For those not in the know NXT is an interesting product for the WWE as it is in the invidious position of not only being the third brand of the company but also the training ground. The spot at which the youth or inexperienced sometimes both get the chance to develop and grow. There is a discussion to be had on this state of affairs but that’s for another blog. All you need to know is that the roster if full to the gills with “green” wrestlers. Green is a term for a wrestler who is of youth or inexperienced in either their promo, wrestling ability, look or often the whole package.
All of this is to say the expectation of NXT has to be less than both Raw or Smackdown. Now what’s funny about this is NXT started with Tony D’Angelo defending the North American Title against the ratings maven that is Ridge Holland. To me Tony is extremely close to being Main Roster ready. By The Way, Main Roster means Raw or Smackdown for future reference. Ridge formally was on the previously on the Main Roster. Now whether he was ever ready for that is debatable but it does mean that this is a great way to start the show. Ridge has been doing brilliant character work and thusly the audience hates him and it showed they were into every hit Tony gave him.
Now I must admit I was late to this show so I arrived mid way into this match, thankfully this didn’t affect my enjoyment of the match. However what did hurt my enjoy of the match was the ending. Tony D’Angelo character is that of a “legit” mob boss and his crew is called The D’Angelo Family. As you would expect of a Mob boss his family came out but Brooks Jensen & Niko Vance started brawling with Channing Lorenzo aka Stacks & Luca Crusifino. As you might expect the ref was distracted, then Izzi Dame randomly runs in to hit Ridge with a big boot. D’Angelo hits a Spinebuster for the win.
In theory all of this sounds like typical wrestling shenanigans however, I have been re-watching NXT for about three weeks and I didn’t know half of these people specifically Niko Vance and Luca Crusifino. Sure they have been in the background but to me their wasn’t enough interaction to know who it was that fighting especially on first glance. Now I didn’t know this was later but a match later would resolve this issue but for this moment I was confused
Unfortunately this would happen to me again and again it would be resolved later in the night Dion Lennox steps up to Wes Lee after Lee laughs at Lennox thinking he has potential. As they argue, Trick Williams randomly walks by to his locker. Lee then says “Speaking of former Champs” and Trick then decks him. Additionally there was Malik Blade and Edris Enofe in the background. I might need to take note of that due to people just suddenly appearing out of nowhere. I had never see Dion before and although I was aware of Wes this happened so quick the only person I truly knew was Trick Williams and to me that is an issue
Next came an interesting segment where Raw’s Bayley came out. If you are not aware Bayley maybe my favourite WWE female wrestler. She has incredible in-ring ability, Her pandemic yes I used the forbidden word get over it character work was some of the best throughout that era and I think see is getting stale but is still a shining star in women’s wrestling. Over the last few weeks her program with Roxanne Perez has been infiltrating all three shows and it’s awesome to see
Bayley then namedrops Jaida Parker, Kelani Jordan, and Lola Vice all women will we see later on however, in fact directly after this segment. I’ll get to that mess. Then she mentioned Giulia. New to NXT and an example of a wrestler who has the in-ring ability, has the look but not the character harder in her case because she’s Japanese and her English is passable. She says Roxy may not look up to Bayley, but she does and hopes to hold the title with as much honour as Bayley did. Then after some lovey dovey talk between the two, Roxy comes out with Cora Jade. The reaction alone was worth watching the show to be honest and I wont go into much about what was said but ultimately this was used as setup for a tag match between the 4 next week and that has me excited if nothing else.
Then for the second and not last time on this show I got lost in the gaggle of faces. Jaida basks in how Bayley mentioned her name two weeks in a row. Kelani runs in to say she mentioned her name first. They argue until Karmen Petrovic comes into act like a loved up puppy after a kiss last week that had about as much chemistry as me with vegetables, oil with water, Manchester United with Winning this season. Teenage drama, is the way to describe it folks.
