Invasion
Before it all went to hell, Trick Williams and Oba Femi had a compelling match. They wrestled like two men who knew each other extremely well, and prepped for every eventuality. I like seeing how far Trick’s come in the ring, while Oba shows he can pretty much do it all.
But that’s not why you’re here. You read the headline. You knew everything that led to this. So let’s not bury the lede.
TNA officially invaded NXT.
It started
early. NXT showed wrestlers coming into the Performance Center and in a TNA wrestler lurked in the background of every shot. Throughout the night, whether in interviews or background segments, TNA wrestlers were like Waldo only not as frustrating to find. Every now and then, we’d get a NXT wrestler or wrestlers tailing them too.
It call came to a head during the main event when TNA cats ominously stood in the stands. Even Matt Cardona showed up. But Mike Santana led the uprising. He sat ringside midway through the match and explained how tired TNA is of the narrative that NXT runs their show. They also took lots of umbrage with NXT making TNA title matches without TNA’s involvement. But hey, they were just spectating.
Once Trick had the upper hand on Oba and the action went outside the ring, Trick took his eyes off Oba to light the match. He slapped Mike knowing what would happen. The ref rang the bell and anarchy ensued.
I’m always down for an invasion angle. I expected a bogus finish to Trick and Oba but wish we got a bit more creativity to get there. Trick slapping Mike with only a few minutes remaining in the show felt lazy. But if the end result is compelling, that laziness won’t matter much.
The Difference
Lola Vice mentioned the last time she faced someone of the NXT Women’s Championship. I thought about it too, even before she said it, in comparison with where she is now. Last year, NXT sold her as an underdog story, complete with tears and a heartfelt family story. They told us Lola puts on a facade; she’s not as tough as she looks and there’s a white meat babyface lurking under that heel exterior. I didn’t buy it because it was cliche but also unnecessary. Yes, Lola needed a shift when facing the very heel Roxanne Perez, but it betrayed the character we knew. Rather than making her a cool face with an edge, they opted for the opposite.
Thankfully, everyone involved course corrected. We’re still getting Lola’s story but it’s more about her roots. It’s not just about her immediate family but the city she calls home. This isn’t about someone happy to be here. Lola knows she belongs but now she’s proud to represent everyone who came along for the ride. And she still has her edge.
Lola displayed that here in her last promo session with Jacy Jayne before No Mercy. Jacy, for her part, was effective her too. She plays the mean girl so well, which makes it easy to cheer for anyone opposing her in the ring. Besides Lola knocking Jacy on her back, again, the biggest development was the champ coming to the ring by herself. She told Fallon Henley & Jazmyn Nyx she can handle Lola dolo and didn’t need them. Later in the show, a ref found Jazmyn knocked out backstage. Fallon & Jacy reacted like this:
I don’t know about you but that sounds like Fatal Influence is now a duo. How long until Fallon bounces though? And will she be in Jacy’s corner at No Mercy? If she didn’t need her this week, why need her when the title is on the line? That’s how I’d see it if I were Fallon.
I want Lola to win if only to see this more confident version hold some gold, but the law of opposite momentum says she’s going down. Those are the rules.
But rules are made to be broken.
Album Cuts
- Lights Out was perfect for Myles Borne and Lexis King. Both men brought the appropriate aggression, evil intent, and pure hatred. When a feud reaches this level, it needs to feel like a fight, not a wrestling match. That’s exactly what we got and Myles set it off perfectly attacking Lexis before things really began. Then they went straight to the “plunder.” Chairs, steel steps, barricades, until it finally finished with Myles pinning Lexis with a Borne Again through Checkov’s Table. Awesome way to start the night. Hopefully Myles moves on and shows why the territory put him in the main event against The Ruler not that long ago.
- Lainey Reed almost kneed Candice LeRae into No Mercy to end their Speed match. It looked like it was Candice’s to lose but Lainey staged a comeback in the last minute (literally) and shocked the world. Golf claps for Sol Ruca & Zaria watching from the Crow’s nest and writing their opinions about Lainey and Candice. The verdict? Meh. We’ll see if Sol still feels that way when she defends her Speed championship against Ms. Reed.
- Look, I can’t front: I don’t know who these NASCAR cats are. But you gotta cross-promote with the network. I get it.
- Blake Monroe and Jordynne Grace in a weaponized steel cage at No Mercy. Blake marched to the ring with a trash can and plunder. This wasn’t a surprise attack; she wanted a fight. Jordynne, fresh off defeating a very game Arianna Grace, was more than ready. That’s when security hit the ring. Stevie and Mr. Stone made the announcement that they can destroy each other at No Mercy with weapons in a steel cage. Let’s do it.
- Stacks is back! He took Arianna to safety and consoled her. It happened really quickly but it’s good to see Stacks back in some way.
- DarkState got the chance to neutralize their Kryptonite. Joe Hendry teamed with what remains of Chase U to face them in a six-man tag. Well, neutralize they did. While Joe didn’t take the pin (Uriah Connors did the favors), DarkState showed they can overcome his presence. I don’t think this is over as far as Joe feels, but he may need some new partners. I’m still not feeling Chase U 2.0. The chemistry doesn’t feel right and they need more people. The old crew had magic that’s lacking here.
- There’s a lot popping on NXT this week, which relegated some stories to video packages. Let’s start from the top, shall we?
- Jaida Parker came with her usual style and unkind words. Aimed squarely at Lash Legend, Jaida reminded Lash that she beat her down after their match a couple weeks ago. Lash got the W against her but Jaida said it was the last.
- Josh Briggs said he’s tired of hearing that he doesn’t connect with the fans. In fact, he’s tired of thinking about the fans. While they may tell him to leave when he shows up, they chant how awesome his matches are. So yeah, why care about fickle fans? But Je’Von Evans cares. He cares too much, according to Josh. And that’s why he’ll win.
- Ricky Saints showed us his hometown in New Orleans. Those humble beginnings are why he has to win the championship to prove that everything was worth it.
The invasion finally happened. That aside, this was a fun show that felt coherent from start to finish. It built to the invasion angle that closed the show, but the matches before that all delivered. Really dug this as a go home show. Hopefully the nonstop anarchy continues once we get to No Mercy.
What say you, Cage siders?
