 Stephanie Vaquer def. Cora JadeJade's in a strange spot right now. She was out injured for almost a year, but since being back, she really hasn't done much of anything. I'm not sure she's even won a singles match so far. Vaquer is on the rise right now and it would have been ridiculous for her to lose here, but beating Jade doesn't mean much since she loses fairly regularly. There were a few awkward moments during this match and the crowd was quieter than I thought they would be (at least at the time it was taped, perhaps WWE sweetened the crowd reactions in post-production). I have no idea why Vaquer would stop Kelani Jordan from attacking Jade afterward considering Jade attacked Vaquer two weeks ago. Lexis King def. Charlie Dempsey to Win the NXT Heritage Cup ChampionshipKing lost to Dempsey the last time they faced off, so it made sense for him to avenge that loss here and take the loss. I just didn't expect it to happen the way that it did with William Regal hitting King with the brass knuckles and that being what got Dempsey disqualified in the last round, resulting in the title change. I guess the big question is whether he did that to help or hurt King. This was a well-worked affair, but the Heritage Cup stuff continues to be a bore on the whole and I'm shocked it hasn't been scrapped yet. The Unholy Union def. Fatal Influence (Jacy Jane and Jazmyn Nyx)Being in the building for this match, it felt like it would never end. That isn't to say it was bad by any means (and this of course included commercial breaks and you aren't aware of when those are during a taped show), but I truly couldn't have cared less. Fatal Influence have failed to catch on for me so far and Unholy Union being back in NXT is a definite step backward for them. The same can be said for Katana Chance and Kayden Carter, but it's not like they've done anything on Raw for the majority of 2024. This was a weak way of furthering Fatal Influence's feud with the trio of Fallon Henley, Gigi Dolin and Shotzi. Ashante "Thee" Adonis def. Dion LennoxI am not kidding when I say that you could literally hit a pin drop in the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in this match. Adonis is involved in this terrible love triangle with Nikkita Lyons and Karmen Petrovic, but he's not over. As for Lennox, he's barely on NXT TV, so no one knew who the hell he was. That meant the crowd sat on their hands for the match, or at least until Lyons came out. This was perfectly passable, but this felt like a waste of time. O.T.M. (Bronco Nima and Lucien Price) def. The D'Angelo Family (Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and Luca Crusifino), No Quarter Catch Crew (Myles Borne and Tavion Heights), and Hank Walker & Tank Ledger in an NXT Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Christmas Chaos Fatal 4-Way Tag Team MatchI was wondering why we didn't get a Miracle on 34th Street Fight this year on either Raw or SmackDown and it's possible it's because we got a Christmas-themed No Disqualification match here. Saving it for Christmas Eve makes sense. It was indeed chaotic and more interesting and enjoyable than your typical Fatal 4-Way tag team matchup, though some of the holiday shenanigans were a bit over-the-top. O.T.M. still don't feel like legitimate threats to the NXT Tag Team Championship, but we'll see if Nathan Frazer and Axiom can get a quality match out of them. Ridge Holland (dressed as Santa Claus at ringside) costing The D'Angelo Family the win sets up him as Tony D'Angelo's next NXT North American Championship challenger. Oba Femi Attacked NXT Champion Trick Williams and Eddy ThorpeYou had to know exactly where this was going as soon as the segment started. The finish to last week's NXT Championship main event was lame, but instead of just restarting the match, Ava is turning Williams vs. Femi at New Year's Evil into a Triple Threat with Thorpe. I know Williams asked for it, but that's stupid booking because there's not a doubt in my mind Thorpe is getting pinned to protect Femi and Williams vs. Femi will be saved for Vengeance Day or Stand & Deliver. This was a solid segment and it's worth noting that Thorpe got more heat than anyone else on the entire show, but the Triple Threat decision is highly questionable. Overall ShowObviously, this show was taped immediately following last week's at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. I was present for both tapings and this taping was tough to sit through. There were a lot of matches the crowd wasn't invested in and I'm not a fan of changing the NXT Championship match at New Year's Evil. Something similar happened last year, so at this point, they shouldn't specifically say that the Iron Survivor Challenge winners will get their title shots at New Year's Evil. The show also suffered from a lack of star power and memorable matches. The title change was noteworthy and the video packages (which I saw later on because they weren't shown during the taping) were well done, but I'm sure there are much better things you can spend your Christmas Eve watching than this edition of NXT.
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