WWE NXT Live Coverage - April 16th, 2024
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Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes wage war in a Steel Cage Match
The rivalry between Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes is not over as the two Superstars will battle in a Steel Cage Match on NXT. After their incredible Stand & Deliver main event that saw Williams stand tall, Hayes once again attacked his former friend and laid out Williams and NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov at the end of last week's NXT. Hayes then challenged Williams, claiming to not only be done with his former friend but that he still wants the NXT Title.
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– Vic Joseph and Booker T welcome us to the show as we shoot live inside the CWC where Noam Dar's theme hits. Out he comes accompanied by The Meta-Four for our opening contest. He settles in the ring and awaits the arrival of his opposition.
Noam Dar vs. Dijak
Dijak's theme hits and the camera shot turns black-and-white as always. He makes his way out and settles in the ring as well. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. The two each take pro fighter stances to get this one going. Dijak takes the early offensive lead, using his size and strength advantages.
After roughing up Dar in the corner, we see Dar come off the ropes with a big spinning back-kick that drops Dijak to one knee. Dar continues to build on the momentum from there. He heads out to the floor with The Meta-Four. Dijak goes to come out after him but Dar rolls back in. Dijak hits a bring springboard clothesline for a two count.
Dar slaps a choke on the big man, and Dijak starts to fade. Dijak fights back up and launches Dar out to the floor, where he crashes and burns at ringside. We shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as our opening match of the show continues.
When we return from the break, we see some more back-and-forth action until Dijak gets ready to finish things off, when Oro Mensah hops on the ring apron for a distraction. Dijak super kicks him to the floor but turns around into a Nova Roller from Dar for the pin.
Winner: Noam Dar
– Backstage, Ilja Dragunov walks into the office of NXT G.M. Ava. He talks to her and they come to the conclusion that he will be competing tonight. He tells her to send word to the entire locker room that whomever stares him in the eyes in the ring will get a chance to test themselves against "The Mad Dragon" tonight.
Lola Vice vs. Sol Ruca
Inside the CWC, the theme for Lola Vice hits and out she comes to the ring for our next match of the evening. As she settles inside the squared circle, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return, we see a vignette with Tatum Paxley, looking goth and talking about many past champions, including Lyra Valkyria.
"Lyra, I loved you!" She says she broke her heart and lost the title. She says now she's nothing to her. She says Roxanne Perez is the cool kid in class now, but it needs to be her. She says Lyra is in her way. Back inside the CWC, Sol Ruca makes her way out. The bell sounds and after some back-and-forth action, we see Blair Davenport run-in for the finish, which sees Vice get the win.
After the match, Natalya appears and calls out Lola Vice. She says she's challenging her to her kind of match. At two weeks at WWE NXT Spring Breakin' 2024, it will be Natalya vs. Lola Vice in an NXT Underground bout.
Winner: Lola Vice
– Some NXT Anonymous footage airs showing Ridge Holland losing his cool on Joaquin Wilde of the LWO while talking to NXT G.M. Ava. After this wraps up, we head into another commercial break. When we return, we see Arianna Grace and Gigi Dolin a "cinematic experience" type of segment where Grace tries to make Dolin a true beauty queen.
Unfortunately, it looks like the Grace-Dolin vignette will be a multi-part series. Back inside the CWC, Ridge Holland makes his way out and settles in the ring. The LWO theme hits and out comes Joaquin Wilde. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. We see Holland Donky Kong'ing Wilde around the ring for a few minutes.
Ridge Holland vs. Joaquin Wilde
We see Shawn Spears watching the action from the stage. Wilde fires up and hits some Matrix ducks into neck-breakers and other spots, but ultimately gets rag-dolled some more by Holland for the win.
Winner: Ridge Holland
– Backstage, we see Josh Briggs with the doctor, who says he'll be good to go soon. In comes Ivar of The Viking Raiders. He tells Briggs to heal up a couple of weeks and let him have his fight with Oba Femi. Briggs says no way. He tells Ivar to go back to Raw and get beat up by Sheamus again. They agree to fight tonight to see who gets Oba next.
