WWE NXT Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From April 28

The April 28 edition of WWE NXT saw the brand dealing with the fallout of WrestleMania weekend and NXT Revenge, highlighting new stars in the wake of multiple call-ups.

Tony D'Angelo addressed his next challengers for the NXT Championship. Lizzy Rain made her debut.

Ricky Saints hoped to make a statement at the expense of Shiloh Hill. Myles Borne defended the North American Championship against Saquon Shugars.

Who would make their mark? Which stars would set their course to take over this new-look NXT?

North American Championship: Myles Borne (c) vs. Saquon Shugars

Last Time in Action: Myles Borne defeated Dion Lennox to defend his North American Championship (NXT Revenge, April 21); Saquon Shugars alongside Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin and Cutler James lost to Tony D'Angelo, Ethan Page, Ricky Saints and Joe Hendry (NXT, April 7).

DarkState tried to interfere early to take down Borne, but the champion fought hard to avoid any distractions.

During the early parts of this match, the turnbuckle got partially exposed, allowing Shugars to send Borne into unprotected steel and take over.

The champion fought back, countering off the top rope with a crossbody for a near-fall. DarkState got involved again, trying to distract the referee.

Dion Lennox threatened to attack Borne with a steel chair during the distraction, but Shugars stopped him. Borne sent Shugars into Lennox followed by a Borne Again for the victory.

Afterward, a newcomer to NXT, Mr. England Tristan Angel, warned Borne that he was here to make a statement followed by a sneak attack on the champion by LFG's Kam Hendrix.

This was a rushed opportunity for Shugars, who has extremely limited singles experience. Even DarkState as a whole lack credibility right now to pull off the upset with interference.

However, Shugars worked well in this spot, and Borne got another title defense to his name.

The finish was a downer as it made little sense. Shugars had no reason to get in the way of Lennox with the referee thoroughly distracted. It was a contrived issue that further hurts DarkState's credibility.

The post-match was a good way to quickly showcase two new stars as NXT rebuilds its roster following the call-ups.

This is where NXT typically thrives. Fresh stars can prove themselves with bigger opportunities, and it should be interesting to see who amongst the new crop will be the next Trick Williams or Oba Femi.

Result

Borne def. Shugars by pinfall to retain the North American Championship.

Grade

B-

Notable Moments and Observations

The show started with a highlight reel of NXT Revenge.

A video from earlier in the day sowed Robert Stone talking with Shawn Michaels and Matt Bloom about challenging this roster to breakout.

The way DarkState can easily distract the referee to set up uneven odds should make it near-impossible for them to lose singles matches. Instead, they never win.

DarkState started so strong so fast in NXT that it feels like they are actually on track to drop below the brand new additions to the roster from Evolve/LFG.

Tony D'Angelo Meets EVIL and Faces a Surprise Attack

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Tony D'Angelo called out his next challenge for the NXT Championship.

Tony D'Angelo asked whoever called him out with a box last week to come out and face him. The lights went out, and a new NXT threat arrived in the form of EVIL.

The former IWGP heavyweight champion handed D'Angelo a scroll indicating war was coming for him.

As EVIL walked away, Tavion Heights laid out the NXT champion with a belly-to-belly before a mystery man (English pro wrestler Will Kroos) hit the champ with a Moonsault.

No matter how hard NXT is working to build new stars quickly, the approach of throwing a bunch of wrestlers at the screen does not work.

What started as a strong debut for EVIL became a bloated segment, selling Heights' new heel focus and debuting another star at the same time.

This mirrored the post-match interruptions for Myles Borne, which is bad booking all around. The more NXT repeats itself, the less impact each appearance will have.

Heights going after D'Angelo means so much less than the eventual collision with a former IWGP heavyweight champion going after the gold.

Grade

D

Notable Moments and Observations

Vic Joseph put over EVIL big while giving the surprise Kroos attack a "is that a fan?". Hopefully, that is an intentional gimmick call.

It is unclear what EVIL's NXT name will be yet, but the crowd knew his New Japan name immediately.

Tatum Paxley and Shiloh Hill laid Blake Monroe to rest in a graveyard.

BirthRight vs. EK Prosper and Sean Legacy

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BirthRight lost to a returning Sean Legacy backing up EK Prosper.

