By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Live from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired January 9, 2024 on USA Network
[Hour One] Highlights from last week’s New Years Evil themed show aired…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer…
Footage aired of Blair Davemport jumping Nikkita Lyons in the NXT Parking Lot. This led to a brawl. Both women ended up brawling to the ring…
1. Blair Davenport vs. Nikkita Lyons. Nikkita hit Blair with a vertical suplex followed by a forearm in the corner. Blair dodged a double stomp. Blair came back with a sinning chambered thurst kick for a two count. Blair tossed Nikkita into the ringpost. Blair caught Nikkita at ringside in the back with a double stomp. Davenport caught Nikkita in the ring with the same double stomp to the back. Blair put Lyons in a Guillotine Choke, which Blair kept synched in when Nikkita made escape attempts.
Blair ended up breaking the Guillotine with a Snap Suplex. Nikkita hit Blair with a few leg clotheslines. Nikkita hit Blair with a suplex and German Suplex. Nikkita hit Blair with a rope assisted hip attack leading to a nearfall. Nikkita missed a kick. Blair hit Nikkita with a Shotgun Dropkick. Nikkita came back with a chambered kick.
Nikkita dumped Blair to ringside with a clothesline. Blair dodged a hook kick to tanle Nikkita’s leg on the buckle. Back in the ring, Blair caught Nikkita with a chop block. Blair caught Nikkita with a Kamigoye for the clean win.
Blair Davenport defeated Nikkita Lyons via pinfall in 5:25.
Blair gloated as she backtracked up the ramp…
A Cody Rhodes narrated Dusty Classic hype video aired…
Separate shots of Gallus and the new Corbin-Breakker tag team were shown backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: That was simpler than expected. They just gave Blair a dominant win. I’m not gonna complain about that. I just remember how high WWE was on Lyons back in the 2.0 days where she had a ton of plot armor (I think this might be her first singles loss). I’m happy they are keeping Blair strong and hope she finds her way back to the main event after a decisive loss last week. As for Nikkita, I’ve been impressed a bit since she’s come back. The Taekwondo I didn’t see during her first run, I’m seeing more now, so her kicks are looking very good (except that missed kick, but we all miss kicks if you kick). She also seems a bit more confident in the ring too. Hopefully she’s putting in the reps because there is a lot of potential there.
Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes were hanging out in the locker room. Melo said he has some good news. Trick said maybe he doesn’t want to know because Melo be acting shady recently. Melo said he only came out last week because he wanted to make sure the guest NXT Champion wouldn’t cost Trick the match and Trick ended up pulling the W.
Melo then said that while they wait for Ilja to get better, he got him and Trick the last spot in the Dusty Classic. Trick said he would rather be focused on waiting for Ilja. Melo said this will work out. Melo said he’ll be a triple crown champ and Trick will be two title trick. Trick reluctantly gave in and dap’d it up with Melo…
Entrances for the next match took place. Bron Breakker’s singlet had a bunch of random numbers on it (which I believe is a Rick Steiner singlet). Vic Joseph noted that Baron Corbin was in the finals of the first Dusty Classic with “another man who perfected the spear” (Rhino)…
2. “Gallus” Mark Coffey and Wolfgang (w/Joe Coffey) vs. Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin in a first round match of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Mark and Bron started the match. Breakker took down Mark with a stiff shoulder block. Wolfgang tagged in and ate a spinebuster from Breakker. Corbin tagged in. Wolfgang held Corbin in place to eat a diving shoulder tackle from Mark after Mark tagged.
Wolfgang tagged back in and gave Corbin a hangman flapkack. Gallus dropped Breakker and Wolfgang gave him a senton. Corbin and Breakker regrouped at ringside heading into picture-in-picture.[c]
Corbin pummeled Mark with forearms in the corner. Corbin took down Mark with a diving lariat. Wolfgang broke up the fall. All four men traded signature moves to leave everyone lying. Both teams traded hands in the center of the ring. Bron dumped Wolfgang to ringside. Corbin used his boot to torture Mark int he corner. Corbin hit Mark with a running Death Valley Driver. Corbin did Breakker’s “Break” pose.
Wolfgang pulled Mark to ringside. Wolfgang dodged Corbin’s punch to send Corbin’s hand into the ringpost. Mark and Wolfgang then focused their attack on Corbin’s injured hand. Gallus cut the ring in half on Corbin with tags and methodical offense. Corbin caught Wolfgang with a front tag to get the hot tag to Bron Breakker. Breakker hit Wolfgang with a gutbuster. Breakker hit Mark with a reverse tilt a whirl suplex. Bron tossed Mark into the arms of Wolfgang and gave Wolfgang a German Suplex.
