Browsing: legacy

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…

NXT TV RESULTS
OCTOBER 21, 2025
ORLANDO, FLA. AT PERFORMANCE CENTER
LIVE ON CW NETWORK
REPORT BY NATE LINDBERG, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

NXT Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T

Ring Announcer: Mike Rome

Backstage Correspondent(s): Sarah Schreiber

Join us on Youtube approximately 15 minutes after NXT ends!

[HOUR ONE]

-The show began with a recap of last week’s events between Ricky Saints and Trick Williams, from Saints calling Trick out in the ring to Trick’s attack on Saints and more. The recap led into more of last week’s events; Dark State’s beatdown on The Hardys, the tension between Sol Ruca and Zaria, the events of the Women’s Battle Royal including Tatum Paxley’s win.

-Vic Joseph began welcoming everyone to the show and then The Culling’s music hit. Tatum Paxley was accompanied to the ring by Izzi Dame, Nico Vance and Shawn Spears. Izzi hugged Tatum in the center of the ring. Tatum grabbed a mic and tried to address the crowd through chants of “You deserve it!”. “Guys, I freakin’ did it!” she exclaimed. The crowd continued to cheer for Tatum as she said that she defeated 19 other women and finally gets her shot at the women’s title after four years on the NXT roster. She said she’s lost all her friends and everything she’s ever had in NXT, all except one friend. The NXT Universe (isn’t that like… thousands of friends? But, I digress). She says everything is finally going her way as part of The Culling and praised Izzi for looking over her back when nobody else would. She said that with The Culling having her back, she’ll win the title without issue.

Fatal Influence made their way to the ramp. Jacey Jayne asks Izzi Dame if she’s going to tell Tatum? She said that Tatum doesn’t stand a chance in hell at Halloween Havoc. Jacey said she may have started her reign as the most beatable champion, but she’s proven everyone wrong. When it matters most, you can’t beat her. Jacey continued to cut a scathing promo on Tatum saying that she should have let Izzi win the battle royal, at least she would have had a chance. Tatum reminded Jacey that it took her a long time to finally become a champion. Now, after years, it’s her turn.

Fallon Henley said that The Culling is going to betray Tatum during the match, and Izzi reminded them that they were the ones who turned their backs on Jasmyn Nyx. Tatum said that she knows her friends support her while Fatal Influence only has each other’s back when it’s convenient. She said that they’re willing to prove that tonight, she and Izzi challenged Fallon and and Lainey Reed to a match before a brawl broke out between the women. Nico Vance and Shawn Spears just stood there. Menacingly.

-Stacks asked Arianna Grace why she called Stacks “Santino’s future son in law” last week. Arianna looked a little embarrassed and said that “she may have dropped a few hints” before calling him by his real name. Stacks reminded her to call him by his ring name. Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans happened to be watching and hyped each other up for Leon’s match against Stacks later in the night. (c)

-Vic Joseph hyped up Saturday’s Main Event

(1) STACKS w/Arianna Grace vs. LEON SLATER w/ Je’Von Evans) – TNA X-DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

The bell rang and the two locked up, Slater backing Stacks to the ropes. Stacks fended him off and grabbed an arm. Leon reversed, backed Stacks into the corner and hit a sunset flip. He tried for another sunset flip and missed, Stacks capitalized and took control of the match. Trick Williams was shown in a split screen arriving at the building. Stacks whipped Leon into the corner extremely hard, Slater had trouble getting back to his feet. Stacks whipped him just as hard into the opposite corner and then went to stomp him. Leon reversed and went for a kick. Stacks caught it, Leon turned it into an enziguri.

Stacks went under the ropes to take a break, Slater jumped over the top rope to take him out. Je’Von Evans grabbed a headset for commentary as they cut to a commercial break. (c)

Back from the break, Stacks had Leon in an abdominal stretch. Leon escaped and hit a hurricanrana and rolled through to pin for a two count. Stacks kicked out and punched Leon in the stomach. He hit him with a suplex followed by a Cement Shoe for a two count. Stacks stayed on the offensive and hit a modified backdrop for another two count. Stacks put Leon in a fireman’s carry and hit a Gutbuster for another near fall.

Leon hit the Utopia on Stacks, but couldn’t capitalize and attempt a pin. Arianna Grace got on the apron to check on Stacks. She was accidentally knocked off the apron by Leon, sending Stacks into a bit of a rage. He bounced Leon off the announce table and then sent him back into the ring. Before Stacks could make it back in the ring, Leon was on the top rope and hit him with a crossbody for a near fall. Leon stayed on the offensive and dumped Stacks out of the ring. Leon then jumped over the top turn buckle and hit Stacks on the outside. He then climbed back to the top rope and hit the 450 splash for a the win.

Winner and Still Champion: Leon Slater

-After the match, Je’Von grabbed a mic and congratulated him. He then said that he wants to go to Halloween Havon. Leon said that they create magic across from each other, but want to team up again to create some fire. Je’Von said that if they’re gonna be in a tag team match, it’s gotta be a good team.

Mr. Iguana and La Parka made their way to the ring from AAA. Mr. Iguana grabbed a mic and said that they should be invited to the party at Halloween Havoc next week. They had already spoken to Ava and she has already made their match official.

-A video package for Zachary Wentz vs. Jasper Troy for the Speed tournament aired.

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LONDON — Jose Mourinho suggested there are many Chelsea managers who live in his shadow, and Chelsea’s unconvincing 1-0 win over Benfica offered a reminder of the work Enzo Maresca still must do to earn the same level of infatuation.

It is a curious position for Maresca to be in to some extent. After all, he is a champion of Europe and the world after winning both the UEFA Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup in the past few months.

And yet, as he noted the build-up to this game, the Chelsea fans do not sing Maresca’s name, which Mourinho’s return highlighted starkly. In the second minute, supporters stood to serenade Mourinho, the man who delivered them three Premier League titles and gave Chelsea a ruthless streak that endured throughout the Roman Abramovich era.

Those same fans remain divided on their view of the current manager — not unhappy to the extent a mutiny is imminent, but unconvinced Maresca’s brand of football is the best way to extract the maximum from such an expensively assembled squad.

A narrow win over Benfica at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday will have done nothing to quiet the debate.

– Revisiting transfers from summer: Who’s meeting expectations?
– Making sense of Liverpool’s surprising recent form
– Why Chelsea shouldn’t freeze out Sterling

Chelsea won the game with the only goal coming in the 18th minute when Pedro Neto‘s sweeping ball found Alejandro Garnacho and the former Manchester United winger’s cross was turned into his own net by Richard Ríos‘ own goal.

Neto was lively, Moisés Caicedo was again heavily influential in midfield and Garnacho was bright before fading as the game wore on. But they were collectively unconvincing.

Dodi Lukebakio struck the post early on and Fredrik Aursnes was unable to finish a promising second-half move as Benfica made this a nervy evening for a team that had lost three of its previous four games.

And after losing to Bayern Munich on Matchday 1, Chelsea needed this win. As ugly as it was, the result was all that mattered.

In fairness to Maresca, there were extenuating circumstances. He is without four center backs, key creator Cole Palmer and summer signing Liam Delap while João Pedro was only deemed fit enough to play the final half-hour. As it was, Pedro still didn’t manage to finish the game as two yellow cards meant he became the third Chelsea player to be sent off in four matches.

These factors led in part to Maresca naming a team with an average age of just 24, the youngest Champions League lineup in Chelsea’s history. They had only 42 appearances in the competition collectively. For context, this was Mourinho’s 146th Champions League match.

“We lost at Bayern, but I think the team was good. We played face to face there against a team that’s always been in the quarterfinals and semifinals in the last five, six or seven years,” Maresca said. “For us, the Champions League is a journey that started this season and hopefully game after game, we can get better.

