By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live April 1, 2025 on The CW Network
[Hour One] Separate shots of Ricky Saints and The Culling were shown as they were arriving to the Performance Center…
Vic Joseph, Corey Graves, and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
NXT Women’s and NXT Women’s North American Champion Stephanie Vaquer made her entrance in street clothes. NXT GM Ava was already in the ring. Clips of Stephanie attending a recent UFC event were shown. Ava introduced Stephanie as a high caliber superstar. Ava noted that due to the depth of the women’s roster, she and Stephanie came to the decision that Stephanie has to vacate the North American Championship. This was met with huge boos.
Ava said that the new champion will be crowned at Stand and Deliver. Stephanie said she understands that this is not a popular decision, but NXT has given her opportunities and she wants to give opportunities for everyone else. She said she wants to push forward the women’s division, not stop it. The crowd gave Stephanie “Ole” song chants. Stephanie officially gave up the North American title and said she’s doing it under one condition, she gets to handpick her opponent for the NXT Women’s Championship at Stand & Deliver opponent.
Jordynne Grace made her entrance and apologized for interrupting. She said that now that Jaida Parker is out of the picture, we can not focus on the match everyone is looking forward to. Grace wanted the Juggernaut vs. La Primera. Jaida Parker made her entrance. Jaida was wearing Lakers colors. Jaida talked about how if Grace didn’t get in her business last week, she’ll be NXT women’s champion. Grace said Jaida had her opportunity and fumbled.
Grace said Jaida may not understand how championships work because she never held one before. Grace said that Jaida needs to get to the back of the line. Stephanie said that it looks like Grace and Parker need to settle something. A pull apart brawl ensued to end the segment…
A Instagram video aired of Trick Williams calling out Oba Femi to meet on NXT. Sarah Schreiber caught up with Oba in the parking lot. Oba said he doesn’t care about what Trick says because Oba is the champion. Oba said Trick will find out why you don’t call out “The Ruler”…
Vic Joseph hyped the first qualifying match for the North American Championship ladder match at Stand and Deliver, which will happen after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A decent opening segment. Loud boos for the decision to quickly take the North American title off Vaquer, and I understand because of how they never got much out of the dual champion concept. One thing that stood out is that even though Vaquer came into WWE without knowing how to speak English, she has vastly improved and has already become a solid English speaking promo. It helps that she’s monster over wherever she goes.
Vic Joseph plugged Stand and Deliver tickets…
The camera cut to the women’s locker room, where all the women started bickering over who will be the next North American Champion…
Zaria and Sol Ruca made their entrance to Karrion Kross’s old TNA theme. The Meta Girls made their entrance…
1. Zaria (w/Sol Ruca) vs. Lash Legend (w/Jakara Jackson) to qualify for the NXT Women’s North American Championship ladder match at Stand and Deliver. Lash and Zaria started the match at a stalemate from a power standpoint. Lash managed to get the first takedown. Lash initiated a Test of Strength. Zaria and Lash took turns forcing a bridge from the other woman. Lash ended up hitting Zaria with a Test of Strength Suplex for a two count.
Zaria and Lash took turns eating chest slaps. Lash dumped Zaria to the apron to escape a Guillotine. Zaria got a two count off a slingshot Sunset Flip. Lash hit Zaria with a body slam. Both women missed elbow drops. Both women did a kip up (Zaria slipped, but had a nice recovery). Zaria got a two count off a victory roll counter. Lash dumped Zaria to ringside with a Yakuza Kick.[c]
Back from break, Lash had Zaria in a bear hug. Zaria used a headbutt to escape. Lash came back with a headbutt. Lash put Zaria in a Torture Rack. Booker made sure to throw in the Lex Luger reference. Both women took each other out with clotheslines. Both women traded fighting spirit right hands. Lash slammed Zaria to the mat. Both women used their weight to block suplexes. Zaria managed to land a suplex on Lash.
Zaria caught Lash with a boot lift. Lash caught Zaria out of the air and hit her with a backbreaker. Zaria countered a power bomb with a huracanrana. Zaria hit Lash with a Pump Kick and German Suplex. Lash did a leapfrog and hit Zaria with a chokeslam for a good nearfall. Zaria and Lash escaped each other’s holds. Zaria surprised Lash with a Spear. Zaria hit Lash with an F5 for the victory.