Last Time in Action: EK Prosper lost to Lexis King in the Men's Speed Championship final (NXT, April 21). Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and Uriah Connors alongside King, Arianna Grace and Charlie Dempsey lost to Prosper, Shiloh Hill, Hank and Tank and Wren Sinclair (NXT: Countdown to Stand & Deliver, April 4). Sean Legacy and Prosper defeated Jasper Troy (NXT, March 10).

BirthRight arrived with a smile, mocking their opponents before revealing they had laid out Dorian Van Dux backstage.

Prosper arrived followed quickly by a returning Legacy, starting a brawl that became a tag team match.

Prosper and Legacy showed chemistry that outshined BirthRight throughout the contest, winning with Legacy's Shambles on Stacks.

BirthRight attacked both men after the match until Evolve's Tate Wilder came in to make the save.

Losses like this certainly do not help BirthRight's standing in NXT, but it was nice to see Legacy back in action.

The action was fast-paced and made Legacy look great. In a new-look NXT, he should be a major rising star in the division.

Even with King's Men's Speed Championship win, BirthRight needs so much more credibility as a group.

It is another showcase of NXT's inability to build reliable heel factions, which makes it more difficult to build big babyfaces that can contest them.

Result

Legacy and Prosper def. Stacks and Connors

Grade

C+

Notable Moments and Observations

Backstage afterward, Stone put over Tate and welcomed him to NXT.

Kali Armstrong got in Jaida Parker's face in the locker room until the other women had to break it up.

NXT aired a quick video announcement from Shawn Michaels that NXT premium live events would air on The CW going forward.

Lola Vice Gets Ahead of The Culling Thanks to Mr. Iguana

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Lola Vice got revenge after last week's Culling sneak attack.

Lola Vice charged to the ring to call out Izzi Dame. Shawn Spears appeared on the titantron to distract Vice for the arrival of Dame and Niko Vance.

Vice countered with the arrival of her AAA mixed tag team champion, Mr. Iguana, and the champions cleared the ring together.

This was a better and more focused segment than last week. An angry Vice is a better promo, allowing her to seamlessly mix English and Spanish and keep it short.

Dame and Vance vs. Vice and Iguana makes sense for an immediate direction in NXT, even if WWE should have the NXT women's champion regularly defend her primary title first.

Two weeks ago, three women stepped up as future challengers to Vice, but two of them have lost interest quickly. It is odd booking.

Grade

B-

Notable Moments and Observations

In the locker room, Kendal Grey and Wren Sinclair talked about next steps. Kelani Jordan interrupted and challenge Sinclair to a non-title match.

Cutler James and Osiris Griffin shut down the argument of Dion Lennox and Saquon Shugars backstage and advised they were going after NXT tag gold.

Jackson Drake was riding high after his date last week, but Jasper Troy interrupted to challenge him for next week.

Lizzy Rain vs. Nikkita Lyons

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Nikkita Lyons

Last Time in Action: Nikkita Lyons lost to Wren Sinclair in a women's Speed tournament semifinal match (NXT, March 3). This was Lizzy Rain's debut.

Lyons quickly knocked down Rain with a Roundhouse and Split-Legdrop, but Rain refused to stay down.

The NXT newcomer came back in a flurry with Machine Gun Chops in the corner with the crowd behind her.

After an uppercut in the corner, she hit the Thunderstruck Knee for the victory.

Rain immediately got the crowd behind her and ran with that energy. She made Lyons look better than she has in a while in NXT and still took her down in convincing fashion.

While NXT has overloaded this show with new stars, Rain got the biggest reaction of any newcomer and looked like she belonged.

This was not a squash, which was the right way to present her. NXT relies too often on simple squashes early.

Rain looked like she belonged against someone who could have believably beaten her based on her past NXT history and longevity under contract.

Result

Rain def. Lyons by pinfall.

Grade

B

Notable Moments and Observations

Rain had an introduction to her entrance that works for a debut but should not be a permanent addition.

Lyons explained in a pre-taped promo that she challenged Rain to make clear newcomers would not jump her for opportunities.

The crowd chanting Rain's name to every chop sold her immediately as big-time. Hopefully, it translates to bigger crowds.

Kelani Jordan vs. Wren Sinclair (w/ Kendal Grey)

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Kelani Jordan

Last Time in Action: Kelani Jordan defeated Jaida Parker (NXT, April 14); Wren Sinclair alongside Hank and Tank, Shiloh Hill and EK Prosper defeated BirthRight (NXT: Countdown to Stand & Deliver, April 4).

