Category: NXT News

Another mystery Vengeance Day vignette airs on WWE NXT

Posted on by Ethan Renner

A follow-up to last week’s Vengeance Day teaser aired on this week’s WWE NXT, hinting at the debut of a four-person group at the PLE.

Images of the test pattern with the Vengeance Day text box appeared in a backstage segment prior to Tuesday’s WWE NXT main event, but a small reveal also closed Tuesday’s show after the closing credits rolled.

An image of four wrestlers standing in shadows briefly flashed on the screen, pointing to a debut for the new group at Vengeance Day set for Saturday, February 15.

A social media user identified the wrestlers as Saquon Shugars, Cutler James, Keanu Carver, and Dion Lennox, talent that has primarily been featured on the now defunct NXT Level Up show:

WWE posted a video including the vignette to their social media channels following Tuesday’s show:

The current WWE NXT Vengeance Day lineup for Saturday, February 15 at 6 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock:

  • NXT Champion Oba Femi defends against Grayson Waller and Austin Theory in a triple threat
  • NXT Women’s Champion Giulia defends against Bayley and Roxanne Perez in a triple threat
  • NXT Women’s North American Champion Fallon Henley defends against Stephanie Vaquer
  • Ethan Page vs. Je’Von Evans

Ethan Page vs. Je’Von Evans added to WWE NXT Vengeance Day

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A new match has been added to NXT Vengeance Day.

After a confrontation between Ethan Page and Je’Von Evans took place inside Ava’s office, the NXT GM agreed to a match between the two for Vengeance Day on February 15 in Washington D.C. Ava said she would grant the match as long as Evans is medically cleared.

Back in December, Page was cutting a promo talking about losing his smile when Evans came out and tried to cheer up Page, telling him that people wanted to see him drop the ego. Page seemed to take Evans’ words to heart, but soon revealed everything was a ruse and attacked Evans. He wrapped a chair over Evans’ skull and stomped on it, causing the storyline jaw injury.

Evans has made several attempts to attack Page in the weeks since then. On last week’s show, Evans prevented Page from attacking Cedric Alexander following their match.

The lineup for NXT Vengeance Day:

  • NXT Championship: Oba Femi defends against Grayson Waller and Austin Theory
  • NXT Women’s Championship: Giulia defends against Bayley and Roxanne Perez
  • NXT Women’s North American title: Fallon Henley defends against Stephanie Vaquer
  • Ethan Page vs. Je’Von Evans

JDC appears on WWE NXT, set to challenge Lexis King next week

Posted on by Bryan Rose

JDC has returned to WWE.

The TNA star made his return to NXT on Tuesday night, confronting Lexis King as he was talking about amending the Heritage Cup rules. Coming out to his old Fandango music, JDC scored a big reaction from the NXT audience.

Reintroducing himself, JDC explained he was representing TNA as part of The System and said he wanted to win some gold for the group, saying he talked to Ava and set up a trophy match for next week. 

JDC was part of the WWE system starting in 2006 and later best became known as Fandango, who managed to get over due to his theme song. After a initial push, he was later known for teaming with Tyler Breeze, at one point holding the NXT Tag Team titles. He was cut from WWE in 2021 and joined TNA the following year.

During his promo on Tuesday, King bragged about his trophy win and declared that the European rounds rules for the title was done and moving forward, the belt would be a one fall, winner take all match.

WWE NXT live results: Oba Femi & Trick Williams team up, Charlotte appears

Posted on by Chris Aiken

The road to Vengeance Day continues on WWE NXT tonight.

It’s been announced that Oba Femi will defend his NXT Championship against Grayson Waller and Austin Theory in a triple threat match at the Saturday, February 15 PLE. Tonight, Femi is set to team up with Trick Williams against Waller & Theory. Williams has his sights on getting the NXT Championship back from Femi — and we’ll see if tonight’s tag match gets us closer to Vengeance Day becoming a fatal four-way.

NXT Women’s Champion Giulia also has a triple threat title defense scheduled for Vengeance Day. Tonight, there will be a Vengeance Day Summit with Giulia and both of her challengers: Roxanne Perez and Bayley.

Charlotte Flair — the winner of the women’s Royal Rumble match — will be in NXT tonight for a close look at Giulia. After winning the Rumble, Charlotte teased that she could potentially choose to challenge for the NXT Women’s title at WrestleMania.

