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Hello everyone, I am one half of your Irn Bruiser weights bringing you your NXT Review. So let's get into it.
It was Christmas Eve and yes we are indeed having a regular NXT rather than some kind of Best Of show or something more traditional like that. We are two weeks away from New Year’s Evil and last week’s main event saw Eddy Thorpe and Trick Williams go to a draw for the NXT Title.
We open with a recap of last week’s title match, plus the fallout after the show with the match being ruled a draw so Trick Williams retains.
Match 1 - Cora Jade vs. Stephanie Vaquer
Vaquer takes her down to start before flipping Jade out of the corner. A quick rollup gets two and Vaquer suplexes her into a figure four necklock. That’s broken up and Vaquer hits a dropkick but Jade Backstabs her out of the corner as we take an early break. Back with Vaquer fighting out of a chinlock and grabbing a belly-to-back suplex. Eat Defeat sends Jade into the corner for some running knees, followed by something like a standing STF. Jade breaks that up but gets caught in the package backbreaker to give Vaquer the pin at 9:41.
Official Winner - Stephanie Vaquer
Official thoughts - Vaquer is still one of the stronger names in the division and having her go over someone with the status of Jade makes sense. Jade is someone who feels like she is best used as someone’s lackey and that might be her ceiling. She has talent, but I’m not sure if it is going to be used with her as a solo star of any kind.
Post-match Kelani Jordan runs in with a kendo stick to go after Jade but Vaquer pulls Jordan off.
The D’Angelo Family want the Tag Team Titles, with Stacks promising to beat the other teams’ faces in like his mother beat up Santa Claus with a broom one Christmas night.
William Regal offers to be in Lexis King’s corner for the Heritage Cup match. Regal has the brass knuckles and that’s an oooo moment.
Match 2 - Heritage Cup - Lexis King vs. Charlie Dempsey
King, with William Regal, is challenging. Round One begins with some grappling as King rolls him up for two. A dropkick misses as Booker says King needs to believe in himself like Neo in The Matrix. Dempsey pulls him into an armbar but gets hip-tossed down for one. Lexis reverses a cravate into a headlock as the round ends.
Round Two begins with King jumping him in the corner and chops away. A gutwrench suplex drops King for two and King wrestles him down again. Dempsey stays on the back with a half crab but King gets out again. A superkick out of the corner sets up a super sunset flip for two on Dempsey, leaving King frustrated. Dempsey pulls him into something like a bow and arrow as the round ends.
Round Three begins…and ends during a break so we come back with Round Four beginning with King hitting a clothesline. A backbreaker gets two and we hit the chinlock. Some chops into the corner set up a Northern Lights suplex for two on Dempsey and they trade shots to the face. Regal tries to send in the brass knuckles but King says no, earning himself a shot from Regal to knock him cold. Dempsey picks up the knuckles…and the referee calls it a DQ win for King at 2:53 of the round and 13:32 overall, making King the champion.
Official Winner - NEW Heritage Cup Holder - Lexis King
Official thoughts - This is the kind of ending that should set up a “did he or didn’t he” ending and it should work well. King has been teasing going the right way but then wins the Cup in something less than a fair way. I like the idea of paying something off on the whole story, though I’m not sure how long this is going to last.
OTM is ready to get the Tag Team Title shot.
We look at Ethan Page injuring Je’Von Evans last week.
Kelani Jordan yells at Stephanie Vaquer but Lola Vice breaks it up. Jordan calls both of them out for always interfering and wants them out of her face.
Match 3 - Unholy Union vs. Fatal Influence
Fallon Henley is here with Fatal Influence. Nyx and Dawn start things off with Dawn shoving her out of the corner. A dropkick has Dawn over to the corner for the tag-off to Jayne, who gets chopped by Fyre. Nyx is back in with a running kick to the chest as Kayden Carter and Katana Chance are watching in the crowd. Dawn comes back in for a running knee as Shotzi, Tatum Paxley, and Gigi Dolin come out.
