By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live December 12, 2023 on USA Network
[Hour One] The show started out with Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes arriving at the Performance Center. Reporters caught up with Trick and Melo and showered Trick with congratulations and questions. While Trick was answering the questions, Melo walked inside of the Performance Center because no one was paying attention to him…
A NXT Deadline 2023 highlight package aired…
They cut back to the Performance Center backstage area where Carmelo Hayes was holding his leg and writhing in pain. Trick Williams rushed in and checked on Melo with medics and referees…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer…
Cora Jade was already in the ring cutting a promo about returning after 4 months. Cora gloated about how people have been begging her to come back on Social Media. Cora talked about how people hated her before and all of a sudden they care about her. Cora said that everything is better when Cora Jade is around. Cora called the Women’s Iron Survivor match, one hell of a match, and noted that even though the match was good, everyone is talking about Cora Jade.
Lyra Valkyria made her entrance and talked about how Cora jumped her from behind. Lyra said it’s crazy that’s nothing has changed after 4 months, Cora taking shortcuts. Cora joked about ruffling Lyra’s feathers. Lyra said while Cora hasn’t changed, Lyra has and has become NXT Women’s Champion. Lyra’s was cut off by Blair Davenport making her entrance. Blair bragged about becoming the number one contender via the Iron Survivor. Blair said the clock is ticking on Lyra’s reign.
Lyra said there is no way in hell Blair is taking the title from her. Lyra said Blair and Cora are similar in always jumping people from behind. Nikkita Lyons made her entrance dressed up as a genie or something. Before she could speak, she got punched by Blair. The babyfaces tossed the heels from the ring and stood tall to end the segment…
Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in from the commentary table. They sent the show to a replay of Meta Four brawling with Briggs, Jensen, and Henley at Deadline…
Meta Four made their entrance heading into break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Simple and effective return promo from Cora Jade. As referenced by CM Punk on Saturday, Cora comes off as the 2nd coming of AJ Lee and I can definitely see the similarities. Blair Davenport was solid as the antagonizing heel. The weak link of the segment was Lyra who delivered her lines fine, but she hasn’t built a strong babyface connection with the fans yet.
An ad aired of Roman Reigns returning and Carmelo Hayes appearing on this week’s upcoming Smackdown…
Kelly Kincaid interviewed NXT North American Champion Dragon Lee. Lee said he was honored to be hand picked by Rey Mysterio. Dragon said that he feels sad though because he only got a title shot due to Wes Lee getting injured. Dragon said he’s going to defend the title as proudly as Wes did. Dragon said he’s defending the title later in the show. Kelly wondered who his opponent was going to be. Dragon said he’ll just head to the ring and find out…
Briggs. Jensen, and Henley made their entrance. Meta Four jumped the babyfaces while they were posing…
1. “Meta Four” Noam Dar, Oro Mensah, and Lash Legend (w/Jakara Jackson) vs. Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen, and Fallon Henley in a Mixed Tag Match. The bell rang when the women were left alone in the ring. Lash got a two count off an elbow drop. Henley came back with a Sleeper Hold. Henley gave Lash a slap to the chest. Lash came back with a haymaker. Lash used her size to block a Sunset Flip. Henley hit lash with a dropkick and modified House Call. Lash shrugged Henley away. Jensen tagged in and Lash wanted to fight him.
Oro was forced to enter. Jensen tossed around Oro. Oro turned the tables a bit by kicking Jensen in the shin. Jensen came back with elbows. The picture in picture showed Tiffany Stratton watching the match. Briggs and Jensen draped Oro and Noam on the 2nd rope and gave them baseball slide punches. Lash gave Henley a Military Press Slam onto her two tag partners. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Jensen was about to get a hot tag on Briggs, but his knee gave out on him. Noam and Oro gave Jensen a double chop to give Noam a two count. Noam worked on Jensen with methodical strikes. Noam used a mid-air Dragon Screw to put Jensen in a ankle lock. Jakara distracted the referee to nullify a tag. Oro caught Jensen with a knee in the corner. Noam hit Jensen with the Judas Effect. henley broke up the pin. Henley and Lash took each other out at ringside. Tiffany Stratton ran out and ate some punches from Henley. Henley and Tiffany brawled to the back.
Jensen rolled up Dar for a two count. Noam hit Jensen with his Nova Roller Leg Lariat finisher, but it sent him into a tag on Briggs. Briggs took down both opponents with power moves. Briggs hit Noam with the Clothesline from Hell for the victory.
Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen, and Fallon Henley defeated Noam Dar, Oro Mensah, and Lash Legend via pinfall in 11:02.
John’s Thoughts: Fun match with a lot of younger stars really showing their improvement. Lash’s time off TV has really paid off in her last three matches and she’s showing that she has the potential to be something special on the main roster. We knew she was a great talker with a lotta charisma, but now the in-ring is finally coming along with her powerhouse style (She reminds me a bit of Braun Strowman who WWE also rushed in-ring too early, but then became one of WWE’s better big men once he was hidden behind the Wyatt Family). Jensen is someone else I would like to see more of as he looked good in his rallies and selling here. I liked the subversion of expectation finish where we’re too used to seeing the heels win off a distraction.
The medic told Carmelo Hayes that he was medically cleared. Trick Williams said he’s really happy that Melo will be able to wrestle on Smackdown. Trick asked Melo if he knew who attacked him. He said he didn’t see, but he has and idea of who. Melo said he’ll address it later in the show. Trick said he always has Melo’s back and will do so after he takes care of some business with Dragunov…
The Men’s Breakout Tournament was hyped for after the break…[c]
Still shots from NXT Deadline were shown…
Trey Bearhill, Dion Lennox, Luca Crucifino, Tavion Heights, Riley Osborne, Keanu Carter, and Oba Femi were lined up on the ramp and introduced as the Men’s Breakout Tournament competitors. Vic threw in factoids for several wrestlers like how Dion was signed to the Los Angeles Rams at one point and how Luca was actually a law student. Just like I also thought, Vic saw Oba Femi as a favorite to win. Lexis King ran out and hit Trey Bearhill in the back. The referees dragged Lexis to the back. The first two wrestlers entered the ring for the tournament match…
2. Oba Femi vs. Miles Borne in a first round match of the NXT Men’s Breakout Tournament. Oba tossed around Miles early in the match. Miles then worked on Oba with alternating hands. Miles gave Oba a drop toehold and double stomp for a two count. Oba turned Miles inside out with a lariat. Oba rallied with right hands and clotheslines. Oba tossed Miles in the air with one hand like a basketball. Miles came back with a Power Slam for a two count. Oba came back with a Power Bomb for the victory.
Oba Femi defeated Miles Borne via pinfall in 3:35 to advance to the Semi Finals of the Men’s Breakout Tournament.
A updated tournament bracket was shown.
John’s Thoughts: Not much to evaluate, but there wasn’t much to complain about either which is a plus with these developmental matches. Oba Femi is one of my favorites to win because, look at the guy! He’s an absolute beast and oozes charisma. The good part about Paul Levesque running WWE is he’s not going to rush people on TV before they’re trained so Oba is going to be brought up the right way. If Oba doesn’t win, my 2nd favorite is Riley Osborne who comes off as the ringer of the tournament being the only indie wrestler in the tournament.
Lyra Vaklyria and Nikkita Lyons were chatting backstage. Lyra talked about having to deal with so many challenges as champion with people like Blair Davenport, Cora Jade, and Lola Vice coming after her. Nikkita said she also wants to take down Davenport for putting her on the shelf. Lyra opened her locker and there was a sometime earlier in the day Tatum Paxley had pasted a cutout of her face over Becky Lynch’s face in Lyra’s picture of Becky holding up Lyra’s hand after winning the women’s champion. Nikkita and Lyra agreed that Tatum was crazy…’
John’s Thoughts: So…. They’re repeating the Mickie James stalker angle with Tatum? Might not be a bad idea, especially after Tatum did a great job changing her look.
Tiffany Stratton was ranting about Fallon Henley being beneath her. She walked off and didn’t allow Kelly Kincaid to ask a question…
NXT North American Champion Dragon Lee made his entrance wearing a cool looking blue cape. Vic noted that this was going to be a open challenge. Tyler Bate made his entrance which pumped up Dragon…
3. Dragon Lee vs. Tyler Bate for the NXT North American Championship. Bate and Dragon started the match with a respectful handshake. Bate hit Dragon with a helicopter spin and side headlock takedown. Both men then did mirror dropkicks to land at a stalemate. Bate used a Test of Strength to run circles around Dragon. Bate got a rollup for a two count. Dragon and Bate blocked each other’s huracanranas with cartwheels. Bate and Dragon took each other out with dropkicks heading into regular break.[c]
Bate hit Dragon with a knee and diving uppercut. Bate dumped Dragon to ringside with a dropkick and then hit him with a top rope clearing dive. Bate hit Dragon with a T Bone Suplex and followed up with a Standing Shooting Star Press for a nearfall. Dragon gave Bate a superkick while Bate was in a handstand. Dragon dumped Bate to ringside with a superkick and hit him with a Suicide Dive. Dragon hit Bate with a single leg slingshot wrecking ball kick.