The censored holy shit chants ensued. Breakker was going for a spear, but Corbin tagged himself in. Bron gave Wolfgang a spear. Corbin gave Mark the End of Days for the win.
Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker defeated Gallus via pinfall in 10:54 to advance to the semi-finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
Corbin and Breakker jawed at each other after the match with friendly banter…
John’s Thoughts: Decent heel vs. heel matchup with the star power of Breakker and Corbin making them the defacto babyfaces. They didn’t have a lot of chemistry, but that’s the story. I’m interested to see what story they come up with Corbin and Breakker as a tag team and I did like Vic pulling in NXT history in talking about how Corbin and Rhyno were reluctant partners in the first Dusty Classic for a bit of parallelism.
Vic Joseph sent the show to Fallon Henley and Tiffany Stratton “at the farm”. Henley pulled up to her barn with a horse. Tiffany showed up dressed in her usual pink. She was disgusted by the horses and horse doo doo. Fallon said she has clothes for her (work clothes). Tiffany said she would rather wear what she’s wearing. Tiffany continued to be disgusted while also stumbling on her high heels. Fallon then advised Tiffany on farm cleaning procedure. Tiffany was super disgusted when Fallon mentioned the “horse shit”. To be continued…
Lyra Valkyria was shown walking backstage…[c]
Vic plugged WWE’s Canadian shows during Money in the Bank weekend…
Lyra Valkyria was in the center of the ring for a promo. She talked about being confident that she’s going to end 2024 the same way 2024 started, as NXT Women’s Champion. She talked about NXT having the deepest women’s division. Lyra said to pick her next opponent she talked with Ava and they came up with a 20 woman battle royal with a twist. The twist being that the last four wrestlers in the match will turn the match to a fatal four way.
Lola Vice and Elektra Lopez interrupted to talk about how Tatum Paxley saved Lyra’s championship last week. Lola talked about how she still has her breakout contract to cash in anytime. Lyra hyped up Lola’s MMA background, but said that Lola has been all talk so far. Lyra said she’s not here to see Lola shake her arse on Instagram. She wants to face Lola the cage fighter. Lola said she can’t help that people like her because people are like sheep. This drew boos.
Lola said they can’t resist her Latina heat. Lyra said the real Latina heat is coming from Elektra Lopez, the woman who held Legado Del Fantasma together. Lyra asked when Lola was going to tell Elektra that she isn’t going to spend the contract on a tag title match. Lyra said she’d be down for a title match right here right now. A ref came out, but Lola and Elektra jumped Lyra before the bell. Tatum Paxley ran out. Tatum and Lyra dumped Lola and Elektra to ringside to send them in retreat. Tatum yelled “we were meant to be together!!!”…
John’s Thoughts: Ooof. That was a bit of a disjointed and all over the place promo segment. Lyra still hasn’t found her voice yet and Lola is still in her developmental stages (Elektra might be further along in that area and she didn’t get a chance to speak. Tatum even seems more ahead with this new stalker character). Similar to Tatum, Lyra needs to find a persona to sink her teeth into. So far she’s just the generic fighting champion. She is exceptional in the ring and a beautiful woman, but she really needs to find something that makes her stand out.
Meta Four were all watching the breakup of Briggs, Jensen, and Henley on a tablet and mocking it. Josh Briggs showed up. Lash took credit for Meta Four breaking up Josh’s group. Josh said they only separated because they have separate goals. Josh asked Noam Dar for a title shot. Noam said Josh already lost via DQ. Oro Mensah got in Josh’s face. Josh challenged Oro to a match later. The graphic at the bottom of the screen said Josh vs. Oro will happen after the break…[c]
Luca Crucifino was trying to plead to Ava that one of his last matches had a rope break. Ava said she’s not a ref and can’t do anything about it. She said she’ll pass Luca’s concerns to HBK. Dragon Lee showed up and said his Visa issues are all done. Lexis King showed up with a random contract. He got Dragon Lee to sign the contract which will lead to a match between him and Dragon. Dragon said he’s looking forward to the match and called Lexis a “cabron”…
Meta Four got a televised entrance for the next match…
3. Josh Briggs vs. Oro Mensah (w/Lash Legend, Noam Dar, Jakara Jackson) . Josh hit Oro with a body slam and elbow drop for a two count. Josh shoved Oro with a shoulder tackle. Oro fishhooked Josh’s mouth. Josh came back with a front slam. Lash distracted the ref to allow Noam to trip up Josh. Oro worked on Josh with strikes in the corner. Oro got a two count once he got Josh to the mat. Oro hit Josh with a rolling steep and Northern Lariat for a two count. Both men traded right hands.
