NXT New Year’s Evil was a must watch show. NXT really took the term “new year, new me” seriously, as we crowned three new champions on this show. Giulia was the first, as she and Roxanne Perez once again showed off their flawless chemistry in a fantastic match. Lexis King continued his fantastic rise in NXT, as he beat Charlie Dempsey in a very controversial finish. While the Era of The Ruler has officially begun, as Oba Femi was able to beat Trick Williams and Eddy Thorpe to become the new NXT Champion, in a match that exceeded its expectations. Then to finish the show, The Rock turned up and cut a promo that was basically a load of waffle, but he took part in a very cool segment involving his daughter Ava, and Ethan Page. The show structure was mainly of a good standard, I would’ve made some changes though and those are that The Rock promo should’ve kicked things off, and Giulia’s NXT Women’s Title win should’ve been the main event. The LA crowd was on fire, as they helped elevate everything on the show, even the confusing parts. We also got a new commentary team, with Corey Graves joining Vic Joseph and Booker T behind the desk. I don’t know if that will be a permanent move, but if it is I don’t hate it. NXT wanted to kick this new year off in style and they did just that, while also adding interest as to what is next in this new era for the brand.
NXT kicks off the new year in a major way. As Trick Williams defends his NXT Championship against both Oba Femi and Eddy Thorpe. Giulia challenges Roxanne Perez for her NXT Women’s Championship for the second time. Fatal Influence takes on the new team of Shotzi, Tatum Paxley and Gigi Dolan. Let’s get into the review!
MUST WATCH Roxanne Perez vs Giulia – NXT Women’s Championship
The star-making title reign of Roxanne Perez is officially over, and the era of the Beautiful Madness has just begun. As expected from these two women, they kicked off the show and probably stole the whole thing in the process. Sequences and reversals were as smooth as you can get. The story was built up nicely with some video packages in the lead up to this match, and they continued that story in the ring. As both women were presented as two of the world’s best in women’s wrestling, with Giulia tasked with showing everyone why there is so much hype around her, as Vic Joseph very nicely mentioned in commentary. The match came to its conclusion when Giulia was able to hit a Northern Lights Bomb outside of the ring, and then one inside the ring after kicking out of a Pop Rox. Their first match was better than this one, but once again they showed how exceptional their chemistry is with each other.
Result: Giulia by Pinfall via Northern Lights Bomb
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 4.50 Stars
GREAT Kelani Jordan vs Cora Jade vs Stephanie Vaquer vs Lola Vice – NXT Women’s North American Championship Number 1 Contenders Match
Stephanie Vaquer will get her first championship match in NXT. This was a great showcase of some of NXT’s best wrestlers in the women’s division. Kelani Jordan’s new character progression continued here, as you could see her frustration building up throughout the match. Cora Jade continued to show fantastic improvement following her lengthy injury. Lola Vice was very much the glue that held this match together at times, and she thrived in that role. Stephanie winning was the correct choice though, and her against supposedly Fallon should be a great match.
Result: Stephanie Vaquer by Pinfall
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
GREAT Fatal Influence vs Shotzi, Tatum Paxley and Gigi Dolan
This was a very fun multi-woman tag team. The team of Shotzi, Tatum Paxley and Gigi Dolan works so well together. I’m not a massive fan of Fatal Influence losing, but the way they lost with Shotzi picking up the victory is intriguing. This could well mean that a future Women’s NA Title opportunity could be on the horizon for her as well as Stephanie.
Result: Shotzi, Tatum Paxley and Gigi Dolan by Pinfall
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.50 Stars
GREAT Charlie Dempsey vs Lexis King – NXT Heritage Cup
The rise of Lexis King has been incredible to see. This is someone who fans didn’t warm to immediately, but through showcasing what he can do in the ring and some fascinating character development, he has earned the fans’ support. The match was a very well wrestled contest, there were a couple of weird moments that I didn’t know if they were mistakes or actually intentional. But Lexis picked up the win in controversial circumstances after he was lucky not to get disqualified.
Result: Lexis King by Pinfall via The Coronation
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.50 Stars
AMAZING Trick Williams vs Oba Femi vs Eddy Thorpe – NXT Championship
Another new champion, as Oba Femi continues his incredible rise in NXT. This match was way better than I expected it to be, it is probably Trick Williams’ best performance since the Ilja match. Most of the match was a one on one contest between Oba and Trick, which just made me want to see another match between them without any interruptions. It was obvious Eddy Thorpe was only a part of this storyline so Oba wouldn’t have a totally clean victory and Trick would have a case for a future rematch. Oba winning was the correct decision without a doubt, he deserves this after carrying the NXT men’s division on his back in 2024.
Result: Oba Femi by Pinfall via Fall From Grace
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 4.25 Stars
GOOD The Rock Segment
The Rock appeared on an episode of NXT. Expect the unexpected in professional wrestling. He massively put over everyone at NXT. Then said The Final Boss is always 20 steps ahead when talking about the segment with Cody Rhodes on last night’s historic RAW.
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.25 Stars
Overall…
NXT New Year’s Evil was a must watch show. NXT really took the term “new year, new me” seriously, as we crowned three new champions on this show. Giulia was the first, as she and Roxanne Perez once again showed off their flawless chemistry in a fantastic match. Lexis King continued his fantastic rise in NXT, as he beat Charlie Dempsey in a very controversial finish. While the Era of The Ruler has officially begun, as Oba Femi was able to beat Trick Williams and Eddy Thorpe to become the new NXT Champion, in a match that exceeded its expectations. Then to finish the show, The Rock turned up and cut a promo that was basically a load of waffle, but he took part in a very cool segment involving his daughter Ava, and Ethan Page. The show structure was mainly of a good standard, I would’ve made some changes though and those are that The Rock promo should’ve kicked things off, and Giulia’s NXT Women’s Title win should’ve been the main event. The LA crowd was on fire, as they helped elevate everything on the show, even the confusing parts. We also got a new commentary team, with Corey Graves joining Vic Joseph and Booker T behind the desk. I don’t know if that will be a permanent move, but if it is I don’t hate it. NXT wanted to kick this new year off in style and they did just that, while also adding interest as to what is next in this new era for the brand.
Matches: 0.75/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.75/1 Stars
Atmosphere/Crowd/Commentary: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.75/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 1/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 4/5 Stars
Photo Credit: WWE
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