Stephanie Vaquer vs. Jacy Jayne and Kelani Jordan vs. Karmen Petrovic have been announced for tonight’s card as well. And there will be a tag team bout pitting Gigi Dolin & Tatum Paxley against Zaria & Sol Ruca.

Plus, Heritage Cup Champion Lexis King appears. Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

Stephanie Vaquer defeated Jacy Jayne (with Fatal Influence)

Vaquer pinned Jayne after outside interference backfired. This match is part of the build to Vaquer challenging Henley for the NXT Women’s North American Champion at Vengeance Day next Saturday.

Fallon Henley interfered and distracted Vaquer, allowing Jayne to ambush her. Jayne gets heat on Vaquer during a split-screen commercial break. Vaquer makes a comeback after the show returns from the break, building to a superplex.

Vaquer rally led into them trading high spots on the home stretch. Jayne with a knee strikes for a near falls. They also traded near fall cradles. Vaquero with a 619 and a West Coast Pop, and Vaquero has a lateral press. Jaxmyn Nyz jumps into to interfere and inadvertently hit Jayne instead. The referee let the match go, no disqualification.

Vaquer hits Nyx with a headbutt into the nose guard Nyx was wearing on her face. Nyx sells like she is knocked out. Vaquer with a superkick and her SVB finisher, followed by a three count. Nyx is still knocked out while the referee counts three.

Vaquer glares at Henley, ahead of their upcoming title match.

Backstage skit has Zaria bickering with other women in a locker room. Lash Legend, Jakara Jackson, Sol Ruca, Tatum Paxley and Gigi Dolan are all involved. At least Zaria is finally getting a push of some sort. This skit sets up a tag match for later on with Zaria & Sol Ruca against Paxley & Dolan.

Video clips highlight Roxanne Perez at the Royal Rumble.

Sarah Schreiber interviews NXT Champion Oba Femi about his upcoming tag match tonight. Femi says NXT GM Ava might run the promotion, but he runs the ring. Femi is going to show A-Town Down Under they do not belong in the ring with him. Femi is also dismissive of Trick Williams, who is Femi’s tag partner later tonight.

NXT Heritage Cup Champion Lexis King is standing in the ring with his trophy, and he delivers a lengthy monologue. This will lead to the return of Fandango, who is now JDC from The System in TNA.

First King was a lengthy monologue. King wants to be humble, except he is not humble. King brags about himself for what felt like forever. He mentions people in the back that helped him like Williams Regal, only for King to brag on himself.

The promo takes a turn as King starts talking about his father (Brian Pillman), who King called a “lunatic.” King rambles about his father, saying he tried everything to not become him, but King is a l”oose cannon” that wants to win. This is justifying his heel tactics.

King goes on announce the European rules for the Heritage Cup are done. It is now a one fall match. No more rounds. King is boasting about one fall, winner take all, when he is interrupted by a surprise return.

Fandango”s theme music blares, and out comes JDC as Fandango, back in NXT.

JDC exchanges insults with King, and then JDC announces that next week he will challenge King for the Heritage Cup in a match next Tuesday.

A clip from Wild Cards highlights Tony D’Angelo in a special guest role on the CW series. The episode debuts tomorrow night on CW affiliates.

“The Don” is backstage with The Family. They were watching the clip on a backstage monitor, and there is clearly some tension between Stacks and D’Angelo.

Ridge Holland defeated Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo (with The D’Angelo Family)

Holland pinned Stacks after interference by Izzi Dame backfires on The Family.

Stacks is knocked off the ring by Holland. Tony D’Angelo goes to check on Stacks, and Holland shoves D’Angelo. As Holland rolls Stacks back into the ring, “The Don” jumps on the apron to argue with the referee.

Meanwhile, Izzi Dame runs in. This time Holland is ready, and she stops in her tracks. As Holland faces Dame, Stacks with a schoolboy roll up on Holland for a two count. From there, they go home. Holland executes The Redeemer, and he covers Stacks for a pinfall.

Josh Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura confront NXT Tag Team Champions Nathan Frazier & Axiom in a backstage skit.

Sol Ruca & Zaria defeated Gigi Dolan & Tatum Paxley

Ruca pinned Dolan after a springboard flip into a cutter (Sol Snatcher). Zaria got to look strong. About time. Hot tag to Zaria, and she runs wild. All four get involved just before they go home. Zaria gives Paxlet a F-5 on Dolan. From there, Ruca springboards into her finisher, and Ruca covers Dolan for a three count.

