WWE NXT Review - December 26, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

OTM def. Chase U (Andre Chase and Duke Hudson) in an All or Nothing Match

Chase U would have had all of their debt paid off if they won here. Yes, that's a sentence I just typed. I suppose sillier stuff has been done in wrestling, but that doesn't make this storyline any less goofy. Chase U's loss means it isn't over yet, either. The match itself was fine. OTM still need more seasoning, but Chase and Hudson are two good, experienced people for them to be working with.

NXT Heritage Cup Champion Noam Dar def. Josh Briggs by Disqualification

It definitely feels like the time is now to experiment more with Briggs on his own following his strong showings against Carmelo Hayes and in the men's Iron Survivor Challenge match. He has much more of an upside than Brooks Jensen, who is bound to get lost in the shuffle now that they've parted ways. At any rate, this was a good, well-worked match, but I still can't bring myself to care about the Heritage Cup rules, not to mention that the disqualification finish was lame.

Cora Jade def. Karmen Petrovic

I've been impressed by Petrovic any time I've seen her in action on Level Up or NXT TV, but she feels miscast as a babyface. Hopefully she can turn heel soon because she has yet to find her footing (whereas someone such as Arianna Grace is already clicking as a character despite not being on television long). This felt more like a showcase for Jade than anything else and was wisely kept brief.

Riley Osborne def. Lexis King in an NXT Men's Breakout Tournament Semifinal Match

I still have no idea why King was allowed to compete in the tournament if Trey Bearhill apparently could've been cleared to compete (this is the second straight week Bearhill has interacted with King), especially if King wasn't going to win. It's not a great look for King to lose to a newbie like Osborne, but I do think Osborne has the potential to win the whole thing. This was a nice little match while it lasted.

Bron Breakker def. Nathan Frazer

I feel like I've been saying this for many months, but Breakker continues to spin his wheels. Baron Corbin was shown watching from the back afterward, but we already got that match at No Mercy in September and there's no reason to revisit it. That said, Breakker vs. Frazer was fun. Frazer scored an ample amount of offense and was made to look credible in defeat. They're telling a story with him where he can't buy a victory and I'm curious to see where it goes.

Sarah Schreiber Conducted a Sit-Down Interview with NXT Women's Champion Lyra Valkyria and Blair Davenport

Nothing against Schreiber, who is perfectly competent at her job, but I already miss McKenzie Mitchell. She was awesome in her role. As for this segment, it was okay. The stuff they said was solid, but the delivery wasn't the best. I actually thought Valkyria was better than Davenport, who sounded like she was reading straight from a script. I'm looking forward to the match, though.

Oba Femi def. Tavion Heights in an NXT Men's Breakout Tournament Semifinal Match

Heights is the more impressive prospect of the two in my mind, but I assumed Femi would advance because he's the bigger dude and has explosive offense. I hope Heights doesn't completely disappear from television. As for Femi, he could be a star eventually, but he isn't anywhere near ready to be winning this tourney and the title shot that comes along with it. This was an acceptable outing.

Joe Gacy def. Joe Coffey

These two guys having the same first name was the only thing that was remotely interesting about this. That isn't to say it was a bad match by any means, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it much more than I did, but I'm not invested in either of them at the moment. We'll see if this character change for Gacy works for him in the long run, but anything is better than Schism. At least this was kept short and sweet.

Eddy Thorpe def. Dijak in an NXT Underground Match

I'd have to go back and watch the first NXT Underground match from over the summer to determine which one was superior, but this turned into an entertaining main event with some hard-hitting action coming out of the commercial break. I continue to appreciate that NXT is trying new gimmicks to see what works and I think NXT Underground is a cool concept like the Fight Pit was/is. Dijak has had a hell of a year and he capped it off with another standout performance here. Thorpe going over to finish the feud was logical, but he still has yet to connect with the audience in a meaningful manner.

Overall Show

I'm very much ready for NXT to return to doing live shows, which will thankfully be next week. Much like last week, you could tell this was a taped episode. It didn't have a lot of life and there wasn't much worth seeking out from it, though it was a slight improvement and the winners of the Year-End Awards were revealed (for anyone who cares about that sort of stuff). Additionally, the main event was obviously notable and the hype for New Year's Evil was well done.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews