NXT TV results (12/17): Moore’s review of Trick Williams vs. Eddy Thorpe for the NXT Championship, Nathan Frazer and Axiom vs. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang for the NXT Tag Titles, Oba Femi vs. Axiom

By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)

NXT TV 
Lowell, Massachusetts at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium
Aired live December 17, 2024 on The CW

[Hour One] Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer. Separate shots of Trick Williams, Ethan Page, and Je’von Evans were shown all around Boston. Ethan Page was also shown looking disheveled. The show then cut to an intro video to introduce the venue of this week’s show.

Classic clips of WWE in the venue were shown, like past NXT shows or Shawn Michaels losing his smile. Hype for Trick Williams vs. Eddy Thrope was also included…

Entrances for the opening match took place. Vic reminded viewers that Axiom will be doing double duty on this week’s episode…

1. Oba Femi vs. Axiom (w/Nathan Frazer). Oba used his power to pressure and toss Axiom around the ring. Axiom fired up Oba with some dodges and stiff chops to the chest. Oba came back with a Judo takedown. Axiom tried to pull the top rope down but Oba saw it coming. Axiom went for a Lionsault, but Oba clubbed him in the back to send him to ringside.[c]

Back from break, Vic Joseph pointed out that Oba left a hand print on the back of Axiom. Oba was dominating with his power and clubbing blows. Axiom fended off Oba and got him to his knees with a Missile Dropkick. Axiom worked at Oba’s base with low kicks, but Oba turned Axiom inside-out with a clothesline for a nearfall. Oba worked on Axiom with methodical and powerful strikes.

Axiom went for a Triangle, but Oba deadlifted Axiom into the corner and hit him with rapid overhead blows. Oba no-sold a few of Axiom’s strikes and floored him with power strikes. Axiom rallied with nearfalls. Both men soaked in cheers while recovering. Axiom did a kip up after a Missile Dropkick. Oba reversed a Golden Ratio into a Boulder Toss. Oba hit Axiom with the Pop Up Power Bomb for the win.

Oba Femi defeated Axiom via pinfall in 10:20. 

Vic Joseph plugged Oba Femi going after the NXT title in Los Angeles at the New Years Evil show…

Sarah Schreiber interviewed Eddy Thrope about what he has to say about himself for his trickery last week. He bragged about fooling everyone. He said if someone else did what he did they’d be praised as a genus, but everyone calls him a cheater. NXT GM Ava confronted and berated Eddy Thorpe about what he did last week and said she can’t do anything due to the contract being signed. Eddy said Ava can call him whatever she wants, but after tonight, she’ll have to call him NXT Champion…

Sol Ruca and Zaria made their entrance…[c]

John’s Thoughts: A good power vs. speed match with Axiom also adding his little bit of stiff strikes to the mix. It felt like Axiom was the architect of this match and it made Oba look really good. Axiom had no chance due to Oba being the Iron Survivor number one contender, but those nearfalls by the end were still fun and Axiom looks strong in defeat.

The Raw on Netflix teaser featuring Triple H aired…

“Over the weekend” at the Performance Center, Karmen Petrovic was asking Dion Lennox for some life advise. Dion said that he thinks that Ashante the Adonis was really looking out for her during her last match with Nikkita. Petrovic said she tends to crash out, but she thinks Dion is right and that she needs to apologize. Dion and Karmen shared a platonic hug. Ashante walked in and got the wrong idea. Ashante said he cut Nikkita off, but he’s going to text her now that Petrovic betrayed him. Ashante walked off…

John’s Thoughts: Yeah, it’s cheesy soap opera stuff, but it’s so simple that I’m getting a kick out of this story. This Ashante and Petrovic love story is a guilty pleasure of mine. Since this is pro wrestling, will this end up in some sort of pro wrestling wedding?

Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson made their entrance…

2. Sol Ruca and Zaria vs. “Meta Four” Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson. Sol body slammed Jakara and rode her like a surfboard. Lash tagged in and gave Sol a elbow drop after she was tripped. Sol hit Lash with a elbow and slingshot Codebreaker. Lash tossed Sol across the ring and asked for Zaria to tag in. Zaria tagged in. Zaria and Lash sized each other up. Both women traded shoulder tackles.

