 Oba Femi def. NXT Tag Team Champion AxiomFemi was one of the most over wrestlers on the entire show based on my experience at the double taping. He just has an aura about him that screams star, not to mention that he's had some damn good matches this year against a variety of opponents. This was no exception. Axiom gave Femi a hell of a fight before falling short. They had a hell of a dynamic and it made for a fun outing. The Meta-Four (Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson) def. Sol Ruca and ZariaI assumed this would be an easy win for Zaria and Ruca, so I was surprised when The Meta-Four (who really should be using The Meta-Girls as their team name if they're barely associated with Oro Mensah and the injured Noam Dar these days) ended up going over. Weren't they considered to be part of the main roster at one point? Nonetheless, this exceeded my expectations. I realize she wasn't pinned, but this felt like an unnecessary loss for Zaria. Jaida Parker def. Wren SinclairI'm glad Sinclair has been getting more television time lately since it means more whenever she loses. The outcome was never in doubt, mind you, but at least Sinclair was able to score some offense so it wasn't a complete squash. Parker just lost to Lola Vice at Deadline, so this allowed her to get back on track. This has been a breakout year for her and I hope she holds gold sometime in 2025. NXT Tag Team Champions Nathan Frazer and Axiom def. Gallus (Wolfgang and Mark Coffey)Gallus have been booked like afterthoughts for the last year and a half and thus they didn't have a strong chance of taking the titles here, but you couldn't completely discount the possibility of a title change with Axiom coming into this contest weakened. Yes, it is slightly ridiculous that Frazer and Axiom keep winning in these scenarios where the odds are stacked against them, but I can't complain because they're such a terrific team. This was a very enjoyable encounter, and if this was indeed it for Gallus in NXT (it felt like a swan song for them), they went out on a high note. Ethan Page Attacked Je'Von EvansWith Page having been down on his luck for the last little while, it was predictable he was going to cut a "I lost my smile" promo on this show since it emanated from the same building where Shawn Michaels cut that same promo. Sure enough, that's exactly what happened. Even though this played out as you'd expect, both guys played their role well and Page's attack on Evans looked vicious. Was the blood gimmicked or was that legitimate? Because Evans was bleeding quite a bit afterward. NXT Champion Trick Williams vs. Eddy Thorpe Ended in a DrawThorpe didn't stand out to me as the most compelling challenger for Williams coming into this show, but the way in which he got the title shot was admittedly genius and he got great heat from this crowd (though I'm not sure if it came across on television). The match was solid, but it's pretty apparent by this point that Williams needs a truly exceptional opponent for his matches to get beyond a certain level. Thorpe is talented, but he was not that guy. All of the overbooking toward the end was lame and the draw finish was even worse. Not only was Thorpe's shoulder clearly up, why wouldn't Ava just restart the match until there was a decisive winner? I know where this is going because I stuck around for the second taping (no spoilers), but this still made for a weak conclusion to the show. Overall ShowBeing back at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium was a blast. I haven't been in that building since an NXT house show over seven years ago. This wasn't an amazing edition of NXT by any means, but the atmosphere made the show worthwhile in my opinion. The different venues on the road have been a refreshing chance of pace for the brand. It was a thumbs-up episode on the whole with two title matches and entertaining action.
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