Oro gave Josh quick strikes in the corner. Oro slammed Josh several times into the top buckle. Oro hit Josh with a slingshot jump kick for a nearfall. Oro worked on Josh with Muay Thai roundhouses. Josh blocked a kick and gave Oro a Uranage. Jakara distracted the ref, but Noam couldn’t interfere in time. Josh hit Oro with a Clothesline from Hell for the victory.
Josh Briggs defeated Oro Mensah via pinfall in 3:26.
Separate shots of Tony D and Stacks and OTM were shown backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Simple fodder match to set up Josh Briggs for another Heritage Cup title shot. I’m happy that WWE is deciding to finally get behind Briggs as a singles wrestler, I can’t repeat that enough. With WrestleMania coming up, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Josh called up repackaged. I seriously think Josh has the potential to be WWE’s next big Kane, JBL, or Undertaker type of big man.
[Hour Two] Back at the ranch, Tiffany asked for a break. Fallon said they were just getting started. A farm hand said it was time to clean the horses. Fallon sent Tiffany to clean “buttercup” the horse. Background music played as TIffany was shown struggling cleaning the horses while surrounded by doo doo all over the place. TIffany then told Fallon she’s done, needs a shower, and disinfectant. Fallon said you can’t put the horses in a dirty stall. Fallon sent Tiffany to muck the stalls. Fallon handed Tiffany a pink rake. Tiffany had a panic attack after seeing the crap all over the place…
John’s Thoughts: Poop jokes work when you do it once, but more than once is jumping the shark.
Entrances for the tag team title match took place. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in ring championship introductions…
4. Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo (w/Adriana Rizzo) vs. “Out Tha Mud” Bronco Nima and Lucien Price (w/Scrypts) for the NXT Tag Team Championships. Stacks and Bronco started the match with a collar and elbow lockup. Bronco landed a shoulder tackle. Tony D tagged in and rallied with right hands. Bronco no sold Tony’s shoulder tackle. Stacks tagged in and hit Bronco with a sweep. Tony D followed up with a flying shoulder tackle. Price tagged in and tackled Stacks to the corner.
Stacks caught Price with a dropkick. Tony D tagged in and worked on Price in the corner. Tony D gave Stacks a hip toss into Price in the corner. Tony D hit Price with a slingshot elbow. Tony D gave Stacks a Military Press onto Price for a nearfall. Bronco blind tagged in and gave Stacks a knee to the back. Stacks dumped Bronco to ringside. Bronco put Stacks in an electric chair to allow Price to give Stacks a bulldog heading into regular commercial.[c]
Nima worked on Stacks with knees. OTM cut the ring in half on Stacks with methodical offense. Stacks ended up shoving Nima into the ringpost. Stacks got the hot tag to Tony D. Tony gave Price a fell Belly to Belly suplexes. Tony D had a nice float over into hockey punches. Tony hit Nima with a Jackhammer. Tony D hit Price with a spinebuster for a nearfall. Stacks tagged in blind and gave Price a diving uppercut. Nima came in and hit Stacks iwth a running chest stomp. Price knocked down Tony D.
Price and Nima hit Tony D with a double Saoman Drop for a close nearfall. Price hit Tony D with an assisted spinebuster for a two count. Stacks took himself and Nima out to ringside. Tony rolled up price for a two count. Tony D hip tossed Stacks on top of OTM at ringside. Tony D and Stacks hit Price with the Bada Bing Bada Boom. Nima shoved Stacks onto Tony to break up the pin. Vic noted that Scrypts helped Nima recover.
Scrypts accidentally gave Price a dive when Rizzo tripped him. Stacks took out Nima at ringside with a dive. Tony D hit Price with a Fisherman Suplex for the victory.
Tony D’Angelo and Stacks defeated Out Tha Mud via pinfall in 11:47 to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.
John’s Thoughts: The match started out okay, but it kinda fell apart at the end. Mistakes are normal and can happen at any time, so I’m not blaming them, especially since 3 of the four wrestlers here have been WWE developmental projects. Hopefully they learned from their slip ups. It wasn’t horrible. Timing just felt a bit off at the end. Interesting that they have OTM losing a majority of their matches. I really like these guys and hope they get a deserved push. They have a good overall look, size, and promo ability. Big men tag team shouldn’t be taking so many losses though before looking weak.
