WWE NXT live results: Number one contender’s battle royal
A new number one contender for NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria is set to be determined tonight.
Tonight’s NXT episode will feature an “innovative” battle royal to decide Valkyria’s next challenger. The battle royal starts with 20 participants. Once it gets down to the final four, it turns into a fatal four-way match.
The winner gets their title shot against Valkyria at NXT Vengeance Day next month.
Valkyria will be in action tonight as well, teaming with Tatum Paxley against Lola Vice & Elektra Lopez. Women’s Breakout Tournament winner Vice holds a contract that grants her a title shot whenever she wants it.
The first round of the 2024 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is scheduled to continue with two matches: Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams vs. Malik Blade & Edris Enofe and Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro vs. Duke Hudson & Riley Osborne.
We’ll hear from new NXT North American Champion Oba Femi after he cashed in to win the title from Dragon Lee last week. Ridge Holland vs. Joe Coffey is also set.
The show opens with a tag bout in the ongoing tournament.
Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams defeated Malik Blade & Edris Enofe in a first round match of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
Williams pinned Enofe to win the match. Hayes & Williams now advance to the semifinal round of the Dusty Classic, where they meet the winners of the other first round match later tonight.
This was a great opener. The match goes through a commercial break. Blade & Enofe got to look strong. There were a parade of high spots down the stretch. Blade gets a nearfall after a flying elbow drop. Enofe also did a wicked-looking swinging DDT at one point. Enofe did a frog splash for a near fall as well.
As they went home, Blade misses a plancha. Meanwhile, Hayes delivers a codebreaker on Enofe. Williams then hits Enofe with a flying knee, and Williams covered Enofe for the pinfall.
Fallon Henley is interviewed by Kelly Kincaid, and Henley talks about the number one contender’s battle royal later on. Not sure if it her new catchphrase or not, but Henley ended her promo by exclaiming, “Yeehaw, bitch!”
New NXT North American Champion Oba Femi is heading to the ring for a monologue. This is his first appearance on NXT since winning the title last week. He is being billed as the first NIL athlete to win a championship in WWE.
Femi begins by saying everyone must be surprised he is the new North American champ, but this is a prophecy has been long foretold. Femi says he was destined to be the biggest and strongest, standing tall above everyone else. He was tested as a young Nigerian prince, and then tested again in the NCAA. As a D1 athlete, he said he made that world his own. He is now in NXT, and the goal is still the same.
Femi says by winning the title he has a divine right to rule over the audience. He threatens to crush anyone that stands in his way. This is the cue for an interruption, because no monologue in NXT rarely goes uninterrupted anymore.
Out comes Dragon Lee to confront Femi. Dragon Lee says he cannot be mad about Femi defeating him last week. Lee goes on to say no one is WWE history has made such a sudden impact. That is hyperbole, but it fits here.
Dragon Lee goes on to challenge Femi to a rematch for the title tonight on NXT. Femi sternly tells him “no” before saying the open challenges are now closed. Lee gets in Femi’s face, and Lee demands the rematch he deserves. Femi says he may consider it, and Femi walks past Lee, and Femi leaves the ring.
Eddy Thorpe and Trey Berryhill bond over their Native American culture in a locker room skit. In comes Dijak to interrupt, and Dijak basically uses threats to challenge Berryhill to a match tonight.
In another locker room skit, NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov informs Trick Williams that Williams will be getting his title shot at NXT Vengeance Day. That upsets Carmelo Hayes, as he notes to Williams they are supposed to be in the Dusty Classic finals on that night.
NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria & Tatum Paxley defeated Lola Vice & Elektra Lopez
Valkyria and Paxley continue their angle where Paxley is infatuated with Valkyria. This a modern take on a similar program with Mickie James and Trish Stratus from years ago, except the current angle is far less degrading. Paxley was dressed in the same matching gear as Valkyria, and Paxley was doing Valkyria’s signature poses.
They build to a hot tag. Valkyria runs wild, until Paxley makes a blind tag when Valkyria is cut off. Paxley briefly slips before she leaps into the ring with a high cross. Valkyria and Vice duke it out, then Paxley rushes in to push Valkyria out of the way as Vice goes for a roundhouse kick. Paxley takes the bullet for Valkyria and eats the kick. Paxley falls in a heap on top of Lopez for a three count.
Arianna Grace cut a promo in a locker room skit. During her speech, everyone else on the locker room leaves. As Grace concludes, she looks around to see that she is alone.
Ridge Holland defeated Joe Coffey (with Mark Coffey & Wolfgang)
This started as a hoss fight, but it turned into a quick win for Holland, as the match was rather short. Holland delivered a powerslam finisher, and Holland then covered Coffey for a pinfall.