Video clips from Royal Rumble highlight Stephanie Vaquer in the Women’s Rumble match along with NXT Women’s Champion Giulia.

Trick Williams is interviewed by Sarah Schreiber. Williams says the plan is to show why he deserves the title shot instead of Waller & Theory. Williams also warns Oba Femi that he was a receipt coming to him (alluding to Femi powerbombing Trick on a table last week).

Bayley, Roxanne Perez and Giulia are set to meet up in the ring for a “summit” ahead of their triple threat at Vengeance Day. Before Giulia can enter the scene, Perez starts cutting a promo on Bayley. Perez insults Bayley and claims Bayley is only coming back to take advantage of NXT. Perez goes on to say she wants all of the titles.

Bayley says Perez still doesn’t get it. Bayley is here to help NXT. Bayley built the ring here. She had promo class with Dusty Rhodes here. Bayley goes son to say she will win Elimination Chamber and go to WrestleMania.

Giulia eventually joins the “summit” in the ring. Giulia says enough with this. She will beat Perez and Bayley. They are not ready for her “Beautiful Madness”.

Suddenly, out comes Charlotte Flair, who is back in NXT after a long absence. Mama has come home. Charlotte goes on to reminiscence about winning the Rumble and the NXT title. Charlotte puts over both Perez and Giulia, but Charlotte is better.

Cora Jade runs in with her kendo stick, and she attacks Bayley and Giulia. The babyfaces feed into shots from the kendo stick. Perez begs off and she flees the scene.

Ava in a backstage skit tells Je’Von Evans he can have a match against Ethan Page at Vengeance Day, if Evans can get cleared by a doctor.

Karmen Petrovic (with Ashante “Thee” Adonis) defeated Kelani Jordan via disqualification

Jordan initially won via submission, but the referee reverses the decision after Jordan goes full Bob Backlund.

Jaida Parker comes down to ringside during the match, and she joins the announce desk for guest commentary. Adonis also gets involved at one point when he took a crossbody from Jordan.

They were given plenty of time, as the match goes through a commercial break. They worked really hard to have a good match, and they beat the heck out of each other.

At the finish, Jordan glares at Parker while Jordan executes back-to-back split-legged moonsaults on Petrovic. Jordan is glaring at Parker while Jordan applies a crossface chicken wing to supposedly win via submission. More on that in a moment.

Jordan goes full Bob Backlund after the bell, as she snaps and snatches Petrovic in another chicken wing. The referee reverses his decision, and he awards the match to Petrovic via disqualification.

Stephanie Vaquer in a promo vows to win the women’s title at Vengeance Day. Vaquer will see Henley in hell.

Video clips highlight Lash Legend and Jaida Parker at the Royal Rumble.

Bayley rushed into Ava’s office in a backstage skit. Bayley demands a match against Cora Jade, and Ava books the match for next Tuesday on NXT.

Josh Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura both say to Ava they have teams wanting to face them. So, Ava books the most overdone gimmick match in wrestling today — a triple threat match. Briggs & Inamura will face Hank Walker & Tank Ledger and No Quarter Catch Crew.

Waller & Theory cut promos ahead of their match, which leads to them bickering with each other.

Grayson Waller & Austin Theory defeated Trick Williams & NXT Champion Oba Femi

Waller pinned Williams after outside interference by Eddy Thorpe. After the match, Thorpe attacks William even further to set up a strap match.

Williams and Femi argue and bicker at times. Waller and Theory are fodder for Williams and Femi, until the odd couple teammates start to argue. Trick shoves Femi, and Femi retaliates by pulling Trick out of the ring. Trick and Femi argue some more, and Waller wipes them out with a flip dive. From there, the show cuts to a picture-in-picture commercial break.

Heat on Trick as the heel duo works him over. Waller clotheslines Trick on the floor, and Waller follows up by jumping off the barricade with a flying elbow drop. Back in the ring, Waller is cut off by a pop-up punch from Trick.

Hot tag and Femi cleans house. Femi lifts both Waller and Theory for a double-stacked Samoan Drop. Femi is finishing off Waller and Theory when Trick makes a bling tag, much to the chagrin of Femi.

