WWE NXT Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights Before Homecoming 2025
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE NXT on September 9.
Here's a look at what WWE advertised for this week:
- DarkState vs. Hank and Tank (Tag titles)
- Fatal Influence vs. Solu Ruca and Zaria vs. The Culling (Tag title No. 1 Contender's match)
- Ethan Page vs. Tavion Heights (Flag match)
- Josh Briggs vs. Je'Von Evans
- Lainey Reid vs. Faby Apache
Let's take a look at everything that happened on the pre-Homecoming episode of WWE NXT.
Josh Briggs vs. Je'Von Evans
1 of 7
NXT opened with Evans walking through the crowd to the ring and calling out Briggs, who did not waste any time coming out to respond. Evans leapt out of the ring onto him to kickstart a brawl.
Once they got into the ring, Evans nailed a kick followed by a frog splash for a close two-count. The Young OG stayed on his opponent and kept Briggs on defense until the big man was able to get in a few shots to take control.
Evans tried to make a comeback, but Briggs yanked him off the apron and his face hit hard. Evans recovered and ended up hitting a suicide dive that sent both men over the announce table.
They battled through a break into the next segment. Both men got in some big moves, but it was Briggs who got the win when he countered Evans coming off the top rope with a huge shot to the head with a chain wrapped around his hand.
This match started out hot and never lost momentum. Evans is one of the most exciting young talents in NXT, and Briggs has grown into a versatile and reliable worker who can play a base for a high-flyer like The Young OG. This was a great match that helped get the crowd into the right mindset.
Result: Briggs defeated Evans
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- The dive Evans hit right out of the gate looked awesome.
- The crowd would not stop taunting Briggs. The chants went on for so long.
- The suicide dive Evans hit looked incredible, and Briggs did a tremendous job catching him and selling it.
DIY and Trick-Melo Gang
2 of 7
When we returned from a break, DIY was in the ring.
Tommaso Ciampa said returning to NXT always feels special, especially since the 10-year anniversary of DIY is close. It didn't take long for Trick Williams to interrupt.
Carmelo Hayes joined the party and immediately felt like a bigger deal here than he ever does on SmackDown. Melo and Williams haven't interacted since Hayes left NXT, and Melo said Williams has been squatting in the house he and DIY built.
Williams said it wasn't right that he talked trash about Melo, but also said this was still his house. Ciampa made a joke and Melo took offense. DIY then challenged Trick and Melo to a tag match at No Mercy, but the segment ended before an answer could be given.
This segment started fine, but it ended up falling apart a bit at the end, especially with the abrupt ending. There was no reason why Melo and Williams couldn't respond to the challenge that was issued. It felt rushed even though it had plenty of time.
Grade: C
Lainey Reid vs. Faby Apache
3 of 7
AAA's Apache was in action this week in a Speed tournament match against Reid, and both gave a quick backstage promo before the match.
For those who did not watch WWE Speed when it was on Twitter/X, these matches have a three-minute time limit.
Apache fired off a dropkick as soon as the bell rang to take control. She had the crowd on her side, but Reid took control right at the end of the first minute.
Both women got some near-falls as they kept the pace quick to pack as much into the three minutes as they could. Apache missed a dive off the top rope and Reid capitalized to get the win with only a few seconds left.
It's hard to do anything substantial with only three minutes, but these women did a good job making every second count. They left room to improve, but it was a decent bout.
Result: Reid defeated Apache
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
- It seems like NXT only cares about building up the women's Speed title.
- Natalya was shown watching from the crowd.
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DarkState vs. Hank and Tank
4 of 7
The NXT tag titles were on the line this week when Hank and Tank challenged Osiris Griffin and Dion Lennox for the belts.
Hank and Tank started off strong by taking out Lennox on the apron and double-teaming Griffin, but they were unable to get the pin.
We returned from a break to see DarkState in control, but the challengers were not out of the fight. They kept this bout feeling competitive and rarely slowed down for longer than a second or two to sell something.
The energy here was great, but everything they did between the ropes was relatively basic. They relied more on fundamentals and taunting than anything else.
Lennox made the mistake of saying Joe Hendry's name, causing the TNA star to burst through a wall and chase him. During the distraction, Hank and Tank ended up losing to a roll-up. The ending was a bit weird, but most of what we got here was decent.
Result: DarkState defeated Hank and Tank
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- We got a video package from Blake Monroe in her bathtub. She is tapping into the more violent side of her character again.
- The way Hank hit the top turnbuckle when Griffin whipped him into it was strange. He basically dove into it.
- Lennox has a nice spinebuster.
Ethan Page vs. Tavion Heights
5 of 7
For the first time in quite a while, WWE held a flag match between Page and Heights. A brief video package showing the history of the stipulation was shown before Heights made his entrance.
All Ego tried to go for his flag before the ref even called for the bell, but Heights stopped him. Heights seemed way more interested in inflicting damage than winning right away.
Despite taking a bad fall out of the ring, Page took control for a little while. He almost cost himself the match by bringing Tavion to the corner with the American flag, but he was able to prevent him from pulling it down by yanking him off the top rope by his hair.
Any kind of match where you have to retrieve and item from a pole is going to feel significantly different form a normal bout, so it's always a little hard to judge these things. They worked hard and did a good job, but it's always hard to get invested in this kind of bout because it's not about being the better wrestler.
Heights was able to claim the flag and win the match, but sadly for him, the North American Championship was not on the line. Tyler Breeze showed up and posed next to Page's unconscious body to end the segment, so it looks like he might be facing Page at Homecoming next week.
Result: Heights defeated Page
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Myles Borne attacked Lexis King with a chair backstage before this match took place.
- Page took a nasty bump out of the ring and landed on the back of his neck and head.
The Culling vs. Fatal Influence vs. Sol Ruca and Zaria
6 of 7
This Triple Threat No. 1 Contender's match was also an elimination contest, so the winners would have to beat both sets of opponents, not just one.
One member of each team was legal at all times, so this had a lot of chaos right from the get-go. The ref was giving everyone a lot of leeway since there were fewer rules in this bout.
Niko Vance and Shawn Spears ended up getting taken out by the four women who were not in The Culling because they were tired of their presence at ringside.
We returned from a break to see Izzi Dame, Fallon Henley and Ruca all struggling to get to their feet. Ruca accidentally hit her finisher on Zaria and it led to their elimination.
This was a hard-fought match with a lot going on, but it was never hard to follow the action. After a few close calls, Dame got the win for her team by pinning Fallon Henley.
Jacy Jayne got on the mic and ran down her teammates for losing, but she was interrupted by shots of someone arriving in the parking lot as the show went to its final break.
Result: The Culling defeated Ruca, Zaria and Fatal Influence
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- The video for Lola Vice at her dad's taekwondo school was great.
- Jazmyn Nyx hit a nice Perfectplex.
- The way they set up Zaria to take the Sol Snatcher was great. The fact that Ruca can hit that move accurately as often as she does is a miracle.
The Final Word
7 of 7
The show returned from the final break with Jayne still ranting on the mic about how she is the greatest NXT champion of all time. Stephanie Vaquer came out and reminded Jayne that she was a double champion.
Tiffany Stratton and Rhea Ripley joined Vaquer, so this was clearly a setup for a six-woman tag match at Homecoming. The show ended with the babyfaces driving Fatal Influence out of the ring.
Tuesday's NXT felt like a business-as-usual episode. It had a handful of matches, helped hype the next big event, and had a few storyline developments.
Evan and Briggs stole the show with their match. Both men worked hard to make sure it was entertaining, but Evans definitely stood out a bit more for his high-flying antics.
Grade: C+
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