Jordan dominated the early stretch of this match and took advantage of a knee injury Sinclair suffered after a Dropkick off the apron.

Jordan hit a springboard Cutter and went for the Frog Splash. Sinclair got the knees up to protect herself but could not capitalize after due to the pain in the knee.

In response, Jordan attacked the knee again and hit the One of a Kind Moonsault to win.

This was a solid if unspectacular match that allowed Jordan to build more heat. The focus on the knee was clear and built to the finish but did not allow for many interesting sequences.

While this is a repeated point, Jordan simply does not have the style necessary to play the heel and seems to be hurting her stock trying to sell this character.

She is a ready-made main-roster star as a babyface, yet she is stuck in NXT floating while she has already fought most of the top names.

Sinclair did her job putting over Jordan to set up a match between Jordan and Kendal Grey, and that should be a more eventful contest soon.

Result

Jordan def. Sinclair by pinfall.

Grade

C+

Notable Moments and Observations

The crowd was disinterested early, chanting for Grey instead of the active competitors and "you can't wrestle". The second did get a counter "yes, she can" chant at least.

The chants stayed loud though and grew more focused on the action down the stretch.

Myles Borne questioned Tavion Heights' actions earlier in the night, who brushed him off. Keanu Carver warned Borne that he was going after all the gold.

Zaria said goodbye to Sol Ruca in an ugly AI-generated video.

Ricky Saints vs. Shiloh Hill

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Shiloh Hill continues to be a problem for Ricky Saints to solve.

Last Time in Action: Shiloh Hill lost in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (SmackDown, April 17); Ricky Saints alongside Tony D'Angelo, Ethan Page and Joe Hendry defeated DarkState (NXT, April 7).

Saints had control early in this contest until Hill disappeared under the ring. Saints pulled out a dummy decoy, allowing Hill to reappear and lay out the former NXT champion.

Saints found his way back into the action after a counter to the Standing 360 Senton followed by a Spear for a near-fall.

Hill fought back and hit the 360 Senton for the near-fall. Saints hit an explosive Superplex for his own near-fall.

The Revolution knocked Hill's tooth out. While this seemed to awaken something in Hill, he still managed to hit the Roshambo on the floor.

Saints brought a steel chair into the ring. Hill tripped him into it followed by the Whisper to the Beast for a victory.

While this was not a spectacular match, it clearly stood out on the night, selling Hill as a threat to just about anyone in NXT.

With Saints seemingly on his way to SmackDown, Hill got a huge spotlight in the main event, defeating a former NXT champion.

While this feels like a sudden jump for Hill, Saints needed to put someone over on his way out, and Hill has been a consistent presence on TV since arriving from LFG.

He is clearly well liked by NXT officials and has outworked his current role. With this win, he would make sense to rocket into title contention.

In fact, he comes off as the most natural star to dethrone Myles Borne as North American champion, allowing him and his best friend Tatum Paxley to hold the same titles together.

Meanwhile, Saints heads to the main roster after an uneven run in NXT. He is shorter in stature than many of his new SmackDown peers and still needs to find what makes him stand out in a bigger talent pool.

Result

Hill def. Saints by pinfall.

Grade

B+

Notable Moments and Observations

Hill set up his dummy decoy to watch from the barricade. If Hill can keep up these antics on the main roster, he has a stand-out gimmick.

Hill celebrated in the crowd with the fans.

After the main event, Tony D'Angelo told Shawn Michaels that he was ready for the chaos and would fight anyone and everyone.

Overall Show

Sloppy execution was the pitfall NXT repeatedly fell into throughout the night.

This was about rebuilding the roster, presenting fresh faces who can push the brand forward in spite of how many stars are moving to Raw or SmackDown.

NXT ended up presenting unfocused chaos, not allowing any one star to stand out before the next was also involved.

The strongest presentation was for Lizzy Rain and EVIL (possible new NXT name pending). Everyone else was one of the mass of names trying to get over without success.

It will take months for many of these stars to truly establish themselves while NXT tries to elevate the current crop of stars who were presented as midcard until this week.

This was a must-see episode of NXT, but not one that will be an easy watch down the line for those trying to view the full journeys of these fresh names.

In the long term, though, NXT clearly showed it will not be difficult to fill the spots left vacant. But it is far less clear which names are actually ready to deliver the same impact as those who just left.

Overall Grade: D+