after this to confront Ciampa, who tried taking Cole out ate a shot to the head with a microphone, which looked to have busted the top of Ciampa’s head open. Ciampa then power bombed Cole through the table, then noticed the blood on his head and smeared it down Cole’s NXT title contract. Great visual.
They plugged Bianca Blair’s Women’s Rumble appearance over the weekend, where she was the number two entry. She’ll have a segment with Rhea Ripley on next week’s TV.
New NXT Cruiserweight champion Jordan Devlin will also be in attendance next week, and they showed a few clips of his title win from Worlds Collide this past weekend in his fatal four-way against Angel Garza, Isaiah Scott and Travis Banks.
Tegan Nox defeated Dakota Kai
Kai had the video footage of her turning on Nox in November at Takeover. Nox went after Kai with her kneebrace right at the bell and the two began brawling around ringside early on, setting a nice grudge match feel from the top. Kai took Nox out with a huge Yakuza kick and then grabbed a chair but wasn’t able to use it, ultimately; before Kai went to smash Nox with said chair, Candace LeRae came out and took the chair from her. Kai, now flustered, got back into the ring and ate another kneebrace shot, followed by her finish, the Shiniest Wizard, for the win. This was great for what it was, but it was way too short. It felt like this was a teaser for a rematch over the next few weeks. All said, though, it was a good, quick brawl.
A mysterious vignette aired for something happening on 2/5/20.
Kayden Carter defeated Chelsea Green (w/ Robert Stone)
I’m positive Kayden Carter was announced as being from Florida not long ago. She’s from the Phillippines now. Ranallo mentioned on commentary that she was trained by Lance Storm and mentioned her working overseas before arriving in NXT.
This was basically Green working over Carter until she lost focus for a split second, which is when Carter scored the upset win over Green with an inside cradle. This was Carter’s first win in NXT, announcers claimed.
I like the idea of this angle, both for Green’s and Carter’s trajectories , but the one glaring takeway here was how inexperienced Carter was. None of what she did looked too practiced. Robert Stone played little to no role in this, either. Green could probably get over on her own.
Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle defeated Grizzled Young Veterans (Zach Gibson & James Drake) to win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals
Respect to Nigel McGuiness for his usage of “ad hoc” on an American pro wrestling television broadcast. I think that was a first. You could hear one fan shouted “GRIZZLED YOUNG A**HOLES” before they got started. All four rotated in and out early in this. Dunne did a moonsault off the apron onto Gibson, but just a moment later Gibson had Dunne up in a tombstone piledriver when Drake came down with a pescado, assissting with the piledriver, spiking him. They whipped Dunne into the ringpost when the show cut to advertisements.
We saw Dunne using an X-plex on Drake the show came back. Dunne tagged out to Riddle who went through a series of impressive spots. The crowd often chanted “Riddle’s gonna smoke you” while he was in the ring. Dunne and Riddle used a power bomb w/ knee strike combo on Drake for a two-count. Riddle tried a double kneestrike on both Vets, though he definitely whiffed in trying to make contact with Drake.
Gibson and Riddle jawjacked and exchanged hard palm strikes. After Drake kicked out of Riddle Final Flash knee strike, all four were laid out. Gibson and Dunne later mixed it up with hard palm strikes. The action slowed a bit as NXT readied for another commercial.
During the break, it looked like GYV was again getting the better of Dunne. Gibson hoisted Dunne onto his shoulders, and when Drake went for a flying attack from the top, Dunne blocked it with an elbow, then used a victory roll for two. Drake dove to the floor and took Riddle out; Gibson landed a nasty-looking backcracker and then put him in his Shankly Gates submission until Riddle broke things up, launching Drake into Gibson.
There were tons of insane spots over the last ten minutes of this, and it really culminated when they did a Doomsday Device on the floor, with Drake diving through the ropes to take Riddle out. Drake hit a 450 for two. The Broserweights did a double dive, with Dunne to the floor and Riddle into the ring with his Floating Bro twisting senton. They finished Drake off with a super GTS to put GYV out, finally. Your 2020 Dusty Cup winners are Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne: The Broserweights.
Final thoughts
There’s no doubt that the main event was the match of the night, hands down. One of the best matches of the month so far, I’d argue. They went quite long, about 20–25 minutes, at least, but the commercial breaks often disrupted the flow of the match. That’s TV, though. Gibson and Drake were outstanding in this, as were Dunne and Riddle.
The rest of show was good. The balance between action and promo time felt right. It’s notable there was no overrun tonight and the show ended right at 10 P.M. ET, likely to do with latest episode of Miz & Mrs that aired on USA next.
