WWE NXT No Mercy Review - September 27, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Je'Von Evans def. Josh Briggs

What a 24 hours for Evans. He took Sami Zayn to the limit in a super fun match for the United States Championship on SmackDown and then picked up a win over Briggs to kick off this show. It was your average opener and told a similar story to Evans' match with Jasper Troy from The Great American Bash, but Evans shined on offense per usual. It was announced during Victory Road on Friday night that Evans will challenge Leon Slater for the TNA X-Division Championship at Bound for Glory, so he had to win here.

WWE Women's Speed Champion and NXT North American Champion Sol Ruca def. Jaida Parker (NXT North American Championship Was Not Defended)

There was an entire tournament this month to determine Ruca's challenger on this show, and then it was announced that Lainey Reid couldn't compete and that she had to be replaced by Parker. The worst part is that I don't think Reid is legitimately hurt because I'm almost positive it was her who helped Jacy Jane retain her NXT Women's Championship later in the show. Ugh. This was fine, but there was only so much they could do in the five minutes they were allotted.

Jordynne Grace def. Blake Monroe in a Weaponized Steel Cage Match

We've gotten Weaponized Steel Cage matches before in NXT that were better than this. This wasn't terrible, but it definitely dragged and was weaker than the match they had at Heatwave, and even that wasn't all that memorable. It's a shame because both women are talented, but they didn't benefit from the stipulation. Grace winning decisively should mean that they can now move on.

Lash Legend and Jaida Parker Brawled

Legend cut a promo on the stage about wanting to lead NXT for the women for the Invasion episode in nine days (more on that in a bit) when Parker emerged from behind to attack here. This was designed to set up a rematch between them for Tuesday's show and I didn't mind it because it was quick, but couldn't they have announced the match without doing this since Legend already cost Parker the WWE Women's Speed Championship earlier on?

NXT North American Champion Ethan Page def. Tavion Heights

Heights has been impressive throughout this feud and I appreciate that he's gotten this chance to show what he can do. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about this match and the outcome wasn't in much doubt, but it was good for what it was. Post-match, El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. put Page on notice by appearing on the big screen, but I can't say that's a matchup I particularly care about.

NXT Women's Champion Jacy Jane def. Lola Vice

I was amazed the crowd was as quiet for this as they were considering Vice is a Miami native. They didn't really rally behind her much at all, but the match itself was solid. The story is that Jane rarely wins on her own and that was once again the case here with Reid presumably being the one who attacked Vice at ringside so she could increase her chances of joining Fatal Influence.

Ricky Saints def. Oba Femi to Win the NXT Championship

This was easily the best thing on the show (a low bar, I know). The whole David vs. Goliath thing would've worked better had we not just seen it in the opener, but it was an enjoyable main event, nonetheless. I'm happy Saints won clean and didn't need interference to beat Femi, who's been unstoppable all year. If it wasn't Evans, Saints was the next best choice to dethrone to take the title from him. I'm curious if this means a main roster call-up for Femi is imminent.

Overall Show

This was along the same lines as Battleground, The Great American Bash and Heatwave in that this event could have passed as a glorified edition of NXT TV. There was quality wrestling throughout the night and they ended on a high note with a new NXT Champion being crowned, but NXT would be better off doing less premium live events and saving them when they're actually necessary. That said, I'm looking forward to the NXT vs. TNA "invasion" show with two Survivor Series-style tag team elimination matches and Winner Take All between DarkState and The Hardys.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews, NXT PLE Reviews