We go to Malik Blade and Edris Enofe working out at the gym and then we shoot to Tony D'Angelo and The Family walking backstage. Vic Joseph says we won't want to miss what he has to say -- next. On that note, we head into another commercial break.
– As we settle back in from the break, we see Andre Chase and Thea Hail having a heart-to-heart. He explains why he bet on her and how he didn't care what he was losing when he threw in the towel on her, he just wanted her to be okay. Hail feels awful for how she treated him. She says she's sorry for ever doubting him. He says it's okay.
– Inside the CWC, the theme for Tony D'Angelo hits and out he comes with The Family -- Luca Crusafino, Stacks and Adrianna Rizzo. He mentions rapid-growth in The Family after he and Stacks lost the tag titles. Out comes the No Quarter Catch Crew to confront them. They have words. The Family wants their payment for their help in the past.
NQCC thought they did it for the good of the business. Stacks tells them they can settle this debt or they can handle it like they always do. Damon Kemp goes to speak up and he's cut off and told no one was talking to him. D'Angelo says he doesn't go anything for purity, it's strictly for business. D'Angelo tells him the Heritage Cup looks nice. They end up brawling. We head to break.
Open Challenge: Ilja Dragunov vs. Je’Von Evans
Inside the CWC, the theme for "The Mad Dragon" hits and out comes WWE NXT World Champion Ilja Dragunov for our next match of the evening, which after his meeting with NXT G.M. Ava earlier in the show, will be an "open challenge" to anyone in the locker room who sees him eye-to-eye in the ring.
His settles in the ring, his music dies down and then virtually the entire male locker room emerges and rushes to the ring to try and be the one to answer the challenge. Doesn't seem like anyone is scared of a fight against the champ! Eventually we see Je'Von Evans emerge as the guy who will get the match.
The fans chant "Young O.G" as this one gets ready to get going. The bell sounds and off we go. After some back-and-forth action, we see Evans come just short several times in what Vic Joseph called a "star-making performance," which ultimately saw Dragunov win via Torpedo Moscow and H-Bomb.
Winner: Ilja Dragunov
– After the match, we shoot backstage where Karmen Petrovic is interviewed about the announcement of Natalya vs. Lola Vice in an NXT Undergroud match at WWE NXT Spring Breakin' 2024 in two weeks. She says she is going to be training Nattie for the fight and will be in her corner.
Lola Vice tells her just wait until she sees who she has in her corner. She tells her she'll see her at the contract signing next week, which appears to be another segment now official.
Thea Hail vs Tatum Paxley
Back inside the CWC, the theme for Thea Hail hits and out she comes for our next match of the evening. As she does, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break. When we return, Sol Ruca tells Ava she wants Blair Davenport in a No Disqualification bout for next week's Spring Breakin'. It appears to be on.
We return inside the CWC where Tatum Paxley is finishing up her ring entrance, in progress. The bell sounds and this match quickly gets started. We see some back-and-forth action and then we get to the finish, which sees Jazmyn Nyx hop on the apron for a distraction. Jacy Jane trips Hail up and Paxley steals the win.
Once the bout wraps up, we see Hail launch herself onto Jane on the floor. They have a wild brawl as Chase U and officials try and break it up. As that is going on, we see Lyra Valkyria hit the ring on the other side from behind and a brawl breaks out with she and Paxley.
Winner: Tatum Paxley
– Backstage, WWE NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez is talking in cocky fashion about all the brawling that just happened with all of the ladies moments ago.
She says maybe she'll give whomever emerges a title shot. She says Ava doesn't have such a hard job. She then gets cut off by Ava who sarcastically tells her she's right and then reveals she'll defend her title in a triple-threat against Lyra Valkyria and Tatum Paxley.
Authors Of Pain vs. Malik Blade & Edris Enofe
Inside the CWC, the theme hits for The Authors of Pain and out they come accompanied by Paul Ellering as the screen turns black-and-white. Isn't that Dijak's gimmick when we're watching WWE NXT? As they settle into the ring for our next match of the evening, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break.
When we return, Malik Blade and Edris Enofe are settled in the ring and the bell sounds to get our next match of the evening officially off-and-running. Azam and Rezar dominate the action from the word "go" in this one.