WWE is advertising a grudge match for next week’s episode of NXT.
During tonight’s show, WWE announced that Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai will take place on NXT next week. This will be the first time they’ve faced off since Kai turned heel and attacked Nox at NXT TakeOver: WarGames back in November.
For the first time since TakeOver: WarGames, Nox returned from her storyline injuries on last week’s NXT. She was eliminated from the number one contender’s battle royal when Kai appeared and attacked her.
Bianca Belair won the battle royal and will challenge for the NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: Portland next month.
This year’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals have also been announced for next Wednesday’s NXT. Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne will face The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) to determine which team will win the tournament.
WWE built up Nox vs. Kai via a video that aired on NXT tonight:
The WWE Women’s Tag Team titles are set to be defended in NXT for the first time.
Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka & Kairi Sane will put their titles on the line against Dakota Kai & Tegan Nox on NXT next Wednesday. The match was set up by Kai & Nox defeating Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke in a number one contender’s match tonight.
Asuka & Sane appeared on the video screen after the match, cutting a promo and saying Kai & Nox have no chance next week.
When the Women’s Tag Team titles were introduced, WWE announced that they could be defended on Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. Sasha Banks & Bayley appeared on an episode of NXT while champions but never defended the titles on the brand.
Asuka & Sane became Women’s Tag Team Champions by defeating Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross at Hell in a Cell earlier this month. Asuka & Sane have been heels since that match.
A Women’s Tag Team title number one contender’s match has been added to the lineup for tonight’s NXT.
WWE has announced that Dakota Kai & Tegan Nox will face Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke on NXT tonight. The winning team will challenge Asuka & Kairi Sane for the Women’s Tag Team titles next Wednesday.
Sasha Banks & Bayley appeared on an episode of NXT and at an NXT house show while Women’s Tag Team Champions, but this will be the first time the titles have been defended on the brand. When the titles were created, WWE announced that they would be able to be defended on Raw, SmackDown, and NXT.
Nox returned to NXT US TV last week and defeated Taynara Conti. She did an interview after the match, with Nox and Kai being interrupted by NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, Duke, and Shafir.
Here’s the updated card for tonight’s NXT:
NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong defending against Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic in a triple threat match
Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair
Matt Riddle vs. Cameron Grimes
Women’s Tag Team title number one contender’s match: Tegan Nox & Dakota Kai vs. Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke
Tegan Nox put up a brave fight against the current NXT UK Women’s Champion in the main event. But after focusing on Nox’s recent injured knee throughout the match, it was Kay Lee Ray who grabbed the opportunity and picked up the victory.
Piper Niven overpowered the reluctant Isla Dawn in the opening contest and got the win with the Michinoku Driver.
Alexander Wolfe defeated fan favorite Saxon Huxley with a sit-down powerbomb.
Full Recap —
Nigel McGuinness and Vic Joseph welcomed us to Cardiff, Wales for this episode of NXT UK.
Piper Niven defeated Isla Dawn
Both women told a great story of the bigger vs. smaller opponent here. A simple and well-executed story of the smaller Isla Dawn trying to gain some sort of advantage over the larger Piper Niven — only for Niven’s size and strength to be too much for her in the end.
The crowd was behind both women from the start of the match. Dawn escaped a hammerlock but couldn’t flip the larger Niven over. Niven dominated the early exchanges, using her strength and size to her advantage. Fighting out of a headlock, Dawn tried to lift and suplex Niven but only got her off her feet for a second.
Niven hit a low crossbody for a two count and then went back in control with an armbar and a short-arm clothesline. Dawn fought to her feet out of a straightjacket submission, powered up, and hit her back suplex this time. She followed up with a big boot for a two count of her own.
Dawn fired up with a low-level meteora and kept Niven on the mat with a front face lock. But the stronger Niven fought to her feet and escaped the hold with a headbutt and finished Dawn off with a Michinoku Driver for the win.
– We saw Ilja Dragunov coming out of the trainer’s room. He is still not medically cleared and still can’t fight. Alexander Wolfe bumped into him and with a sly smile on his face said it was a shame he isn’t cleared. Wolfe said he liked him, and to take a rest because he will take his place in the ring tonight.
Wolfe finished by looking Dragunov up and down and telling him he should think about his future…are Imperium looking to recruit?
– Niven was being interviewed after her victory and was interrupted by Jinny, who called herself the next NXT UK Women’s Champion. This was just a distraction for Jazzy Gabert to jump Niven from behind and beat her down.
