Posted on 12/31/125 by Bob Magee
NXT is on the air with an episode taped in front of a live
studio audience.
Ethan Page vs. Moose for the NXT North American Championship
—
Page jumped Moose during the ring introductions, and the
fight was on. The fighting soon spilled outside the ring.
Page dodged a charging Moose, and Moose collided with the
metal ring steps. They both work an arm, as Moose posted
Page shoulder first moments later.
The match goes through a commercial break. Both were selling
their shoulders, but Page was in control as the show cut to
commercials. Comeback by Moose after the show returns from
the break. Moose was on fire, yet still selling his arm.
Page takes an avalanche tree slam into a sit-out powerbomb,
and Moose gets a two count on Page. They trade strikes and
kicks, they trade near falls. Codebreaker by Page, but Moose
kicks out.
In a stunt, Moose speared Page through a gimmicked section
of the barricade. Another spear by Moose in the ring, only
for Page to get his foot on a bottom rope to break a count.
The fight spilled outside again, where Moose takes an ugly
bump on the ring steps. Page with a back body drop, and
Moose looked to have struck the edge of the steps. Page
follows up with a flying body press off the top rope, but
Moose gets his shoulder up on a pin attempt. Page then
delivers his Twisted Grin finisher, and he covers Moose for
a clean pin.
Match result: NXT North American Champion Ethan Page
defeated Moose via pinfall.
— Up next is the first of many year-end awards.
NXT Awards: Male Superstar of the Year
Je’Von Evans is awarded the trophy shaped like a ring bell,
signifying him as Male Superstar of the Year. Other nominees
included Ricky Saints, Trick Williams, Ethan Page, and Oba
Femi.
— Izzi Dame wants The Culling to confront Tatum Paxley right
now, but Shawn Spears is hesitant. Dame storms off mumbling
about having to do everything herself. Dame is headed to
confront Paxley in the next segment after a commercial
break.
— After the commercial break is a Tonya Harding skit where
WWE Evolve Women’s Champion Kendal Grey is Nancy Kerrigan.
Grey was attacked by an unknown assailant. Wren Sinclair
wails after finding Grey on the ground after the attack.
Izzi Dame and Tatum Paxley set up match at New Year’s Evil
— Dame cut a promo on Paxlet before being interrupted by
her. They banter back and forth until they set up a grudge
match for New Year’s Evil. Paxley stops Dame from leaving by
saying she dictates when things are over. Dame goes to
attack Paxley, but she does a Matrix move to dodge Dame.
Paxley then executes her finisher on Dame to end the
segment.
NXT Awards: Tag Team of the Year
Sol Ruca & Zaria get the award for Tag Team of the Year.
Other nominees included the team of Hank & Tank, along with
factions like The Culling, Fatal Influence, and Darkstate.
NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne (with Fallon Henley & Lainey
Reid) vs. Wren Sinclair in a non-title match
—
Sinclair shines in the first half of the match, and she
works an arm on Jayne. Before the show cuts to a commercial
break, NXT Women’s North American Champion Fallon Henley
tries to interfere. Sinclair avoids the interference, but
falls for the distraction by Fatal Influence. Jayne with a
superkick cut offs Sinclair, and the show heads into the
commercial break.
Sinclair makes a comeback after the show returns from the
break. Running lariats and butterfly suplex by Sinclair for
a two count on Jayne. Sinclairs eats a knee strike. A moment
later, Sinclair targets an arm to cut off Jayne. High cross
off the top by Sinclair, followed by a cattle mutilation
submission hold applied on Jayne in the center of the ring.
Sinclair wrenches in the hold, only to switch to an arm bar.
Jayne then escapes with a counter.
Just before the finish, Jayne also escapes an inside cradle.
Jayne then strikes with Rolling Encore, and Jayne pinned
Sinclair.
Match result: NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne defeated Wren
Sinclair via pinfall in a non-title match.
In a post-match attack, the Fatal Influence trio all jump
Sinclair. They gang up on her until Wren Sinclair runs down
for a save in a takeoff of the Spirit of ’76 comeback.
Sinclair showed no signs of injury despite the apparent
assault earlier.
Grey runs wild on the heel trio, and she catches Jayne in an
arm bar. The heels flee the ring as Grey holds up the
women’s title belt.
— Joe Hendry is warming up for his concert with vocal
exercises before heading to the ring for his musical
performance.
Joe Hendry in concert
—
Booker T was going wild on commentary singing along to
Hendry’s theme song, as Hendry gets a full entrance.
Hendry sits down with a guitar and talks about his
accomplishments this past year. Hendry then introduces a
song about NXT. Hendry proceeds to perform a song while
strumming an acoustic guitar, with him referencing other
talent and moments from the WWE brand in 2025. T
he hook for the song: “Join us on CW. You won’t believe your
eyes. NXT was the show for me in 2025.”
Hendry then mentions Darkstate, singing how they will ruin
the show. He gets a dig at them by saying no one knew who
they were until Joe Hendry made them famous. Shortly
thereafter, the lights in the sound stage go dark.
Darksate rush the ring and attack Hendry. They beat down
Hendry in a four-on-one assault. Henry takes an assisted
power bomb, and Darkstate stand over a prone Hendry.