Both women then went for power moves, but ended up at a stalemate due to counters. Lash ended up lifting Zaria for a body slam. Zaria dodged a running splash. Sol tagged in and dumped Lash to ringside. Zaria lifted up Jakara in fireman carry. Sol walked on the carried Jakara like a bridge and hit Lash with a dive. Zaria press slammed Jakara on Lash at ringside for a follow-up.[c]

Lash blocked a Sunset Flip by Sol rolled up Lash for a two count. Lash held Sol in place after Jakara tagged in for some punches. Jakara hit Sol with a Double Underhook Suplex and a flip elbow for a nearfall. Sol broke up a back stretch with a pin attempt. Sol knocked Lash off the apron. Sol rolled up Jakara for a two count. Jakara ducked an enzuigiri. Sol kicked Jakara in the back and tagged in Zaria for the hot tag.

Zaria hit Jakara with a German Suplex and a Spear. Lash broke up the pin. Jakara hit Zaria with a chop block and tagged in Lash. Lash and Zaria struggled to get a suplex until Zaria finally got the suplex. Sol tagged in and hit Lash with a Springboard Splash. Jakara jumped off Sol to break the pin and dropkick Zaria.

Lash took out Sol with a Pump Kick. Lash dumped Zaria to ringside. Jackson caught Zaria with a crossbody at ringside. Lash hit Sol with her Modified Gory Buster slam for the win.

Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson defeated Sol Ruca and Zaria via pinfall in 12:14. 

A replay aired of last week’s match where Tyriek Igwe and Tyson Dupont were looking salty after their match. Dupont asked Igwe why he was acting disrespectful while Igwe was fired up. Wes Lee cut in and said that maybe Tyson needs to change the way he thinks. Wes praised Igwe for the way he was thinking and fist bumped him…

Jaida Parker and OTM made their entrance…[c]

John’s Thoughts: Rough at a few points being developmental wrestlers (sans Zaria who is an indie wrestler), but these developmental wrestlers can put on a pretty fun match. Everyone played to their strength. Jakara with the selling. Lash with the power. Zaria with the power. Sol with the crazy moves (like that dive while walking over the body of Jakara). Lash and Jakara might be ready for a callup after their recent trial by fire, being featured on the main roster and PLEs. Meanwhile, the only odd point here is Zaria being miscast as a babyface. Why? They did tease a heel turn against Jordynne Grace, but now she’s just kinda there as a generic babyface monster. Maybe they’re waiting for Grace to wrap up? Who knows, but it’s disappointing after their awesome introduction of her via those post-apocalyptic vignettes.

Vic Joseph plugged the CW board game game shows…

Wren Sinclair made her entrance…

3. Jaida Parker (w/Bronco Nima, Lucien Price) vs. Wren Sinclair (w/Myles Borne, Tavion Heights). Parker set up and hit Wren with her signature draping Banzai Drop early on. Parker got a one count after a Falcon Arrow. Wren turned a Standing Switch into a Full Nelson. Jaida reversed into a Full Nelson of her own, followed by a suplex for a two count. Jaida put Wren in a modified Butterfly Stretch.

Wren got out, but ate some overhead blows. Both women traded right hands. Jaida yelled “Let’s go bitch!”. Wren rallied with right hands and a basement Bulldog. Wren hit Jaida with a Underhook Suplex. All four men faced off and brawled at ringside. NQCC and OTM brawled to the back. Wren rolled up Jaida for a nearfall. Jaida escaped a Guillotine Choke and hit Wren with a back elbow. Jaida hit Wren with Hip-notic for the victory.

Jaida Parker defeated Wren Sinclair via pinfall in 4:32. 

