A Women’s Championship match headlines tonight’s episode of NXT on Syfy.

NXT is airing on Syfy both this and next week due to the Winter Olympics. On tonight’s show, Mandy Rose will put her NXT Women’s Championship on the line against Kay Lee Ray.

WWE has announced that tonight’s Rose vs. KLR match will air commercial-free.

Next week’s NXT is the special Vengeance Day edition of the show. Before their NXT Championship match next week, Bron Breakker and Santos Escobar will meet for a “championship summit” tonight.

The finals of the men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will take place at Vengeance Day. Tonight, MSK vs. Malik Blade & Edris Enofe and The Creed Brothers vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans will decide who advances to the finals.

Plus, Sarray vs. Dakota Kai, LA Knight vs. Sanga, and Wendy Choo vs. Tiffany Stratton are also set for tonight.

Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

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As the credits roll on the lead-in, a bumper ad highlights Kay Lee Ray on what is being billed as a “Syfy Edition” of NXT.

NXT itself opens with a video package featuring NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose that hypes her title tonight against Kay Lee Ray.

Kicking off the show in the ring is a semifinal in the Dusty Classic tournament. 

Creed Brothers (Julius & Brutus Creed with Malcolm Bivens) defeat Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) in the semifinals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic

Brutus pins Gibson and the Creed Brothers advance to the finals of the Dusty Classic.

Creed Brothers jump Grizzled Young Veterans before the bell, interrupting a GYT promo. GYV used to be such serious wrestlers before their characters took a comedic turn. 

They still worked hard to help get the Creeds over, making the up-and-comers look good in the process. The Veterans also used their veteran experience as part of the story within the match.

Brutus falls prey to double team tactics by GYV, and the tide begins to turn. Tandem catapult targets the Brutus’ windpipe, and Brutus is in trouble. GYV work him over.

Hot tag to Julius, and he runs wild. Gibson has to save Drake by breaking up a pinning attempt. Tag by GYV, but Julius is unaware. Julius is then wiped out with a tope. GYV then execute a Doomsday Device, yet Julius is able to kick out at two.

Hot tag to Brutus, and he squares off with Gibson. Slugfest develops, and Gibson targets the windpipe in a callback to earlier in the match. Brutus is again in peril. GYV look to capitalize.

Builds to a Tower of Doom of sorts where Drake takes a superplex. Julius pulls the straps down on his singlet, signaling for the finish. Brutus stops him because Brutus wants to finish it.

Brutus levels Drake with a sliding Ishii lariat, and Brutus covers Gibson for a three count.

Cora Jade is being interviewed about teaming with Raquel Gonzalez. Valentina Cruz Feroz and Yulisa Leon interrupt, and they begin to cut a promo on Jade. They heel on Jade in Spanish. Gonzalez enters the scene, and she trades barbs with them in Spanish. This clearly sets up a tag match.

Wendy Choo apparently went on a shopping spree with Tiffany Stratton’s credit card. That is a crime, but in the WWE universe it is only a plot twist. The card was canceled, so Choo threw it in the trash. Not before buying a bunch of things, and “maxing out” the card. That is highly illegal. Please do not attempt.

Tiffany Stratton defeats Wendy Choo

Stratton pins Choo after a short match. 

The silliness of Choo’s character detracts from how good she can be as a wrestler. Stratton improves over her previous performances. 

Choo was able to shine, until Stratton broke a nail. Stratton then cut off Choo. Corkscrew splash by Stratton just before she scores a three count.

Pete Dunne in a backstage interview announces next Tuesday on NXT Vengeance Day is a steel cage match with Dunne against Tony D’Angelo. 

Dunne is now carrying around a cricket bat, after he recently used the bat to whack the D’Angelo’s fingers.

Pete Dunne defeats Draco Anthony

Dunne pins Anthony despite interference by Tony D’Angelo.

The match oddly begins during a split-screen commercial break. Dunne eventually targets the fingers after the break, and Dunne goes about dissecting Anthony with technical grabbling. Plus strikes, which would lead to the tide turning in the match.

Antony fires up on Dunne, and he takes over on offense. Joe Gacy and Harland watch from a perch looking out over the ring, and Anthony is distracted by them. 

Gacy approached Anthony in a digital media angle shot last week. Their story continues to unfold here tonight. The distraction cost Anthony, and Dunne cuts him off.

Tony D’Angelo enters the ringside area looking to attack Dunne. D’Angelo swings a crowbar at Dunne, but Dunne dodges the blow. Dunne posts D’Angelo, thwarting the heel. 

Dunne then turns his focus back to Anthony, finishes the match with The Bitter End, and Dunne covers Anthony for a pinfall.

D’Angelo tries to attack Dunne after the match, but Dunne snaps D’Angelo’s fingers. Dunne gets some plunder from underneath the ring, and he throws the plunder into the ring. Dunne then grabs his trusty cricket bat, and he proceeds to cut a promo on D’Angelo.

Dunne tells D’Angelo he needs more than a crowbar next week. Dunne says they shoot attach to the side of the cage all the weapons he threw into the ring to the side, so they can have a “weaponized” cage match. 