[Hour Two] Dragon hit Bate with a Hesitation Dropkick. Bate reversed Dragon into a long Helicopter Spin. Bate ended the spin with a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. Dragon kicked out at two. Bate rallied with right hands. Dragon came back with a Yakuza Kick. Bate no sold a Snap German from Dragon. Bate hit Dragon with a rebound lariat for a nearfall. Dragon crotched Bate on the top rope and put him in the tree of woe. Dragon then hit Bate with a Tree of Woe stomp.
Bate escaped a power bomb. Dragon reversed a Tyler Driver into a victory roll for a nearfall. Bate blocked Bop and Bang and first, but then hit the right hand. Dragon ran the ropes and hit Bate with a Destino out of nowhere for the win.
Dragon Lee defeated Tyler Bate via pinfall 10:53 to retain the NXT North American Championship.
Dragon Lee helped Tyler Bate to his feet and the two competitors shared a hug.
Brooks Jensesn told Josh Briggs backstage that it was cool how Briggs saved the match. Fallon Henley showed up and apologized for leaving them hanging. Briggs said it was fine after everything Stratton said. Briggs said after pinning Noam he deserves a Heritage Cup shot. Jensen said he doesn’t think multi round matches are Briggs’s style. Briggs said he still has to try? Jensen, Henley, and Briggs then put their fist in the middle in solidarity…
Dijak made his entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A good match as you would expect given the talent level in the ring. That said we know both men are capable of taking the match to another gear. I understand why they did this though, to put over Dragon strong after winning the title from Dom Mysterio and Bate looked strong coming off his Iron Survivor performance. I hope they run this back down the road with maybe five more minutes. Interested to see if they primarily have Dragon wrestle on NXT or have him bounce back and fourth as he was called up recently and called back due to the unfortunate Wes Lee injury.
An ad aired for the NXT Vengeance Day PLE…
Vic Joseph did a plug for the Undertaker One Dead Man Show for Royal Rumble weekend…
Lexis King was bragging to Ava in front of HBK’s office about hitting Trey Bearhill in the back with a chair. Ava said that everybody wants Lexis in the tournament so they can kick his ass. Lexis talked about how he likes making moments. Lexis talked about how girls like Ava get in awe with Lexis. Ava informed Lexis that he’ll be replacing Trey Bearhill in the Breakout Tournament. Lexis told Ava she made his day…
Eddy Thorpe made his entrance. Dijak tried to jump him, but Eddy saw it coming. Both men brawled at ringside. Dijak tried to put Eddy through the announce table, but Eddy tossed Dijak into the steps. The bell rang once both men were separated in the ring…
4. Dijak vs. Eddy Thorpe. Eddy hit Dijak with a kick combination. Dijak tossed Eddy into the top tunbuckle and the buckle fell off. Dijak was bleeding at this point. Dijak took the whole turnbuckle piece out and hit Eddy in the injured rib for the DQ.
Eddy Thorpe defeated Dijak via apparent DQ in 0:55.
After the referees sent Dijak to the back, Dijak came back to the ring and press slammed Eddy into the 2nd hooked turnbuckle…
John’s Thoughts: Eh, ok way to stretch out of the feud. I think they did something different here too. Usually they just hit the mute button to block out Holy Shit chants, but it looked like they turned off the crowd mic and canned in boos, so the announcers aren’t cut off. As for the feud, I’m still not sold on Eddy as a character yet. He needs to find a way to stand out.
The show cut to this week’s Chase U skit. One student announced they made about $60 at the bake sell. Another student announced they made around $200 at a car wash. Duke Hudson said that barely covers a small percentage of the interest. Duke said Chase also looks like shit (bleeped). Thea Hail and Jacy Jayne went off to go watch Riley Osborne’s NXT debut match. Scrypts showed up and said he has a proposition for Chase. Scrypts put a metal briefcase on Chase’s podium. This caused Duke to raise an eyebrow…[c]
Still shots from NXT Deadline were shown…
Blair Davenport and Cora Jade were stretching backstage. Davenport pointed out how Cora stole her moment. Cora said Lyra actually did and she was helping Blair out. Blair noted that she’ll be champion after New Years Evil…
Entrances for the first round Breakout Tournament Match aired. Riley Osborne came out with a Chase University shirt…
5. Keanu Carver vs. Riley Osborne. Riley rolled up Keanu for a two count. Riley hit Keanu with a dropkick and flip for a two count. Keanu rallied with some power moves. Keanu hit Riley with tackles to the lower back. Keanu slammed Riley for a two count. Vic hyped up WWE’s NIL program and noted that Keanu was signed by WWE in February. Keanu put Riley in a chinlock. Riley rallied back with two dropkick. Keanu hit Riley with a nice looking Monty Brown Pounce. Riley gave Keanu a high kick and then followed up with a Shooting Star Press.
