By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live February 11, 2025 on The CW Network
[Hour One] Separate shots of The Tony D’Angelo Family and Ridge Holland were shown as they were arriving to the WWE Performance Center. Vic Joseph, Corey Graves, and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
Bayley made her entrance first, followed by Cora Jade…
1. Bayley vs. Cora Jade. Bayley quickly started the match with a double leg takedown and ground and pound. Cora rolled to ringside to gloat and stall. Bayley chased Cora to ringside and beat her up a little. Cora rolled to the opposite side of the ring to stall more. Bayley caught Cora with a baseball slide roundhouse. Bayley dragged Cora back in the ring and got a two count. NXT Women’s Champion Giulia was shown picture-in-picture, watching the match on a monitor in the women’s locker room.
Cora ended up tripping up Bayley to take control of the match. Cora worked on Bayley with forearms. Bayley dodged a basement elbow and came back with her own basement elbows for a nearfall on Cora. An “NBA All Star” chant ensued for Bayley. Cora reversed a Rose Plant into a rollup for a two count. Bayley dumped Cora to ringside, did a basketball shot motion, and hit Cora with a Suicide Dive.
Cora recovered and slammed Bayley several times into the ring apron. Cora reversed a draping cutter and hit Bayley with draping knees. Cora hit Bayley with a high knee in the corner heading into break.[c]
During the break, Cora was working on Bayley with methodical offense. Bayley caught Cora with Snake Eyes and a draping cutter. Bayley rallied with right forearms and a Belly to Bayley Suplex for a two count. Bayley hit Cora with a draping meteora to the gut and Saito Suplex for a nearfall. Cora reversed a Sunset Flip into a sitdown two count. Cora hit Bayley with a double stomp and Gutwrench Suplex for a nearfall.
Bayley reversed a corner high knee into a Fireman Carry Side Slam for a nearfall. Bayley’s old entrance theme started playing and Roxanne Perez ran out cosplaying as the old Hugger Bayley. Bayley hit Cora with a guillotine leg drop for a nearfall. Bayley went to go chase after Perez. Cora turned around a distracted Bayley and hit her with a Dirty Deeds DDT. Cora dragged Bayley back in the ring and hit her with another Dirty Deeds DDT for the win.
Cora Jade defeated Bayley via pinfall in 10:40.
A picture-in-picture showed NXT GM Ava chatting with Giulia. Roxanne Perez didn’t look too happy at Cora Jade winning the match. Ava made her entrance and said that she was inserting Cora Jade into the Women’s Championship triple threat to turn it into a four way. Perez tried to tell Cora to be on her side, but Bayley shoved Perez into Cora and gave Perez a Belly to Bayley to end the segment…
Sol Ruca was chatting with Zaria backstage and said that they should do training at the beach. Zaria agreed as they do things her way. Nikkita Lyons was also in the locker room, talkin’ trash. This led to Lyons challenging Zaria to a match…
NXT Champion Oba Femi was shown walking through the hallways…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A dirty, but big win for Cora Jade; and definitely her most high profile win in her career, defeating the former WWE Women’s Champion. They have Cora busy these days, all over both NXT and TNA television in active feuds for the main women’s title in both promotions. Shows they have a lot of confidence in her. Bayley has been busy herself as a versatile utility player in WWE. I’m happy that she’ll make the NBA All Star Celebrity Game (where her and Terrell Owens will be arguably the most well known stars as the Celeb game this year doesn’t have huge big-name stars). I wonder if she’ll live up to what Miz did in a NBA All Star Celebrity game, where he hit that crazy game winning half court shot (which got called off because it was after the buzzer, but I still count it as it was just crazy seeing Miz compete against NBA players and actually shine).
A preview was shown for the WWE LFG show on the A&E network. Vic talked about Booker T being a prominent person on the show…
Ridge Holland was shown doing resistance band curls in the locker room…
NXT Champion Oba Femi made his entrance in street clothes for a talking segment. Oba said the date is set at Vengeance Day where he will face Grayson Waller and Austin Theory. Oba said it’s obviously a handicap match where they will team up to take down Oba. Oba said then what? Their egos will be their downfall. Oba said when it’s all said and done, there will only be one person leaving with the NXT Championship.