— NXT General Manager Ava gets to her office to find her
door already open. A disheveled Blake Monroe is there to
greet Monroe. Ava gives her a bit of a pep talk, and she
tells Monroe to get her glamour back if she wants to regain
the Women’s North American Championship.
— Hard sell for the NXT title match set to headline New
Year’s Evil, which is NXT Champion Oba Femi defending
against TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater. Talent from NXT
and TNA offer their picks in a video package hyping the
title bout.
Tavion Heights vs. Lexis King in the finals of the WWE Speed
Tournament
—
Heights won in seconds after a belly-to-belly suplex. King
has his back to Heights as the bell sounds to start the
match. Heights shoots in and suplexed King mere seconds into
the bout. Heights then covers King for a three count, and
Heights wins in about eight seconds.
Match result: Tavion Heights defeated Lexis King via pinfall
to win the the tournament final.
Vic Joseph on commentary pushed the result as the fastest
loss in NXT history. By winning the tournament, Heights
becomes number one contender for the WWE Speed Championship
held by Jasper Troy. Jasper Troy enters the sound stage
after the match for a stare down with Heights.
NXT Awards: Match of the Year
Winning match of the year honors is Oba Femi vs. Je’Von
Evans vs. Trick Williams in a triple threat match for the
NXT Chanpionship at Stand & Deliver in Las Vegas.
Other nominees included the following matches:
Sol Ruca vs. Kelani Jordan for the NXT Women’s North
American Championship from Battleground in Tampa
Ethan Page vs. Ricky Saints in a falls count anywhere match
for the NXT Men’s North American Championship at Great
American Bash in Orlando
Jacy Jayne vs. Lola Vice for the NXT Women’s Championship at
No Mercy in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Oba Femi vs. Je’Von Evans for the NXT Championship at
Heatwave in Lowell, MA
Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge at Deadline in San Antonio
OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price) vs. Swipe Right (Brad
Baylor & Ricky Smokes with Jackson Drake)
—
The entire Vanity Project trio is there with WWE Evolve
Champion Jackson Drake in the corner for Swipe Right. Not
sure if OTM are babyfaces, but Swipe Right are definitively
heels. The latter are certainly the foils in this tag bout.
Drake tries to interfere, only to be driven into the mat
with a urnange slam. OTM execute their tandem finisher, and
Nima pinned Smokes.
Match result: OTM defeated Swipe Right via pinfall in a tag
team match.
— In a locker room skit, NXT Women’s North American Champion
Thea Hail asks Jordynne Grace to be in her corner at New
Year’s Evil. Grace reluctantly agrees, while also agreeing
to a hug from Hail this one time.
NXT Awards: Female Superstar of the Year
Sol Ruca is Female Superstar of the Year. That makes two NXT
awards for Sol Ruca. Jacy Jayne was robbed despite being
nominated in this category. Other nominees besides Jayne
included Kelani Jordan, Sol Ruca, Tatum Paxley and Blake
Monroe.
— Hard sell for New Year’s Evil next Tuesday on NXT, and
then comes the main event for tonight.
Je’Von Evans vs. Ricky Saints
—
Melee at the start as Evans rushes the start by attacking
Saints before the bell. They brawl in a fitting start to a
grudge match.
Saints targets a knee, and Saints also sends Evans crashing
through a gimmicked section of the barricade, which was
similarly located in a section used for a stunt in an
earlier match. Evans fights back, which leads to a dive to
the outside. They fight atop the announce desk, and Evans
springboards off the top rope into a flying clothesline.
Saints cuts off Evans and is pummeling him on the floor when
the show cuts to a commercial break. Saints has Evans locked
in a guillotine choke as the show returns from the break,
but Evans counters into a vertical suplex.
Sueprkick and comeback by Evans, who runs the ropes and
leaps into a flip kick and a near fall. Evans counters an
attempted tornado DDT from Saints, and Evans executes his
own tornado DDT. Flying knee by Evans for another near fall.
Evans with a flying boy press off the top rope, but Saints
gets his knee up. Pearl River Plunge by Saints for two and a
half. On floor, Saints is messing with the announce desk
when Evans launches himself like a missile. Evans and Saints
tumble over the desk. Back in the ring, Evans with a frog
splash for yet another near fall.
Evans goes for a springboard, only for Saints to trip him in
the ropes. Saints with his feet on the ropes for added
leverage, but the referee catches him and stops the
attempted pin. Spear by Saints, but Evans kicks out. Tornado
DDT by Saint. Yet again, Evans kicks out.
Evans hulks up, and he counters a Roshambo. Evans catches
Saints with a Diamond Cutter. Evans goes for a springboard
cutter, but Evans drops the ref with the cutter instead of
Saints.
For the finish, the assigned ref is out as Saints plays
possum. Saints hits Evans with a low blow, and Saints
follows up with Roshambo. A second referee rushes into the
ring to count the pin as Saints covers Evans.
Match result: Ricky Saints defeated Je’Von Evans via
pinfall.
Saints celebrated his tainted victory in the final scene
from NXT in 2025.