WWE NXT Top-3 Hits (07/16/24): Joe Hendry celebrates TNA win, Perez suffers Hail damage; and more

Say his name and he will appear. It’s happened now on two separate occasions, TNA superstar Joe Hendry appearing in NXT matches, and he’s batting .500 after pinning Shawn Spears in his first-ever win on the WWE’s Black and Gold brand — a tag team victory with former NXT Champion Trick Williams.

Ethan “All Ego” Page participated in the match as well, shiny new championship belt in tow, that was until he was chased out of the building by Oro Mensah, setting the stage for that feud to pop off soon.

WATCH: ANW’S TOP-3 FROM ELECTRIC EPISODE OF RAW

Wes Lee was licking his wounds after being beaten pretty badly by NXT Men’s North American Champion Oba Femi, who put on one hell of a match on Tuesday against Chase U's Duke Hudson, but as the “NXTNA” crossovers ramp up, it was the return of The Rascalz that has Lee flying high as the trio gets their first work together in trying to take down Gallus — not being impressed whatsoever with the reunion.

And what of Brooks Jensen?

The ... ahem ... sociopath has gone from getting yet another chance from Shawn Michaels and general manager Ava to immediately attacking Je’Von Evans backstage for no reason other than “to make an impact”. It deleted Evans from the main event with Trick Williams last week and set the stage for revenge against Jensen on July 16.

WATCH: JOE HENDRY PUNISHES SPEARS FOR FIRST NXT WIN.

With so much going on in the men’s division, you’d think it easy to forget about all of the drama within the women’s locker room but, be not misled, it’s as good or arguably more intense when factoring in the continued reign of NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez (Lola Vice wants a rematch and her head on a stick) and all of the smoke Jaida Parker has been passing out lately.

Parker is all set to go full OTM against Michin and The OC on Tuesday, and the show as a whole was bound to have a surprise or three.

The road to the Great American Bash, beginning July 30, has begun, so let’s talk about the top-3 hits from July 16, shall we?

Rascally Joe

It’s been years since Wes Lee was a part of The Rascalz, still a TNA faction, but that’s all changed now and their first test made it clear they “hate every single person from TNA”, Gallus promising this would be the “shortest reunion in the history of NXT”.

Lee looked rejuvenated with his brethren flanking him, much better than the emotionally defeated version that took the mic one week ago with plans on stepping away from wrestling entirely after being brutalized by NXT North American Champiion Oba Femi at Heatwave.

This was a matchup of sheer power versus finesse and high-flying chemistry and athleticism, making it a fun one right out of the gate.

The fun was interrupted with even more fun when a name was said and a man appeared. You guessed it, Joe Hendry was in the building for a second consecutive week, but not to fight. He sat crisply in his baby blue suit at the announcer’s table watching his fellow TNA talent do work against the Gallus Brothers.

More importantly, or rather just as importantly, it means Hendry will be getting plenty of TV time on the Black and Gold brand going forward.

As for the in-ring action, plenty of beatings continued in both directions, but the acrobatics of The Rascalz was simply too much to overcome, especially with the adrenaline rush of having Wes Lee back in the mix flowing through their veins.

They took the victory by pinfall, and Hendry gave a standing ovation — TNA having secured two wins in NXT in as many weeks.

Hail Damage

Roxanne Perez has become quite the potent concoction of phenomenal mic and in-ring work, and going feral in her match at Heatwave to retain the NXT Women’s Championship against Lola Vice, of all people, proved she still has another gear she can tap into.

That should terrify the women’s division at NXT.

“The WWE Universe is literally witnessing greatness and what do they do? They give the loser of the match a standing ovation,” said Perez. “You don’t deserve a once-in-a-lifetime performer like me.”

Perez went on to project herself as the next Charlotte Flair, only allegedly better, noting how Flair went from NXT to being a 14-time champion. Time will tell if that’s the case, especially with the instigation of talent like Stephanie Vaquer — signed last week to NXT to a raucous ovation for her debut. It wasn’t Vaquer or Vice or anyone else’s name she invoked that showed up to try and check her on her earned arrogance, though.

It was Thea Hail of Chase U, her next opponent penciled in for the Great American Bash.

“Doubt me,” said Hail. “I’ve broken doubter’s noses. I’ve fractured doubter’s arms.”

Perez literally laughed, aloud, standing only a few feet away from Hail’s face and began taunting her and her faction’s struggles. Hail went from being her usual jovial self to next-level pissed and things got physical, but it didn’t end how Perez thought it would.

It ended in the champ begging for mercy in a submission hold of a maniacal Hail and it took several officials to break the hold before Perez rolled out of the ring with her limbs barely intact.

As the saying goes, never underestimate the opponent.

The bottom line is Hail is trying to Chase something huge at the Bash.

Femi-liar Territory

Femi has been a force of nature with the NXT North American Championship in his possession, but Duke Hudson was convinced he had the juice to shock the world and, to be fair, his skill set is one that almost perfectly matches up with what Femi does in the ring.

It’s power versus power and size versus size so, theoretically, it was anyone’s guess who would walk away with the win … if they were operating in a vacuum.

But, they weren’t, and Hudson isn’t nearly as over as Femi. Also, let’s be real here, there’s no way Femi drops the belt before the Great American Bash — the next realistic opportunity for someone to take it off of him.

That didn’t mean this match couldn’t be entertaining and to the wire, though.

Femi also had to keep his head on a swivel because he has made plenty of enemies within the men’s division both by simply being champion, and also in how unstoppable he’s been as one.

It was a stalemate early on, both being neutralized by the power of the other when trying to execute their rope runs, though that didn’t last long. When Femi slingshotted Hudson into the ropes and then gave him a shoulder that almost put him through the mat, the message was sent; and that led to Hudson taking off his shirt and his headband to level up.

And out came Hudson’s athleticism, an edge he has over Femi when it comes to their respective size. Femi had to regroup after an onslaught of finesse-fueled maneuvers by the Chase U member, sparking some fun back-and-forth power-to-power combat afterward.

A ton of credit to Hudson for taking Femi to the brink, including breaking out the Stratusfaction, but it wasn’t enough.

It’s never enough.