WWE NXT live results: Shawn Spears vs. Ricky Saints for North American title

Two former AEW wrestlers are set to clash in a title bout on WWE NXT tonight.

The North American Championship will be on the line with Ricky Saints challenging Shawn Spears for the belt. If Saints wins, it will kick off the first title reign of his WWE career. He debuted for the promotion on NXT this February shortly after being let out of his AEW contract.

Spears won the North American Championship from Tony D’Angelo last month and is now making his first title defense. He is the leader of The Culling, a faction that includes Brooks Jensen, Niko Vance & Izzi Dame.

WrestleMania weekend is now less than three weeks away — and the NXT Championship match for Stand & Deliver could become official tonight. Trick Williams, who is looking to reclaim the title, will call out NXT Champion Oba Femi.

Stephanie Vaquer still holds both the NXT Women’s Championship and Women’s North American Championship after making two successful title defenses last week. Jordynne Grace is among those looking for a title shot, but the entire NXT women’s division has their eyes on Vaquer’s belts. We’ll see what NXT general manager Ava has planned for the title picture.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

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NXT is back on the air from a sound stage at the Performance Center in Orlando before a live studio audience.

Opening the show is the entrance of NXT Women’s and North American Champion Stephanie Vaquer. Some cross-promotional footage shows Vaquer at UFC in Mexico City.

NXT General Manager Ava is the ring to greet Vaquer. Ava brags on Vaquer, and on her retaining both titles in matches last week. Ava then makes an announcement that gets roundly booed by the studio audience. Ava informs the audience that Vaquer is relinquishing the Women’s North American Championship.

A new Women’s North American Champion will be determined in a ladder match at Stand & Deliver from Las Vegas. Qualifying matches start tonight. The studio audience hated Vaquer relinquishment of the title, especially when Ava had anything to say about it.

Vaquer spoke and tried to salvage the negative crowd reaction, and the studio audience was much more receptive to her. Yet, they did not like any mention of her giving up the title. Vaquer says she relinquished the title under one condition, which is she picks her opponent for the NXT Women’s title match at Stand & Deliver.

Then a WWE in-ring promo ended without an interruption or angle. April Fools! Of course there are interruptions!

Jordynne Grace enters to interrupt Vaquer, and Grace apologizes for doing so again. Grace says with Jaida Parker no longer in the picture, they can focus on the match everyone wants to see — the Juggernaut vs. La Primera for the first time ever on NXT’s biggest stage.

Out comes Jaida Parker to interrupt the previous interruption, because the more interruptions the merrier. Parker and Grace argue over who Vaquer should choose, and Vaquer tells them to figure it out. Parker and Grace start brawling, when security pours in to separate them. Grace throws some dudes around, as this appears to set a return match between Grace and Parker. Or maybe a triple threat with Vaquer, which would be very WWE of them to book.

Trick Williams calls out NXT Champion Oba Femi in a promo posted to social media, which sets up a confrontation for tonight.

Femi is interviewed on his way into the building, and he says Trick will find out the hard way not to call out “The Ruler” of NXT.

Zaria (with Sol Ruca) defeated Lash Legend (with Jakara Jackson) in a Women’s North American Championship qualifying match

Zaria pinned Legend to become the first to qualify for the ladder match at Stand & Deliver. They worked hard and had a competitive match. Although Zaria won clean, Legend got to shine at times.

The wrestled through a commercial break. Ruca and Jackson had a melee at ringside before the show cut to commercial, but otherwise the seconds in the corner played little part other than moral support. Zaria won after delivering a F5 and covering Jackson for a pinfall.

Yoshiki Inamura challenges Wes Lee to match tonight in a backstage skit. Inamura and Josh Briggs were in a locker room, when they confronted by Wes Lee and company. There is bickering, leading to Inamura challenging Lee to a match.

Kelani Jordan and Roxanne Perez have words in a backstage skit that also featured Ava. As Jordan and Perez argue, Ava informs them they meet tonight in a qualifying match.

A vignette features Tony D’Angelo and The Family having a sit-down to discuss intel on Dark State. This was a clever way of doing character development on Dark State while maintaining their mysterious new gimmick.

Stacks runs down the information he learned about the members of Dark State. Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin, Cutler James, and Saquon Shugars are the members of Dark State, and The Family discusses all of their backgrounds.

Main roster cameo from Pretty Deadly for a skit with Hank & Tank, who were wearing Pretty Deadly gear. Hank & Tank then gets a pep talk from Pretty Deadly. No Quarter Catch Crew walks by and insults Hank & Tank. They rip off their Pretty Deadly gear and head towards Gorilla.

Myles Borne & Tavion Heights (with Charlie Dempsey & Wren Sinclair) defeated Hank Walker & Tank Ledger in a tag team match

Hank & Tank continue their losing streak on NXT television. They again emulated another team, including doing their movest. Yet, Hank & Tank go down in defeat. I am assuming they eventually discover themselves and win by developing their own moveset. Otherwise, this losing streak is a lousy way to get them over.

