NXT Review: 23/12

Izzi Dame VS Lola Vice

Credit: WWE

A festive edition of NXT kicked off with Lola Vice taking on Izzi Dame of The Culling! This match was alright, there wasn’t much to it, but the crowd seemed into it! Whilst Shawn Spears was at ringside, Niko Vance was nowhere to be seen, but this didn’t seem to affect Izzi in the slightest! However, that changed when out of absolutely nowhere, Tatum Paxley appeared from inside of the Podium/Platform area with a CHAINSAW (yes, a chainsaw), to chase Spears off, opening the door for Vice to nail Dame with a backfist to get the win! After the match was over, Kelani Jordan attacked Lola Vice from behind to stand tall! I’ll be honest, I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in NXT, but a chainsaw is certainly a new one!

Grade: B-

Thea Hail’s Championship Celebration, Eli Knight VS Tavion Heights: NXT Speed Championship Tournament (Round 1), Oba Femi and Leon Slater’s Sit-Down Interview

Thea Hail thanked Jordynne Grace for having her back last week, before Ethan Page gave Myles Borne some advice on what he needs to do if he wants to become a Champion in 2026! Thea Hail then came down to the ring to celebrate the fact that she is finally a Champion, having been in NXT since she was 18 years old! Thea thanked the WWE Universe and so many other people for believing in her, and the thing she was most proud of was that she proved all of the doubters/non-believers wrong! This brought out Blake Monroe, who made it clear that she wants her Title back, leading to a rematch being announced for New Year’s Evil, before a brawl broke out between the two! I guess we’ll have to wait and see how that match goes!

Grade: C+

Sol Ruca was confident about ending the night as the new Women’s United States Champion, before Eli Knight made his NXT debut against Tavion Heights in the First Round of the latest NXT Speed Championship Tournament! Eli Knight looked pretty decent in the two minutes he got to show off in, with the Speed format very much benefiting his high-octane style! However, Tavion won this match pretty comfortably, dropping Knight with a belly-to-belly Suplex to score the win with over a minute left on the clock!

Grade: C+

The Vanity Project tried their best to flirt with Blake Monroe, gifting her presents (Blake only accepted one of them), before Kelly Kincaid hosted a sit-down interview between Oba Femi and Leon Slater! Oba highlighted 2025 as a year of success, with him quickly making up for the one blemish on his record that nearly ruined his whole year, whilst Leon Slater has wrestling in his blood, with The Youngest in Charge explaining that that moniker isn’t just a nickname, it’s the way he’s had to be in life as the only male in his family home! This segment ended with Oba and Leon shaking hands, stating that “may the best man win”, but honestly, I’m actually quite torn as to who will leave New Year’s Evil as NXT Champion!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B-

Je’Von Evans and Ricky Saints Come Face-to-Face, Arianna Grace and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo VS Skylar Raye and Shiloh Hill: Christmas Chaos, Andre Chase VS Lexis King: NXT Speed Championship Tournament (Round 1)

The next segment saw Ricky Saints and Je’Von Evans come face-to-face after weeks of animosity! Ricky stated that he’s the star in NXT, that Je’Von can barely get two sentences out, whilst Evans responded by reminding Saints that he’s the one who’s wrestling on Raw and SmackDown right now, that he’s the one who appeared on John Cena’s Final Show, not Mr. Revolution! Ava had clearly had enough of both men’s recent antics, as she booked a match between Ricky and Je’Von for the final NXT of 2025! I’m honestly a bit surprised that this match isn’t taking place at New Year’s Evil, but maybe WWE wants to end 2025 with them instead!

Grade: B-

Fatal Influence are honestly fed up with the “Kendal Grey Hype Train” to the point where Jacy Jayne wants to take her frustrations out on Wren Sinclair next week, before LFG Season 2 Winners Skylar Raye and Shiloh Hill teamed up to take on the power couple of Arianna Grace and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo in “Christmas Chaos”! The name was very fitting, with many different festive-inspired weapons being used in what was complete and utter chaos! The problem with this match is no one in this is particularly good in the ring, meaning a lot of it felt a bit sloppy! However, at the same time, that honestly made some of the spots hilarious, to the point where this kind of worked (somehow)! I genuinely laughed when Arianna went flying straight into a Christmas tree, whilst Hill using pinecones as a weapon was certainly unique! In the end, Skylar Raye managed to pick up the win for her team after delivering a Frog Splash onto Miss NXT, and given the context of what this show was, this was totally acceptable!

Grade: B-

Joe Hendry appeared to once again annoy DarkState, before Joe said that he’d give everyone a gift next week by giving the fans an End of Year concert! OTM’s interview was then interrupted by The Vanity Project, who handed their remaining gifts to Kelly Kincaid, before a post-surgery returning Andre Chase went one-on-one with Lexis King in the other First Round match of the NXT Speed Championship Tournament! I don’t really understand why Andre Chase was in this match, given he’d recently had surgery; I mean, he was literally wearing a protective face mask, but anyway, this was as basic a speed match as you’re ever going to see! Ultimately, the Coronation was enough for Lexis King to get the win, and yeah, I still think the Speed concept is the worst thing on NXT!

Grade: C-

Women’s United States Championship: Chelsea Green VS Sol Ruca

Credit: WWE

After Kelani Jordan stormed out of the NXT Women’s Locker Room, and Hank and Tank gave some much-needed advice to both Myles Borne and Tavion Heights, it was Main Event time as Sol Ruca looked to gift herself an early Christmas present when she faced Chelsea Green for the Women’s United States Championship! Both Chelsea Green and Sol Ruca have had pretty strong 2025’s, and I think it was quite nice to see them both Main Eventing the final WWE show before Christmas! Sol tried her best to capture her third Championship of the year, but she got screwed over by Ethan Page’s interference! Moose then appeared to start a brawl with Page, but this distracted both Zaria and the referee, opening the door for Alba Fyre to trip up Ruca! Chelsea Green then followed this up by dropping Sol with an Unprettiher to get the win, before Zaria wrecked both women with a Spear to allow the crowd to leave on a happier note!

Grade: B-