After a lengthy one-sided process, we see Blade and Enofe fire up out of nowhere for an offensive comeback. One goes for a dive but is caught. The other goes to dive onto them to knock them over, but as he comes through the ropes, his partner's body is launched at him. Back in the ring, AOP hit their finisher for the win.
Once the match wraps up, we see WWE NXT World Tag-Team Champions Axiom and Nathan Frazer run out and look to confront the men that attacked them at the end of last week's show. Security and officials hold them back and prevent them from doing so.
Winners: Authors Of Pain
– We check in with Grace and Dolin doing their beauty queen shopping and makeover crap. After the horrendous second installment of the Grace-Dolin saga wraps up, we head back inside the CWC where we hear the sirens for The Viking Raiders.
Ivar vs. Josh Briggs
Out comes Ivar for our next match of the evening. As he settles into the ring, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break. When we return, Josh Briggs' theme hits and out he comes with his arm and ribs heavily taped up. The two are ready to rock and roll.
The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one, where we will find out who is next to challenge Oba Femi for the WWE NXT North American Championship. Ivar gets off to a fast start, taking it to Briggs. This remains like this until Ivar gets the win in what was essentially a squash match.
Winner: Ivar
– Backstage, Oba Femi is interviewed about Ivar's win, and he doesn't have much to say at all. He walks off and slams the door into Oro Mensah on his way out. Oro yells in pain from the ground, "Not again!"
– We head to the commentary table for announcements from Vic Joseph and Booker T. The WWE NXT Women's World Championship will be on-the-line in a triple-threat match at WWE NXT Spring Breakin' 2024 with Roxanne Perez vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Tatum Paxley scheduled for week one.
Also set for night one of the two-week special themed event is Blair Davenport vs. Sol Ruca in a No DQ match, The D'Angelo Family vs. NQCC in a Six-Man Tag-Team match, Natalya vs. Lola Vice contract signing for the NXT Underground showdown at Spring Breakin' 2024 week two.
Additionally, Ilja Dragunov will defend the WWE NXT World Championship against Trick Williams in night one, where if Trick loses, he must leave NXT. The commentators now switch gears and start talking about the Steel Cage main event coming up between Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes.
Steel Cage Match: Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes
– We see a live shot of officials putting the steel cage up around the ring. Vic then leads us into a video package to tell the story leading up to tonight's Steel Cage main event. After this wraps up, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break.
As we settle back in from the break, we see Hayes backstage being interviewed with his personal masked security behind him. He vows to take everything from Trick, including his chances of becoming champion next week. He heads to the ring with his security. He settles inside the cage.
The horns sound, leading into the drumroll, which, of course, is immediately followed by insanely loud "Whoop That Trick!" chants from the WWE NXT Universe in attendance. Booker T does his usual hip-hop ad-libs on commentary as he makes the final walk. He steps in the cage and stares at 'Melo from the ropes.
Now the bell sounds and we get this one officially off-and-running. Within a minute or two of the bell sounding at 9:57pm EST., we cut into a mid-match commercial break. When we return at a minute and change past the 10 o'clock hour on the East Coast, we see Hayes slamming Trick into the cage.
Hayes goes to splash Trick into the cage one-too many times, as Trick moves and Carmelo crashes and burns. Trick hits a big Rock Bottom that shifts the offensive momentum into his favor. He hits a pair of big side kicks that fires the crowd up with more "Whoop That Trick!" chants.
The two fight to the top-rope and bounce each other's domes off the cage back-and-forth. As Trick emerges in the offensive lead, we see the personal masked security of Hayes swarm the ring. He starts taking them out one at a time. He closes the cage door again and turns around into a near miss from a chair shot by Hayes.
Trick hits Hayes' with a 'Trick Shot' into the chair for the win. We see Ilja Dragunov staring Trick down from the balcony as fans chant "Whoop That Trick!" with Williams seated on top of the cage pointing at Ilja. Vic plugs the high stakes title tilt for night one of WWE NXT Spring Breakin' 2024 for next week. That's how this week's show goes off the air.
Winner: Trick Williams