Femi and Trick argue. Meanwhile, Theory tags out unbeknownst to Trick. Waller is the legal man, and he decks Trick. No matter, Trick comes back with a running knee strike.

All four are in the ring as a melee develops. Femi and Theory tumble over the ropes to the floor. In the ring is Waller and Trick. While Trick is measuring Waller, Eddy Thorpe suddenly is at ringside. Thorpe breaks a walking stick on Trick’s back, and Trick sells big. Waller does his dash into a pop-up cutter, and Trick takes the finisher. Waller then covers Trick for a three count.

Thorpe jumps Trick after the match Thorpe punches Trick, with Thorpe also clutching the long strap he’s had for several weeks. Thorpe whips Trick with the strap. This clearly sets up a strap match for Vengeance Day, but the show goes off air without a formal announcement.

The show actually ends with another teaser with the color bars.

Duke Hudson confirms WWE release: ‘On to the next chapter’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Duke Hudson has confirmed he is no longer with WWE.

The former member of Chase U was released sometime last month, Fightful Select reported on Monday. Our own Dave Meltzer confirmed the news in the most recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio.

On Tuesday, Hudson posted a video on social media featuring him interviewing himself on a talk show-style segment titled “Wrestling with Identity.”

Hudson in black clothing: “Welcome to Wrestling With Identity. Do we have a name for you or us yet?”

Sad Hudson in white clothing: “I don’t know.”

Hudson in black clothing: “All right, well, let’s get straight to the point. You’ve been fired, which might be breaking news to a lot of the people here. I don’t think I’ve seen anything online, and you weren’t a part of a group with budget cuts, right? So this really was more of a ‘we hate you.’ That’s probably why you look so rough. I mean, I’m pulling it off, but now that the cat’s out of the bag, how do you feel about wasting six years of your life in that building?”

Sad Hudson: “I wouldn’t say it was a waste.”

Hudson in black clothing: “Ah, come on, think about everything that happened in your time there.”

Sad Hudson: “Like what?”

Hudson in black clothing: “Well, you and Bronnie (Bronson Reed), for example. I mean, you started at the same time, you came up in Australia together. Now he’s jumping off the top of cages at Survivor Series, and you’re being written off TV… again. Okay. So Rhea, for example, she is a megastar. She grew up watching you wrestle in Australia. You love telling people that story. Right, well, they overtook you. Your time was wasted.”

Sad Hudson: “I can be happy for my friends and be disappointed in my own shortcomings at the same time.”

Hudson in black clothing: “Oh, come on! You’re free now! You can say whatever you want to say. Don’t just stick to what you learned in media training. Tell me what you want to say!

Sad Hudson: “I don’t know.”

Hudson in black clothing: “I’m not done with you. We’ll be right back.”

Fellow Chase U alumni, Andre Chase, released the following statement about Hudson:

Hudson’s WWE release was addressed by our own Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez on last night’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.

Alvarez said on the show:

“They had Chase U, and Chase U was super over in NXT. And everybody used to always say, ‘Well, this act will never get over on the main roster blah blah blah,’ but you know what? Every time NXT ran on a PLE weekend and they drew from the normal WWE crowd cause they got seven, eight thousand people in the building for NXT, Chase U always got over. They were always one of the hottest act when they ran one of those big buildings on PLE weekend. Maybe it wouldn’t have worked for more than six months or whatever, I have no idea why they didn’t call that act up, give it a shot for six months, maybe they’d sell a s–t ton of merch and get over.”

Meltzer added:

“I was a little surpised but this is the deal, he’s 34 years old and I think the decision was essentially that we’ve had him in developmental for, what’s it been, for six years?”

“Levesque is the one who makes the calls and for whatever reason, he didn’t see Duke as a main roster guy.”

WWE reveals details for NXT Stand & Deliver 2025

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has confirmed when and where NXT Stand & Deliver 2025 will be taking place.

The company announced today that SmackDown, NXT Stand & Deliver, and Raw will all be held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas during WrestleMania week. The NXT PLE has a 3 p.m. Eastern/noon Pacific start time, meaning that it will likely end shortly before or right as the pre-show for night one of WrestleMania 41 begins.

