The 2024 NXT Battleground (marketed as NXT Battleground: Las Vegas), was a professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was the second annual Battleground held for the promotion's developmental brand NXT, and the seventh Battleground overall. In partnership with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), WWE's sister company under TKO Group Holdings, the event took place on Sunday, June 9, 2024, at the UFC Apex in the Las Vegas suburb of Enterprise, Nevada. It was WWE's first event held at the venue and aired via the company's livestreaming platforms. Rapper Sexyy Red hosted the event.
| NXT Battleground: Las Vegas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Promotion | WWE | ||
| Brand(s) | NXT | ||
| Date | June 9, 2024 | ||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada | ||
| Venue | UFC Apex | ||
| Attendance | 679[1] | ||
| WWE Network event chronology | |||
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| Battleground chronology | |||
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| NXT major events chronology | |||
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Six matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Trick Williams defeated Ethan Page to retain the NXT Championship. In other prominent matches, Roxanne Perez defeated Jordynne Grace from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling to retain the NXT Women's Championship, Oba Femi defeated Wes Lee and Joe Coffey in a triple threat match to retain the NXT North American Championship, and in the opening bout, Kelani Jordan won a Ladder match to become the inaugural NXT Women's North American Championship.
Production
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Host | Sexyy Red |
| Commentators | Vic Joseph |
| Booker T | |
| Spanish commentators | Marcelo Rodríguez |
| Jerry Soto | |
| Ring announcer | Mike Rome |
| Referees | Adrian Butler |
| Chip Danning | |
| Dallas Irvin | |
| Derek Sanders | |
| Felix Fernandez | |
| Jeremy Marcus | |
| Interviewer | Sarah Schreiber |
| Pre-show panel | Megan Morant |
| Sam Roberts |
Background
Battleground was previously an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event established by WWE in 2013. The inaugural 2013 event was held in October, but then moved to July from 2014 to 2017.[2][3] Battleground was then discontinued after the 2017 event as WWE ceased producing brand-exclusive PPVs for the main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown, resulting in less PPV events held per year.[4] However, in May 2023, the company revived the event for its developmental brand, NXT, which aired via WWE's livestreaming platforms.[5]
On January 26, 2024, WWE announced a second NXT Battleground, and seventh Battleground overall, thus establishing it as an annual livestreaming event for NXT. The event was originally scheduled for Memorial Day weekend on May 26 at the Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia.[6] However, on April 22, 2024, the company announced that in partnership with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), WWE's sister company under TKO Group Holdings, the event would instead be held at the UFC Apex in the Las Vegas suburb of Enterprise, Nevada on June 9, with the event also promoted as NXT Battleground: Las Vegas.[7] Tickets went on sale on May 24.[8]
Storylines
The event included matches that result from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program, NXT, and the supplementary online streaming show, Level Up.[9][10]
At Stand & Deliver on April 6, NXT General Manager Ava announced a new secondary women's championship for NXT called the NXT Women's North American Championship, marking it the first women's secondary championship in WWE.[11] During Week 2 of NXT: Spring Breakin', Ava announced that the inaugural champion would be crowned at Battleground in a six-woman ladder match, with the participants determined through qualifying matches and the participants in those qualifiers would come from the results of a NXT Women's Combine.[12] The combine evaluated the athletes' speed, power, strength, and conditioning with the top 12 moving on to the qualifiers. The top 12 from the combine in order were Sol Ruca, Chase University's Thea Hail, OTM's Jaida Parker, Brinley Reece, The O.C.'s Michin from SmackDown, Fallon Henley, The Meta-Four's Lash Legend, Diamond Mine's Ivy Nile from Raw, Izzi Dame, Kelani Jordan, Tatum Paxley, and Wren Sinclair.[13] The first two qualifying matches took place on the May 14 episode of NXT, where Ruca and Legend defeated Dame and Nile, respectively.[14] On the May 21 episode, Henley and Parker qualified by defeating Hail and Reece, respectively.[15] The last two qualifying matches took place on the May 28 episode, where Michin and Jordan qualified by defeating Paxley and Sinclair, respectively.[16]
