Alpha Academy & The Meta-Four Backstage

Backstage, we see Noam Dar with The Meta-Four talking about his match tonight against “One Trick Pony” Williams. In comes Akira Tozawa, Otis and Maxxine Dupri from Alpha Academy. Otis admits to Lash Legend that he’s jealous over she and Trick. We head to a break.

As we settle back in from the break, we see The Wolf Dogs duo of Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin goofing off and talking about finding out which teams they’ll be defending their gold against at Stand & Deliver. In comes Alpha Academy and they clown around a bit.

Maxxine Dupri suggests that if Alpha Academy duo Otis and Akira Tozawa can defeat The Wolf Dogs next week on NXT, they’ll be in the tag title bout at Stand & Deliver.

Women’s Royal Rumble Match

Samantha Irvin begins the official pre-match ring introductions for the opener, which will be the Women’s Royal Rumble match. Natalya’s theme hits and out she comes as the number one entrant for this year. Naomi’s theme hits second and out she comes as the first surprise entrant of the evening. She and Nattie kick things off for a few minutes and then Bayley comes out at number three. At number four was Candice LeRae.

Out at number five as cops sirens sounds, is current TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace. The commentators explain who she is to the viewing audience at home and a good portion of the crowd seems to be aware of who she is. Pat McAfee puts over Grace as an “absolute weapon” for TNA. They mention how she defeated Naomi for the TNA Knockouts title. She and Naomi hug and then duke it out. Indi Hartwell comes out next and then Asuka.

Hartwell ends up being the first person eliminated. Bayley keeps trying to high five Asuka, who wants nothing to do with her. Coming in next is Ivy Nile. Katana Chance comes in at number nine after that. Number ten comes out and is Bianca Belair. She gets a big pop coming out. Kairi Sane comes out as the next entrant. All three members of Damage CTRL in the ring work together to eliminate Candice LeRae.

The countdown clock appears again and out as the 12th entrant is Tegan Nox. Grace looks to eliminate Nox, but Nattie saves her friend. The two hug and then Nattie tries to sneak and throw her out, only for her to throw Nattie out. Bayley then eliminates Nox so they both end up tossed out anyways. The countdown clock appears again and out at number 13 is Kayden Carter. We see Kairi Sane nearly pull a Kofi Kingston, but slips and ends up eliminated.

Seconds later, Asuka gets thrown out. Bayley is now the only Damage CTRL member still alone in the ring. She yells to them, “What do we do about the plan now?!” The countdown clock appears again and when it expires, Chelsea Green’s theme hits and out she comes with an insanely oversized skirt as part of her entrance attire. She takes it off and heads to the ring as Cole reminds everyone she was eliminated in 5 seconds last year.

This year she is nearly thrown out in 2 seconds, but hangs on. Belair throws her over again but again she hangs on. She hits a big move on Belair and over-celebrates, but then gets spinebuster-slammed down to the mat by Grace. Bianca ends up KOD’ing Grace to eliminate her. Piper Niven comes out as the next entrant and she and Green go to work on everybody with double-team action. Xia Li comes out as the next entrant.

Zelina Vega comes out as No. 17 with an even wilder entrance attire than Chelsea Green. Maxxine Dupri comes out next and gets a big response from the crowd, who also loudly does the “SHOOSH!” bit with her once she gets in the ring. She immediately eliminates Xia Li and Ivy Nile with ease. The fans boo like crazy. Green tries sneak attacking her, but she sees it coming.

Niven goes to splash her but Jax moves and she splashes Green on accident. Niven then spears Jax over and over again into Green in the corner. Shotzi comes out and hits some high spots off the top. Becky Lynch comes out after that and the crowd goes wild. “The Man” hits the ring and immediately starts getting some eliminations, including Chelsea Green. Out at no. 22 next is Alba Fyre. At no. 23, out comes Shayna Baszler to a non-reaction.

Out at number 24 is Valhalla. She comes out with the antlers on and Michael Cole goes unbelievably nuts. Like for a while. As she walks to the ring, R-Truth’s theme hits and out he comes walking past Valhalla and sliding into the ring to an enormous pop. He looks confused. Nia Jax grabs him and throws him out in seconds. The fans boo. Adam Pearce runs down and tells Truth it’s the Women’s Rumble. He tells Truth he’s out and Valhalla she’s in. Valhalla goes in but is immediately thrown out.

At number 25, out comes Michin. At number 26, Zoey Stark comes in. Roxanne Perez comes out at no. 27. We see some more eliminations and then Perez hits a cool spot rolling around the body of one of the other entrants for what seems like forever. Jax ends up power bombing Baszler out and then Michin for two more eliminations. The commentators continue to sing her praises for her performance thus far tonight. She also power bombs Shotzi out of the ring to eliminate her.

The countdown clock hits again and out at number 28 is former AEW TBS Women’s Champion Jade Cargill to easily the biggest sustained roar of the evening thus far. Like really, really loud. She hits power spots on Nia Jax and eliminates her. Tiffany Stratton comes out at no. 29. At no. 30, out comes Liv Morgan to make her long-awaited WWE return. A bunch of eliminations take place, including Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair, after a cool stare down between Belair and Cargill.

