Grammy Family
This is all about the NXT Men’s Championship. I’ll get to one possible contender later in the recap, so let’s focus on the other possibles as NXT preps for Stand & Deliver.
Ricky Saints took an L at Vengeance Day. This week was all about he and Ethan Page getting on the same sheet of music after their miscommunication contributed to that loss. What better way to get back on the horse and beat a tortured metaphor to death than facing off against the current champ and the North American Men’s champ? Joe Hendry & Myles Borne are a formidable pair that have personal issues with Ethan & Ricky.
Could Ricky & Ethan coexist wasn’t my question. I focused more on who gets the pin on the champ since that usually goes a long way in this environment. This is an uneasy alliance between two heels who want to be top dog. That’s a not a plural title. If only one can rule them all then their bond has to break. Of course. But when it breaks is key when building to Stand & Deliver.
It started this week with Ricky getting Ethan back for “accidentally” sliding the championship too far when Ricky faced Joe. He did it with a smile though, so Ethan took it better than expected. In the third act, Ethan got the chance to do the same thing but actually slid the championship perfectly into Ricky’s hands. The ref stopped Ricky from using it against Joe’s head, so Ricky moved forward. What Mr. New Orleans didn’t see was Ethan’s blind tag a few seconds later. that meant after Ricky hit Joe with his spear, there was no time to hit the DDT. Ethan was the legal man. They bickered about it for a bit the match continued as Myles dropkicked Ricky out of the ring. That left the ref arguing with Myles to exit, which gave Ethan the perfect opportunity to hit Joe with Twisted Grin on top of the NXT Men’s Championship lying in the ring. Three seconds later and Ethan Page has a pinfall victory over the champ.
How will Ricky handle that? There are three guys who want a title shot. Two of them are coming off victories, making Ricky the odd man out. I sense a Fatal 4 Way in the works. Ricky’s gotta earn his spot, something I’m guessing he’ll do at any cost. Even if that means ending this newfound friendship.
B-Sides
- It’s a me, Mario! Happy Mario Day!
- Fit Finlay—who I’m told loves to fight—and William Regal showed up in Orlando. And their presence was a sign to Charlie Dempsey to join Birthright and betray Tavion Heights. What caught my attention was his apprehension about the whole thing as Birthright stood victorious after Uriah Connors & Alexis King defeated Charlie & Tavion. With Charlie’s help, of course. But Mr. Regal’s son didn’t look pleased about his decision, nor did he looked thrilled about joining this ensemble. That could be for several factors: He’s not a fan of their company, he doesn’t want to listen to daddy, he wants to finally be on his own and not be a part of a group. Who knows? What I do know is that I want to find out.
- Allow me to rant for a bit, will you? It won’t be long but I gotta get it off my chest. Tony D’Angelo, the man who vowed to destroy DarkState for destroying his family, is now moving on to Joe Hendry after defeating one member of DarkState. Yes, his crusade to destroy the whole group is finished because he took out one man. Now, the caveat is they never seemed sure of what to do with Tony when he came back. He attacked people seemingly at random while eyeing the NXT Men’s Championship. Tony explained that he kept his actions mysterious because he didn’t want to reveal them until he was ready. I thought it was a flimsy excuse but I rocked with it because it pointed in a direction. But now he’s done with that direction after one match? Is DarkState eradicated? And even to that point, getting vengeance for destroying the family when Stacks is still right there always felt a bit weird. I know they’re not cool anymore but it felt odd not having them interact at all when Tony’s out for blood for what happened to their bond. That aside, this is just sloppy planning. Stand & Deliver is in less than a month so yeah, let’s put Tony in the main event with Joe Hendry. I have no issue with that but how we’re getting there is just off-putting. It’s just more haphazard storytelling in Orlando.
- On the flip side of that, there’s Sol Ruca’s journey to the NXT Women’s Championship. It was smooth sailing for her in a pretty competitive match against Lainey Reid. This wasn’t about Sol losing since that wasn’t an option, but giving Lainey some shine since it’s apparent Sol is a threat to Jacey Jayne’s championship. The triple threat is official next week, which made Zaria’s absence conspicuous.
- More good friends better enemies: Tatum Paxley defends her North American Championship next week against Izzi Dame in a steel cage. These two started the show at each other’s throats and Tatum hunted her throughout the runtime. That led to Stone giving Izzi her rematch in the cage. Perfect stipulation for these two because they really hate each other. I love it. More violence.
- Wren Sinclair is the number one contender for Fallon Henley’s Speed Championship. I feel for Thea Hail taking the L here, but the Speed Championship in both divisions feels like a consolation prize. So maybe it’s okay?
- Eli Knight and Sean Legacy want a piece of the other Speed Championship. That meant battling the former champ in a triple threat match. Matches featuring a very big man like Jasper Troy and two lighter guys like Eli and Sean aren’t always easy to manage. The two lightweights (by comparison) want to wrestle a very different match than the heavyweight. NXT accomplished this mix of power and speed by putting Jasper out of the match for a bit. How’d they do that? Glad you asked. Keanu Carver attacked Jasper early in the match. It was an excellent show of strength on Keanu’s part as he put Jasper through the announce table. That left Eli and Sean to get a bit more bouncy with it, which I enjoyed. It was also a treat seeing Jasper get back in the ring and manhandle both men like children. But he was clearly hurt; the more punishment he dished out, the more he felt the punishment dished out to him. That cost him the match as both Eli and Sean pinned him at the same time after both men completed a pair of high risk moves. And yeah, the ref awarded the victory to both men. What does this do for the Speed Championship? We’ll see.
- Booker T Appreciation Night in Houston next week! Well deserved.
This was a very chaotic and eventful episode. NXT is laying a lot of groundwork for Houston and Stand & Deliver in less than a month. I expect every show to feel like must see TV from now to then. This was a good first step, despite a couple slips.
What say you, Cagesiders? Does Joe Hendry lose the championship at Stand & Deliver?