Zaria defeated Lash Legend via pinfall in 11:47 to qualify for the NXT Women’s North American Championship Ladder Match at Stand and Deliver.
John’s Thoughts: Wow. That was surprisingly good. It’s been amazing seeing the night and day change with Lash Legend, where she was fumbling and bumbling in the ring during the NXT 2.0 Days to her being fairly good in the ring, offering something different as a powerhouse (I don’t blame her for the 2.0 days either. Anyone would fumble and bumble at their job if tossed out there without proper training). This was Lash’s best singles match to date. Happy to see Zaria back in a singles capacity too as she hasn’t disappointed since joining WWE (now if they will hurry up and get to her whooping Sol Ruca’s ass to initiate a heel turn already).
Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura were watching the monitor backstage and praising the last match. Inamura said he dreams about competing at Stand and Deliver. Wes Lee, Tyson Dupont, and Tyriek Igwe showed up to trash talk. Inamura said he liked the old Wes that fought with honor. Inamura challenged Wes to a match later which Wes accepted…
Vic Joseph noted that the D’Angelo Family have some “intel” on DarkState and will reveal that after the break…[c]
Backstage, Kelani Jordan was talking to GM Ava about how excited she was to get a chance to wrestle for the North American Championship again. Roxanne Perez showed up to gloat and say how she wants to win a title she hasn’t won yet. Jordan and Perez bickered. Ava said only one of them will make it to Stand and Deliver because they would meet in a qualifying match…
Vic Joseph, Corey Graves, and Booker T checked in and sent the show to a Tony D’Angelo cinematic. The D’Angelo Family were sitting at a table at a warehouse. Luca Crucifino handed Tony D a Scouting Report on Dion Lennox, noting that the “bookworm” gimmick was a ruse and that he was hiding being a team captain linebacker from Oregon State. Luca said that Dion even broke a jaw of a teammate for breaking formation. He said that Dion has multiple college degrees with a major in Psychology.
The next scouting report was Osiris Griffin. Rizzo said these NXT wrestlers keep getting bigger. Luca said that he’s a Syracuse All-American with a ton of tackles, even accidentally breaking his QBs ribs. Luca said he has great mental instincts. The next scouting report was Cutler James. Rizzo said that James is a high quality wrestler from Duke. Tony D talked about how he hates Duke University. Rizzo said that Cutler breaks peoples mind and spirit. Tony D said this guy sounds like a wannabe John Wick.
Stacks introduced Saquon Shugars as the wild card of DarkState. Stacks said that Shugars turned down an offer from Harvard. Stacks said Sugars is a good talker that wins over followers. Tony D said these men sound like four badasses. Tony D told Stacks to trust him and he’ll figure out how to deal with these guys. The family left with Stacks looking conflicted…
Hank Walker and Tank Ledger were shown looking embarrassed wearing Pretty Deadly’s gutless shirts. The camera panned back to show Kit Wilson and Elton Prince coaching Hank and Tank. Tank was really getting into it. NQCC passed by Hank and Tank to make fun of Hank and Tank…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Interesting approach for a character introduction, but I personally liked that it was different than your usual exposition lore dump. Dion Lennox and Saquon Shugars still sound like the ones to look out for. Lennox has a good complete package while Saquon Shugars sounds like a black version of Jon Moxley when Mox was in the Shield. They are also clearly teasing Stacks turning on Tony D, which has been hinted at for years going back to when they were feuding with Gallus.
Vic Joseph sent the show to a preview trailer for Episode 2 of Stephanie’s Places, featuring Cody Rhodes as the guest…
The show cut to a Culling vignette. Niko Vance, Brooks Jensen, and Izzi Dame were praising their leader, sounding like a cult. Shawn Spears talked about how he cherishes all of them and they will all come together to vanquish Ricky Saints…
NQCC made their entrance first. Their opponents were Hank and Tank. The Swipe Right tag team from Evolve were shown in the crowd…
2. Myles Borne and Tavion Heights (w/Charlie Dempsey, Wren Sinclair). vs. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger. Heights and Borne dominated Tank early on. Hank tagged in. Hank and Tank dominated Heights while also praising Pretty Deadly. Heights dragged Hank to ringside to brawl with him. Borne worked on Hank with Randy Orton like methodical offense. NQCC cut the ring in half on Hank.
