JD McDonagh VS Julius Creed, Cora Jade VS Wendy Choo
NXT kicked off with the Creed Brothers joking about what they did at Christmas before JD McDonagh said that he’s glad Christmas is over so families no longer need to pretend to like each other. I like this guy. The reason for this start was because Julius Creed was about to go one-on-one with the Irish Ace to kick off NXT. I thought the match was pretty solid, both guys have proven themselves to be top talents that are destined for success. In a slightly surprising move, Julius Creed picked up the win after he hit his deadly clothesline. I say it was surprising because I expected McDonagh to win. Creed winning isn’t a bad thing though and after the match, Indus Sher came down and accepted their request for a match. The two teams will collide at New Year’s Evil in two weeks. Pretty decent start.
Grade: B-
Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo were backstage and Stacks made it clear that he had dealt with Dijak before D’Angelo said that it was his destiny to hold Championship gold. After this, the Schism sent a message to Odyssey Jones, Malik Blade and Edris Enofe before it was time for a battle between Cora Jade and Wendy Choo. Wendy wasn’t waiting around so she ran straight into the ring and took out the resident mean girl of NXT. I thought this match was pretty solid, Choo continues to improve whilst Cora Jade looks like one of the top stars in NXT. In another surprise twist, Wendy Choo hit her splash finisher to get the win. That’s now two matches where someone has picked up a big win against one of the main contenders for championship gold. I think it’s pretty cool.
Grade: C+
Ikemen Jiro VS Scrypts, Lash Legend VS Lyra Valkyria
Ikemen Jiro talked about how he needed his jacket to be his happy self. He really should have made it clear that this was his favorite jacket because I know for a fact that he has a lot more in his closet. Josh Briggs was hyping up Fallon Henley backstage whilst Brooks Jensen was putting on the new shirt that Kiana James had brought for him. Henley and Briggs then asked which side Jenson is on. Ikemen Jiro was then in the ring as he was about to take on Scrypts. I like Ikemen Jiro, I think he is pretty entertaining but this Scrypts character just doesn’t work for me. He’s meant to be scary but he doesn’t look like that. He got the win though so at least NXT is trying to push him.
Grade: C
Oro Mensah was once again enjoying another one of his parties before we got a coolly shot video from Alba Fyre. Fyre talked about how she is fed up with Isla Dawn before she challenged her to an “Anything goes” match for next week's show. Lash Legend was then back on tv and she was ready to go one-on-one with Lyra Valkyria. From what I’ve seen of Lyra Valkyria, I think she looks pretty solid in the ring. She hits some good kicks and I love her finisher (she won the match with it). As for Lash Legend, I think she is actually pretty decent in the ring and if she could develop a better character, I think she could be around for a long, long time. The win for Valkyria was the right move.
Grade: C
The Schism VS Odyssey Jones, Edris Enofe and Malik Blade, Fallon Henley VS Kiana James: Battle for the Bar
Toxic Attraction’s Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne were talking about how they created history in 2022 but unfortunately, they didn’t get a happy ending. They made it clear that they were going to get revenge in 2023. It looked weird not seeing Mandy Rose sitting in the middle of them. Bron Breakker was then being interviewed backstage and he made it clear that he was going to call out Grayson Waller. However, McKenzie Mitchell told him that Grayson Waller wasn’t here and showed him a video that Waller had recorded for him. We then cut to the video where Grayson Waller was touring Sydney, Australia. He was visiting all the top tourist attractions and he made it clear that Australia had never seen a bigger star than Grayson Waller. I loved this, I thought it was shot so well and Grayson’s delivery is always on point. This whole thing angered Bron to the point that he decided to throw the tv into the lockers. He’d better pay for that. The Schism were then in the ring as they were ready to take Odyssey Jones, Edris Enofe and Malik Blade. I like all six men in this match and they all worked well together. Enofe and Blade remind me a lot of how Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter were before they became major title contenders and Odyssey Jones is a lot of fun. At one point, it took six suicide dives to knock Jones off of his feat. Ava Raine was also acting creepy on the outside and at one point, she started telling Booker T about the Schism’s vision. The Schism then hit this awesome tag team move before the Dyad hit their awesome double knees before Gacy got the victory with “The Upside Down”. I’m not joking, I haven’t seen many better endings to a match in the entire year. Like I’ve said before, I think the Schism could sit on top of NXT in 2023.
Grade: B
Backstage, Trick Williams did a poem about how he is going to beat Axiom next week before Carmelo Hayes made it clear that he is coming for the NXT Championship but first, he has to deal with Apollo Crews. Melo should definitely win that match next week. Fallon Henley then looked to keep hold of her family's bar in a match with Kiana James. I was actually quite impressed with Fallon Henley in this match, she looked like she was performing on a different level than usual (makes sense given she was fighting for her prized possession). Kiana James still looks off though and the ending was pretty rubbish. James seemed to twist her ankle and this allowed Henley to pick up the win with the Shining Wizard. The interesting part of all of this was after the match, Henley and Briggs were celebrating whilst Brooks Jensen clearly looked like he wanted to go and check on James.
Grade: C
Roxanne cuts a promo, The Drew Gulak Invitational
Roxanne Perez was being interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell and she made it clear that all the previous NXT Women’s Champions are hall-of-fame-worthy superstars whilst she is no where close. She said that she now has to uphold the legacy of this title by having a noteworthy title reign. Isla Dawn then accepted Alba Fyre’s challenge for an anything-goes match for next week's show. This might sound crazy but I’m wondering if this is going to end with Dawn and Fyre teaming up and taking the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships off of the KC’s. Drew Gulak was then in the ring holding his first-ever invitational. He was teaching both the NXT Universe and Hank Walker about different techniques and he made it clear that it’s important to release the hold as soon as your opponent submits. However, the third guy (Myles Borne) was a lot more advanced than the other two wrestlers and he got a lot more offense in on Gulak. This angered Drew and when Borne tapped out, Gulak didn’t release the hold until Hank Walker pulled him off. Charlie Dempsey then came out and laid out a challenge to Gulak before it was confirmed that Dempsey will battle Hank Walker next week. Unfortunately, this wasn’t great. However, I could definitely see this leading to a match between Drew Gulak and Andre Chase which is something I would enjoy.
Grade: C-
NXT North American Championship: Wes Lee VS Tony D’Angelo
The main event of NXT saw Wes Lee put his NXT North American Championship on the line against the Don of NXT, Tony D’Angelo. D’Angelo kept trying to injure the leg of Wes Lee (something Wes did to him a few months ago) but Lee kept moving out of the way. In the end, Tony D’Angelo looked like he could have had the match won but he clearly wanted to end Wes’ career so he went up to the top rope. However, Dijak appeared out of nowhere and choked out Stacks and this distraction allowed Lee to throw D’Angelo off of the top before he hit his awesome handspring Pele Kick thingy to get the win. Wes Lee winning was the right call and it makes sense for NXT to end 2022 on a high note. D’Angelo will have reasons for a rematch whilst Dijak clearly wants to beat Lee for the title. A triple threat is surely coming at New Year’s Evil.
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