NXT is now on Tuesday nights and there is a lot to unpack already.
There was an advertised debut, two matches that involved the women including the main event, a lot of eyes on the new champion Raquel Gonzalez, and a surprise moment that was heartwarming to see.
The first match of the night was from an altercation that happened earlier in the day. Mercedes Martinez was heated because after she paired back up with The Robert Stone Brand a few weeks ago she didn’t get paid as she wanted. This was done because Jessi Kamea wasn’t able to compete. She approached Aliyah and Robert Stone backstage. When she wasn’t getting her money she choked Aliyah up against the way until Kamea entered. Martinez asked her if she wanted to step up to her. Kamea said no, she wanted to step on her.
Mercedes Martinez defeated Jessi Kamea
Despite the confidence that Kamea presented, the match was way shorter than it needed to be and Martinez was able to pick up the victory. After the match, Martinez went after Stone and Aliyah. Aliyah was able to escape around the barricade to the other side of the plexiglass but Stone wasn’t so lucky. Martinez held him up against the plexiglass until he gave her the money she was requesting.
As she was walking away checking her money, she stopped at the announce table and delivered a message to Raquel Gonzalez. Martinez has her eyes set on the new champion and wants to take the gold for herself as she states she is coming for her.
She isn’t the only woman that has her eyes set on Gonzalez. The debuting Franky Monet made a huge statement as she let the new champion know that she will be seeing her every Tuesday night. For a full rundown of what took place during Monet’s debut, you can click here to see the previous report.
After Monet and her adorable dog left the ring, a moment happened that no one was expecting. The new RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley and the new SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair joined Gonzalez in the center of the ring to celebrate their victories. Behind them on the screen was a photo of all three of them together. It was a beautiful and a fully realized moment of what we have witnessed this past week.
In a WWE Network Exclusive that was just uploaded, it shows Triple H being the proud papa as he takes photos with all three champions. Then after he leaves the three women to discuss their wins with one another and Ripley mentions that it is the start of a new era. They all agree and Belair says that the ones that came before them don’t have to leave but they need to make some space. Plus there is more coming behind them as well.
The main event saw an eight-person tag team match that pinned the NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart along with Dexter Lumis and Bronson Reed against all four members of The Way.
Blackheart, Moon, Reed, and Lumis defeated The Way
This match had a bit of everything and was fun to watch. As the match starts to wind down to its finish, Indi Hartwell pretended to be knocked out in the ring as Lumis was trying to put Johnny Gargano to sleep. Once Lumis realized that Hartwell was “knocked out” he showed concern. As he goes to help her up, Austin Theory takes him out and Lumis spills to the outside. Hartwell then disposes of her own teammate Theory out on the other side of the ring. She then falls down again on the ring apron and Lumis picks her up to take her to the back. She picks her head up, winks, and smiles with a thumbs up. #Index.
Back to the action in the ring. Moon climbs on top of Reed’s shoulders and delivers an Eclipse on Theory. Candice LeRae then dumps Moon to the outside. Reed then fights off Gargano and Theory in the corner as he is perched up on the top turnbuckle. LeRae then tries to deliver a superplex to Reed as Blackheart shows up to place her on her shoulders and drop her on top of Theory. Reed then hits a Tsunami for the pin and the victory for his team.
Other women who made appearances on the show are Zoey Stark, Marina Shafir, and the announcement of Sarray’s debut.
Stark was seen backstage being interviewed about how she felt competing at her first TakeOver event. She says just four months ago she was living in Las Vegas trying to make ends meet. Now she has a huge victory over Toni Storm and has her eyes set on the NXT Women’s Title. Mercedes Martinez had something to say about that statement. Martinez says that she is the next in line for a title shot and that we shouldn’t be wasting our time on some rookie.
Shafir didn’t play any big part in the show but she was alongside her husband Roderick Strong. Strong turned in his resignation to William Regal who stated that he was always welcome back. What this may mean for Strong and if Shafir is going to play a part in it remains to be seen. Shafir was last seen in action alongside Zoey Stark in the Dusty Cup in January.
Lastly, Sarray will be making her long awaited debut next week. Sarray was signed a while back and because of the pandemic she wasn’t able to get to the United States. She is here now and the video hyping her debut from Regal seems to be big things on the horizon for this talent.
Now let’s get into the Winners & Losers of the week:
WINNER: Raquel Gonzalez (and Rhea Ripley/Bianca Belair)
Although I am not loving the fact that Raquel seems to be a babyface all of a sudden, she 100% deserves this title win. Her recapping her history and how much she has grown showed that. Her interaction with the debuting Franky was great. And the big moment between her and Rhea and Bianca was something that I was not expecting in the slightest and made me emotional from all three wins this past week.
WINNER: Franky Monet
Good first impression of Franky. And for a change we have someone who is debuting who I feel has a good entrance and music to go along with it. The Torrie Wilson vibes are real. Going right towards the champ is good also and at the same time it doesn’t feel like she is necessarily jumping the line as Mercedes and Zoey both mentioned they have their eye on the prize as well.
WINNER: Indi Hartwell
Indi has so much talent. Both in the ring and her ability to make everyone laugh. I was fully expecting the Index moment and I am still good with it happening as it did. Her thumbs up was great and the WWE Network Exclusive that has come out is even better. She explained where she went missing was that she had to go to “medical” to be “cleared.” *wink wink* The Way is actually a stable where all four of them play their parts so very well.
LOSER: Jessi Kamea
It’s hard to pick a loser because everything was solid. But the constant jobbing that The Robert Stone Brand gets to be tiring. Kamea stands up to Martinez in the clip from earlier today to just lose in a minute. I didn’t expect her to beat Martinez but at least they could have had a solid match.
If RAW and SmackDown would start using their women as much as NXT does then it would be a lot more fun discussing the Winners & Losers of the week.
One last thing before I go, same vibe?
What did you think about this week’s NXT? Who were your Winners & Losers? Leave your thoughts below.