NXT’s last live show of the year was a great show. Starting with the match quality, it was far better than usual this week. The episode kicked off with a fantastic David vs Goliath matchup between Axiom and Oba Femi, Oba ended up destroying Axiom, even though the tag champ did show some resilience. This planted the seeds for Axiom struggling in his NXT Tag Team Title match later, as he and Frazer only just scrapped past Gallus in a solid contest. Of course it wouldn’t be NXT without the women stealing the show, as Sol Ruca and Zaria proved to be a pretty formidable tag team, unfortunately for them Lash and Jakara have been a team for more than a cup of coffee, so they rightfully beat Ruca and Zaria in a very exciting contest which did well to showcase every competitor’s strengths. The main event was the weakest part of the show, the wrestling wasn’t great and the ending wasn’t done very well. Storytelling outside of matches was pretty weak, except for the one in-ring segment we got, as Ethan Page went full Shawn Michaels in Lowell to trick Je’Von Evans. This was such a great segment, and a wonderful way to honour one of the most remembered moments from HBK’s career. He really loves playing his greatest hits doesn’t he? NXT to me finished off the year for their live shows with a bang, some amazing matches with one tremendous bit of storytelling sprinkled in there, which sets up an exciting feud between Ethan and Je’Von for the new year.
NXT goes on the road for their last live show of the year, as the stars of tomorrow find themselves visiting Lowell, Massachusetts. On this week’s show, Trick Williams has one final test before his match with Oba Femi, as he defends his title against a very smart Eddy Thorpe. Axiom wrestles twice in one show, as he faces the tall task of taking down Oba Femi, and defending his and Nathan Frazer’s Tag Team titles. Sol Ruca and Zaria make up a dream team and take on Meta Four’s Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson. All this and more, let’s get into the review!
AMAZING Oba Femi vs Axiom
Talk about David vs Goliath, who doesn’t love a matchup like this in wrestling? These two knew their roles and played them incredibly well, Axiom used his speed well in the early stages to avoid Oba Femi, but we saw that it only takes one chop from Oba and you’re on the back foot. Femi dominated, but Axiom showed heart and resilience, while even creating some moments that made you believe he could win at times. The perfect way to kick off NXT’s last live show of the year.
Result: Oba Femi by Pinfall via Pop-Up Powerbomb
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 4.25 Stars
AMAZING Sol Ruca and Zaria vs Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson
These women put on a show in Lowell. Sol Ruca and Zaria are actually a really fun tag team, a great mix of power and high-flying ability. Often when you get two singles wrestlers in a one off team like this, they tend to stick to their own movesets while doing minimal double team work, this wasn’t the case here. As Sol and Zaria pulled out some really fun tag team moves, at one point Zaria had Jakara Jackson on her shoulders and Sol started to balance on Jakara, before hitting Lash Legend. It is really a spot where I can’t do it justice with words. Lash once again showed herself as one of the top powerhouses in NXT, but Jakara’s selling was fantastic and I don’t feel she gets enough credit in that sense.
Result: Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson by Pinfall
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 4.00 Stars
SQUASH Wren Sinclair vs Jaida Parker
It is clear that the chemistry of these two is really good, so it is a shame that they didn’t get more time. This feud isn’t over though, as OTM and NQCC started fighting at ringside. This allowed for Jaida to hit the Hypnotic and pick up the victory.
Result: Jaida Parker by Pinfall via Hypnotic
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: Too short to rate
GREAT Fraxiom vs Gallus – NXT Tag Team Championships
Fraxiom finished their incredible year with yet another wonderful tag team title defence. The story around their team was pretty much the exact same to the one they told at Deadline just with the roles reversed, but it worked just as well. These two have been one of the best tag teams of the year, and they once again showed why.
Result: Fraxiom by Pinfall via Phoenix Splash
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
MUST WATCH Ethan Page Segment
Ethan Page, he has fooled us again. Ethan came out to the ring, and cut a very emotional promo as he looked into the camera and said sorry to his wife about being a disappointment since losing his NXT Title, as he proceeded to appropriately use the “I’ve lost my smile” line in Lowell. Je’Von Evans came out to the ring and tried to console him, saying he needs to drop the “All Ego” act to be the real him. Ethan then took out Je’Von and stepped on a chair that was wrapped around his neck.
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 4.50 Stars
AVERAGE Trick Williams vs Eddy Thorpe – NXT Championship
This was a very strange match, mediocre wrestling aside, the ending made no sense to me. To me it looked like Trick pinned Eddy and he had two officials counting the pin, but then apparently Eddy had his hand on Trick leading to a pinfall victory for Thorpe? I honestly have no idea and I just put Trick as the winner. He looked like a pretty clear winner.
Result: Trick Williams by Pinfall (I guess)
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 2.50 Stars
Overall…
NXT’s last live show of the year was a great show. Starting with the match quality, it was far better than usual this week. The episode kicked off with a fantastic David vs Goliath matchup between Axiom and Oba Femi, Oba ended up destroying Axiom, even though the tag champ did show some resilience. This planted the seeds for Axiom struggling in his NXT Tag Team Title match later, as he and Frazer only just scrapped past Gallus in a solid contest. Of course it wouldn’t be NXT without the women stealing the show, as Sol Ruca and Zaria proved to be a pretty formidable tag team, unfortunately for them Lash and Jakara have been a team for more than a cup of coffee, so they rightfully beat Ruca and Zaria in a very exciting contest which did well to showcase every competitor’s strengths. The main event was the weakest part of the show, the wrestling wasn’t great and the ending wasn’t done very well. Storytelling outside of matches was pretty weak, except for the one in-ring segment we got, as Ethan Page went full Shawn Michaels in Lowell to trick Je’Von Evans. This was such a great segment, and a wonderful way to honour one of the most remembered moments from HBK’s career. He really loves playing his greatest hits doesn’t he? NXT to me finished off the year for their live shows with a bang, some amazing matches with one tremendous bit of storytelling sprinkled in there, which sets up an exciting feud between Ethan and Je’Von for the new year.
Matches: 0.75/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.75/1 Stars
Atmosphere/Crowd/Commentary: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Photo Credit: WWE
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