We take a break and come back with Dawn being whipped into the corner so Jayne can kick her in the face. The chinlock goes on for a bit before Nyx gets two off a PerfectPlex (Vic: “The plex wasn’t perfect enough!”). Dawn kicks her way out of trouble and hands it off to Fyre as Carter and Chance are now at ringside. Fyre cleans the house with a bunch of kicks and a gordbuster as everything breaks down. Fyre and Jayne headbutt each other as a fight breaks out at ringside. Dolin uses the distraction to shove Jayne off the top so the Gory Bomb/Downward Spiral combination can give Dawn the pin at 12:47.
Official Winners - Unholy Union
Official thoughts - This felt like it was designed to set up some big team match down the line, which isn’t the most thrilling thing but there are so many women in NXT that they have to do something like this here. Fatal Influence being in trouble when the numbers are even (or worse) makes sense as the numbers game has been their thing since their inception. The match wasn’t anything great, but it is probably a step in a bigger story.
The No Quarter Catch Crew is ready for the #1 contenders match.
Izzi Dame interrupts Sol Ruca and Zaria but Shawn Spears and company cut them off. Dame tells them to leave her alone.
Match 4 - Dion Lennox vs. Ashante Thee Adonis
Adonis punches him down to start and hammers away against the ropes. Nikkita Lyons comes out to watch as Lennox reveres a neckbreaker into a backslide for two. An elbow to the ace gives Adonis two and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Lennox slugs away, setting up a spinebuster and powerslam for two, with Lyons putting the foot on the ropes. Lennox is so annoyed that he gets rolled up for the pin at 5:10.
Official Winner - Ashante Thee Adonis
Official thoughts - The problem with this match comes down to one thing: the story isn’t interesting. I get the whole idea they’re going for but it’s hard to care about anything going on. It feels like this story that has been going on for months now and I still have no reason to care about anyone involved. That makes a not-so-good match even harder to care about and that was an issue here.
Hang And Tank are ready for the four-way tag match.
Shotzi, Tatum Paxley, and Gigi Dolin run into Katana Chance and Kayden Carter. The Meta Four come in to mock them all.
We get a profile on Roxanne Perez, who brags about her accomplishments and how she has overcome various issues. Maybe only people like Simone Biles and Caitlyn Clark can understand her greatness. She’s ready for Giulia in two weeks. Somehow I don’t see that happening.
Lexis King is happy with his win and cuts off the interviewer before she can ask about William Regal.
Ethan Page is happy with what he did to Je’Von Evans last week. He found his smile by taking Evans’.
Match 5 - D’Angelo Family vs. OTM vs. Hank And Tank vs. No Quarter Catch Crew
For a Tag Team Title shot and its tornado rules. Hank and Tank swing Christmas trees to start but get blasted by a fire extinguisher. Nima cleans the house with a chair but gets it dropkicked into his chest. OTM beat up Hank and Tank with presents as Santa is watching from ringside. Crusifino comes in with a bowling ball to hit Hank low in the corner but Stacks gets powerbombed through a table of cookies.
We take a break and come back with Crusifino being tied up so the Crew can wreck people with kendo sticks. The Family comes back in to choke them with the sticks but OTM make the save. A table is put up in the corner with Borne sailing through it in a big crash. Hank and Tank hit dives onto the floor but here are Tyriek Igwe and Tyson DuPont to brawl with them to the back. This lets Tony D’Angelo slip the Family some candy cane crowbars. A Shatter Machine connects for the Family but Santa lays out D’Angelo. OTM hits the assisted Alabama Slam to pin Crusifino at 12:41.
Official Winners - OTM
Official thoughts - There was so much going on here that it was hard to keep track of everything, but there is nothing wrong with getting a fresh team involved in the title picture. Teams like OTM have been around for months without getting much of anywhere so this is better than anything else they have been doing. It was a wild brawl with a theme going on and while a lot was going on, it could have been worse.
Santa is….Ridge Holland.
Here is Trick Williams for a chat but Oba Femi cuts him off. Eddy Thorpe cuts them both off, saying Williams escaped instead of beating him. Femi says it’s time to move on to him but Thorpe isn’t having that. Williams makes it a triple-threat match and Femi isn’t happy. Thorpe tries to say something but gets shut down by Femi. Ava comes out to make the match official, leaving the brawl to be on. Femi wrecks Williams but Thorpe escapes to end the show. That’s a lame way out, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they are saving Williams vs. Femi for Stand & Deliver.
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