Later, we saw a tweet from Johnny Saint letting us know Gabert will take on Niven next week.
Alexander Wolfe defeated Saxon Huxley
What looked like it could have been a quick squash for Wolfe turned into a quite a competitive back-and-forth match. Huxley fired up a few times to the delight of the crowd, but Wolfe got the better and put him away with a sit-out powerbomb.
“Lets go Jesus” chants started immediately for Huxley and continued — in various formats — throughout the match. Wolfe pulled Huxley’s knee pad down early on and booted him right in the face when he bent down to pull it up.
Wolfe blocked a suplex straight into an armbar and continued his assault with an uppercut and a suplex. He then pulled at Huxley’s nose and ground his forearm over his face. Wolfe wore him down some more with a chinlock and then clobbered him with a step-up enzuigiri as Huxley got to his feet.
With the crowd cheering him on in different biblical ways, Huxley fired back with a big Thesz press. He hit a dropkick as the crowd was on its feet chanting “Jesus,” but the glory went to his head and he missed a big boot and got caught on the rope.
Wolfe jumped at the chance and smacked him with a pump kick and then a German suplex (or I guess he just calls it a suplex?). He then finished off Huxley with a sit-down powerbomb.
– Ashton Smith was interviewed earlier in the day. The Grizzled Young Veterans interrupted and started talking about win-loss records, slagging Smith off in the process.
Smith fired back by stating that the Veterans had lost their last two NXT UK Tag Team title matches. Smith said they are not locker room leaders as they have no followers. He walked off after saying he will see what happens next.
Mike Bird vs. Jack Starz never got started
Bird came out as the hometown hero here, but the match did not take place as his opponent, Jack Starz, was then dragged out unconscious by Gallus members Wolfgang and Mark Coffey.
Mark had a mic and said the match wouldn’t be taking place as “Jack is seeing Starz.” He listed off Bird’s accomplishments, including training NXT UK Tag Team Champions Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews. He sarcastically tried to shake Bird’s hand, but Wolfgang jumped Bird and began beating him down.
The aforementioned tag champs ran in for the save, but they were followed by Joe Coffey. Joe grabbed Webster before he could slide into the ring. This let Andrews get beat down two-on-one in the ring by Wolfgang and Mark while Joe put the boots to Webster. They then threw Webster into the wolves and finished the planned assault three-on-two.
NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray defeated Tegan Nox in a non-title match
Both wrestlers would have known all about each other as they have previously crossed paths numerous times, but it was the champion’s unrelenting focus on Nox’s injured knee that got her the win here.
KLR tried to leave early on, but Nox caught her on the entranceway and dragged her back to the ring. KLR went low and attacked the knee, which would be the story of the match. KLR wrapped Nox’s leg in the bottom rope and started kicking away at the knee. A face-first suplex got KLR her first two count.
KLR went up top but took too long and missed a senton bomb. She then speared the ring post when Nox moved at the last minute. The momentum looked like it was shifting.
They exchanged right hands to “Boo/Yay” chants from the crowd. Nox fired up with clotheslines, a back elbow, and a running uppercut in the corner. Nox then went up top and hit a Molly-Go-Round for a close two count.
In a great exchange, Nox missed her Shining Wizard, KLR hit a superkick, and Nox then reversed a Gory Bomb and hit a superkick of her own for another close two count.
KLR then hit a step-up tilt-a-whirl DDT and locked in a guillotine choke with a leg scissors, but Nox eventually fought up and slammed KLR out of it.
The initial lock took too much out of Nox, so KLR had the opening to lock it in again straight away. But Nox again courageously dug deep and dragged them both to the ropes to break the hold.
Out of nowhere, Nox caught the champ with a chokeslam for a big near fall. She went up top, but KLR crotched her this time, twisted her knee around the top rope, and gave her a kick for good measure. KLR then picked her up for the Gory Bomb. Nox fought out once more and hit a Canadian Destroyer — but KLR kicked out at the last moment.
The crowd was getting right into this main event now and right behind their Welsh hero. Nox hit the Shining Wizard and it looked like she had the win in the bag, but KLR at the last moment got her foot on the bottom rope to break the referee’s count.
They fought to the apron, with KLR dodging a running kick and causing Nox’s leg and knee to collide with the steel ring post. KLR then quickly dragged her back into the ring and hit the Gory Bomb for the win.
Nearly a year after suffering a significant leg injury in the Mae Young Classic, Tegan Nox returned to the ring at Thursday night’s NXT house show in Orlando, Florida.
