This taped episode of NXT was pre-recorded from the Lowell
Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, MA. The show was taped after
the live episode last Tuesday.
From the start, the vibe is that of a taped show. The
atmosphere is dampened compared to the live episode from
last week. The lighting in the background is festive for
Christmas Eve, with red and green colors for this episode.
Santa Claus arrives to start this episode, as he enters the
ringside area. Santa waves to the live crowd ahead of the
opening match.
Stephanie Vaquer defeated Cora Jade
Vaquer pinned Jade after a package neckbreaker. Kelani
Jordan runs in to jump Jade in a post-match attack.
The match goes through a commercial break. Jade with a rough
backstabber just before the show cuts to a commercial break.
The match continues after the break, with Vaquer making a
comeback. Vaquer gets a near fall, and Jade tries to cut her
off. Vaquer hits her with a forearm, and Vaquer picks up
Jade for a package neckbacker. Vaquer then covers Jade for a
three count.
Kelani Jordan ran in after the match with a kendo stick.
Jordan ambushes Jade and repeatedly hits her with the kendo
stick. Vaquer had left the ring, and she rushes back in to
pull Jordan off Jade.
NXT North American Champion Tony D’Angelo is alongside The
Family as they cut promos ahead of their match tonight.
Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo has beef with Santa Claus, because
someone dressed as Santa apparently tried to steal presents
from him as a kid. His mom ran the thief off with a broom,
or something like that. Not sure what to make of that,
except it may have something to do with the Santa seen
earlier on the show. Anyway, Stacks also vows he and Luca
Crusifino will win the tag titles.
William Regal talks with Lexis King in a backstage skit.
Regal says he admires King, and Regal wants to be in his
corner. Regal asks King if he is going to do it, and King
responds by saying he is going to win the Heritage Cup
tonight. KIng walks away, and Regal says that is not what is
was asking, while Regal reveals he brass knux on his hand.
This is a bit of foreshadowing ahead of the next match.
The situation with Regal, King and the knux relates to a
story from a few months ago. In a previous match, King
refused to use the knux after Regal tried to smuggle them
into the ring. King would go to lose that match.
Lexis King (with William Regal) defeated NXT Heritage Cup
Champion Charlie Dempsey (with Wren Sinclair) to win the
trophy
Dempsey is disqualified in the fourth round, so King wins
the match and the Cup. Regal gets involved in the match, and
his involvement ends up costing Dempsey the match. There is
a father-son dynamic there, but that is not part of the
storyline so far.
No falls in the first round, and the bell awkwardly rand to
end round one. The action was more intense in the second
round, but still no falls. Dempsey stomps on King after the
bell sounds to end round two. Round three supposedly all
took place during a commercial break, and no falls.
They return from the commercial break with the start of
round four. Dempsey and King collide and bonk heads. Double
down as both are out on their feet. Wren Sinclair
frantically tries to revive Dempsey. The referee is
distracted by Sinclair getting into the ring, and Regal puts
the brass knux in King’s hand. King revives and sees the
knux. He gets to his feet and tries handing the knux back to
Regal. Instead, Regal decks King with a left hand, and King
drops like a stone.
The knux go bouncing around the mat. Dempsey picks them up
and puts the knux on his hand. The ref turns around to see
Dempsey with the knux, and King laid out on the mat. The ref
disqualifies Dempsey just times runs out on the round. King
wins via disqualification after having won 1-0. And new…
OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price) cut a promo vowing to win
tag team titles, after they first win the fatal four-way tag
match later tonight.
Kelani Jordan is angry with Stephanie Vaquer and Lola Vice
in a backstage skit. Jordan rants at them about Cora Jade.
Unholy Union (Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn) defeated Fatal
Influence (Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyx with NXT Women’s North
American Champion Fallon Henley)
Dawn pinned Jayne to win the match, thanks in part to an
assist from Gigi Dolan. There is also a distraction from
another main card tag team that has returned to NXT.
The tag bout goes through a commercial break. Much to the
chagrin of Fatal Influence, the trio of Gigi Dolan, Tatum
Paxley and Shotzi enter the ringside area just before the
show cuts to the break. Kayden Carter & Katana Chance also
come down to ringside at some point.
Just before the match goes home, Nyz and Henley confront
Carter and Chance at ringside. That left Jayne alone in the
ring. Jayne is climbing the ropes when she is shoved off by
Gigi Dolan. The Unholy Union then executes a tandem finisher
on Jayne, and Dawn covers Jayne for the pinfall.
Tavion Heights and Myles Borne talk ahead of their fatal
four-way.
Zaria is talking with Sol Ruca when they are interrupted by
Izzi Dame. She is then interrupted by Shawn Spears, who is
trying to recruit her into his faction. Dame is repulsed by
Spears. I was repulsed by how they have dropped the ball
with Zaria. She is just a regular character in silly skits,
after debuting with a monster push.
