This week’s NXT truly was a must-watch show for anyone that hasn’t seen it. Amazing match quality isn’t usually something that we associate with NXT for their weekly shows, there are usually solid bouts here and there, but in Cincinnati WWE’s third brand put on a show when it came to the matches. Stephanie Vaquer defended her title in a surprisingly innovative match against Karmen Petrovic. Moose and Lexis King exceeded everyone’s expectations, in what ended up being one of the matches of the night. While the Hardy Boyz return to WWE, and Ricky Saints’ NXT debut were both very fun and achieved what was needed from both matchups. The stories we saw being set up this week were extremely intriguing, Giulia and Stephanie fighting to try and see who the better champion is, as well as Roxanne being set up as Jordynne’s first singles match as an official member of the NXT roster are two can’t miss contests. Speaking of dream matches, the greatest tag team in the world is officially taking on the greatest tag team of all-time. Fraxiom and the Hardys took part in a fantastic segment which brought the importance of the match to an extremely high level. Cincinnati were on fire this week when it came to atmosphere, their continued interest in the show, as well as some cheeky chants such as “Tony fumbled” made the episode a lot of fun. I’ve made my thoughts on three-person commentary tables known, but Vic Joseph, Booker T and Corey Graves all worked extremely well together this week. They added to each match with their facts and analysis, while also making the audience feel the importance of each big moment that happened on the show as well. WWE Roadblock is just a couple weeks away, but NXT have nailed the build for it so far.
NXT comes to Cincinnati, Ohio with a stacked match card this week. Stephanie Vaquer puts her newly won NXT Women’s North American Title on the line against Karmen Petrovic. Moose defends his TNA X-Division Title against Lexis King. Ricky Saints makes his NXT debut as he teams with Je’Von Evans to take on Ethan Page and Wes Lee. Let’s get into the review!
AMAZING Stephanie Vaquer vs Karmen Petrovic – NXT Women’s North American Title
The best way to start this PLE level show, and a fantastic example as to why Stephanie Vaquer is the perfect Women’s NA Champion for NXT. Vaquer is able to elevate every talent she steps in the ring with, to wrestle at the best of their ability. We saw it when she went up against Fallon Henley at Vengeance Day, and it happened again in her first title defense against Karmen Petrovic. Smooth technical wrestling, fun and innovative sequences, the only criticism of the match is you didn’t feel in doubt of who was going to win throughout, which would’ve brought the contest to a whole new level. After the match Giulia came to the ring and confronted Stephanie, in a face off that had Cincinnati going crazy. Both women decided that they need to find out who the better champion is, and a title for title match is now set up between the two.
Result: Stephanie Vaquer by Pinfall via SVB
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 4.00 Stars
AMAZING Moose vs Lexis King – TNA X-Division Title
This one really exceeded my expectations, Moose and Lexis King put on a real show in King’s hometown of Cincinnati. I was surprised by how much the crowd was behind Lexis in this one, but it was awesome to see and really added a new layer to the storytelling of the match. Moose showed off his freakish athleticism to the NXT universe, but for anyone that has seen the man in action in TNA, this was no surprise. One thing I’ve noticed is Lexis seems to have much better matches when he is playing in more of a babyface role in his bouts. Moose unsurprisingly picked up the victory, Oba Femi then confronted the champ after the match and challenged him to a match for The Ruler’s NXT Championship at Roadblock.
Result: Moose by Pinfall via Spear
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 4.00 Stars
GREAT Jordynne Grace Promo
To the surprise of everyone, Roxanne Perez interrupted Jordynne Grace this week. Now the promo battle between the two was great, both mentioned their past history together, as it now seems like another match between those two is on the horizon. But there are some problems I had with this, firstly it would’ve been better to wait a week to do this segment as now it seems pretty obvious Roxanne isn’t winning the Elimination Chamber match on Saturday. Also, why is Rox still concerned about NXT? She should be worried about her match at Elimination Chamber, not concerning herself with business that doesn’t involve her.
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
GREAT The Hardy Boyz vs NQCC
Matt and Jeff Hardy competed in a WWE NXT ring for the first time in 2025… what a crazy timeline we live in. The match was so much fun, seeing the crowd incredibly hyped to see the Hardy Boyz was awesome. Taivon Heights and Myles Bourne were exceptional in making Matt and Jeff look as good as they possibly could. The in-ring action was actually really great, with Jeff of course pulling out some pretty awesome spots. Very successful welcome back to WWE for the Hardys.
Result: The Hardy Boyz by Pinfall via Swanton
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
AMAZING Santino Marella makes it official!
Fraxiom decided to be the first to congratulate the Hardy Boyz on their victory. But they also laid down the challenge for the TNA Tag Team Titles. Santino Marella then made an appearance to his old theme music, and it was then made official for WWE Roadblock!
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 4.25 Stars
SQUASH Lola Vice vs Arianna Grace
Lola Vice and Arianna Grace had their match, which was made official earlier on in the show. Lola won this fairly quickly. Hopefully we can see her get more of a push in the women’s division now.
Result: Lola Vice by Pinfall
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: Too short to rate
GREAT Je’Von Evans and Ricky Saints vs Ethan Page and Wes Lee
Ricky Saints has officially arrived in NXT, and he marked his debut with a win. Very successful first match for Ricky, commentary did a great job explaining his ties to Cody Rhodes and CM Punk, while when it came to the in-ring action Ricky showed his class in that aspect. I liked the fact Je’Von Evans and Ethan Page took each other out of the match, as it finished with a one on one contest between Saints and Wes Lee. I’m guessing this now sets up the first singles match for Ricky, which should be against Wes.
Result: Je’Von Evans and Ricky Saints by Pinfall
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
Overall…
This week’s NXT truly was a must-watch show for anyone that hasn’t seen it. Amazing match quality isn’t usually something that we associate with NXT for their weekly shows, there are usually solid bouts here and there, but in Cincinnati WWE’s third brand put on a show when it came to the matches. Stephanie Vaquer defended her title in a surprisingly innovative match against Karmen Petrovic. Moose and Lexis King exceeded everyone’s expectations, in what ended up being one of the matches of the night. While the Hardy Boyz return to WWE, and Ricky Saints’ NXT debut were both very fun and achieved what was needed from both matchups. The stories we saw being set up this week were extremely intriguing, Giulia and Stephanie fighting to try and see who the better champion is, as well as Roxanne being set up as Jordynne’s first singles match as an official member of the NXT roster are two can’t miss contests. Speaking of dream matches, the greatest tag team in the world is officially taking on the greatest tag team of all-time. Fraxiom and the Hardys took part in a fantastic segment which brought the importance of the match to an extremely high level. Cincinnati were on fire this week when it came to atmosphere, their continued interest in the show, as well as some cheeky chants such as “Tony fumbled” made the episode a lot of fun. I’ve made my thoughts on three-person commentary tables known, but Vic Joseph, Booker T and Corey Graves all worked extremely well together this week. They added to each match with their facts and analysis, while making the audience feel the importance of each big moment that happened on the show as well. WWE Roadblock is just a couple weeks away, but NXT have nailed the build for it so far.
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 1/1 Stars
Atmosphere/Crowd/Commentary: 1/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.75/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 4/5 Stars
Photo Credit: WWE
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
