WWE NXT Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from April 8
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE NXT on April 8.
DarkState have been running roughshod all over NXT since the group first arrived and management has decided it's time for them to get in the ring for real.
Oba Femi, Trick Williams and Je'Von Evans were forced to put their differences aside to work in a six-man tag match against three of the four members of the stable.
Jordynne Grace and Jaida Parker have developed a bitter rivalry that led to a singles match on this week's show. Both women were hoping to be Stephanie Vaquer's opponent at Stand & Deliver, so the champ was watching closely.
Let's take a look at everything that happened on Tuesday's episode of NXT.
Jordynne Grace vs. Jaida Parker
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Vaquer came out first to watch Grace take on Parker up close so she could see who her potential challenger will be at Stand & Deliver on April 19.
Grace brought Parker to the mat with a double-leg takedown to get the match going with a brawl that took them out of the ring immediately.
Neither woman could get a clear advantage until Grace got the first two-count of the match. Grace may have a significant experience advantage, but these two have developed enough chemistry to appear on the same level in this contest.
This was exactly what NXT matches need to be, which is high-energy and a good display of the skills both competitors have developed. Sadly, the ending was not ideal.
Parker ended up hitting Vaquer at ringside, and then Vaquer accidentally hit Jordan in response to cause a DQ. The opponents tried to take out Vaquer until Giulia made the save. Then, out of nowhere Giulia attacked and took out the champion to end the segment. It looks like all three women want a shot at the champ.
Result: No-Contest
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
—Vaquer didn't get a lot of chances to talk on commentary.
—The way Parker tossed Grace over the top rope so she hit it on the way back into the ring was a nice move. It showed off her power.
—Booker T is such an odd commentator. He has so much experience he could bring to the table, but he chooses to focus on weird catchphrases instead of making valuable observations as often as he could.
Fraxiom vs. Swipe Right
2 of 8NXT's newest tag team from Evolve had a shot to make a name for themselves when Ricky Smokes and Brad Baylor took on Nathan Frazer and Axiom.
Smokes came out of the gate hot with a running dropkick that took Axiom off the apron. He and Baylor started double-teaming Frazer with a series of fast-paced moves while keeping Axiom at bay.
Frazer finally made a tag so he and Axiom could take control with some of their own double-team offense on full display.
The newcomers put on an impressive performance, but the NXT tag champs haven't held onto the belts this long by losing. They scored a clean win with a pair of high-flying moves.
Result: Fraxiom defeated Swipe Right
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
—WWE bringing in talent from Evolve is a good idea, but that show is not promoted nearly enough.
—These two teams worked together so well for this being their first match. Their similarities helped them find their groove.
Jazmyn Nyx vs. Sol Ruca
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A spot in the Stand & Deliver ladder match for the North American Championship was up for grabs when Jazmyn Nyx took on Sol Ruca.
Zaria, Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley were all at ringside. Nyx tried to take control early but was thrown off balance by Ruca's unorthodox style of offense.
Ruca is well-regarded for her aerial ability, but Nyx showed a lot of athleticism and agility in this match, too. She also showed some versatility with a couple of grappling techniques.
Ruca hit the Sol Snatcher for the win as Henley and Jayne looked on in frustration at what they viewed as a missed opportunity for one of them to get into the ladder match.
Result: Ruca defeated Nyx
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
—Ruca using a handstand to counter out of a headlock was smooth.
—She also hit a nice backflip into a pinning combination.
—Zaria had worse peripheral vision than most refs when she missed Henley trying to interfere.
Hank and Tank vs. Brooks Jensen and Niko Vance
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Brooks Jensen and Niko Vance of The Culling took control early in their tag match with Hank Walker and Tank Ledger.
The powerhouses managed to gain the upper hand for a while, but Vance tagged in and with some help from Jenson, they hit a double-team move to score a quick win.
This was pretty competitive for a contest that only lasted a couple of minutes, but it wasn't enough to stand out.
Result: Vance and Jenson defeated Hank and Tank
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
—It's so hard to take Brooks seriously after he spent so long acting like a totally different person before turning heel. It doesn't feel like he fits his gimmick.
Wes Lee vs. Yoshiki Inamura
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Ricky Saints called out Ethan Page to talk about why he was attacked, but Lexis King showed up instead. Eddy Thorpe joined them and said the North American title is his birthright.
Wes Lee also came out and said he wanted a title shot before Page showed up and dropped Saints with a cutter.
After the break, Lee was still in the ring to take on Yoshiki Inamura and he tried to get an early start with a dive out of the ring during Inamura's entrance, but he was caught and slammed.
Josh Briggs tried to fight off Lee's cronies, but the mayhem ended up helping Lee get the win after Inamura was tripped on the top rope.
If this had been a two-segment match, it would have been one of the best things on the show. It was fine for what it was, but it felt too short.
Result: Lee defeated Inamura
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
—King was the only one brave enough to try to get a couple of disruptive fans to be quiet.
—Inamura can be something special if WWE uses him the right way and doesn't force him to lean into the comedy too much.
—Lee does such a good job selling for powerhouses. The way he sold some chops to the chest was hilarious.
Wren Sinclair vs. Izzy Dame
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Izzy Dame and Wren Sinclair fought in a singles match this week, but members of NQCC and The Culling were at ringside, so there was almost no chance this was going to be a clean contest.
They made this a fast-paced fight, but that didn't allow them to sell much when a big spot happened.
In a somewhat shocking ending, Dame scored the win with a powerbomb. Nobody interfered, and it sounded like the announcers were surprised the match was over so quickly.
Result: Dame defeated Sinclair
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
—The crowd was really behind Sinclair and chanted for her quite a bit.
—Spears was shown watching from backstage but told his teammates he wanted them to prove themselves on Tuesday night, so he wasn't going to be there to help them.
Williams, Evans and Femi vs. DarkState
7 of 8Evans was out first, but his entrance was interrupted by Williams, whose entrance was interrupted by Femi. All three men would rather be fighting each other than their opponents.
DarkState hit the ring and immediately started brawling with their opponents. The ref called for the bell, and Femi drew the short straw of being the first man in the ring for his team.
Dion Lennox, Cutler James and Saquon Shugars were the three men competing for DarkState, so Osiris Griffin sat this one out.
The babyfaces were hesitant to tag each other until it became clear they had a big challenge on their hands, but they still argued at every turn.
Femi and Williams ended up getting into a fight and that led to DarkState picking up the win by pinning a vulnerable Evans.
This was decent, but the finish looked like it came close to being a disaster for Evans.
Result: DarkState defeated Femi, Williams and Evans
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
—DarkState feels like another attempt at Retribution with lesser-known names.
—The problem with introducing four men at once as a new stable is it becomes hard to get to know any of them as individuals. They have no defining qualities yet.
—Evans hit a brutal superkick to James at one point.
The Final Word
8 of 8This week’s NXT managed to pack seven matches into the two-hour runtime, which is more than we usually get on a three-hour episode of SmackDown.
Granted, a couple of them were short and inconsequential, but being able to feature so many people on one show is beneficial to the brand as a whole.
Nothing from this episode stood out too much, but the main event was a good piece of business that made three of the four members of DarkState look like a real threat to the top stars in NXT.
Stand & Deliver is going to be a stacked card with a lot of multi-person matches, and this week’s NXT did a lot of heavy lifting to set that up. Just about every major feud and title was addressed in one way or another.
This might not have been a standout episode for in-ring action, but it was a breezy two hours of pro wrestling on a Tuesday night.
Grade: B
