NXT New Year's Evil 2026 Review

Linus O'Howell
2 days ago
5 min read

Ricky Saints Starts the Show, Izzi Dame VS Tatum Paxley

We were supposed to kick off the new year with an NXT Women’s North American Championship Match between Thea Hail and Blake Monroe, but that match wouldn’t go ahead as Blake attacked Thea during her entrance! Instead, Ricky Saints arrived to start the show, stating that his talent is the reason why Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans have decided to leave! Ricky made it clear that he’s coming after whoever leaves the night as the NXT Champion, but it was pretty obvious that Saints would much rather it be Oba Femi (as they’re currently tied at 1-1)! This was a totally fine segment; we’ll get to Monroe attacking Hail later, but in terms of Ricky Saints’ promo, he delivered his lines well!

Grade: C+

After Ava kicked Blake Monroe out of the building, the NXT General Manager was forced into calling an audible as New Year’s Evil got properly underway with Izzi Dame going one-on-one with Tatum Paxley! These two have despised each other over the past couple of months, so this sort of felt like the conclusion to their story. However, I do still stand by the fact that I feel like this match should’ve had a stipulation; the storyline warranted one, and that’s why I’m not fully convinced that we won’t see a third battle between Izzi and Tatum! Anyway, as far as this match was concerned, I thought it was pretty decent, with the crowd fully behind Paxley! Eventually, with no Culling around to help her, Dame fell short, with Pax nailing her finishing move to get the win! Definitely a piece of redemption for Tatum Paxley!

Grade: C+

NXT Women’s Championship: Jacy Jayne VS Kendal Grey

After we got introduced to NXT’s newest superstar, Elio Lefleur, Thea Hail was adamant about still defending her NXT Women’s North American Championship to the point where she got Ava to sign off on an Open Challenge (with a little help from Jordynne Grace)! We then headed straight into one of the two biggest matches on the card as Kendal Grey looked to shock the world once again when she challenged Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Championship! I thought this was a really good match, in fact, probably the match of the night for me! Jacy Jayne’s rise and progression over the past 12 months has been nothing short of phenomenal, and in fairness to Kendal Grey, she’s come on leaps and bounds too! This was a really fun back-and-forth encounter, with both women coming close to earning the victory! The Rockstar Knee that Jacy hit was top draw, whilst Kendal had Fatal Influence worried when she locked in an arm bar! Speaking of Fatal Influence, both Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid made their presence felt, but they were swiftly dealt with by Wren Sinclair! However, as Kendal attempted Shades of Grey, Fallon held onto the gear of Jayne, allowing Jacy to follow it up with a Rolling Encore to start 2026 with a successful Title defence! It just wasn’t meant to be for Kendal Grey, but the Jacy Jayne Era only continues to blossom further!

Grade: B

Thea Hail’s NXT Women’s North American Championship Open Challenge, Ethan Page Gets Interrupted

Ethan Page was pointing out his brilliant 2025 to Ava, before he told the NXT General Manager that he’ll finish off his celebration in the ring! The Vanity Project then walked in to “talk business”, before Thea Hail was ready to defend her NXT Women’s North American Championship in an Open Challenge! As always in NXT, plenty of women tried to fight their way down to the ring first, only for Tatum Paxley to chase them all off with a chainsaw! However, this opened the door for Izzi Dame to enter from the backway, meaning we got Hail VS Dame for the Women’s North American Title! Thea Hail was clearly hurt; she was limping around and really struggling to get any sort of offense in, and it was clear for everyone to see that her heart and desire to prove herself as a proper Champion cost her here! There’s also a great story on the other side of things, with Izzi Dame winning the war over Tatum Paxley despite the fact that she lost to Paxley earlier in the night! Eventually, Izzi Dame was able to pin Thea Hail following a Super Dame Over, securing her first Championship in NXT! The irony of Thea losing the Title to Izzi in a similar vein to how Tatum didn’t listen to Dame is actually great storytelling!

Grade: B-

The Vanity Project were once again out flirting, this time with Lola Vice, before Hank and Tank dealt with them! Lola and Kelani Jordan then came close to starting a brawl before Joe Hendry demanded a No Disqualification Match with Dion Lennox for next week’s NXT! Ava was happy to accept, as long as Hendry could find some backup, before Ethan Page was in the ring to talk about his fabulous 2025! Ethan laughed at the fact that Oba Femi is seen as the World Champion of the brand when he only defends his Title in one country, whilst Page has established himself as an “International Icon”! This brought out Jasper Troy, who seemed interested in having more than just the Speed Title, before Josh Briggs interrupted to the disdain of the NXT Universe! Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, Shiloh Hill, and Tavion Heights all then appeared to look at the Championships that they want, before Ethan Page managed to escape the wrath of Troy and Briggs on multiple occasions! This segment then ended with Shiloh Hill’s teeth falling onto the chest of Arianna Grace, and why this needed to be done, I’ll never know!

Grade: C-

NXT Championship: Oba Femi VS Leon Slater

After Joe Hendry tried to recruit OTM for backup, Sol Ruca set her sights on Jacy Jayne’s NXT Women’s Championship, and Ethan Page riled up Myles Borne, it was time for the Main Event of NXT New Year’s Evil 2026 as Leon Slater looked to make history when he challenged Oba Femi for the NXT Championship! I’m not really sure that this match even came close to reaching the levels that it could’ve done, but I also feel like it wasn’t really allowed to. I haven’t thought once throughout this feud that this was the original plan by any means, and I think a lot of changes with the NXT Roster sort of resulted in this match never being able to reach its full and deserved potential! Despite that, I still enjoyed it; Femi was the perfect guy for “Big Play Slater”, and the near-fall when Leon rolled up Oba was absolutely incredible! However, to my surprise, a single Fall From Grace was enough for The Ruler to retain over The Youngest in Charge, a result that very much shocked me! However, after Ava was speaking to talent from Evolve about potential openings on the show in the future, Mr. Stone turned our attention back to the ring as Oba Femi had left his NXT Championship in the ring, officially vacating the Title! Again, this is not the way I expected NXT New Year’s Evil to end, but it’s actually pretty cool! Yes, Ricky Saints winning the Title at No Mercy sort of hurts this ending a bit, but the fact that Oba Femi, one of NXT’s greatest and most dominant superstars, left as Champion speaks volumes to his time on this brand! Whether it’s Raw or SmackDown, The Ruler is going to show the rest of the world why he’s one of the absolute best in the business!