Ashante “Thee” Adonis defeated Dion Lennox
Adonis pinned Lennox after reversing an O’Connor roll. This
match played off a skit from the prior episode. The match
was not long, but it also somehow took forever.
Nikkita Lyons comes to ringside during the match, playing
into an ongoing love triangle. And so are the days of our
lives, as the world turns. Lyons interferes late in the
match, as she puts Adonis’ foot on the rope to break a
count. Lennox had delivered a powerslam and went for the
cover when Lyons put Adonis’ foot on the bottom rope.
For the finish, Lennox catches Adonis with an O’Connor roll.
Adonis counters the roll-up, and Adonis bridges backwards to
cover Lennox for a three count.
Hank Walker & Tank Ledger cut a silly promo ahead of the
fatal four-way later on. I have seen far more serious promos
from The Bushwhackers.
Gigi, Shotzi, &Tatum get into an argument backstage with
Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson. They all try yelling over each
other.
A promotional tie-in with an insurance company features a
video package highlighting NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne
Perez. This hype video also builds interest in the next
title match for Perez, when she defends against Giulia at
New Year’s Evil.
Sarah Schreiber interviews Lexis King, and King boasts about
winning the Heritage Cup by being a man of integrity. King
says he did not short-cuts to win. There is indeed an irony
there.
In a vignette, Ethan Page cuts a sinister promo on Je’Von
Evans.
OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price) defeated The D’Angelo
Family (Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo & Luca Crusifino) and No
Quarter Catch Crew (Myles Borne & Tavion Heights) and Hank
Walker & Tank Ledger in a Christmas Chaos fatal four-way tag
team match to determine number one contenders
Price pinned Stacks to win the match. Santa Claus causes a
distraction at ringside by giving Tony D’Angelo a DDT on the
floor. Santa Claus then reveals himself to be Ridge Holland.
Tornado rules with lots of weapons and gimmicks. Some of the
gimmicks relate to the holiday, like a Christmas tree and
large ornaments hanging from the ropes. Plenty of comedy
spots that are lighthearted, yet still violent. Likewise,
Tank takes a low blow when an ornament is used like a
bowling ball.
Stacks takes a bump through a table set up at ringside. Just
before the show cuts to commercial break, Borne executes a
cool cutter out of nowhere on Price. After the they return
from the break, kendo sticks wrapped up like candy canes
come into play.
Metal folding chairs are not exactly festive, but they also
come into play often in the match. The chairs are used as
weapons, along with them taking bumps on the chairs. Borne
takes a nasty bump on the chair with a spinebuster. OTM then
hip-tosses Borne through a table set up in a corner.
Hank & Tank run wild, until they are attacked at ringside by
Tyson Dupont & Tyriek Igwe. The two teams brawl their way
down the aisle and through the curtain.
NXT North American Champion Tony D’Angelo gifts his guys
presents, which includes crowbars wrapped like candy canes.
They use the crowbars to hit their opponents. Then, Stacks &
Crusifino execute a Shatter Machine on Price. Nima has to
make a save to break up a pin.
Suddenly at ringside, Santa Clause gets up from his seat.
Santa ambushes “The Don”, and Santa gives D’Aneglo an
implant DDT on the floor. Santa would soon reveal himself as
Ridge Holland, who is in a title program with D’Angelo) OTM
capitalizes in the ring, as they neutralize Crusifino.
Stacks takes an assisted spinebuster, and Price cradles
Stacks for the deciding pinfall. OTM are the new number one
contenders to the tag titles, and they earn a shot for the
titles at New Year’s Evil.
NXT Champon Trick Williams is heading to the ring to close
out the show with a monologue. Of course, Trick is soon
interrupted, since there is hardly ever a monologue in NXT
without an interruption. This time the interruption was
abrupt, as Trick barely spoke when Oba Femi enters to
confront the champion. Before Femi can say much, out comes
Eddy Thorpe. They could likely have been pressed for time,
as this all seemed to rush through much of this.
Thorpe gets in the ring alongside Femi and the champion.
Thorpe cuts a promo on Trick, and Trick is responding until
Femi interjects. Femi and Thorpe bicker over who deserves a
title match. Trick tells them both to shut up. Trick then
books himself in a triple threat match for New Year’s Evil,
where he will defend against both challengers. Terrible
logic here, but such is life. One guess which guy is
dropping the fall, and it is probably not the champion, nor
is he the guy getting a monster push.
Out comes NXT General Manager Ava, who says she signs off on
the triple threat match. That makes the title bout official
for New Year’s Evil. Thorpe jumps Femi with a sucker punch,
and a melee ensues. Femi knocks down both Trick and Thorpe.
Femi in runs wild with a series of elbows smashes. Femi
follows up by giving Trick a pop-up powerbomb, and Femi
tries doing the same with Thorpe. However, Thorpe counters
to escape. Thorpe powders. Femi then grabs the NXT title
belt and poses with it as the credits roll.
So, a triple threat match. How original. Also, a reminder
that Trick Williams is the brand’s top star, since that
might be hard to determine after watching this episode.