At Stand & Deliver on April 6, Oba Femi retained the NXT North American Championship in a triple threat match involving Josh Briggs and Dijak.[11] On the following episode of NXT, when Femi celebrated his successful title defense, he was interrupted by Raw's Ivar, who wanted a title match. Femi accepted, and the match took place on Night 2 of NXT: Spring Breakin', where Femi retained the title. After the match, Wes Lee, who had been sidelined with a back injury since December 2023, made his return and stared down Femi.[12] On the May 14 episode, Lee, Ivar, and Briggs argued over who should get a title match. Femi decided to let the three fight amongst themselves, and a triple threat match between Lee, Ivar, and Briggs was scheduled for the following week, where the winner would face Femi for his title at NXT Battleground. Later that same night, Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, and Wolfgang) made their return and attacked the three competitors.[14] Ivar ended up getting injured and taken out of action for an indefinite period of time.[17] Later, NXT General Manager Ava announced that Joe would replace Ivar in the triple threat match.[18] The following week, both Lee and Joe pinned Briggs, and the two men were considered the winner. Later that night, NXT General Manager Ava set up a triple threat match between Femi, Lee, and Joe for the title at Battleground.[15]
During week 1 of NXT: Spring Breakin', Raw's Shayna Baszler returned to NXT to accompany Lola Vice in her NXT Underground match against Natalya, also from Raw, who was accompanied by Karmen Petrovic.[19] During Week 2 of Spring Breakin', Vice won the match.[12] After that, the rivalry between the two teams continued, and on the May 14 episode of NXT, Natalya and Petrovic challenged Baszler and Vice to a tag team match on next week's episode, which was made official.[14] There, Natalya and Petrovic won the match. After that, Vice turned on Baszler, and a brawl started between the two. NXT General Manager Ava then announced a match between the two at NXT Battleground, where Baszler proposed an NXT Underground match, which was made official.[15]
On the May 21 episode of NXT, after talking to Raw General Manager Adam Pearce and SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis, NXT General Manager Ava announced that Roxanne Perez would be defending the NXT Women's Championship at NXT Battleground against somebody from the main roster, and her opponent would be announced the following week.[15] On the next episode, however, Ava revealed that reigning TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) would challenge Perez for the NXT Women's Championship at Battleground.[16]
On the February 20 episode of NXT, SmackDown's The O.C. (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) made a surprise return to NXT and attacked Axiom and Nathan Frazer.[20] The two teams later entered a tournament for an NXT Tag Team Championship match at Stand & Deliver, which Axiom and Frazer won.[21] On the May 21 episode of NXT, Gallows and Anderson attacked Axiom and Frazer after their successful title defense.[15] One week later, a title match between the two teams was scheduled for Battleground.[16]
On the May 14 episode of NXT, Noam Dar was found attacked backstage by an unknown assailant. Dar's Meta Four stablemates, Oro Mensah and Jakara Jackson assumed NXT Champion Trick Williams attacked Dar, but fellow stablemate Lash Legend defended Williams.[14] The following week, Meta Four interrupted Williams, with Mensah and Jackson still accusing Williams of attacking Dar, but Legend still defended him, saying that Williams knows all about getting jumped backstage due to his recent feud with Carmelo Hayes and that he wouldn't do the same to Dar.[15] On the May 28 episode, Mensah was attacked by the same unknown assailant. Later that night, the unknown assailant was revealed to be the debuting Ethan Page, who attacked Williams and posed with the NXT Championship.[16] The following week, Page (kayfabe) signed a contract with NXT, which granted him a match against Williams for the NXT Championship at Battleground.[22]
Results
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[24] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kelani Jordan defeated Sol Ruca, Lash Legend, Fallon Henley, Jaida Parker, and Michin | Ladder match for the inaugural NXT Women's North American Championship[23] | 12:24 | ||
| 2 | Nathan Frazer and Axiom (c) defeated The O.C. (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) by pinfall | Tag team match for the NXT Tag Team Championship[23] | 11:38 | ||
| 3 | Lola Vice defeated Shayna Baszler by referee stoppage | NXT Underground match[23] | 10:17 | ||
| 4 | Oba Femi (c) defeated Wes Lee and Joe Coffey by pinfall | Triple threat match for the NXT North American Championship[23] | 12:03 | ||
| 5 | Roxanne Perez (c) defeated Jordynne Grace by pinfall | Singles match for the NXT Women's Championship[23] | 13:57 | ||
| 6 | Trick Williams (c) defeated Ethan Page by pinfall | Singles match for the NXT Championship[23] | 12:11 | ||
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References