Up next is Dion Lennox taking on Wes Lee. Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe accompany him for the match and I immediately shouted at the screen who in the blue blazes hell as these fools. Now as I stated earlier I had zero idea who Dion was but that didn’t matter it took them 30 seconds for me not to want to see him lose and that’s the goal of this industry so Wes Lee congratulations, you should be on the Main Roster. Ultimately it was a decent showcase but Dion definitely needs more time in matches to develop. Lee then grabs the mic to challenge Trick for next week and if Dion is not involved I will genuinely be shocked
To be fair there are multiple reasons for this, not quiet getting the rules, thinking it looks ugly and the fact that it literally changed hands because of a disqualification within this feud but the Heritage Cup “Championship” was next. I like Lexis King and Charlie Dempsey sons of Brian Pillman and Steven “William” Regal. It was a grand match not enough to change my opinion of the concept but it did help develop Lexis Kings character and should help Charlie who’s only problem is he exudes as much charisma as a brick wall
Next was Karmen Petrovic with the person she kissed Ashante Adonis verse Jaida Parker. The teenage drama solved here. As seen below in my tweet I like the looks of both these women and funnily just found out Jaida came out with new music. Well both are still shocking and need a change for me. Nothing match with another stupid finish with an interference by Kelani Jordan but nice they were all on TV I guess.
Then an announcement that filled me with joy Bianca and Naomi verse Lash and Jakara for the WWE Womens Tag Team Championships next week. What made this even better is Lash, Jakara, Sol Ruca, Zaria, and a gaggle of others all stress the importance of Lash and Jakara winning next week to bring the women’s tag titles back to NXT. This is cool because back in the day they had an independent womens tag team championships for NXT that were merged with the Main Roster ones Bianca and Naomi hold so nice of them to remember the history of the show.
However it would be remise of me not to point out that Zaria debut less than 2 months ago and is relegated to this. Shame on the booking them she’s a star. Unfortunately NXT has too many female stars and thus this happens. She’s not ready for the Main Roster but I’d almost prefer her not to be on TV than here if I’m being 100 percent honest.
Next Brooks Jensen and Niko Vance with Shaun Spears take on Luca Crusafino and Stacks. Now this was funny because I had an awareness of Brooks Jensen but had never seen Niko Vance and didn’t no they had aligned with Spears. Well of course I didn’t this was there first match as a team. Now 2 things.
1. During the brawl in the North American Championship match if Brooks Jensen and Niko Vance had never teamed before how was I meant to know who they were and
2. NXT why did you wait so long to pair these too up
Now what’s brilliant about this is NXT has started the deal with TNA and thus a lot of excite Tag Teams are going to be swinging around the spot so these two will get the chance to learn so much. Additionally Stacks had an argument with Tony and I hope he comes out good in that because he has a chance of being … something in the future I wouldn’t bet a star but something.
Then we came to NXT Champion Oba Femi vs Eddy Thorpe. I’ve nicked this Tweet from legend of the community Humble Wrestling to give you an idea of what Oba Femi is. The only change to this caption is I would say “This Is THE Wrestler” he has everything you would want in a wrestler for the modern day. A look, the voice, the charisma, the in-ring ability and a bitching theme song seriously search it up you’ll be bopping for the next hour
To me this should have been a squash but it wasn’t and Eddy needed it to be as it was. It was a great showcase for both wrestlers and setup for next week with the boys Austin Theory and Grayson Waller being ringside for the whole thing and having a segment with Oba announced for next week. They need a spark and Oba needs the victims so it helps everyone involved. However just before the fade to black Trick Williams came out and faced Oba down which means a match is a coming and all I can say is inject it in my vains
I have borrowed the below tweet from CrispyWrestling if your interested in the live reactions follow them their awesome and yes need week looks like a slobberknocker of a week. If you are interest in the development side of WWE it is definitely a week to have a gawk and see if you like it
As I mentioned before eventually I want to transition to a video review of these events to make my opinion easier to understand and thusly leave any improvements you’d recommend but for now please enjoy my honest opinion of 22/1/2025 Tuesday Night NXT
Until next time, my friends! Be sure to keep your craic at 90! Slán go fóill!
Craic Attack Central 