Grayson Waller and Austin Theory made their entrance. Waller called Oba “overrated” and said he’s about to be in the ring with real stars. Waller said he thought better of Oba, with Oba trying to turn tag partners against each other. Theory said that Waller has never got his flowers in NXT, leaping off ladders, doing huge dives, risking his career in NXT; but people like Carmelo Hayes, Bron Breakker, and Tony D’Angelo get the credit.
Theory said people forget that Waller is a pillar of what made NXT is today, and that man will help Theory be the next NXT Champion. Waller talked about how Theory was riding shotgun in NXT with Johnny Gargano, and will be riding shotgun with the new NXT Champion Grayson Waller. Oba pointed out both men saying they are the next champion. Waller said he’s sick of hearing the names of people like Bron, Trick, and Melo, while he got so close to the title.
Waller said he’ll do whatever it takes. Theory asked “what?”. Waller said Theory already beat John Cena, and nobody cares. Theory said that accomplishment is a rare accomplishment. Theory said that Waller wouldn’t understand success since he never won a singles championship. Waller pointed out how he grabbed the Tag Team title from the top of a ladder, while Theory was on the ground like a cheerleader. Waller said he saved Theory’s career at Mania.
Theory said he’s going to do whatever it takes to become NXT Champion. Both men took turns saying that they’ll do many things to take down Oba Femi. Waller said after they take down Oba, then they can decide the NXT Champion. Waller said Oba had an agenda but it failed. Waller got in Theory’s face and said that nobody will get in his way. Theory and Waller teased turning on each other, but ultimately double teamed Oba Femi.
Theory and Waller both left Oba lying with their finishers. Waller picked up the NXT Championship. Theory took the title from Waller and laid it on Oba. Waller and Theory dap’d it up to end the segment…
An Eddy Thorpe promo aired. Eddy talked about how Trick keeps getting given opportunities. Eddy said that he tried to do things the right way, but he was screwed over by Ava, HBK, and the fans. Eddy said Vengeance is what he seeks now, for him, for his people. He said he’ll leave his mark one way or another. Eddy said if Trick accepts the challenge, Eddy will finish what he started. Eddy challenged Trick to a Strap Match…
Hank and Tank made their entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Theory and Waller being randomly inserted into the NXT Title picture feels way too impromptu. Feels like the random build to a minor TNA Plus special where you know that the midcarders have no chance to take the title off the champ. The writing was all over the place the last few weeks, Ava even looking bad a bit. This segment was productive. What I liked here was rather than play the whole “every man for himself” thing in the ring, they showed Theory and Waller weighing both teaming and opposing each other options. Theory and Waller aren’t winning (Unless they really have something BIG cooked up for Waller, which I don’t think is likely), but hopefully this leads to them continuing the Waller and Theory breakup story on Raw or Smackdown.
A replay aired of Je’von Evans getting his jaw bloodied and smashed by Ethan Page. Some random doctor named David Cohen said that Je’von’s jaw was healing on schedule after they expedited the process. The doctor said in the case of another jaw fracture, he’d might be out for a minimum of 6 months, or even forever…
The show cut to Evans telling Ava that the video said that he’s cleared now. Ava tried to warn Evans about his career possibly ending. Evans aid he doesn’t care as long as he can get back on Page. Ava handed Evans a legal liability waiver which Evans quickly signed…
No Quarter Catch Crew made their entrance first, followed by Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura. Yoshiki’s haircut and biker vest makes him look like an Asian Sami Callihan…
2. Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura vs. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger vs. Miles Borne and Tavion Heights (w/Charlie Dempsey, Wren Sinclair). Hank took down Inamura with a Bulldog early on. Heights tagged out Inamura and hit Hank with a clothesline. Heights tossed Hank into Borne’s knee and they hit him with a double team toss for a two count. Tank tagged in.
Inamura tagged in and worked on Hank and Miles with chops. Briggs cleared everyone else from the ring. Tank took down Briggs and Inamura with a crossbody. Tank took down Briggs with a diving uppercut. Hank tagged in and hit Tavion with an assisted seated Senton. Inamura and Briggs dragged Hank and Tank to ringside, but Hank and Tank took down both men. Hank and Tank hit Borne with a running sandwich press at ringside.