- ^ "FINAL COUNT: WWE NXT Battleground [UFC APEX, Las Vegas, NV]". WrestleTix. June 11, 2024.(subscription required)
- ^ Salgado, Sebastian (July 30, 2013). "WWE officially announces the Battleground PPV". Super Luchas. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
- ^ WWE.com Staff (April 24, 2017). "WWE Battleground 2017 tickets available now". WWE. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ WWE.com Staff (February 17, 2018). "WWE pay-per-views just got bigger for 2018!". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
- ^ Defelice, Robert (March 30, 2023). "Shawn Michaels Announces NXT Battleground 2023 Will Emanate From Lowell, Massachusetts". Fightful. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ Russell, Skylar (January 26, 2024). "NXT Battleground To Take Place In Savannah, GA On Sunday, May 26; WWE Announces Additional 2024 Dates". Fightful. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (April 22, 2024). "NXT Battleground To Be Held At UFC APEX On June 9". Fightful. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
- ^ WWE.com Staff (May 24, 2024). "Tickets for NXT Battleground at UFC Apex in Las Vegas on sale Friday, May 24". WWE. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
- ^ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ^ a b Moore, John (April 6, 2024). "NXT Stand & Deliver results: Moore's live review of Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes, Ilja Dragunov vs. Tony D'Angelo for the NXT Title, Lyra Valkyria vs. Roxanne Perez for the NXT Women's Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
- ^ a b c Moore, John (April 30, 2024). "NXT TV results (4/30): Moore's review of Spring Breakin' Night Two with Oba Femi vs. Ivar for the NXT North American Title, Axiom and Nathan Frazer vs. AOP for the NXT Tag Team Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
- ^ Moore, John (May 7, 2024). "NXT TV results (5/7): Moore's review of Roxanne Perez vs. Chelsea Green for the NXT Women's Title, Wes Lee vs. Josh Briggs, Karmen Petrovic vs. Shayna Baszler, Mia Yim vs. Arianna Grace". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Moore, John (May 14, 2024). "NXT TV results (5/14): Moore's review of Sol Ruca vs. Izzi Dame, and Ivy Nile vs. Lash Legend in NXT Women's NA Title qualifiers, Charlie Dempsey vs. Tony D'Angelo for the NXT Heritage Cup, Je'Von Evans vs. Noam Dar". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f Moore, John (May 21, 2024). "NXT TV results (5/21): Moore's review of Joe Coffey vs. Wes Lee vs. Josh Briggs for a shot at the NXT NA Title, Thea Hail vs. Fallon Henley, and Brinley Reece vs. Jaida Parker in NXT Women's NA Title qualifiers". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Moore, John (May 28, 2024). "NXT TV results (5/28): Moore's review of Trick Williams and Je'Von Evans vs. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang, Michin vs. Tatum Paxley and Kelani Jordan vs. Wren Sinclair in NXT Women's NA Title ladder match qualifiers". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
- ^ Russell, Skylar (May 16, 2024). "Ivar Injured, Out Of Action Indefinitely After Gallus Attack On 5/14 WWE NXT". Fightful. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (May 20, 2024). "Joe Coffey Replaces Ivar In Triple Threat Match On 5/21 NXT". Fightful. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
- ^ Moore, John (April 23, 2024). "NXT TV results (4/23): Moore's review of Spring Breakin' Night One with Ilja Dragunov vs. Trick Williams for the NXT Championship, Roxanne Perez vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Tatum Paxley for the NXT Women's Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ Moore, John (February 20, 2024). "NXT TV results (2/20): Moore's review of Lyra Valkyria vs. Shotzi for the NXT Women's Title, Oba Femi vs. Lexis King for the NXT North American Title, Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin celebrate winning the NXT Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net.
- ^ Moore, John (April 2, 2024). "NXT TV results (4/2): Moore's review of Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams have a final face-off on the Stand & Deliver go-home show, three-way match to determine the challengers for the NXT Tag Team Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
- ^ Moore, John (June 4, 2024). "NXT TV results (6/4): Moore's review of TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace vs. Stevie Turner, Tony D'Angelo vs. Damon Kemp for the NXT Heritage Cup, Thea Hail vs. Jazmyn Nyx". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "NXT Battleground 2024 results: Trick Williams whoops Ethan Page to retain the NXT Championship". WWE. June 9, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
- ^ Moore, John (June 9, 2024). "NXT Battleground results: Moore's live review of Trick Williams vs. Ethan Page for the NXT Championship, Roxanne Perez vs. TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace for the NXT Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 9, 2024.