By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT Hits
Eddy Thorpe vs. Dijak in an Underground match: A good version of WWE’s no ropes match. Both wrestlers worked hard and this felt like a fitting end to their feud. Thorpe can go in the ring. However, the big question remains whether he can truly connect with the fans as a personality.
Bron Breakker vs. Nathan Frazer: An enjoyable David vs. Goliath style match. Breakker looked dominant for the body of the match, Frazer made a spirited comeback, and then Breakker put him away with his big spear finisher. It was formula match and the formula works. Breakker felt like he was spinning his wheels throughout most of the year, while Frazer often felt lost in the shuffle. Here’s hoping for a better 2024 for both of these talented wrestlers.
Noam Dar vs. Josh Briggs for the NXT Heritage Cup: An entertaining match until the DQ finish. I hope there was a point to that finish beyond protecting Briggs. I was somewhat surprised that the finish didn’t involve Brooks Jensen attempting to help Briggs only to have it backfire. I like the backstage foreshadowing that changes are coming in the relationship between Briggs, Jensen, and Fallon Henley.
Cora Jade vs. Karmen Petrovic: A decent TV match that gave Petrovic a little offense before Jade got the expected win. Jade has improved her cosmetic game and simply looks like more of a star than she did when she played the skater girl role. Her last promo was really rough, but the tools are there and I remain optimistic that she will put it all together in the new year.
Riley Osbourne vs. Lexis King in an NXT Breakout Tournament semifinal match: An upset. I don’t know how much Osbourne gained winning due to a distraction from Trey Bearhill, but we’ll see what they do with him in the finals next week. It still feels ridiculous that King attacked Bearhill and was rewarded by being named his replacement in the tournament. Worse yet, Bearhill seemed fine last week when he appeared after King’s first-round match, so there wasn’t even a good storyline reason to replace him.
Oba Femi vs. Tavion Heights in an NXT Breakout Tournament semifinal match: A solid developmental match. Heights was given some offense before the powerhouse came back and finished him off in dominant fashion. Femi would be my pick to win the tournament, but we’ll find out next week if the NXT creative forces have something else in mind.
Joe Gacy vs. Joe Coffey: A little Joe on Joe violence. I’m still not sure what to make of babyface Gacy, but lord knows he needed a change after his cult leader gimmick overstayed its welcome. I assume that Hank Ledger and Tank Williams coming out to fight Mark Coffey and Wolfgang will lead to an eventual six-man tag match.
NXT Misses
Bronco Nima and Lucien Price vs. Andre Chase and Duke Hudson: A sloppy match at times. The inexperience of Nima and Price was on display. That said, NXT is a developmental brand and I’m happy to see them getting meaningful reps because they clearly have a lot of upside potential.
Awards and atmosphere: The lack of enthusiasm from the live crowd was very noticeable at times during this episode. It’s understandable given that the fans sat through a double taping, but it made for a rough atmosphere. Meanwhile, the awards felt inconsequential. It didn’t help that they were announced in bunches or that we didn’t hear from the winners. I’d prefer to see the voting opened sooner so that they could record promos with the winners to make the awards feel meaningful. I don’t even understand why they ran a new episode. Raw and Smackdown are in “best of” mode for the holiday week, yet they needed to hold a first-run edition of NXT? Strange. It wasn’t all bad or anything, but it did feel unnecessary. On the bright side, the show set the table for next week’s New Year’s Evil edition.
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