Here is what the WrestleMania week schedule looks like:

  • Friday, April 18: SmackDown at T-Mobile Arena
  • Saturday, April 19: NXT Stand & Deliver at T-Mobile Arena
  • Saturday, April 19: WrestleMania 41 night one at Allegiant Stadium
  • Sunday, April 20: WrestleMania 41 night two at Allegiant Stadium
  • Monday, April 21: Raw at T-Mobile Arena

Combo tickets for SmackDown, Stand & Deliver, and Raw are going on sale to the general public at 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific on Friday, February 14. A pre-sale for combo tickets will begin on Wednesday, February 12. Information regarding when individual tickets will be available to purchase has not been announced yet.

Today’s announcement did not mention the 2025 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, but the ceremony has taken place immediately after SmackDown in recent years. Paul “Triple H” Levesque is the first confirmed entrant for this year’s class.

The WWE World fan convention will be happening at the Las Vegas Convention Center from Thursday, April 17 through Monday, April 21.

The card for Stand & Deliver should start to come into focus after NXT’s Vengeance Day PLE on February 15.

WWE NXT draws best viewership since October, 18-49 rating down

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Tuesday night’s WWE NXT episode averaged 827,000 viewers on The CW, up 1.9 percent from last week. It’s the best audience total for the show since October 8 and is NXT’s third-largest number since moving networks.

NXT drew a 0.19 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 13.6 percent from last week but is still tied for the second-highest rating the show has done since the October 8 episode. In the demo, NXT beat the last 90 minutes of NBC programming head-to-head but trailed the other three major broadcast networks.

The show aired against an NBA game with two big market teams in the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers that averaged 884,000 viewers on TNT with a 0.26 rating in 18-49, as well as portions of two college basketball games on ESPN that averaged over a million viewers and a 0.24 rating between them.

As compared to the same week in 2024, NXT’s overall viewership was up 27.6 percent while its 18-49 rating was up 5.6 percent, so the audience is skewing older this year than it was on USA Network.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for NXT, along with the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 17.8 percent in overall viewers and 11.8 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

Championship summit, four matches announced for next WWE NXT

Posted on by Ethan Renner

A championship summit segment, plus four matches have been announced for the February 4 WWE NXT episode.

Prior to their triple threat match for the NXT Women’s title at Vengeance Day, Giulia, Bayley, and Roxanne Perez will gather for a championship summit on next week’s NXT.

Four matches are also set for the February 4 show.

NXT Champion Oba Femi will team with former champ Trick Williams against A-Town Down Under’s Grayson Waller and Austin Theory. Theory and Waller will challenge Femi at Vengeance Day for the title on February 15.

Stephanie Vaquer is next in line to challenge Fallon Henley for the North American Championship at Vengeance Day, but Vaquer will first take on Jacy Jayne of Henley’s Fatal Influence group next week.

Ridge Holland feud with The Family will continue next week as he faces Stacks. Kelani Jordan and Karmen Petrovic will also renew acquaintances on February 4.

The WWE NXT lineup for the Tuesday, February 4 episode:

  • WWE NXT Women’s Championship summit with Giulia, Bayley, Roxanne Perez
  • Oba Femi & Trick Williams vs. Grayson Waller & Austin Theory
  • Stephanie Vaquer vs. Jacy Jayne
  • Ridge Holland vs. Stacks Lorenzo
  • Kelani Jordan vs. Karmen Petrovic

Mystery teaser airs on WWE NXT

Posted on by Ethan Renner

A mystery is afoot.

A teaser aired at the end of Tuesday’s WWE NXT episode on the CW, pointing to the February 15 Vengeance Day PLE.

After the conclusion of the main event on Tuesdays show, a blank screen and the closing credits aired, followed by a test pattern. A text box with ‘WWE Transmission’, then ‘Vengeance Day’ flashed across the test pattern in the final image shown on the program.

The Vengeance Day PLE is set for Saturday, February 15 in Washington, DC at the Entertainment and Sports Arena.

Three championship matches are set for the show, with Oba Femi vs. Austin Theory vs. Grayson Waller for the NXT Championship, Giulia vs. Bayley vs. Roxanne Perez for the NXT Women’s Championship, plus Fallon Henley vs. Stephanie Vaquer for the NXT Women’s North American Championship.

The Vengeance Day WWE Transmission teaser is embedded below. Our full report from this week’s WWE NXT is available here.

Three title matches set for WWE NXT Vengeance Day

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Multiple matches are set for NXT’s next PLE.