No Quarter Catch Crew looked better than ever as a team. They were smooth and calculated in the ring. Typical WWE formula tag match, and nothing necessarily wrong with that.. Babyfaces shine early on, heat spot, hot tag, and finish.

Heat on Hank as the Catch Crew work him over. Hot tag to Tank, and cleans house. However, Hank & Tank attempt some signature moves of Pretty Deadly. That backfires as they a re cut off.

For the finish, Heights lifts Tank into a fireman’s carry. Borne then DDT’s Tank off the shoulder of Heights, and Borne covers Tank for the deciding pinfall.

Trick Williams is headed to the ring to call out Oba Femi. Williams gets into the ring after a commercial break, and he begins to call out Femi. However, Trick is soon interrupted by Je’Von Evans.

Je’Von confronts Trick in the ring, and Je’Von cuts a promo on him. As if this show did not have enough bickering, there is some more bickering here in this segments. Lots of it. Then another interruption, because that is a trope in modern pro wrestling.

This all sets up a triple threat title match at Stand & Deliver. Out comes NXT Champion Oba Femi for the second interruption of the segment. “The Ruler” gets into the ring to confront the other two already in the ring. More bickering, because personal grudges are money.

GM Ava is out to end the bickering with an announcement. She books a triple threat for the NXT Championship at Stand & Deliver with Femi defending against both Trick & Je’Von. A triple threat, huh? Such an original booking concept for what is billed as the biggest NXT show of the year. The match itself should be good.

Anyway, Trick drops Je’Von with a sucker punch, and Trick brawls with Femi. Trick clotheslines Femi out of the ring. Suddenly, the arena lights do dark.

Spotlights shown as Dark State appears. They jump Femi at ringside, and then Dark State gangs up on Trick. Dark State leaves them both laying.

Andre Chase is the trainer’s room nursing a rib injury. Medical staff won’t clear him, and Chase is sent home. He is asked if anyone can take care of him. In walks Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors to help Chase, and he finally warms up to them.

Jordynne Grace and Jaida Parker are seen in a backstage melee. They have a pull-apart brawl. Later in the show, a return bout between the two is made official for next Tuesday.

Hank & Tank talk with NXT Tag Team Champions Fraxiom in another backstage skit. Fraxiom are then met by the tag team called Swipe Right. They are Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes, who are doing a misogynistic bro gimmick.

Kelani Jordan defeated Roxanne Perez in a Women’s North American Championship qualifying match

Jordan pinned Perez in an upset. Jordan qualifies for the ladder match at Stand & Deliver after pinning Perez in what was a good match. Hopefully this is a breakout win for Jordan, as Perez put her over. Perez appears to be putting people over on her way out of NXT, and hopefully on her way to the main roster. Long overdue.

They were given a lot of time, and they made the most of it. They also wrestled through a commercial break. Jordan missed her first attempt at a split-legged moonsault, with no water in the pool. Jordan connects on a second attempt for the finish. Roxanne got a lot of near falls, including in the closing moments.

In a skit from her backstage office, Ava books a trios match with any three members of Dark State against the main event trio from Stand & Deliver. Next week is Dark State in a six-man tag match with Oba Femi, Je’Von Evans, and Trick Williams. Dark State responds in a promo uploaded on social media, confirming the match next Tuesday.

Ricky Saint is interviewed by Sarah Schreiber, and Saints vows to win the NXT North American title tonight in the main event.

Ricky Saints defeated NXT North American Champion Shawn Spears (with The Culling) to win the title

Saints wins his first title in WWE mere weeks after his television debut. Saints pinned Spears to win the title, and Saints fought off interference from The Culling. Ethan Page attacked Saints in a post-match ambush to end the show with a cliffhanger.

The title match itself was really good, and they wrestled through a commercial break. Great dropkick by Saints at one point. Just before cutting to commercial, Saints does a Don Jardine walk on the barricade, mixed with some Rick Rude gyrations.

The studio audience really came alive after Saints executed a superplex jackhammer off the top rope. The Culling would soon interfere in the match. Niko Vance jumps into the ring to distract the referee, and Izzi Dame slid the North American title belt to Spears.

Belt shot for a near fall, as Spears waffles Saints with the title belt. Saints kicks out for a near fall. Moments later, Saints counters Spears’ C4 finisher. Saints delivers his own version of C4 (Death Valley Driver).

The Culling interfere again. This time it involves Brookes Jensen jumping on the apron. Saints biels Jensen into the ring, and Saints fights off the interference before they go home.

Saints with spear knocks Vance off the apron, and Saints with a Cactus Jack clothesline sends himself and Jensen over the top rope to the floor. Saints runs around the ring to spear Vance on the floor. Back in the ring, Saints with a spear on Shawn Spears. Saints follows up with Roshambo. Three count as Saints wins via pinfall. And new…

In a post-match angle, Ethan Page runs in to ruin Saints’ celebration. Page jumps Saints and lays him out with a finisher. The show ends with Page standing over a fallen Saints, while Page holds the North American title overhead.