Gallus jump Holland after the match. After a beat down, Holland is left laying prone in the ring. Coffey then stands over him. This would seem to set up a return match.
Baron Corbin & Bron Breakker are featured in a backstage skit where they bicker over the name of their team. Breakker thought of “The Wolf Dogs,” and that it not go over well with Corbin. This skit was supposed to be comedy I guess.
LWO (Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro with Zelina Vega) defeated Chase U (Duke Hudson & Riley Osborne with Andre Chase) in a first round match of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
Del Toro pinned Hudson to win the match. LWO now advances to the semifinals where they meet Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams.
Hudson thought he had a cover, but he was unaware of a blind tag. Wilde does a dive that takes out Osborne, Wilde then does a dive through the ropes to deliver a tornado DDT to Hudson on the floor. That pops the live studio audience so much they start a “holy s***” chant, which is bleeped by the USA Network censors.
For the finish itself, Wilde does a springbaord moonsault on Hudson. He tags out, and Del Toro executes a Phoenix Splash. Del Toro then covers Hudson for a pinfall.
The Family give Adrianna Rizzo a pep talk, ahead of her competing in the battle royal later on.
Dressed in an ill-fitting suit and tie, Joe Gacy is at the announce desk. Gacy is there much to the chagrin of commentators Vic Joseph and Booker T. Gacy’s jacket has the redone version of the old block logo, which used to be on all of the announcers sports coats.
A locker room skit from “last week” sets up a match between Von Wagner and Noam Dar for the Heritage Cup.
Dijak defeated Trey Berryhill
Dijak pinned Berryhill after a high kick. Gacy got involved at one point, as Dijak was berating the announce team. Gacy leaned over the desk to headbutt Dijak. That led to Berryhill making a comeback on Dijak, but Dijak counters to deliver a high kick. After the big boot, Dijak covers Berryhill for a pinfall.
Gacy jumped Dijak after the match, and they brawl up the aisle and out the sound stage. As they brawl their way to the back, Berryhill is still in the ring. Suddenly, Berryhill is attacked by Lexis King. Berryhill takes a swinging neckbreaker from King, and King slapped Berryhill several times across the face.
JBL in a cameo appearance is backstage when Josh Briggs asks JBL for advice. JBL asks, “Who is Josh Briggs?” JBL wants Briggs to show NXT who he is.
A promotional tie-in with the new Ted series features a spoof of a WWE documentary about the title character.
No Quarter Catch Crew is the focus of a vignette.
Trick Williams apologizes to Carmelo Hayes about their earlier disagreement. Williams has a solution, which is him working twice at Vengeance Day.
20-woman number one contender’s battle royal
Kelani Jordan did the Kofi gimmick of not letting her feet touch the floor. She did the Shawn Michaels’ spot from the Rumble ’95 where she held on to the top rope. She was then knocked off the apron, but landed with a crossbody on the announce desk. The show cuts to commercial with Jordan standing on the desk. She is back in the ring when the show returns from the commercial break.
Lola Vice eliminated her tag partner, Elektra Lopez. Vice is then eliminated by Tatum Paxley, playing off their match earlier in the show. Vice and Lopez then apparently split as a team. They get into a fight with each other at ringside, and they brawl their way to the back.
Karmen Petrovic eliminated Blair Davenport. A vindictive Davenport pulls Petrovic out of the ring underneath the bottom rope. Davenport then delivers a knee strike to Petrovic, and Davenport rolls Petrovic back into the ring. Petrovic sells like she is dead, and she is ultimately eliminated by Arianna Grace. Thea Hail would go on to eliminate Grace, as Grace is celebrating like she won.
The match goes through a second commercial break. This would be the final commercial break on the show, and the battle royal continued on a split-screen.
The final four remaining were Kelani Jordan, Kiana James, Fallon Henley and Roxanne Perez. The battle royal then turns into a fatal four-way to decide the winner.
Roxanne Perez defeated Kelani Jordan, Kiana James and Fallon Henley in a fatal four-way to become the number one contender
Perez pinned Jordan to win the match and become the number one contender.
Jordan got to shine with an Asai moonsault, but she would eventually drop the deciding fall. James executed her flatliner finisher on Jordan, but Jordan rolled out of the ring before James could capitalize. James goes on on to counter Pop Rocks. Perez and James tease a superplex, and that led into Perez doing a Super Frankensteiner.
For the finish itself, Jordan is running wild. She goes for split-legged moonsault. Izzy Dane pulls James out of the way, leaving Jordan to crash and burn. Perez then executes Pop Rocks on Jordan, and Perez covers her for a pinfall.
NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria comes out after the match to have a stare down with Perez as the shoe goes off the air.