Shotzi Blackheart, Gigi Dolin, and Tatum Paxley were chatting backstage. They talked about all being outcasts. Tatum talked about Shotzi and Gigi saving her last week and she doesn’t have to play by herself anymore. Gigi said they have to take care of Fatal Influence first. Gigi talked about how she knows that Jacy is at her best with people flanking her. Tatum said just like her dolls, she’ll rip their heads off. Shotzi said “dolls out, balls out”…

Fatal Influence were shown watching the segment from a monitor. Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn approached them to trash talk. Isla said she doesn’t see Fatal Influence have any unity. Fyre said she sees turmoil. Fatal Influence walked off…

Nathan Frazer was shown trying to help Axiom recover from his last match in preparation for their title defense…[c]

John’s Thoughts: A basic women’s match to give Jaida a dominant win, build sympathy for Wren, and have the tag teams brawl, yet again. They do need to find a more creative way to build tag team stories rather than just have them randomly show up at random places and brawl. I do like the intrigue in whatever they’re planning with Wes Lee, Tyriek Igwe, and Tyson Dupont (even though we barely know anything about Dupont other than one’s an athlete and one’s an engineer). Also, good to see Shotzi back from injury. I’ve always been high on her since her indie days (in the same promotion as Eddy Thrope and Cody Rhodes), and truly believe she has the potential to be a top headliner. Hunter always seemed a fan of her so hopefully she can get that push down the road (again, I do wish she tone down her risks).

Vic Joseph plugged the upcoming NXT and Raw shows in Los Angeles/Inglewood, CA…

A highlight package aired which focused on the NXT Women’s Division. The narrator mentioned NXT having the best women’s division in pro wrestling. Paige, the horsewomen, Asuka, Shayna, Raquel Rodriguez, Rhea Ripley, Mandy Rose, and other past women’s champions were mentioned (damn, didn’t expect to hear shoutouts to the women out of the company). The package then focused on Roxanne Perez vs. Giulia…

[Hour Two] Vic Joseph plugged Roxanne Perez vs. Giulia for the Women’s Championship at the New Years Evil show…

Gallus made their entrance first. Frazer and Axiom came out next. Frazer was wearing a protective facemask. Axiom stumbled to the ground during his part of the entrance to sell the Oba Femi match from earlier…

4. Nathan Frazer and Axiom vs. “Gallus” Mark Coffey and Wolfgang (w/Joe Coffey) for the NXT Tag Team Championships. Axiom wanted to start the match, but Frazer told him to tag out and recover. Frazer took down Mark with a armdrag. Wolfgang tagged in. Mark backslid Frazer and Wolfgang followed up with a knee to the face. Luca Crucifino and Stacks were shown watching via picture in picture. Axiom tagged in. Axiom and Frazer cleared both Gallus members from the ring.

Frazer hit Mark with a dive. Axiom hit Joe with a Suicide Dive. Axiom crumpled again to sell the Oba Femi match. Wolfgang gave Axiom a Uranage. Mark gave Frazer a back suplex on the apron heading into break.[c]

Mark and Wolfgang cut the ring in half on the injured Axiom. Axiom had injury tape over his Kinesio Tape to sell the added injuries. Axiom managed to leap into the corner to tag in Frazer who hit Mark with a clothesline and Lionsault Deathdrop. Frazer dumped Wolfgang to ringside. Frazer hit Mark with a standing Shooting Star for a nearfall. Frazer hit Mark with a Slingblade and Frogsplash. Wolfgang broke up Frazer’s pin.

Wolfgang and Mark hit Frazer with their Enzuigiri and Power Slam combo to give Wolfgang a nearfall. Vic noted that Axiom was nowhere to be seen. Wolfgang hit Frazer with a Swanton Bomb. Axiom broke up Wolfgang’s pin with a slingshot dropkick. Axiom hit Mark with a Golden Ratio. Frazer rolled up Wolfgang for a two.

Frazer put Wolfgang in a Sleeper. Axiom accidentally hit Frazer with a Golden Ratio to break the submission. Axiom recovered and hit Mark with a Canadian Destroyer. Frazer hit Wolfgang with a Poisonrana. Wolfgang recovered and took down Frazer with a right hand. Axiom tagged in. Frazer caught Wolfgang at the top rope with a gamengiri. Axiom hit Wolfgang with a Super Spanish Fly. Frazer tagged in. Axiom hit The Coffey Brothers with a top rope Cannonball to ringside. Frazer hit Wolfgang with a Phoenix Splash for the victory.