During NXT’s show in Atlanta, three title matches were announced for February 15 in Washington DC: Oba Femi defending the NXT title against Grayson Waller and Austin Theory, Giulia defending the NXT Women’s title against Roxanne Perez and Bayley in another three-way, and Fallon Henley defending the Women’s North American title against Stephanie Vaquer.

The opening match on Tuesday saw Giulia and Bayley defeat Perez and Cora Jade in a tag match. Later backstage, Ava announced the three-way title match. Perez was happy about what went down but Jade wasn’t, later demanding to talk to Ava backstage.

On The Grayson Waller Effect, guest Femi grew tired of the questions and antics of both Waller and Theory and threw out a challenge, asking the tag team to choose which one would face him. Ava came out and said that Femi didn’t make the matches as Trick Williams, who was watching backstage, grew angry and made his way to ringside, throwing Waller and Theory out of the ring. However, Femi laid out Williams right before his match with Wes Lee. Despite the attack, Williams fought Lee but the match ended in a DQ after he shoved the referee, clearly showing frustration.

Later, Femi asked Ava which person would get the title match. Ava announced that it would be a three-way.

Henley successfully defended the NXT Women’s North American title in Atlanta, defeating Shotzi. As she was celebrating on the ramp, Vaquer came out and the two had a staredown. The title match was then quickly announced.

The lineup for NXT Vengeance Day:

  • NXT Championship: Oba Femi defends against Grayson Waller and Austin Theory
  • NXT Women’s Championship: Giulia defends against Bayley and Roxanne Perez
  • NXT Women’s North American title: Fallon Henley defends against Stephanie Vaquer

WWE NXT live results: Bayley & Giulia vs. Roxanne Perez & Cora Jade

Posted on by Chris Aiken

WWE NXT is on the road this week with tonight’s episode taking place live from Center Stage in Atlanta.

Bayley will continue her feud with Roxanne Perez as the two meet in tag team action. It will be Bayley and NXT Women’s Champion Giulia against Perez and Cora Jade.

A Women’s Tag Team title match is also set with Bianca Belair and Naomi putting their belts on the line against Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson. In another title match, Shotzi challenges Fallon Henley for the NXT Women’s North American Championship.

NXT Champion Oba Femi will appear as Grayson Waller and Austin Theory’s guest on The Grayson Waller Effect.

Last week, Trick Williams made it clear that his sights are set on winning the NXT Championship back from Femi. Williams will be in action tonight when he goes one-on-one with Wes Lee.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

NXT is on the air from Center Stage in Atlanta, once the home

Personally, seeing pro wrestling on television from Center Stage again is very nostalgic for me. I have watched wrestling on TV from the venue since 1989. Production has come a long way.

The show starts with Bayley’s first match on NXT since 2020.

NXT Women’s Champion Giulia & Bayley defeated Roxanne Perez & Cora Jade

Bayley pinned Jade to win the match. This was such a fun match. Really good opener.

The babyface duo gets to shine early on, but the heels take over before a commercial break. Perez & Jade both do dives just before the show cuts away to a split-screen. Bayley is trying to rally as the show returns from the break.

Bayley tries to climb the turnbuckles, but the heels work together to trip her up and stomp on her. Bayley is separated from her corner, and the heels work her over. Bayley-to-belly and a hot tag to Giulia. Some Matrix moves and Giulia is on fire. Missile dropkick for a two count.

Miss-communication by the heel duo, as Jade inadvertently hits Perez with a forearm smash. Giulia hit a knee for a near falls where Jade dives in to break it up. Bayley rushed into the ring to fight with Perez, and their fight spilled outside the ring.

Perez takes a hard bump into the barricade, and she is down selling the rest of the match. Meanwhile, Giulia drops Jade with a headbutt. Bayley climbs the turnbuckles around Giulia tags her, and Bayley leaps off the top rope with a flying elbow drop. Bayley then hooks a leg and covers Giulia for a three count.

Eddy Thorpe is the focus of a vignette, where is standing by a fire as he cuts a promo. He vows to make his mark, and he will not be broken. Should be noted he still has that strap like in a strap match.

After a fun wrestling match to open the show, now is the sports entertainment portion of the program.