Tavion hit Hank with a back body drop for a nearfall. Axiom and Frazer were watching the match from a balcony.[c]
Inamura was working on Borne with a shoulder tackle and Helicopter Body Slam. Briggs tagged in. Inamura worked on people with corner splashes. Borne dropkicked Briggs. Madness ensued. All men were left lying after all the brawling settled down. Hank and Heights traded Yay-Boo right hands. Briggs tagged Hank out. Hank, Heights, and Briggs took each other out with strikes.
Briggs hit Hank with a Big Boot and pop up power bomb. Heights broke up Josh’s pin. Heights hit wrestlers at ringside with a crossbody. Hank hit the pile of wrestlers at ringside with a top rope crossbody. Hank hit Briggs with an impressive Tilt a Whirl Bomb for a good nearfall. Briggs tagged out. Briggs hit Hank with a Clothesline from Hell. Inamura hit Hank with a Splash for the win.
Yoshiki Inamura and Josh Briggs defeated Hank Walker and Tank Ledger and No Quarter Catch Crew via pinfall in 12:09.
Frazer and Axiom both congratulated Inamura and Briggs for winning their match. Frazer said “see you at Vengeance Day” and granted Briggs and Inamura a match for the tag team titles…
Separate shots of Johnny Dango Curtis (f.k.a. Fandango) and Lexis King were shown…[c]
John’s Thoughts: While I’m not usually a fan of throwing a bunch of random wrestlers in a ring for random matches, this match ended up as a very entertaining demolition derby. Lots of developmental talent here, and those developmental wrestlers really shined. The outcome of the match had been telegraphed, because of all the TV time Briggs and Inamura have been given backstage. I don’t think they’ll put the titles on the team we seen wrestle only once (there was a multi-man match where they blended in the background before). I wonder if they want to keep the belts on Fraxiom to hold in potential matches against WWE Tag Team Champions DIY or TNA Tag Team Champions, The Hardy Boyz?
Backstage, Tony D’Angelo was telling the family that he respects that they have his back, but he has to handle his upcoming match. He joked that what they should all do is “fuh getta bout it”…
[Hour Two] JDC made his entrance to The System’s entrance music. NXT Heritage Cup Champion Lexis King made his entrance. A graphic aired to show that Lexis King has declared that the Heritage Cup will now be defended like any other championship in WWE. Mike Rome handled the formal in ring championship match introductions…
3. Lexis King vs. “JDC” Johnny Dango Curtis in a standard match for the NXT Heritage Cup Championship. Both men started the match with methodical chain wrestling. Curtis dumped King to ringside and posed next to the Heritage Cup heading into break.[c]
Curtis hit King with uppercuts and a Russian Legsweep. Curtis hit King with a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Curtis hit King with a Flip Dive at ringside. Dango hit King with a Last Dance leg drop for a nearfall. King crotched Dango on the top rope and hit him with a draping twisting neckbreaker for the victory.
Lexis King defeated JDC via pinfall in 9:37 to retain the NXT Heritage Cup Championship.
John’s Thoughts: The match finish looked a bit off. It looked like they were trying to give King yet another dirty win because the ref was in an awkward position near the finish, but they couldn’t execute whatever they were going for (I think?). Getting a clean win doesn’t hurt either. Looks like Dango was only in for a guest appearance, but I hope WWE really reconsiders bringing the guy back now that he’s finally dropped the tired, as Jason Powell once put it, Chaz Michael Michael from Blades of Glory persona, which he held on years past it’s expiration date. Dango has done some wonderful character work in recent years. Dango vs. Mike Santana in a Street Fight was a sleeper gem of a match from 2024 that I definitely recommend you check out if you want to see how good Dango has gotten.
Bayley and Roxanne Perez were both arguing to Ava about putting Cora Jade in the NXT Women’s Championship Match. Bayley called Perez an ugly idiot and said she looks better wearing the Bayley costume. Bayley walked off. Cora Jade showed up to talk a bit of trash to Perez…
Nikkita Lyons made her entrance…[c]
The Fatal Influence trio were chatting backstage. Kelani Jordan pulled up and said that Fallon Henley hasn’t seen “this version” of Kelani Jordan. Jaida Parker showed up to clown on Jordan, and also said she’s coming after the North American Championship. Ashanti the Adonis creeped in and said “pause”. Adonis said that his gurl Karmen Petrovic deserves a title shot at Henley’s title…
Zaria and Sol Ruca made their entrance to Karrion Kross’s old Impact Wrestling entrance theme…
4. Nikkita Lyons vs. Zaria (w/Sol Ruca). Lyons slammed Zaria to the mat early on. Zaria reversed a Banzai Drop. Lyons reversed a Power Bomb into a huracanrana. Zaria came back with a German Suplex. Lyons hit Zaria with her educated feet for a nearfall. Lyons put Zaria in a Camel Clutch. Zaria deadlifted Lyons and fell back to break the Clutch. Lyons came back with a front tackle.