Nathan Frazer and Axiom defeated Wolfgang and Mark Coffey via pinfall in 12:02 to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.

Another teaser graphic aired for the Raw on Netflix debut date…

Je’von Evans was backstage hyping up Hank Walker and Tank Ledger. Evans then was psyched up about all his accolades at his young age, like main eventing a PLE, challenging Randy Orton, and meeting X-Pac. A disheveled looking Ethan Page walked through them, ignoring them and looking depressed…[c]

John’s Thoughts: Really good tag team match with a little bit of a added twist to their usual pace due to the added injury angle. It was a bit silly to see Axiom fall on his face every five minutes, but I understand why they did that. It’s better to oversell than to not sell at all, especially in performative art. The ending of the match looked sluggish, which was perfect given the fatigue that Axiom was trying to sell. They got their usual accidental backfire during the match as usual, but it totally fits, again, due to the fatigue story.

The show cut to a cinematic camera. Charlie Dempsey took out a deck of cards in front of Lexis King and said that the cards will led them in their workouts. A training montage was then shown with subtitle graphics to show each workout King and Dempsey were doing. There was random wannabe Rocky music in the background. King survived the workout. Dempsey and King shook hands, with Dempsey agreeing to give King a title shot next week at the Heritage Cup…

Vic and Booker tried to check in on commentary, but depressed and disheveled Ethan Page made his entrance in a tattered suit. He said he deserves all the hate he’s getting. He said he doesn’t think anyone knows the journey he took to get here. He said he promised his daughter he’ll win the big one, and he did, in NXT. The crowd gave him “what” chants, with some cheering him. He said he did it faster than Kevin Owens. He said it took him years to keep his promise to his daughter. He said he did it for his daughter, son, and wife.

He said it’s fine for the crowd to boo, they paid for their ticket. He said he will talk to his wife, Viviana. He said without her there is no Ethan Page. The crowd gave him the what treatment. Page even pointed out that it’s because of her that the crowd are having fun doing the “what” thing. He said that’s the problem, when he loses, he, his family, and supporters all lose. Page said when his daughter looks at his bag now, or he sees videos of his son crying because he can win, or he goes home and looks at his wife’s eyes in disappointment.

Page said all that is eating him alive. Ethan Page said he “lost his smile”. Page said they can all mock him for being emotional. Je’von Evans made his entrance to apologize. He said hearing people brag about themselves hurt. He said Page came into NXT doing that, with a cocky ego. Ethan said that isn’t the real Ethan. Page said he saw the real Ethan Page at Heatwave. He said it’s not what he did during the match, but after.

Evans said he looked at his family and told them right in the eyes “I love you”. Evans said he was deadass right now, not everyone can do that. He said Page showed his family a proud dad’s smile. A proud husband’s smile. The smile of a man who busted his ass for 18 long years to get to where he’s supposed to be. He said Page deserves to be here, and the fans know he’s supposed to be here. Evans said they want to see the real Ethan Page. Evans said he’s proud of Ethan, NXT is proud of Ethan, everyone is proud of Ethan.

Page said Evans was right and clear. He said he shouldn’t worry about losing his smile, but rather take away Je’von’s smile. Ethan gave Evans a right hand and then brought a chair in the ring. Ethan wrapped a chair around the neck of Evans. Ethan yelled “you want the real me! This is the real me!”. Ethan leg dropped the chair to Pilmanize Je’von’s neck. Evans spat out “blood” (presumably a blood capsule). Referees checked in on Evans to end the segment…[c]

John’s Thoughts: Oh shoot. Page is a better sad dad than Ridge Holland. When Evans came out, the segment was a bit predictable in that we were just waiting for Ethan to go back to his old ways, but both men did a great job performing the segment. Page was fun in his homage to HBK’s “losing his smile” not-retirement speech. Je’von Evans in particular was really good in showing a different side to him. We usually see him as excited, as a fanboy, as an innocent upstart. He was really good here in flipping the switch and selling Ethan Page as a genuine article. I kinda like what I’m seeing from Ethan too as we’re seeing a side from he that we haven’t even seen in other companies either, a sadistic side. I hope he goes deeper into this rage.