Riley Osborne defeated Keanu Caver via pinfall in 3:28.
Thea Hail was excited at her crush winning the match. Riley celebrated in the Chase U section of the crowd…
Drew Gulak, Miles Borne, Damon Kemp, and Charlie Dempsey showed up to confront Dragon Lee backstage. Drew Gulak wondered if Dragon Lee was going to continue his ode to Wes Lee was a one off. Dragon said something in spanish and then said he’ll try to make it a weekly thing. Drew Gulak accepted the open challenge and said that Dragon will find out which one of them will challenge next week…
Lyra Valkyria and Nikkita Lyons made their entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Good match with Riley getting the best out of the rookie Keanu. Riley has impressed me during his time in Level Up, so I’m excited to see how he does against more experienced opponents. Riley was my initial favorite to win with him being the indie ringer of the tournament. I do have some doubts now that Lexis King is in the tournament (and the prize of the tournament is NXT’s Money in the Bank contract. Which works for heels cashing in on an injured champion). I totally expect Lexis to move on to challenge Riley. I still think Melo or someone screws over Lexis, making Riley still my favorite to win. We’ll see if Riley can carry the young Pillman to a good match in a few weeks too, so I’m looking forward to that.
Thea Hail ran into Riley Osborne backstage. Riley thanked Thea for her support. Thea fumbled in her flirting attempts. After Riley left, Jacy told Riley it could have gone better. Kiana James and Izzy Dame showed up to bully Thea. Izzy said Riley is a whole man and Thea is a whole child. Jayne had to hold Thea back…
Cora Jade and Blair Davenport made their entrance…
6. NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria and Nikkita Lyons vs. Cora Jade and Blair Davenport. Lyra and Blair squared off to start the match. Lyra rolled up Blair for a one count. Both women traded quick pin attempts. Lyra ducked a PK and Blair backstepped a crescent kick. Cora tagged in. Lyra hit Cora with a hip toss and side headlock takedown. Lyra kept Cora under control with a headlock while also kicking away Blair’s hand to prevent the tag. Lyons tagged in for her first in-ring time since her injury.
Lyons tossed Cora and asked for Blair. Lyons hit Blair with a body slam. Blair quickly tagged out. Cora escaped a body slam. Blair distracted Lyons to allow Cora to give Nikkita a knee. Blair tagged in and gave Nikkita a neckbreaker. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
The heels cut the ring in half on Lyons for a stretch. Lyra got the hot tag and rallied on Blair. Lyra hit Blair with a spin kick combination. Lyra hit Blair with a Fisherman Suplex. Blair quickly rolled out the ring. Lyra hit Blair with a wrecking ball kick. Tatum Paxley showed up and sat on the barricade which dstracted Lyra. Tatum was playing with a feather. Blair dodged a dive.
Lyons helped Lyra escape a suplex. Jade hit Lyons with a shove. Blair caught Lyra with a Falcon Arrow. Lyons broke up the pin. Blair caught Lyons with a kick. Jade blind tagged in. Blair hit Lyra with a Kamigoye. Cora picked up the win because she was the legal woman.
Cora Jade and Blair Davenport defeated Lyra Valkyria and Nikkita Lyons via pinfall in 8:28.
Paxley entered the ring and sensually held Lyra’s head next to hers…
John’s Thoughts: Yep, they’re definitely repeating the Mickie James lesbian stalker angle. Could be interesting? Lyra definitely needs something to get her over with the crowd. Good to give Cora a win over the champ to put her over strong in her return. She took too many losses before her hiatus.