Zaria dodged a Vader Bomb. Zaria hit Lyons with a Spear and F5 for the victory.
Zaria defeated Nikkita Lyons via pinfall in 2:48.
John’s Thoughts: Believe it or not, this is one of the rare singles losses that Nikkita Lyons has taken. WWE was REALLY high on her in NXT 2.0 which came with a lot of plot armor. She’s at a different part of the card now and I don’t see that plot armor being there in 2025, but I do like her homewrecker character and I’m kinda hoping she turns Ashante against Karmen, for soap opera’s sake. I’m happy at Zaria looking dominant. THIS is how you should be booking her. Unfortunately, next week she’ll probably be backstage as a normal person, hanging out happily with developmental wrestlers, when they should be treating her like a monster heel like those awesome intro vignettes were making her out to be.
The show cut to an Ethan Page promo where he spoke in a serious and methodical voice. Page said that Evans leads with his heart, but not his head. Page said Evans has the potential to be the face of NXT or WWE given how talented he is. Page said Evans is willing to risk that future just to get at Page.
Page said Evans has a million dollar smile, but a ten cent brain. Page said Je’von has a bullseye on his jaw which he won’t just break, but shatter. Page said that Evans is looking for vengeance, but after Vengeance Day Evans will be looking for a new career after All Ego ends Evans’s…[c]
John’s Thoughts: My low-key favorite feud in pro wrestling given the strong character development from both happy-go-lucky personalities. I always knew that Page was versatile, but I never knew he would be this good as a serious heel. Evans is also showing so much development for a man who’s not even legally allowed to drink alcohol yet.
Sarah Schreiber was interviewing Trick Williams at the crow’s nest, while the ring was having a steel cage set up. Sarah asked Trick for his answer to Eddy Thorpe’s challenge. Trick accepted the challenge. Trick said that both men will face each other face-to-face, but Trick will whoop dat ass…
The commentary team were trying to run through the the Vengeance Day card but were cut off by a certain someone. HOLY CRAP! The Absolute Ricky Starks had a mic and was walking through the stands. Ricky talked about NXT being one of the hottest brands in wrestling and they need the hottest free agent right now. Ricky soaked in “Ricky” chants. He said to not to let the handsome face and expensive fragrance fool you because he is here to turn this place upside down.
Ricky said people have been asking when the revolution will be televised again, and “I’m here am I?”. Ricky did his Ricky Starks pose as Vic Joseph said that the future looked bright for NXT…
Backstage, Stephanie Vaquer was hinting to Giulia that she’s coming after the NXT Women’s Championship after taking the North American title. The camera then panned to Ridge Holland heading to the ring. They also showed the D’Angelo Family heading to the ring…
John’s Thoughts: “Free at last, free at last! Thank God Almighty! [Ricky] is free at last!”. Just in time for black history month, Ricky Starks is free from the chains of AEW purgatory and is back on TV (hey! My ancestors from the black half of my family were forced to come to this country by chains. I’m allowed to make tasteful jokes regarding such. Ya heard!). Anyways, WWE was QUICK in bringing him over. NXT isn’t a bad place to start. It’s on network TV, and there might be some sweet solace for Ricky, going head to head, sorta, against AEW Dynamite as people still compare Dynamite’s and NXT’s ratings week-to-week (with NXT taking the lead in recent months).
