NXT – August 1, 2023: It Sneaks Up On You
NXT
Date: August 1, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.
We’re past the Great American Bash and Carmelo Hayes is still the NXT Champion after defeating Ilja Dragunov in the main event. The show was another strong effort when NXT goes on the road and now they’re having to get ready to do it again at the end of next month. There is a good chance that the build starts here so let’s get to it.
Here is the Great American Bash if you need a recap.
We open with a long recap of the Great American Bash.
New Tag Team Champions Tony D’Angelo and Stacks arrive but get jumped by Gallus. Joe Coffey says no matter what, Gallus boys on top.
Jacy Jayne storms the announcers’ table and promises to finish what she started with Lyra Valkyria at the Great American Bash.
Jacy Jayne vs. Lyra Valkyria
The fight is on before the bell with Valkyria in trouble as we officially get things going. Jayne takes her down and nails a kick to the back before they head outside. Valkyria takes over and we go to an early break. Back with Valkyria elbowing her way out of the corner but Jayne knocks her down again.
A backsplash gets two but Valkyria manages a quick toss outside, followed by a high crossbody back inside. Valkyria’s northern lights suplex gets two but Jayne’s spinebuster gets the same. Back up and Valkyria hits a spinning kick to the head into a top rope splash for the pin at 9:23.
Rating: C. They started fast but then it turned into a more basic match after the break. Valkyria gets a nice win over someone with some status and that is a good idea. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Valkyria as the next challenger to the Women’s Title and a win like this can be a step forward for her.
Trick Williams congratulates Carmelo Hayes on retaining the NXT Title but says he has to start doing this for himself. Hayes is totally cool with that and says Williams should go get his, but Williams says he isn’t a sidekick. Hayes says he never saw Williams as a sidekick, which Williams says he knows, but now it’s Williams’ time to go after the dragon. Williams clarifies that this is NOT a breakup and Hayes promises to have his back anytime. They seem to part as friends.
Tony D’Angelo and Stacks are getting checked out by the medics but D’Angelo says they want Gallus tonight. Stacks says that’s 3-2 but D’Angelo is going to make a call.
Here are Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio for a celebratory chat. Mysterio says the win on Sunday makes him the greatest luchador of all time, but here is Dragon Lee to say Mysterio’s dad is the greatest of all time. Lee and Rhea disagree about Dominik’s cajones but we get a title match set for next week. Rhea says she’ll be here too, but Rey Mysterio pops up on screen to say he’ll be in Lee’s corner next week because Lee is the future of lucha libre.
Wes Lee is mad about his loss and vents to Carmelo Hayes, who tells him to calm the h*** down. Noam Dar comes in to say he’s the Heritage Cup Champion because Nathan Frazer never beat him. On the other hand, Dominik beat Lee twice. That’s enough to trigger a brawl, with referees quickly breaking it up.
Thea Hail is depressed over her loss at the Great American Bash, with Andre Chase saying he had no choice. Hail shouted she still had a chance but Baron Corbin shows up to tell them to leave. Corbin tells Hail that the job isn’t for everyone so she should leave. Chase: “That’s it Corbin. You’re a piece of s***.” A match seems to be made but Hail still doesn’t want to talk to Chase.
Eddy Thorpe vs. Dijak
Thorpe charges right at Dijak to start and sends him into the corner, setting up a high crossbody for two. Dijak is right back up for a slugout before drilling Thorpe with a clothesline. Dijak can’t get a chokeslam so Thorpe sends him into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs. A charge only hits post though and Dijak grabs a chokeslam for two. Back up and Thorpe grabs a suplex for two but can’t hit a German suplex. Instead Dijak tries a torture rack but gets reversed into the German suplex to knock him silly. They head outside, with Dijak posting him hard, setting up the cyclone boot to finish Thorpe at 4:22.
Rating: C+. This didn’t have time to get very far but they used the time they had well. Dijak continues to feel like a monster and some of the things he can do still look great. At the same time you have Thorpe, who has hit a rough patch and doesn’t feel like nearly the up and comer he was a few weeks ago. There is still time for him, but Dijak getting pushed is certainly interesting at the moment.
Tony D’Angelo makes a call to someone and gets a second partner for tonight.
Dana Brooke and Kelani Jones are happy with Brook’s win last week but tells Jordan to find her killer instinct.
Yulisa Leon/Valentina Feroz vs. Lola Vice/Elektra Lopez
Leon and Lopez start things off with Lopez taking over. Feroz comes in but gets caught in the wrong corner, allowing Vice add a running hip attack in the corner. Lopez’s enziguri sets up a chinlock but it’s quickly back to Vice. A belly to back suplex doesn’t work for Vice and Feroz crawls over for the tag to Leon. Everything breaks down and Vice kicks Leon in the head for the pin at 3:31.
Rating: C. Another match without much time, but what matters here is setting up Vice and Lopez as a new team. It’s not like there are a ton of options in the women’s tag division so setting up someone from NXT is a good way to go. Maybe this is just a one off, but beating Feroz and Leon does feel like a little something at least.
Tiffany Stratton talks about how much pain she was in against Thea Hail but she survived. She’ll be back next week for something fabulous.
Wes Lee/Carmelo Hayes vs. Oro Mensah/Noam Dar
Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend are here with Mensah and Dar. Lee starts fast on the floor and Hayes has to come out for the save before asking what Lee is doing. We settle down to Hayes being driven into the wrong corner but coming out with the springboard clothesline to Mensah. Lee comes in for two off a falling backsplash as the fans start chanting HAPPY BIRTHDAY to someone (apparently Hayes, who is turning 29). Mensah rolls outside and Lee loads up a dive but Hayes calls him off as we take a break.