Hank used a judo roll to get the hot tag to Tank, who cleaned house. Tank had a sugar rush and hit Borne with a slingshot splash. Tank hit Heights with a springboard shoulder block. Tank hit Heights with a spinebuster. Borne broke up the pin. Hank and Tank did a Yes Boy. Borne dropkicked Hank to prevent a Spilt Milk attempt. NQCC hit Tank with a double team Impaler DDT to give Borne the victory.
Miles Borne and Tavion Heights defeated Tank Ledger and Hank Walker via pinfall in 5:35.
Trick Williams was shown walking the hallways…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A fun tag match from some of WWE’s seasoned developmental wrestlers. I’m getting a kick out of Myles Borne slowly evolving to the visual and in-ring clone of Randy Orton. It’s starting to get uncanny with how Orton he looks. Hank and Tank were fun here. Looks like they are going for inspiration from other tag teams with them playing homage to The Hardys, Machine Guns, and Pretty Deadly. Not sure where that leads though. I thought they were building up a secondary tag division for the TNA tag titles, but that might be on hold right now if TNA plans to put the tag belts on the Nemeth brothers in the near future.
[Hour Two] A video aired of various WWE personalities praising Triple H’s entrance. This was to hype up Triple H entering the WWE Hall of Fame as a singles wrestler…
Trick Williams made his entrance. Trick talked about how Oba Femi may be ducking out on him. Trick said that Oba may be the Champion, but Trick is the man in NXT. Trick talked about fighting, sacrificing, and losing a brother (Melo) for all the effort. Trick said that every Tuesday he’s the “Him” of NXT. Trick said he sees all the hate in the back of people not wanting Trick back up top. Je’von Evans made his entrance.
Trick said he understands why Je’von is upset, but last week was just collateral damage. Trick said now was time for the grown folks to talk. Evans said that he understands Trick now. Evans asked Trick when did Trick know it was “your time”? Evans said Trick was where Evans is right now, last year. Evans talked about Trick making it to the top. Evans said that he wants the number one spot, but unlike Trick, he doesn’t have to get out of anyone’s shadow.
Trick said that Evans is in the Trick Williams shadow. Trick asked Evans if he knows about being champion, doing media, and having the brand on his back. Trick said winning a title is great, but carrying and defending the title is different. Evans said Trick may think he’s an A champion, but Trick don’t know who he is? Evans said Trick ain’t Trick. Trick is Carmelo Hayes. The crowd chanted “Melo”.
Evans said that Trick is acting like Melo a year ago, thus being a hypocrite. Evans said he did something Trick couldn’t do, drop Oba Femi. Oba Femi made his entrance. Oba told Evans to say dat to his face. Oba called that a lucky shot. Evans brought up NXT Deadline where he was one second from having a shot at the title, not giving Oba a chance. Evans said as a matter of fact, he’d drop Oba’s ass again. Trick gave Evans a boo.
Oba cut in and said he sees Evans as a small boy with big dreams and aspirations. Oba said that Je’von may be the future of NXT, but his success won’t be at the expense of the Ruler. Oba said Evans lives in the now and the Now is Oba Femi. Trick told Evans to excuse himself so he and Oba can set things up. Oba joked that if Trick spends less time talking, he’d still be champion. NXT GM Ava made her entrance. Ava booked Oba Femi vs. Trick Williams vs. Je’von Evans at Stand and Deliver for the NXT Championship.