In her first match back, Nox teamed with Jessi Kamea and defeated Aliyah & Vanessa Borne. The finish of the match was Nox getting a hot tag, hitting a cannonball into the corner and a top rope crossbody, and then pinning Borne after a fireman’s carry into a stunner.
Nox was injured during a quarterfinal match against Rhea Ripley in last year’s Mae Young Classic. Nox was supposed to advance in the tournament, but Ripley won their match by referee stoppage.
Nox posted an update in October and detailed the extent of the injuries she suffered to her left leg in the Mae Young Classic match: “dislocated knee cap (luckily it reset itself instantly), torn MCL & LCL, I completely tore my ACL and both meniscus (one had a ‘lightening bolt shape tear’ still a wizard when injured), bone contusions and I had a Segond Fracture on my left tibia.”
Nox was in last year’s Mae Young Classic after a torn ACL in her right knee kept her out of the tournament in 2017.
Tegan Nox has given an update regarding her current injury status.
In a Twitter post this morning, she talked about undergoing a knee scope last Thursday.
“I had to undergo a knee scope on my left knee to clean out some of the gunk that built up over the past few months after the ACL/Meniscus repair” she wrote, saying that the reason for the scope was that there was a bump in the knee that was causing her to have issues. That issue has now been fixed.
She also noted that her rehab was heating up, and credited the WWE Performance Center staff for her rehabilitation.
“Genuinely don’t know what I would do without the amazing medical staff at the PC,” she wrote. “They push me to give me all 100% of the time but are always there to help/comfort me when I feel like I just want to quit or if I feel like I have no more to give!”
Nox injured her ACLduring a match against Rhea Ripley in a Mae Young Classic quarterfinal match back in August. She had just come back from an ACL injury in her other knee that kept her out for a year.
She noted in the post that she hopes to be back by next summer.
With her match against Rhea Ripley airing on last night’s Mae Young Classic episode, Tegan Nox (formerly known as Nixon Newell) posted an update on the extent of the injury that she suffered and how her recovery has gone thus far.
Nox, who wasn’t able to wrestle in the 2017 Mae Young Classic due to tearing her right ACL before the tournament, made it to the quarterfinals this year and was supposed to go further. But shortly after her match with Ripley started, Nox went for a dive to the outside and hurt her left leg when landing awkwardly. She tried to continue after being checked on by a doctor and trainer, but Ripley eventually won by referee stoppage.
In her post last night, Nox detailed just how bad her injuries from the match were: “dislocated knee cap (luckily it reset itself instantly), torn MCL & LCL, I completely tore my ACL and both meniscus (one had a ‘lightening bolt shape tear’ still a wizard when injured), bone contusions and I had a Segond Fracture on my left tibia.”
Nox noted that, while it’s going to be a long road to recovery, she’s almost two months into her rehab and things are going well and are on track. Her full post is available below:
On last nights episode of the Mae Young Classic, during my match with Rhea Ripley I suffered an injury to my left leg very early on and as soon as it happened, I knew it was serious.
I tried to carry on as far as I could but a few minutes later after trying to push through the pain and finish the match, it all got too much and the match was stopped.
Being greeted backstage by the distraught faces of my friends and coaches was the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever experienced and it hurt more than the injury itself.
Knowing how excited they were for me to compete this year and how hard they helped me work, then having it taken away so quickly, it was devastating! I felt as if I had let them down and it broke my heart!
Triple H was one of the first of many people there and I’ll never forget the words that he & Mr Regal said.
There were many things said to me that night by people I hold so dearly that continuously play through my mind on loop, especially when I’m having a bad day mentally that help me pick up my head and give me the kick up the a$$ that I need!!!
Anyway, after being checked over by Doc, I was taken to the local hospital where I was diagnosed with numerous injuries to the left leg which included: dislocated knee cap (luckily it reset itself instantly), torn MCL & LCL, I completely tore my ACL and both meniscus (one had a ‘lightening bolt shape tear’ still a wizard when injured), bone contusions and I had a Segond Fracture on my left tibia….Basically my knee exploded and I made a huge mess!!
Days later, I was sent to one of the best surgeons, who also fixed my right knee and on August 23rd I underwent ACL & Meniscus reconstruction surgery which was a flying success.
Obviously this means I’ll be out for a while but with the incredible Dr’s and PT team at the WWE Performance Centre, I’ll be back shinier than ever! We’re already almost 2 months into rehab and it’s going amazingly, we’re right on track and smashing goals already!!
I can’t thank Triple H, the Coaches, the Medic staff, my friends, family and fans enough for all the support that you’ve given me over the past few weeks! They’ve been very tough both physically and more so, mentally, but I’ve done it once and I can do it again.