Back with Mensah hitting a northern lights suplex for two on Lee. A quick shot takes Mensah down though and the big tag brings Hayes back in to clean house. Hayes takes Dar down with La Mistica (headscissors into a faceplant, minus the armbar) but Jackson gets in the way of something off the top. Everything breaks down and Lee’s Cardiac Kick hits Hayes by mistake. Mensah superkicks Lee into the Nova Roller to give Dar the pin at 10:45.
Rating: B-. This match, especially the ending, was more about setting up Lee as the likely next challenger for Hayes. After Lee’s record North American Title reign, he has more than earned a shot so that all lines up. Other than that, this was a pretty nice tag match and it isn’t like being pinned by a long running Heritage Cup Champion is some major upset. They did what they needed to do here and that’s nice to see.
Post match Hayes and Lee argue, with Hayes trying to play peacemaker but Lee yells a lot.
Bron Breakker talks about the sad story Von Wagner has been telling but the truth is that Wagner is soft like his father. The scar he had on his head was nothing compared to how Wagner will look after Breakker gets done with him.
Axiom is looking to get a North American Title shot (Dominik Mysterio can’t keep his masked people straight) but Mustafa Ali interrupts and tries to get his own title shot. Dominik and Rhea Ripley leave as they argue, with Axiom saying he doesn’t respect the disrespect. Ali rants about being disrespected for three years.
Baron Corbin vs. Andre Chase
The rest of Chase U is here and Thea Hail is rather distraught. Corbin powers him around to start but Chase slips out and knocks Corbin outside. A Death Valley Driver plants Chase on the floor and we hit the chinlock with a knee in Chase’s back back inside. Fans: “THROW THE TOWEL!”
Chase fights up and gets in a shot to the leg before dropkicking the leg out again. The Russian legsweep sets up the spelling stomps but Corbin is back with a spinebuster. A half crab goes on and Thea throws in the towel at 4:40. The referee doesn’t see it so the match continues with Corbin letting the hold go as Thea leaves. End of Days finishes Chase at 5:14.
Rating: C. As much as I want to see him win, Chase losing here is what makes the most sense. He isn’t as big of a star as Corbin, or even close to it, and he has the whole Hail thing on top of it. Corbin gets a bit of a win to help make up for the Gable Steveson mess, but for now it’s going to be about Chase U, which seems to be in a lot of trouble.
We look at Roxanne Perez going back home to Texas for the Great American Bash, where Blair Davenport jumped her. Then she beat Blair in a Weapons Wild match, because no one can break her.
Meta Four is bragging about their win when Tyler Bate returns to say he has been in Tibet for a bit. Since Noam Dar says he’s the Heritage Cup Champion and has beaten everyone, he might need a fresh opponent. Bate accepts the challenge (which he himself issued) so the title match is on next week.
Here is the Schism to find out who messed with them last week. There are six masked people in the ring with them, with Joe Gacy talking about how insubordination must be eradicated. Ava tells them to unmask one by one, with the first two being no one in particular. The third is….Ikemen Jiro of all people, with his stylish jacket. Schism throws him and one other person out, leaving two people that Schism KNOWS are the Creed Brothers. They jump the still masked men but the Creeds pop up on screen from a beach.
They’ve also been to the pyramids, Easter Island, and…well back to the beach in some place they can’t agree on. What matters is they are NOT in Orlando, so we see that the two masked men are just more people. Gacy tells the worldwide followers of the Schism to find the Creeds and bring them back. Well at least the Creeds are kind of back and the Jiro surprise was good for a chuckle.
Last week, Cora Jade snapped after her loss to Dana Brooke and stormed out of the locker room.
Gallus vs. Tony D’Angelo/Stacks/Santos Escobar
Stacks hammers on Wolfgang to start before D’Angelo comes in for more of the same. A hiptoss sends Stacks into Wolfgang in the corner and everything breaks down, with the good guys hitting stereo punches to the ribs. The ring is cleared out and we take a break with Gallus in trouble.
Back with Gallus taking turns on Stacks, including Mark holding a front facelock. Stacks slips away but his partners are pulled to the floor, meaning there is no one to tag. Not that it matters as the tag off to Escobar allows him to clean house. Mark sends Escobar to the apron, where he scores with an enziguri. A high crossbody hits Mark and a victory roll gets two. Everything breaks down and Escobar snaps off a super hurricanrana to Mark. The Bada Bing finishes for D’Angelo at 9:54.
Rating: B-. This was little more than a fun reunion between Escobar and D’Angelo while giving Escobar a mini boost before his US Title match. It was just fine for what it was and should finish Gallus off from the title hunt for the time being. I can really go for more of these main roster cameos in NXT and this was another good one.
The winners celebrate, and seem to bury the old hatchet…..to not end the show.
Ilja Dragunov says he isn’t done with Trick Williams and promises to begins his retribution next week.
Overall Rating: B-. This show felt like a nice, slower edition without much going on but when you look at it, they accomplished a lot. They covered the fallout from the Bash, set up some matches for next week and seemingly set up Hayes’ next challenger. That’s a rather efficient use of two hours and it’s cool to see an NXT that is covering so much in a single night. If there was some better wrestling throughout this would have been one of the better weekly NXT shows in a good bit. For not though, it was just another efficient one.
Results
Lyra Valkyria b. Jacy Jayne – Top rope splash
Dijak b. Eddy Thorpe – Cyclone boot
Lola Vice/Elektra Lopez b. Yulisa Leon/Valentina Feroz – Superkick to Leon
Oro Mensah/Noam Dar b. Carmelo Hayes/Wes Lee – Nova Roller to Lee
Baron Corbin b. Andre Chase – End of Days
Tony D’Angelo/Stacks/Santos Escobar b. Gallus – Bada Bing to Mark Coffey
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