Oba ended up dumping Evans and Trick to ringside. The lights went out and DarkState stormed the ring with the strobe lights flashing. DarkState beat down and dumped Oba and Evans to ringside. Trick then was surrounded, but then beat down by DarkState. Dark State gave Trick a pop-up Shield Bomb to end the segment standing tall…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A interesting segment and I’m actually looking forward to the Triple Threat, despite also wanting to see Trick vs. Oba one-on-one. Trick stood out as the clear heel here and was doing a decent job at it. I’m still having mixed thoughts on DarkState. They still feel underwhelming, but are starting to grow on me. Their last couple of segments looking like Def Jam Fight for New York brawls are winning me over a bit, and I’m starting to like that they are finally putting some character development into the group. The end of the segment sorta confirms that Trick isn’t their mystery leader, but I’m also reminded of when Bully Ray played 4D chess back in the day and took beatdowns from Ace and 8’s only to become the leader of Aces and 8s. DarkState also kinda giving me Aces and 8s vibes too.
A doctor informed Andre Chase last week that he has broken ribs after his match. The doctor asked Chase if he has a ride home. Chase said he’s all alone. Uriah Connors and Kale Dixon showed up and offered to take Chase home. The camera panned over to Jordynne Grace and Jaida Parker, apparently still brawling from an hour ago…
Hank and Tank met up with Axiom and Nathan Frazer backstage. Frazer and Axiom started bickering, saying they should be close friends like Hank and Tank. The Swipe Right tag team showed up to trash talk Axiom and Frazer. They also ogled at Roxanne Perez when she was heading to the ring…
Roxanne Perez made her entrance first. Kelani Jordan made her entrance next…
6. Roxanne Perez vs. Kelani Jordan for a spot in the NXT Women’s North American Championship ladder match at NXT Stand and Deliver. Perez and Jordan started the match with chain wrestling and pin attempts. The show cut to commercial with both women at a stalemate.[c]
Back from break, Perez was dominating Jordan while also showboating. Vic noted that we haven’t heard from Giulia in a hot minute. Jordan made a comeback and hit Perez with an elevated guillotine leg drop. While the referee was distracted fixing the apron, Perez gave Jordan a rake to the eye, and tossed her into the ringpost. Perez hyperextended Jordan’s arm on the turnbuckle joint.
Perez worked on Jordan with boots and methodical offense. Vic hyped the Slammy Awards for WrestleMania week. Jordan got a nearfall after a Small Package. Perez sent Jordan’s injured shoulder into the turnbuckle to break a pin. Perez missed a meteora to Jordan’s injured arm. Perez ended Jordan’s rally with strikes to the injured arm and an Arm Trap Northern Lights Suplex for a nearfall.[c]
During the break, Jordan managed to rally back with a cartwheel combination. The announcers noted that Jordan did the cartwheel with one arm. Perez dumped Jordan to ringside and hit her with a Suicide Dive. Jordan recovered and hit Perez with a corkscrew plancha at ringside. Back from break Jordan hit Perez with a DDT X-Factor for a two count.
Jordan rolled up Perez for a two count. Jordan hit Perez with an RVD Pele Kick. Perez dodged the One of a Kind. Perez hit Jordan with a cartwheel into a knee drop for a nearfall. Perez fired up Jordan with a slap. Jordan clawed at Perez. Jordan hit Perez with a kick to the calf and DDT. Jordan hit Perez with a One of a Kind for the clean victory.
Kelani Jordan defeated Roxanne Perez via pinfall in 14:39 to qualify for the NXT Women’s North American Championship match.
John’s Thoughts: Awesome match and a big win for Kelani Jordan against the former top woman on the brand, who may have just done the honors on the way out the door. Jordan continues to show that she’s a fast learner and good adapter. Definitely a future star. They just need to find a way now to forward this dragging story where she’s developing an edge. Perez continues to show why she’s so highly touted and Perez did a great job here making a less seasoned talent shine by leading a good match.
Ava was in her GM office with Stevie Turner and Robert Stone. Evolve GM Turner apologized for Swipe Right showing up unannounced. Ava said she’s more concerned with DarkState. Ava booked DarkState vs. Je’von Evans, Oba Femi, and Trick Williams for next week…
Sarah Schreiber interviewed Ricky Saints. Saints talked about how he’s about to be tripping in gold tonight. Saints talked about how it took a long time for Spears to win a title in WWE while he’s going to get gold in record time. Saints said the revolution will be televised when he becomes the new North American Champion…[c]
Zaria and Sol Ruca were hanging out backstage. Zaria said she wants Sol at ringside with her. Kelani Jordan showed up to claim she’ll win the title. Sol said that either she or Zaria will win the North American title. Zaria was surprised at that statement. Sol pointed out that she’s in a qualifier next week…
A DarkState selfie promo aired where they mugged for the camera and gloated about their beatdowns. They also called out the Tony D’Angelo family.
