With new champions crowned, the fallout from New Year’s Evil takes place on WWE NXT tonight.
It’s a new era with NXT Champion Oba Femi and NXT Women’s Champion Giulia now at the top of their divisions. Tonight, Oba Femi will appear for the first time as champion. We’ll see if either Trick Williams or Eddy Thorpe want a shot at the title following last week’s triple threat.
A “special look” at Giulia is set to air tonight. Roxanne Perez — who dropped the NXT Women’s Championship to Giulia — will appear tonight and address her future.
An NXT Tag Team title match is part of the card with Axiom & Nathan Frazer defending against Bronco Nima & Lucien Price.
Plus, there will be a pair of number one contender’s matches. Stephanie Vaquer faces Shotzi with a Women’s North American Championship shot on the line. And Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson vs. Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn determines the next challengers for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles.
Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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NXT is back at its regular home on a sound stage at the Performance Center in Orlando, where NXT is filmed before a live studio audience.
Opening the show is new NXT Champion Oba Femi, who enters and takes center stage in the ring with his title belt over his shoulder. Femi talks about taking his rightful place on the throne. Femi mocks past speeches about others not believing they would accomplish it, but Femi always knew he would become champion.
Since day one, Femi was backed by dynasty. Femi runs down his accolades in NXT, liking it him being backed by dynasty. And he was backed by dynasty when he won the NXT Chamionship. All of this is now his, dubbing himself “The Ruler” of NXT.
The crowd almost ruins the moment with a “you deserve it” chant, as Femi shifts to Trick Williams. Femi at first puts over Trick as the former champion, until saying Trick has a ceiling. Femi boasts he has no ceiling. As for Eddy Thorpe, he “is a real of work, isn’t he?” Femi likens him to a bug that will not die. Femi issues a “final warning” to Thorpe, telling him to go annoy someone else in the locker room.
NXT North American Champion Tony D’Angelo interrupts Femi, because hardly any monologue in NXT can go interrupted. Unless you are The Rock, and only The Rock. Anyway, “The Don” congratulates Femi on getting the big seat, but D’Angelo took exception to Femi noting he was the longest reigning North American champ. D’Angelo reminds Femi that “The Don” is the only person he has not beat, and D’Angelo says if they met that he would leave as “The Double Title Don.” This how you know Vince is indeed gone for good. The use of the word “title” in a nickname.
Femi mentions that D’Angelo got knocked out by Santa Claus, and D’Angelo says he will take care of Ridge Holland. Speak of the devil. Holland then interrupts to taunt D’Angelo with a photograph from the Santa incident. D’Angelo sarcastically says he’ll sign the photo as he exits the ring, heading towards Holland. They met up and a melee ensues. As they brawl at ringside, in runs Eddy Thorpe to ambush Femi. Thorpe is booed by the crowd, as he DDT’d Femi. Thorpe then wraps a strap around his fist. The kind of strap used in a strap match. Thorpe punches Femi with what I guess is supposed to be a loaded fist, but it was just a strap around his fist. Thorpe then grabs the title belt, and he poses with it as he stands over Femi.
A backstage skit sets up Ethan Page against Dante Chen for later tonight.
NXT is on the road at Center Stage Theater in Atlanta on January 28. The famed Center Stage was the site of countless television tapings for WCW beginning in 1989 through the mid-90s. ROH also taped television at Center Stage in the Sinclair days.
Shotzi defeated Stephanie Vaquer to become number one contender to the NXT Women’s North American Championship
Shotzi pinned Vaquer after outside interference from NXT Women’s North American Champion Fallon Henley. Jacy Jayne also interfered during the match, but she got a double headbutt for her trouble. Henley hit Vaquer with a belt shot, and Shotzi cradled Vaquer for the pinfall.
The match went through a commercial break. While there was a number one contender’s match last week, there was another this week. Why not? Vaquer won a shot last week, and somehow lost that title shot this week. Unless this sets up a triple threat, because that is not overdone at all in the slightest. The champ did cost Vaquer the match with outside interference.
Kelani Jordan slaps Cora Jade in a backstage skit. This would seem to set up a singles match between the two, as Jordan keeps teasing a heel turn.
Ethan Page defeated Dante Chen
Page pinned Chen in what was more of an angle than a match. Page jumped Chen before the bell, and Chen hardly had a chance. Chen did get some offense as he fired up on Page, but Page cut him and nailed him with a cutter. Page then scored the pinfall. An injury angle after the match was longer than the match itself.
Page attacks Chen after the bell. Page drags him outside the ring, and Page pins Chen’s leg between the ring steps. Page then Pillmanizes the leg. Chen sells big, and Page smirks. Suddenly, Je’Von Evans then runs to to make a save. Evans peppers Page with punches, but one punch to Evan’s injured jaw drops him. Evans spits up blood as Page taunts him.
My CW feed was spotty for a bit during what appeared to be a backstage skit. The picture on my screen was in and out like a fiddler’s elbow, but I do believe Ashante “Thee” Adonis and Karmen Petrovic are courting again.
New NXT Women’s Champion Giulia is featured in a good video package.
Champions from the main roster are back in NXT, with DIY here for a cameo. Sarah Schreiber interviews the WWE Tag Team Champions Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano. They came “home” to NXT to see Fraxio, whom are being dubbed the greatest tag team in the history of NXT.
