Tony D'Angelo Wins North American Title On WWE NXT, Ends Oba Femi's Reign At 274 Days
Tony D'Angelo became the first man in "WWE NXT" to defeat Oba Femi, and captured his North American Championship on the developmental brand's first show in St. Louis, Missouri. D'Angelo had "The Family" at ringside after "The Don" had fought to regain confidence in himself over the last few weeks in an attempt to dethrone Femi. The bout started off as a shoving match, but D'Angelo immediately went on the offensive, before eating a big clothesline from the champion.
D'Angelo battled out of a headlock, but got caught and ran spine-first into the ring apron with a chokeslam. Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo tossed D'Angelo a crowbar, but "The Don" slid it back out of the ring. D'Angelo then hit a big clothesline to Femi, knocking both men back out of the ring. Femi got up first and started to stare down "The Family," especially Adriana Rizzo. Femi went to hit Lorenzo and Luca Crusifino, but knocked into Rizzo, taking her down. D'Angelo was furious and hit a spear on Femi on the outside, and started beating him down before throwing him back in the ring to hit another spear.
D'Angelo was able to hit two out of the "Three Amigos" back inside the ring, before Femi picked him up and tossed him, and dramatically fell over in the ring himself. D'Angelo slid to the outside after being hit in the corner, and Femi began to clear off the commentary desk. He attempted to hit a powerbomb on D'Angelo, but he countered with a spinebuster and sent Femi through the desk. D'Angelo got the champion back in the ring and hit another spinebuster, but Femi kicked out. The men sat up and stared each other down. Femi went for another powerbomb, but D'Angelo countered the move into a pin for the victory.