“We needed the win for different reasons. It was good to win tonight in any case. Sometimes you need to learn to win in an ugly way like in the last minutes of the game. At least we learn how to win a game with a red card.”

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There is always a performative element about Mourinho in situations such as this, and he hasn’t always received a warm reception at his former club. But there was a sincerity with which his contribution to the club was acknowledged by grateful supporters.

It was a particularly curious sight to see him back in the dugout he occupied as Chelsea boss across spells between 2004 and 2007, and 2013 and 2015. Mauricio Pochettino swapped the home technical area at the start of his season in charge — 2023-24 — to occupy a more central position on the pitch and so Mourinho’s vantage point Tuesday will have felt especially familiar.

Since arriving in London on Monday, there were many staff and officials at Chelsea who sought out Mourinho for a moment together to mark his return, but it was only German referee Daniel Siebert who got him a card, a yellow in stoppage time for protesting a foul with his typical vigor.

“I don’t feed myself with these memories,” Mourinho said afterward. “I feed myself with victories.”

Earlier in the game, Mourinho tried to act — somewhat unnecessarily — as peacemaker when Benfica fans threw objects at their former player Enzo Fernández when attempting to take a corner while he later entered the field late on to retrieve the ball, seemingly just to make sure he remained near the center of attention.

It is part of the 62-year-old’s composition, one reason why so many fans adore him and his successors in west London have struggled to match his enduring impact. Maresca’s is the latest to try and next up are Premier League champions Liverpool. It doesn’t get any easier.

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In December 2020, AEW star Brodie Lee passed away of pulmonary fibrosis at 41 years old, with his death resulting in a wave of anguish among wrestlers and wrestling fans. Days after his death, AEW held a tribute show in his memory, resulting in one of the more beloved episodes of “AEW Dynamite” in the show’s history. Speaking with Forbes ahead of tonight’s six-year anniversary edition of “Dynamite,” Tony Khan reflected on the impact Lee left on everyone at AEW and around the wrestling world.

“We’re very proud of Mr. Brodie Lee and Jon Huber and what he brought to AEW,” Khan said. “Jon was a great guy in a wonderful family, and he loved wrestling. And it’s a testament to Jon Huber, and Brodie Lee as a wrestler, that the first two things anybody’s going to say about this guy are he loved his family, and he loved wrestling, and the wrestlers and people that he worked with.”

Khan praised Lee for helping invigorate the company in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when AEW was holding shows with a limited live audience at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. Looking back on the tribute show held in the wake of Huber’s death, Khan still feels they succeeded at honoring the wrestler’s legacy.

“I think that’s the singular best event in AEW history,” he stated.

The Brodie Lee Celebration of Life episode of “Dynamite” took place on December 30, 2020 at Daily’s Place. It included five tag team matches featuring people who knew and worked with Lee, and ended with Lee’s wife and two children being awarded a special TNT Championship belt before a tribute video played to close out the show.

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How Jersey goes about getting that bigger squad is a tough challenge.

Unlike many of their rival nations, they cannot call on a diaspora of talented players with Jersey heritage playing overseas – something Italy did with great effect this summer as they beat Jersey to T20 World Cup qualification.

Also, Jersey – with a population of just 100,000 – does not have the levels of immigration of other nations, meaning they are less likely to have talent from places such as South Asia moving to the island.

“The landscape of cricket is changing,” Hutchison added.

“The migration of people means that cricket teams can change pretty quickly from being pretty ordinary to being fairly excellent within a couple of years.

“The migration in and out of Jersey is pretty tight, so that side of it is not really going to change too much, I don’t think.

“So it’s just going to be focusing on the pathway and making sure these younger players are developing and coming through.

“One of the things we looked at doing during my time was increasing the fast bowling resources we had.

“We’ve now got four or five 6ft 4in fast bowlers who are only 15 years old, but if they keep tracking as they are doing, they should be ready to be picked up and put in the first team by whoever is coaching them in hopefully three or four years’ time.”

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