A replay aired of the last segment, with added footage of Evans selling the blood falling out of his mouth. Vic said he thinks Je’von lost some teeth…

Sarah Schreiber interviewed Trick Williams. Williams wished Evans well and then hyped his upcoming title defense. Oba Femi showed up and said he hopes Trick wins so he can take the title from “somebody”. Trick said he’s looking forward to defend his title…

A subtitled Stephanie Vaquer promo aired. She talked about how she didn’t just become a luchadora overnight, she put in years of hard work. She talked about Cora Jade signing with NXT first, meanwhile Stephanie traveled the world to become stronger. She said she’ll end up being everything Cora wants to be. Stephanie said she’ll take Cora to hell next week…

Cora Jade vs. Stephanie Vaquer, a tag team four wan number one contenders match, and Santa Claus were hyped for next week’s Christmas Eve show…

Eddy Thorpe made his entrance…[c]

NXT Champion Trick Williams made his entrance. Vic Joseph noted that the NXT Championship has changed hands in this venue back in 2016. Mike Rome handled the formal in-ring championship introductions…

5. Trick Williams vs. Eddy Thorpe for the NXT Championship. The crowd gave Eddy “Eddy Sucks” chants. Trick dominated with shoulder tackles. Eddy ducked to ringside. Trick caught up with him and gave him a few chops. Back in the ring, Eddy came back with a crossbody. Trick caught Eddy with a pop-up punch. Trick hit Eddy with the Booker Crescent Kick for a two count. Eddy pulled down the top rope to crotch Trick. Eddy dumped Trick to ringside heading into break.[c]

Eddy was dominating back from the break. Eddy worked on Trick with methodical offense. Trick slammed Eddy to the mat for a moment of respite. Trick rallied with right hands. Trick hit Eddy with a Flapjack. Trick hit Eddy with a Book End for a nearfall. Eddy escaped a fireman carry and hit Trick with a kick and German Suplex combo. Eddy hit Trick with a splits into an elbow drop for a nearfall.

Eddy and Trick traded fatigued right hands. Eddy and Trick traded kicks to the head, but stood on their feet. Eddy got Trick to the mat with a backbreaker. Trick hit Eddy with a Death Valley Driver. Eddy reversed a pop up punch into a Manifest Destiny Impaler DDT, but took out the referee. REF BUMP!!! A 2nd referee ran out.

Trick rolled up Eddy for a two count. Eddy caught Trick with a few Yakuza Kicks. Eddy went for a third kick, but ate a Trick Shot. Trick fell on Eddy for the pin. Both referees counted the pin.

Trick Williams defeated Eddy Thrope via pinfall in 11:19 to retain the NXT Championship? One of the referees disputed the match result. 

The referees argued over who won the match. A replay showed that when Trick fell on Eddy, Trick’s shoulder’s hit the mat and Eddy got a hand on top of Trick. NXT GM Ava showed up to talk with the referees who both claimed different victors. The HBK, Triple H, and Lee Fitting Executive Producer graphic aired to close the show…

John’s Thoughts: Well, contrived and overbooked, complete with a Ref Bump; but I get what they’re trying to do. In a way, it’s fine, as it gets them out of a TV main event while not blowing past Eddy Thorpe as a title contender. Now that I let it stew a bit, I do get why they would give Eddy the win (Vic had to make it clear that Eddy had his left shoulder up). The double ref thing does nullify the result though to keep the belt on Trick, while giving Eddy Thrope yet another conspiracy to complain about.

As I mentioned when he started his nagging character, this is the most I’ve ever cared about Eddy Thrope, ever, even going back to the “BFD” Karl Fredericks days where he was a great wrestler, but very bland. He’s finally clicking and I think a good first litmus test was the heat he was getting throughout this match. Let’s hope he takes advantage of this heat and rolls on to the best part of his career. We’ve seen it with many wrestlers, Bobby Lashley is one I can think of at the top of my head, where they are missing that personality, but when they find it, it sticks! Overall a solid episode of NXT in the different venue and I like that we’re seeing NXT away from the Performance Center more these days.

 

 

 

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