Andre Chase was walking around backstage looking depressed. An overly happy Kale Dixon met up with Chase and introduced him to Uriah Connors (Brogan Finlay, son of Fit Finlay). Andre said he’s busy because class is in session. Uriah asked what class because he thought Kale told him Chase U was dead? Chase said Chase U is dead and he just said that out of habit. Chase walked away looking depressed…
A replay aired of Ricky Starks’s promo from before the break…
Ridge Holland made his entrance first followed by Tony D’Angelo. Vic Joseph noted that this was the 2nd cage match for the North American Championship in NXT history with the last one being Bronson Reed vs. Johnny Gargano. Mike Rome handled the formal in-ring championship introductions. There was about 15 minutes left at the top of the hour…
5. Tony D’Angelo (w/Channing Lorenzo, Adriana Rizzo, Luca Crucifino) vs. Ridge Holland in a Cage Match for the NXT North American Championship. Tony D got control the match and hit Ridge with a suplex after his signature hockey punches. Ridge used a thumb to the eye to escape a Belly to Belly. Tony tossed Ridge into the cage wall. Ridge sidestepped a running Tony to send Tony into the cage wall heading into break.[c]
Back from break, Ridge was working on Tony D with methodical offense. Ridge went to climb the cage. Tony D recovered and was shoved off the top rope. Tony D dodged Ridge’s diving headbutt. Tony D tossed Ridge against all the cage walls. Tony D hit Ridge with a few Belly to Belly suplexes. Vic noted that you don’t see Ridge manhandled like this often. Tony D got a two count off a Fisherman Suplex.
Ridge caught Tony D with a Pump Kick and Snow Plow for a nearfall. Tony and Ridge traded Yay-Boo right hands in the center of the ring. Tony reverseda clunky looking clothesline. Tony D power bombed Ridge on the steel cage wall and hit Ridge with a Spear for a good nearfall. Izzi Dame appeared at ringside and pulled a crowbar from out of her jacket.
Stacks pulled away the crowbar and took credit for tossing the crowbar in the ring to help Tony D win. Ridge actually recovered and got the crowbar. Holland hit Tony D with the crowbar to the back of the neck. Tony D kicked out at two. Tony D blocked Ridge hitting him with the crowbar by thumbing Ridge to the eye. Tony D hit Ridge with a Spinebuster for the victory.
Tony D’Angelo defeated Ridge Holland via pinfall in 10:58 to retain the NXT North American Championship.
After Ridge recovered, Ridge attacked Luca and Stacks. Luca and Stacks brawled with Ridge to the back. Adriana Rizzo and Izzi Dame helped Tony D to his feet. Shawn Spears, Brooks Jensen, and Niko Vance entered the ring. While Tony D was about to defend himself, Izzi Dame betrayed Tony D and used a crowbar to chop block him in the shin.
Jensen, Vance, and Spears beat down Tony D. Stacks and Luca tried to get back in the cage, but Jensen kept them at bey with a steel chair. Spears hit Tony D with a Death Valley Driver from the top rope onto a chair. Spears, Vance, Jensen, and Dame stood tall to end the segment…
A NXT Vengeance Day promotional video aired to close the show. After the credits graphic aired, another test pattern teaser aired for the mystery debuting faction (presumably debuting at Vengeance Day, given that the words “Vengeance Day” are written in the test pattern). This time we saw the four shadowed out men putting on skull bandannas as facemasks…
John’s Thoughts: A solid hard-hitting match between Ridge and Tony D. Both men worked hard, but the crowd didn’t seem fully into it. My guess is that Ridge Holland’s character has cooled off a bit since he ended Chase University. Curious to see where he goes next, as he kinda just ended up being a pawn and fall guy in Shawn Spears’s plan as opposed to being a beneficiary. The Izzi Dame turn was telegraphed a mile away, but foreshadowing isn’t a bad thing.
At least they have something for Dame to do. The addition of Vance and Dame to the Shawn Spears faction will hopefully breath new life into them as they were a bit fledgling when it was just Shawn and Brooks. While this was a solid weekly episode of NXT, it didn’t quite feel like a “go-home” edition. Vengeance Day, while it looks like they are looking more ahead to Stand and Deliver, does feel like it could be a decent PPV, and we know that the NXT squad put in hard work to exceed expectations. I’ll be by this weekend with my live coverage of NXT Vengeance Day.
Love the people who were saying “Ricky Starks Sucks!” while he was in AEW now of course saying “OMG THIS IS GREAT!” now that he’s in the WWE.
Marks are rampant.
Can you provide actual proof of that happening in this comment section? I’m not saying it didn’t happen, but I don’t remember it.
I agree with you on how much Zaria has been toned down as of late, from a one-woman power trip to someone who is calm, cool and collective. It reminds me of Nikki Cross years ago when she joined the main roster as the “Twisted Sister” until she too was toned down especially when she was paired with Alexa Bliss. Who knows? Maybe Zaria’s dominant character will return in some shape or form later this year.