The NXT Anonymous camera peeked in on Jacy Jayne leading a bunch of female Chase U students. She told them she has a plan to take Chase U out of debt…
Kelly Kincaid interviewed Oba Femi and congratulated him on winning the NXT Breakout Tournament. Kelly asked Oba if he has a time when he wants to cash in the contract. Oba said the contract means he can be champion whenever he wants. He said every superstar will crumble under his feet. Lexis King showed up and said that it should have been him vs. Oba in the finals if Trey Bearhill didn’t interfere. Lexis hyped up facing Dragon Lee later.
Lexis said he sees Oba as a future NXT Champion, while he’ll be future NXT North American Champion. Lexis told Kelly that drinks will be on him tonight before leaving. Oba asked Kelly if Dragon vs. Lexis was the main event? Kelly said yes. Oba looked down at his contract and looked up (as if he was contemplating cashing in)…
Cora Jade made her entrance…[c]
Gallus were backstage with Wolfgang throwing a fit. Joe saw Ridge Holland and called him over. Joe said he saw Ridge pour his heart out. Ridge said he’s not afraid of Joe. Joe said Ridge should have stuck to being a brawling brute because he doesn’t know how long Ridge will survive in NXT. Gallus left and Ridge said “I’ll be seein’ ya”…
Gigi Dolin made her entrance…
5. Cora Jade vs. Gigi Dolin. Gigi took down Cora with a wristlock takedown. Gigi hit Cora with a chop for a two count. Cora dodged a dropkick and gave Gigi a slingshot stomp. Cora tackled Gigi in the corner. Cora worked on Gigi with boots in the corner. Cora gave Gigi a takedown and some trash talk. Cora gave Gigi a drop toehold on the rope and followed with a back elbow. Cora hit Gigi with a Knee in the corner for a two count. Cora worked on Gigi with a elbows to the neck and a cravate.
Gigi escaped the corner and gave Cora a knee combo. Gigi rallied with clotheslines and a legsweep. Gigi hit Cora with a dropkick into the bottom rope. Cora held onto the ref to block a crucifix bomb. Cora hit Gigi with a Dirty Deeds DDT for the victory.
Cora Jade defeated Gigi Dolin via pinfall in 4:05.
A Dusty Rhodes classic tag team match was hyped for after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Another match that was more cut-and-dry than I expected, and not in a bad way in that they are building up a heel this time in Cora. I do like how they’ve been booking Cora since returning form her long layoff. She was almost 50-50 during her last heel run. Now she’s undefeated, has a pinfall over the NXT women’s champ, and is tearing through NXT’s gatekeepers. Curious to see if they are setting her up to take the title off Lyra? Or as a credible challenger to Lyra before getting called up?
Vic Joseph plugged WWE’s France shows in May…
Scrypts, Bronco Nima, and Lucien Price were chatting in the parking lot. They ran into Jaida Parker. Jaida said OTM need to open their minds up. She said she can see things a mile away. Jaida offered to be the missing piece to handle Adriana Rizzo. Scrypts said it was time to talk business…
Nathan Frazer and Axiom got televised entrances for the next match. For some reason, Booker T was offended by Hank and Tank’s attire. Vic pointed out that this isn’t the first time they wore the cutoff shirts…
6. Nathan Frazer and Axiom vs. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger in a first round match of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Hank turned Axiom inside out with a strike. Frazer tagged in and was tossed into the corner with Tank. Hank and Tank ran into Frazer to sandwich him. Frazer caught Tank with a enzuigiri. Axiom and Frazer swarmed Tank with strikes to give Axiom a two count. Tank blocked a kick. Hank tagged in and tossed Axiom into the buckle. Hank gave Axiom a twisting flapjack. Booker said Hank and Tank may be as green as “goose poop”.
Axiom jumped out of the corner to bring in Frazer who hit Tank with a flying axe handle. Frazer escaped the corner and hit Tank with a slingshot dropkick. Hank broke up Nathan’s pin. Tank hit Frazer with a sitout Atomic Drop. Hank tossed Frazer into a Tank suplex. Hank got a two count on Frazer. Axiom kicked Tank off the apron. Axiom and Frazer hit Hank and Tank with multiple suicide dives. Hank turned Axiom inside out with a clothesline.
Axiom rolled up Hank for a two count. Axiom hit Hank with a superkick. Frazer hit Hank with a Phoenix Splash for the victory.