It’s going to be a long road to recovery, but it’s already started and I plan on making my return special!! There’s going to be some changes but they’ll all be for the best! As Triple H said ‘this is just a bump in the road’, this isn’t the end, trust me.
Sorry for the delay everyone! It is the penultimate episode of the Mae Young Classic. Next week is the season finale, with the finals taking place at WWE Evolution on October 28.
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Meiko Satomura defeated Lacey Lane in a quarterfinal match
From the start, Michael Cole was pushing that it would be the biggest upset in the history of women’s wrestling if Lane won. Satomura tried to play nice early and showed sportsmanship by offering her hand during a break. Lane refused, so Satomura turned her foe into five feet of lumps. Lane missed a kick that would have missed by three feet if Satomura hadn’t ducked.
Lane got out of an armbar attempt and countered with a series of strikes, which got the fans behind her. Satomura battled back with a head kick and picked up the win with a Death Valley Driver! So much for the biggest upset in the history of women’s wrestling.
Lane shook hands and bowed in respect after the match.
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Io Shirai defeated Deonna Purrazzo in a quarterfinal match
It was the return of “The Virtuosa” drinking game — because if you took a drink every time someone said “The Virtuosa” in regards to Purrazzo, you would have liver damage.
The match started slow with them feeling each other out, but the pace changed just as quickly. Shirai hit her suicide dive and, just like last time, I was afraid she was going to come up short and land on her head. Shirai stood on Purrazzo in the corner and counted along with the referee before breaking at four.
Purrazzo had trouble stringing together multiple moves in a row until she got in two hard chops. She followed with a hip toss and her basement dropkick. Purrazzo locked on the armbar, but no one believed Shirai would tap out. Shirai used the 619 and a springboard dropkick for a near fall. Purrazzo used the rolling German suplexes, which haven’t been seen in a while.
Shirai got locked in another armbar — and this one the fans actually bought as the finish — but Shirai somehow got out of it and turned it into a crossface. Shirai used her running double knees and what amounted to a back flip headbutt (as opposed to a moonsault) for the win!
**********
Rhea Ripley defeated Tegan Nox via referee stoppage
This was the match that unfortunately had the injury during it. Nox hit a suicide dive 20 seconds into the match and landed awkwardly on her knee on the ramp. They tried to continue, and it made me think of the Trish Stratus vs. Lita match where Lita blew out her knee. Ironically, this was Nox’s knee that wasn’t injured last year.
The trainer came out and they did allow it to continue for some reason. It went maybe a minute or two until they did a spot that culminated with Ripley hitting a dropkick. Nox went down and couldn’t get back up. The referee waved the match off and the crowd went deathly silent.
We got polite applause when Ripley was announced as the winner, which was followed by a standing ovation when Nox was carried to the back. They showed women crying in the crowd.
**********
Toni Storm defeated Mia Yim in a quarterfinal match
This match only had about eight minutes, but it was a fantastic eight minutes.
Yim learned from her last match and didn’t start this one by throwing strikes with her injured hand. She concentrated more on holds to wear down Storm and attempting to submit her. Storm, however, was content wailing away on her injured foe with hard strikes and high impact moves.
When submissions didn’t work for Yim, she decided that what was good for the goose was good for the gander and she began to kick at Storm. However, Storm then kicked her right in the injured hand, followed by a headbutt that put both wrestlers down.
They fought to their knees and exchanged a series of open handed slaps and chops. Yim hit a Saito suplex and a powerbomb for a pair of near falls. Storm blocked Seoul Food and hit Storm Zero to score the pin!
The semifinals are set. Next week it is Shirai vs, Ripley and Storm vs. Satomura. Who is going to the finals on October 28? We’ll find out next Wednesday. Until then, thank you for reading and I’ll talk to you again next week!
Tegan Nox seriously injured her left leg during tonight’s Mae Young Classic tapings.
She was in the early stages of a match against Rhea Ripley when she went for a dive. Upon impact, her left leg gave out. The match was stopped shortly thereafter and awarded to Ripley as medical officials came to Nox’s aid. The crowd was said to be silent as Nox was visibly in pain and crying.
Later during the tapings, Triple H came out and indicated that she suffered a broken leg.
Nox, who competed on the indie scene as Nixon Newell, had just signed a developmental deal with WWE when she tore her right ACL before the Mae Young Classic tapings last year, which she was scheduled to be a part of. She returned to the ring in April of this year and had been working NXT house shows before being announced as a competitor for this year’s tapings.