Zoey Stark and Io Shirai finally agree that Shirai needs a partner for the Dusty Classic since Stark is still injured.

LA Knight defeats Sanga (with Grayson Waller)

Knight pins Sanga despite interference by Waller.

Sanga is portraying a monster heel, so the match was based around that idea. It was David against a Goliath. 

Knight never gives up as he tries to knock Sanga off his feet. Eventually, a missile dropkick takes Sanga off his feet.

Waller takes odd a turnbuckle pad, exposing the metal buckle. That heelish plan backfires, as Sanga collides with the exposed turnbuckle. Knight delivers a neckbreaker, and Knight gets a three count over Sanga.

After the match, Waller attempts a sneak attack. Knight thwarts the assault, and he cleans house on Waller before giving him a stunner.

McKenzie Mitchell interviews Duke Hudson, and Hudson buries Dante Chen. Hudson says Chen is not here tonight “for a reason.” Hudson wishes Indi Hartwell luck in the Dusty Classic. 

Championship Summit

A table is set up in the ring for the two opponents in the main event of Vengeance Day to face off tonight in some sort of summit.

WWE Champion Bron Breakker sits opposite his first challenger, Santos Escobar. Breakker gets up, says he knows how these “contract signing things go.” So, Breakker says he flip the table over now and start fighting right now.

Escobar lets out a sinister laugh and he scoffs. Escobar says has things under conrtol.

Breakker again acts like he wants to fight. Suddenly, the theme music for Dolph Ziggler blares, and out comes Ziggler to interrupt the summit.

Ziggler takes a seat at the table, props his feet up, and he begins to cut a promo. Ziggler jokes that he apparently know works Tuesday, albeit with a bonus. He thanks “Ace” for that.

Ziggler asks Breakker who he is, and Breakker laughs. Breakker says he is the NXT Champion, and he is the reason Ziggler is here. Ziggler responds by listing the title he won, but he has yet to win the NXT title.

The crowd chants for a  “triple threat” as Ziggler continues his promo. Tommaso Ciampa interrupts Ziggler, and Ciampa joins the summit.

Ciampa sits down beside Ziggler, and Ciampa refers to him as “kid” while further deriding him. Escobar exclaims, “What the hell is going on?” That is a very valid question.

The bickering among everyone continues until Ciampa snaps on Ziggler. A melee ensues. Ciampa brawls with Ziggler. Breakker looks to clean house on Legado del Fantasma, but they jump him. Escobar then powerbombs Breakker through the table set up in the ring.

Sarray defeats Dakota Kai

Sarray pins Kai after using a Saito suplex. Sarray’s push rolls on.

Another match that begins during a commercial break. Very back-and-forth. Kai is still doing the crazy gimmick, which is doing her no favors. 

NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams are featured in a skit from a barber shop. They were basically talking shop ahead of Hayes’ title defense against Cameron Grimes next Tuesday for Vengeance Day.

The NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions, Gigi Dolan and Jacy Jayne, brawl with Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta during a skit. The heels produce an old photograph showing Hartwell with Duke Hudson, so a love triangle is liking to develop. 

Nikkita Lyons is the subject of a vignette. She is a famous singer, but she can fight. Kind of like if Hannah Montana trained as in mixed martial arts. 

MSK (Nash Carter & Wes Lee) defeats Edris Enofe & Malik  in the semifinals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic

MSK advance to the Dusty Classic final after winning this semifinal match

Lots of action in this match between two babyface teams, but the crowd did not seem to favor one or the other. That hurt the match, as the crowd was really into most every other match on the show. They just seem unsure who to cheer for in this match. 

They wrestled through a commercial break. The pace quickens after the break, and the match intensifies. 

Enofe gets a near fall after a splash off the top rope, but he is soon double teamed by MSK. They execute their tandem finsiher, and Lee covers Enofe for a pinfall.

A great vignette featuring Cameron Grimes hypes him challenging for the North American Championship next week. Grimes returns to the trailer park. He says he would give up all his other successes in life, like getting rich and whatnot, to win a championship.

NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose defeats Kay Lee Ray to retain her title 

Rose pins KLR after interference by Gigi Dolan and Jacy Jayne. Io Shirai runs in after the match to save KLR from a beatdown by Toxic Attraction.

Rose’s Toxic Attracion stablemates were supposed to be a non-factory, as they got into a backstage brawl earlier on. Therefore, they were supposedly kicked out of the building for the night. Except that was a swerve.

KLR was getting near falls after a few superkicks when KLR climbs the turnbuckles. Dolan and Jayne hit the ring. Jayne distracts the referee, and Dolan shoves KLR off the top rope.

Rose delivers a knee strike, and she covers KLR for a tainted victory.

Toxic Attraction were not done yet, as Jayne and Dolan hold KLR. Rose grabs KLR’s bat, and Rose teases hitting KLR with the bat. 

Io Shirai runs in to make a save. She cleans house on Toxic Attraction, and Shirai looks to have chosen her new tag partner for the Dusty Classic. Shirai saves KLR, thus forming an alliance.