“The Grayson Waller Effect” with NXT Champion Oba Femi

Although it starts as a talking segment with Femi facing off with Garyson Waller and Austin Theory. That leads to Femi issuing a challenge to either Waller or Theory, asking which one will face him at Vengeance Day. Trick Williams is shown watching the proceedings on a monitor backstage.

After Femi challenges Austin and Waller, out comes NXT General Manager Ava. She tells Femi he does not make the matches around here, she does. Ava is then interrupted by the entrance of Trick. He storms past Ava and into the ring. Trick throws both Waller and Theory out of the ring, but Femi cuts off Trick and give him a pop-up powerbomb. The show cuts to a commercial break with Trick down, and has a match up next.

Sarah Schreiber interviews Izzi Dame to ask what is going on with Dame and Tony D’Angelo. Dame says nothing is going on, and they are not even friends. They just have a similar enemy. Up walks Ridge Holland to interject, and he calls Dame a liar.

Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo comes up to take up for Dame, and Holland says he does not want to talk with D’Angelo’s lackey. Holland and Stacks get face-to-face when they are separated by referees.

Referees are at ringside checking on Trick Williams, who is still selling the powerbomb from Femi. Trick vows to wrestle, and the refs let him.

Trick Williams vs. Wes Lee (with Tyriek Igwe & Tyson Dupont)

A day after JD McDonagh took a nasty bump on an announce desk, they do a spot in this match were Lee jumps off the apron with meteora that drives Trick backwards on the announce desk. From there, the show cuts to a commercial break.

Igwe and Dupont get involved at one point, and there is blatant interference. The ref lets it go, as Trick thwarts the heels. However, Trick starts kicking too much butt.

Trick won’t back off when the ref says so, and Trick shoved the ref down. The ref then disqualifies Trick. A miscarriage of justice as Gorilla Monsoon would say. Trick picks up a metal folding chair, and he heels flee.

In a backstage skit, Ava tells Femi that he will defend the NXT title in a triple threat match against Theory and Waller at Vengeance Day. Another triple threat match. How original. But wait, there’s more.

After a commercial break, Ava is talking with Trick, who is upset he is not getting the title shot at the PLE. Ava tells Trick to prove it, and she books him in a tag match with Femi as Trick’s partner against Waller and Theory for next week on NXT.

NXT Women’s North American Champion Fallon Henley (with Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyz) defeated Shotzi (with Tatum Paxley & Gigi Dolan) to retain her title

Henley pinned Shotzi with ‘The Hoedown” to win the match. Rough to watch at time because Shotzi took such crazy bumps.

Shotzi does a dive on to everyone at ringside. From there, the respective entourages start fighting at ringside. They fight their way up the ramp and exit stage right. Henley chop blocks Shotzi’s knee, and the show cut to a commercial break wondering whether Shotzi can continue.

Shotzi makes a comeback after the show returns from the break. She takes some crazy bumps. Moments late, she drops all her weight on Henley when Shotzi jumps off the ropes with a senton bomb.

Henley cuts off Shotzi, and Shotzi gets trapped in the tree of woe. Henley then suplexed Shotzi, and Henley does a famouser (Rocker Dropper), that Vic Joseph on commentary called the “The Hoedown”. Silly name, but Henley is so damn good.

After the match, Stepahnie Vaquer enters stage right to confront Henley. Then a title match is officially announced that Henley defends against Vaquer at Vengeance Day.

Kelani Jordan was very rude to Karmen Petrovic, and Petrovic calls her a “bitch” as Jordan walks off.

Sarah Schreiber interviews Ava in a backstage skit. Ava is about to announce the NXT Womens’ title match for Vengeance Day when Roxanne Perez interrupts with Cora Jade in tow. Perez assumes she is not the challenger, and she blames Jade for losing in the tag match.

Ava instead announces Perez is challenging for the title in yet another triple threat match. What such an overdone concept. Anyway, the women’s title match is Giulia defending against Perez and Bayley in a triple threat.

Jade storms off, as she is upset over the news. Perez chases after her. Later in the show, Jade tells Ava they need to “have a word!”

Ethan Page vs. Cedric Alexander

Page pinned Alexander.

The match goes through a commercial break. Page works over Alexander’s hand, targeting it and smashing the hand on the ring steps. After a while, Alexander fights back with a suplex. Alexander then makes a comeback. Michinoku Driver by Alexander for a near fall. Brainbuster for a two count as well.