John’s Thoughts: Prince Nana and Jon Moxley may have found the Potara earrings, and the fusion result is them moonlighting as Saquon Shugars. I kid, I kid. Bad Dragonball joke. But being a wild card and drawing comparisons to Shield Jon Moxley isn’t a bad look. He is also clearly in the Jon Moxley position in the group as the most polished of the invading faction. Does that make the bookworm Roman?
Ricky Saints made his entrance first followed by The Culling. Mike Rome handled the formal in-ring championship match introductions. Corey joked that Mike’s attire makes him look like a bartender who’s about to whip you up an Old Fashioned. Vic said Booker might need an Old Fashioned after short circuiting on commentary…
John’s Thoughts: This match feelin’ like we watchin’ AEW Collison on a Tuesday.
7. Shawn Spears (w/Brooks Jensen, Niko Vance, Izzi Dame) vs. Ricky Saints for the NXT North American Championship. Saints immediately dumped Spears to ringside and beat him up. Spears managed to land a knee to the gut of Spears. Saints hit Spears with a catwalk version of Undertaker’s Old School. Saints did his pose while tightroping the barricade heading into break.[c]
Spears hit Saints with a power whip. Spears worked on Saints with methodical offense. Saints managed to drag Spears to the top rope. Both men traded forearms. Vic noted that Inamura vs. Wes Lee was pushed to next week. Saints hit Spears with a Super Jackhammer. A “this is awesome” chant ensued. Saints rallied with chops and clotheslines.
Saints hit Spears with a spinebuster. Spears rolled to ringside for a time out. Saints hit Spears with a Tornado DDT at ringside. Niko Vance got on the apron to distract the referee. Spears hit Saints with the title belt and got a good nearfall. Saints managed to counter Spears into a Death Valley Driver. Saints caught Vance with a Spear at ringside. Saint hit Spears with a Spear and Roshambo for the victory.
Ricky Saints defeated Shawn Spears via pinfall in 10:09 to become the new NXT North American Champion.
Ethan Page appeared behind Saints and floored him with the Twisted Grin (Twist of Fate). Page posed with the North American Championship to close the show….
John’s Thoughts: A really good match that they pulled off given the CW time restraints. Would have liked to see them get more time, but what can you do. I feel a bad that Spears got the belt after a long storyline, only to quickly drop it to Ricky Saints; but we also can see that WWE wanted to fast track the belt onto him once they signed him to the company, so it’s more a situation of timing. Hey, at least Stan from catering got his gold watch title run. Still, not sure why they didn’t wait for this match to happen at Stand and Deliver, as it would have given them more in-ring time and not just have Saints steamroll through their new heel faction.
Ricky Saints, Ethan Page, and Shawn Spears in a title picture. Throw in CM Punk and Brian Pillman Jr, and we can start calling this show Tuesday Night Collision. Saints and Page should be a good match, and it looks like Saints vs. Page should be the Stand and Deliver match. Speaking of which, NXT is finally pushing forward with formulating a card for their Mania weekend show. Finna be a bit tough given that they took so long to get to that point (they put more effort into building that strong Madison Square Garden TV card).
Hey I thought Perez was getting called up?
“Ava said only one of them will make it to Stand and Deliver because…”
Because what?????!!! Don’t leave us hanging!
The Ultimate Warrior had to relinquish the Intercontinental title after he became Heavyweight champ, so maybe the kayfabe logic is that the Heavyweight belt takes precedence.
When Becky Lynch was dual champion, both titles were heavyweight.
There was some shoot when the Family discussed DarkState. Dion Lennox really did play football at Oregon State and Cutler James did wrestle at Duke.
Further research shows Osiris Griffin did play for Syracuse. Saquon Shugars, however, is listed as being a wrestler from Queens University of Charlotte.