Nathan Frazer and Axiom defeated Hank Walker and Tank Ledger via pinfall in 4:45 to advance to the semi-finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
Back and the ranch, Tiffany was still struggling to rake up horse crap. Fallon Henley and random people were laughing at Tiffany from a distance. Fallon noted that Tiffany was overloading the wheelbarrow. Tiffany tried to woosah a bit, but then started to gag. Fallon asked Tiffany how it felt to do real work. Tiffany said she didn’t like it and she found out how it feels to be Fallon. Tiffany said something must be wrong with Fallon if she sees this as a way to live. Tiffany said she was leaving. Tiffany slipped over horse crap into a horse water drinking bowl…
Dragon Lee made his entrance…[c]
Edris Enofe and Malik Blade were hyped up backstage and hoping to win the Dusty Cup. Enofe talked about how everybody are talking about Trick and Melo, their opponents, being the favorites. Blade said they are on the same page, unlike Trick and Melo. A random lady named Brinley Reese showed up. She kinda looks like Thea Hail if Hail were 5 years older. For some reason she offered Enofe and Blade workout advise…
Two Dusty Cup matches and the NXT Women’s Number One Contender Battle Royal were advertised for next week…
Lexis King made his entrance. Booker said he thinks that NXT popped a rating that one time when Lexis made his debut (uhm? I don’t think so?). Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring championship introductions. Dragon had his customized CGI dragon graphic to introduce the match…
7. Dragon Lee vs. Lexis King for the NXT North American Championship. Lexis smothered Dragon in the corner. Dragon came back with a side headlock takedown. Dragon converted to a heel hook. Lexis broke it with a pin attempt. Lyra and Tatum vs. Lola and Elektra was advertised for next week. Lexis took down Dragon with a shoulder tackle. Both men ran the ropes and traded dodges.
Dragon sent Lexis into the corner with a dropkick. Lexis put Dragon on the top rope and dumped him to ringside with a dropkick. Trey Bearhill walked out to distract Lexis. Dragon caught a distracted Lexis with a flip dive. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Lexis had Dragon in a half crab. Dragon rolled up Lexis for a two count. Lexis quickly took down Dragon with a clothesline. Lexis teased a hesitation dropkick, but settled for slaps to mock Dragon.
[Overrun] Dragon Lee rallied with chest slaps and clotheslines. Dragon caught Lexis with a high kick and slingshot headscissors to put Lexis in the corner. Dragon hit Lexis with a Triple Kick and slingshot single legged wrecking ball kick. Dragon hit Lexis with a Hesitation Dropkick for a nearfall.
Both men traded Boo-Yay slaps in the center of the ring. Lexis caught Dragon with a superkick. Dragon no sold it into a high knee. Lexis hit Dragon with a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. Lexis put Dragon in a half crab. Dragon got to the bottom rope for the break. Dragon Lee hit Lexis with Destino for the victory.
Dragon Lee defeated Lexis King via pinfall in 8:46 to retain the NXT North American Championship.
Oba Femi made his entrance and said he was cashing in his not-money-in-the-bank Breakout Tournament Contract.
8. Dragon Lee vs. Oba Femi for the NXT North American Championship. Oba tossed Dragon like a boulder across the ring. Dragon caught a running Oba with a superkick. Dragon hit Oba with a Tornado DDT off the ropes for a two count. Oba blocked Destino and turned it into a Last Ride for the victory.
Oba Femi defeated Dragon Lee via pinfall in 1:16 to become the new NXT North American Champion.
Oba Femi posed with his new title belt to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: Hey! I’m not gonna complain. I’m high on Oba too and last week the guy proved that if he’s in the ring with an experienced opponent he can work a decent match, so lets give the guy the ball and see what he does with it. It’s the developmental brand, so if it doesn’t work out, they can easily pivot. Back to the prior match, I still consider Pillman Jr. a developmental project as he is still rough around the edges. The guy has a good pedigree and is improving as a character so hopefully he puts it all together (all looked lost for Rey’s son, and he became one of the biggest heels in all of wrestling). Dragon carried him to a decent match, but it was still nothing to write home about.
Back to Oba, having him cash in on the North American title instead of the main one was the right decision as the midcard title is better for a developmental-NIL wrestler. This is where Lola Vice is in a tough position. Similar to Damian Priest where he doesn’t seem in Seth and Roman’s league, Lola is no where worthy of sniffing the main event. The difference there is that she’s just not ready for prime time. Maybe NXT can get the women a mid card belt, or resurrect the dissolved tag team championships?
This week’s NXT was a step down from months of solid NXT. There just wasn’t any hot matches, every match felt predictable, not much character development, the Tiffany Stratton horse poop joke fell flat, and it felt like there was an over abundance of greener talent on this week’s show.
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