Meta-Girls (Jakara Jackson & Lash Legend) defeated Unholy Union (Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn) in a number one contenders’ tag team match
Legend pinned Fyre to win the match, and Meta-Girls become number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship.
The tag match itself went through a commercial break, and then seemingly lasted forever. Meta-Girls did some cool tandem moves, including Legend picking up Jackson with a military press and then tossing Jackson on top of their foes.
As the match is winding down, Meta-Girls are on a roll when Legend spills outside when she is low-bridged over the top rope. Jackson has to play Ricky Morton until Legend gets back on the apron for a hot tag. Meta-Girls then execute a tandem cutter finisher, and Legend covers Fyre for a pinfall.
NXT General Manager Ava presents Lexis King with his version of the Heritage Cup trophy. Charlie Dempsey and Wren Sinclair confront King. There is some bad acting, which seems to set a rematch for the trophy. Loud banging noises distract everyone, and Ava goes to look outside where she finds Tony D’Angelo brawling with Ridge Holland.
TNA Knockouts Champion Masha Slamovich is seen watching the show from front row ringside. Later on, TNA Genesis is plugged on commentary.
Cora Jade defeated Kelani Jordan
Jade pinned Jordan to win the match. Jordan let her anger consume her, giving in to the dark side of the force. That, and a eye rake, cost Jordan the match.
Jordan continues to show a mean streak. Late in the match, she was super aggressive with Jade trapped in a corner. The referee a few times got between them to break it up. The last time as the ref is pushing Jordan away, Jade rakes Jordan’s eyes. Jordan is momentarily blinded, and Jade capitalizes with a double-arm DDT. Booker T on commentary referred to the DDT as “gnarly”, and he is not wrong.
Eddy Thorpe with a wicked promo he shot with his own cellphone. From there, the show cuts to a Red Cross PSA related to the wildfires in California. Odd transitional, but the video of the devastation is unbelievable.
Josh Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura confront Fraxiom in a backstage skit. The tag champs are getting ready for their match, but Briggs says he and Inamura “got next.” As Fraxiom is leaving, in walks OTM to confront Briggs & Inamura. They exchange words. In a comedy bit playing off the language barrier, Inamura thinks OTM (“Out the Mud”) are into mud wrestling. Fighting soon breaks out, leading to a pull-apart brawl. Seems to set up a tag match, but first OTM has another tag match in the main event.
Trick Williams tweeted that he needs to figure out his next move.
NXT Tag Team Champions Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) defeated OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price) to retain their titles
Axiom pinned Nima to win the match. And still…
WWE Tag Team Champions DIY are seen watching the match from a perch overlooking the ring. Lots of high flying and tandem high spots from Fraxiom, and some cat-and-mouse against their larger foes. Nima & Price with power moves at times, and they look good. Fraxiom carries their match, but OTM hold their own well. The match begins to break down with all four fighting around the ring.
Outside the ring, Price looks to utilize the announce desk. Price clears the desk, but he gets cut off in the process. Meanwhile, Nima shoves Frazier off the ropes a few times as they were fighting atop the turnbuckles. Frazier manages to do a back flip and land on his feet, while Axiom makes a bling tag beforehand. Frazier climbs the turnbuckles in another corner, and Frazier jumps off the top rope with a flying body press on the announce desk, thus driving Price through the table. Meanwhile, Axiom with a Spanish Fly on Nima, and Axiom signals for a Golden Ratio. Axiom delivers the Ratio, and he hooks a leg to cover Nima for the deciding pinfall. Good match.
Roxanne Perez is headed to the ring for a monologue. Cut away to the parking lot where someone has arrived to the building. They get out but all we see is their feet as the show cuts to its final commercial break.
After the commercial break, Roxanne Perez is in the ring for a monologue. Perez begins by saying when she first won the NXT Women’s title for the second time (which is not bad math, as there was an angle), no one thought she would be champion for 276 days.
With every title defense she made history, and all she wanted to do was make women’s wrestling something special. She wanted NXT to be on a main event level, and this is the “best” women’s division in wrestling today. But her stands Perez without her title, because she was beaten last week.
Perez congratulates Giulia, and Perez says the people got what they wanted — which was Perez dropping the title. Perez then heels by saying what is most sad is what the NXT women’s division has become with Giulia as champion. The NXT women’s division is “lost” without Perez. She adds that neither NXT nor the fans deserve her.
Perez name-drops the Four Horsewomen, saying they needed four, but Perez only needs one (herself). That is the cue for Bayley to interrupt. She was the mystery person that arrived earlier in the show. Huge pop for Bayley, as she enters the sound stage to confront Perez.
Bayley tries to give Perez some advice, but Perez dismisses the advice. Bayley insists the division will be fine without them. Perez eventually cuts off Bayley, and Perez says Bayley is like all the others Perez used to look up to. Perez says Bayley broke records, but Perez broke those records. Perez sarcastically tells Bayley that now Perez should be Bayley’s role model. Bayley responds by saying Perez is going nowhere, while Bayley proclaims she will win the title on Friday. With that, they were running out of time. So, Perez slaps Bayley across the face, and a brawl ensues as the show abruptly goes off the air.