We’re down to Cargill, Morgan and Bayley. Bayley and Morgan try together to eliminate Cargill. They eventually do. Bayley then kicks Morgan out to eliminate her. She is the last person standing. Bayley has won the 2024 Women’s Royal Rumble and will now go on to challenge for the title she chooses at WrestleMania 40.

NXT Heritage Cup Championship
Noam Dar (C) vs. Chad Gable

Introduced first is Alpha Academy’s Chad Gable. The fans chant “THANK YOU!!!” The reigning and defending NXT Heritage Cup Champion Noam Dar is then introduced. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one.

Gable immediately jumps into the early offensive lead, isolating the arm of Dar and taking him down to the mat. He continues to control him with his superior mat-based amateur wrestling and positioning skills.

Dar traps Gable’s arm behind his back upon returning standing. Gable ends up countering out of it and locking up Dar’s arm once again. Otis, Akira Tozawa and Maxxine Dupri have some fun with the crowd at ringside as Gable continues to work over Dar inside it.

Oro Mensah and the rest of The Meta-Four are shown shouting words of encouragement to Dar at ringside. Gable continues to control the action as fans chant “Gable! Gable! Gable!” Dar starts to show signs of life as the final 20 seconds of the first round tick away.

Gable trips Dar down out of nowhere and slaps on an ankle lock. Dar gets to the ropes to free himself and the first round ends. After the break, the second round begins and Dar comes out throwing leg kicks. Gable hits the ropes and runs over Dar and then slaps on a side head-lock.

Moments later, we see The Meta-Four help Dar sneak and cheat his way into the early lead, as he picks up the first fall in the second round to go up 1 to 0. We head to a mid-match commercial break as the third round gets underway.

As we settle back in from the break, we see Gable and Dar trading roll-up attempts as the finals seconds tick away to end the round. The two head to their respective corners as the fourth round is about to get started with Dar still up 1 to 0 over Gable.

Gable fights back in the fourth round, and heads to the top-rope where he leaps off and connects with a flying head butt for a super close near fall attempt. He locks his arms around Dar on the apron outside the ropes looking for a German suplex, but Dar avoids it.

Dar ends up planting Gable on the floor, and he is nearly counted out but rolls back into the ring just after the count of nine. The two are trading shots on their knees as the final ten seconds of the fourth round tick away. Gable hits a German suplex and scores a pin as soon as the fifth rounds begins.

The score is now tied up 1-1 and as the referee is dealing with everyone on the ring apron, we see The Meta-Four blast Gable from behind with a cheap shot. He crawls to his corner and is still out of it as the bell sounds to start the sixth round, so Dar immediately begins beating him down.

We see Gable go to slam Dar down but he gets stuck in a triangle choke from Dar on the bottom. Gable muscles Dar up and Donkey Kongs his way free and goes for the cover. Dar kicks out at two. Dar hits a spinning back elbow that stuns Gable.

He recovers and locks Dar in an ankle lock. Dar pushes him into the corner and gets back to his feet. Gable hoists Dar up for a Razor’s Edge but flips him over front-ways directly into a DDT for a close near fall. Gable heads to the top-rope backwards and goes for a moonsault.

Dar gets his feet up but Gable stops himself and snatches up an ankle lock. Dar tries kicking free again but Gable rolls and hangs on. He drops down and twists it deep. Dar taps just as the bell sounds. There is confusion as to what that means, as Alpha Academy are celebrating with Gable in the ring, but The Meta-Four are also celebrating with Dar.

The fans chant “He tapped you!” The ring announcer declares it tied 1-1 at the end of six rounds. Due to it ending in a tie, the Heritage Cup does not change hands. The fans boo. Awesome opener. The finish didn’t really play out well, as the bell seemed to sound just before Dar tapped.

Noam Dar retains NXT Heritage Cup Championship as match ends in a 1-1 draw.

Super Nova Sessions With Special Guests Alpha Academy

The social media video of Amy “Lita” Dumas revealing the two Iron Survivor Challenge qualifying matches for tonight are announced and then we see Noam Dar and The Meta-Four walking backstage. The Super Nova Sessions is up next. We head to another commercial break.

When we return from the break, we see Dominik Mysterio walking backstage with his NXT North American Championship around his waist. Baron Corbin walks up and the two talk friendly. Corbin says he’s getting rid of Wes Lee tonight. Dom-Dom says he’ll be watching and has his back if he needs it.

Back inside the CWC, Noam Dar and The Meta-Four make their way out for the latest installment of the Super Nova Sessions talk show segment. The ring is decked out with the set for the talk show and Noam Dar welcomes us. He points out he’s got his Heritage Cup locked and chained up to keep it safe.

He introduces his guests at this time and we hear “SHOOSH!” as the Alpha Academy theme hits. Out comes Chad Gable, Otis, Maxxine Dupri and “junior cadet” Akira Tozawa. The fans chant “Otis! Otis!” Chad Gable says “THANK YOU!” for having us and begins admiring the Heritage Cup trophy.

He tells him he’s lucky to still have it. Akira Tozawa says if you take Meta-Four away from ringside, the cup would be his. Otis flirts with Lash Legend, who is disgusted by the thought. Dar acts emotional about trying to find a worthy challenger for the cup. Gable says he’s found one.

Dar says you’re on for next week and the man is teased to be Otis. He’s fine with it and then it’s revealed it’s not Otis at all, but actually Chad Gable. Dar doesn’t like this. The fans do.