Hank Walker and Tank Ledger were hyping each other up for their upcoming match against Gallus. Gallus showed up to trash talk Hank and Tank. After Hank and Tank left Joe Gacy honked the horn of a Forklift. Joe then made a bunch of Joe puns about himself and Joe Coffey while drinking a cup of Joe (which is another name for coffee, get it)…
Vic Joseph plugged two Breakout Tournament matches, Thea Hail and Jacy Jayne vs. Kiana James and Izzi Dame, Tiffany Stratton vs. Fallon Henley, and Dragon Lee vs. a member of the “No Quarter Catch Crew” (which is the name of Drew Gulak’s group) for the North American Championship for next week…
Trick Williams was shown walking backstage…
An ad aired of Carmelo Hayes making his Smackdown debut this Friday…[c]
Vic Joseph plugged the WrestleMania Weekend Events. Vic then hyped Lyra Valkyria vs. Blair Davenport for the Women’s Championship and Ilja Dragunov vs. Trick Williams for the NXT Championship at the January 2nd New Years Evil show…
Alicia Taylor introduced Trick Williams as the the Iron Survivor winner. Trick Williams made his whoop dat trick entrance with Booker doing his usual freestyle interjections. Vic Joseph compared Trick’s comeback win to Lebron James in the 2016 finals. Trick took the mic and said Deadline was a “movie”. Trick talked about walking into the match with some of NXT’s best and walked out at the Iron Survivor. He said he would usually cut down his opponents, but he has nothing but love for them because they all put a banger. Trick said he wants to nominate the Men’s Iron Survivor as NXT Match of the Year.
Trick said he was in the ring with some dawgs, but they forgot one important thing, Trick Williams be ballin’ all his life. He said you can call him Trick Curry, Trick McGrady, Mike Trick, 23 in La, never mind who you thought he was. Trick then said “I’m Trick James Bitch” (great line). Trick talked about the baddest man in NXT challenging the hottest star in NXT under the sun at New Years Evil. Ilja Dragunov made his entrance in a formal suit. Ilja talked about hot Trick thanked Ilja for elevating him to a new level a few months ago.
Ilja said today he admires Trick’s courage and is proud of Trick. Ilja talked about how awesome it was to see Trick snag victory from the hands of defeat. Ilja said Trick is on a wave of momentum never seen before. Ilja then led the crowd in a Whoop Dat Trick chant. Ilja shared a dap with Trick. Ilja said unfortunately that momentum will come to an end at New Years Evil. Trick said if Ilja said that a few months ago, Trick would play it cool.
Trick said this isn’t a few months ago, Trick is that guy now and the man in NXT. Trick said he’s going to beat the best in NXT to become new NXT Champion. Ilja said he likes Trick, but Ilja suffered to much to become and stay NXT Champion. Ilja said he’ll do whatever it takes to remain NXT Champion. Carmelo Hayes made his entrance. Melo limped to the ring to sell the leg injury. Trick said now was not the time.
Melo said it was time to deal with that business they talked about earlier. Melo said everyone rolling Trick’s name through the dirt for months, blaming him for attacking Trick. Melo said he knows who attacked Melo because it was the same person who attacked Melo. Ilja tried to walk away to let Melo and Trick to deal with their business. Melo said “Ilja, it was you!”. Ilja was baffled. Melo said Ilja did all this to weaken Trick Melo Gang when Melo was challenging for the title. Ilja said Melo is arrogant and delusional. Melo said this was a long play to keep the title.
Ilja said Melo is creating a boogeyman in his head and “I did not attack you!… if you did get attacked?”. Trick said “tell me you didn’t just say that”. Ilja said to look him in the eyes and he didn’t attack Trick. Ilja said to talk to his friend Melo. Melo said Ilja doesn’t deserve the championship like Trick does. Melo yanked the title away form Ilja’s hands and accidentally swung the title belt in Trick’s face. The camera stuck on a bit after the copyright signature with Melo at first helping Trick up, but then leaving Trick hanging after getting distracted by a “Melo’s guilty” chant from the crowd…
John’s Thoughts: A good show closing segment to continue to stretch out the “who attacked Trick” whodunit. They are clearly laying on thick still that Melo is the attacker to the point where that has to be where they are going. Before Melo came out though, Trick and Ilja had a really good friendly promo exchange. Ilja and Trick have really good promo chemistry as Trick has pulled off some really good promos out of Ilja (to the point where it almost feels like they’re good friends backstage). Trick reminded us why he has both the gift of gab, and gift of jab here with his really good promo with the NBA player references.
Melo as usual did a good job selling that he’s a snake with overselling the limping and everything. Everything he did in his accusation of Ilja was great and came off as his last ditch to get off scot free. I wonder if they’re just waiting for a moment for Melo to toss Trick through some glass window to have his Michaels-Jannetty barber shop moment. Rest of the show was solid with their usual good weekly character development and forwarding of programs.
Be the first to comment