Alexander has Page in a submission when Page snaps Alexander’s fingers to break the hold. There is a slugfest and they trade strikes. Page blocks Alexander’s handspring finisher, and Page executes a Diamond Cutter. Page then covers Alexander for a pinfall.

Page pulls the bottom turnbuckle pad off, as if Page is going to smash the injured hand. Je’Von runs down the ramp for a save, and Evans leaps into the ring to splash Page. Evans is a house of fire, and Page is set sailing out of the ring.

Fatal Influence cut a promo where they announced Stephanie Vaquer against Jacy Jayne in match for next week.

Josh Briggs gives Yoshiki Inamura a leather vest in a vignette. Now they have matching vests like a real team.

WWE Women’s Tag Tea Champions Bianca Belair & Naomi defeated Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson to retain the titles

Belair pinned Jackson to win the match, and the champions retain their titles. My feed of the CW was in-and-out several times during the match, so it seems disjointed to me.

The live crowd booed heavily at the false finish, thinking Jackson has pinned Belair. The crowd turned on the match when Belair kicked out.

Belair and Naomi execute a tandem sit-out finisher on Jackosn, and Belair scores the deciding pinfall.

There was a teaser of some sort at the end of the show for Vengeance Day.

WWE bringing special NXT episode to Cincinnati

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE is bringing a special NXT episode to Cincinnati next month.

It was announced today that the Tuesday, February 25 episode of NXT will take place on the road at The Andrew J Brady Music Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show — which is billed as a special edition of NXT — will air live on The CW at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

AEW recently ran The Andrew J Brady Music Center for its Maximum Carnage editions of Dynamite and Collision earlier this month.

Tickets for the NXT show are going on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Eastern time this Friday. Starting tomorrow (January 29) at 10 a.m., pre-sale tickets will be available to purchase with “NXTLIVE” as the access code.

There will be back-to-back WWE shows in Cincinnati with the Heritage Bank Center hosting Raw on Monday, February 24.

NXT is usually held at the WWE Performance Center, but WWE has taken the show on the road for occasional episodes since moving to The CW. Tonight’s NXT is taking place from Center Stage in Atlanta.

WWE NXT ratings up, tops 800k viewers

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Tuesday night’s WWE NXT episode averaged 812,000 viewers on The CW Network, up 4.2 percent from last week. It’s the best audience total for the show since October 8 and is NXT’s third-largest viewership since moving to The CW.

In the 18-49 demo, NXT drew a 0.22 rating. That’s up 29.4 percent from last week. It’s also the best rating for NXT since the October 8 episode and the third-largest number the show has done on The CW. NXT beat NBC in the final 90 minutes but trailed the three other broadcast networks in the demo.

The show went head-to-head with an NBA game on TNT that did a 0.23 rating in 18-49 as well as TGL Golf on ESPN that did a 0.22.

As compared to the same week in 2024, when NXT aired on USA Network, the show’s overall viewership was up 26.5 percent while its 18-49 rating was up 15.8 percent.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for NXT, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s episode was up 18.7 percent in overall viewers and 37.5 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

Trick Williams on WWE main roster call-up: ‘I think it has to be soon’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Trick Williams believes a call-up to WWE Raw or SmackDown is in his near future.

The two-time NXT Champion was a guest on Tailgate Talks with DiMarco and Garcia this week, discussing his college football past and the success he’s found in pro wrestling. When asked about a timeline for him joining the main roster, Williams expressed confidence that it will be happening soon.

“I think it has to be soon, honestly,” he said. “I’ve been very blessed, very fortunate. You know, for the career that I wish I had in football, God has blessed me tenfold with my wrestling career. And I’m grateful for that. As it comes to NXT careers, man, there’s not much I would say better than the Trick Williams experience as NXT goes. So with that being said, I would like to think the main roster call-up has to be sometime soon.”

Williams recently dropped the NXT Championship to Oba Femi in a triple threat match that also included Eddy Thorpe. In the main event of this week’s NXT episode, Femi successfully defended the title against Thorpe. Williams confronted Femi after the match and laid out Thorpe with a knee strike.

Wrestling legend Diamond Dallas Page was in attendance at NXT this week and met up with Williams backstage. DDP said fans can expect big things from Williams when he joins the main roster.

A match between Williams and Wes Lee is set to take place on NXT next Tuesday (January 28).