WWE NXT Review - February 11, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Cora Jade def. Bayley

I assumed this would be a warm-up for Bayley before the NXT Women's Championship Triple Threat at Vengeance Day, but WWE opted to go in a different direction instead by having Jade beat Bayley, essentially earning her entry into the Triple Threat to make it a Fatal 4-Way. That was an unnecessary move in my opinion, but I understand the story they're trying to tell with the four of them. This was a solid opener even if I wasn't enamored by the booking decision.

A-Town Down Under Attacked NXT Champion Oba Femi

I realize A-Town Down Under are main roster talents, but this NXT Championship Triple Threat at Vengeance Day has virtually zero heat because no one actually believes Femi is losing to either of them. That said, I appreciate the effort to make it seem like they have a chance with them standing tall over Femi. The best part of this segment was the verbal shots Austin Theory and Grayson Waller took at each other, but I've given up caring about their split that's been teased for way too long.

Yoshiki Inamura & Josh Briggs def. No Quarter Catch Crew (Tavion Heights and Myles Borne) and Hank Walker & Tank Ledger in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match

Inamura may have one match on NXT TV prior to this, but he's only appeared in backstage segments and vignettes otherwise. Thus, I'm hardly familiar with this work, but he and Briggs had nice chemistry as partners and I liked that this was all action for as long as it lasted. It wasn't billed as a number one contender's match, but it may as well have been with Nathan Frazer and Axiom announcing afterward that they'll defend the NXT Tag Team Championship against Inamura and Briggs at Vengeance Day.

NXT Heritage Cup Champion Lexis King def. JDC

King declared during his promo last week that he isn't going to be defending the Heritage Cup title under Heritage Cup rules during his reign, which automatically makes him a babyface in my book. In that case, why not turn it into a Television title? This was a well-worked match and it was cool to see JDC back in an NXT ring. Will the rest of The System end up appearing in NXT eventually?

Zaria def. Nikkita Lyons

Lyons disappeared from NXT TV following her involvement in the storyline with Karmen Petrovic and Ashante Adonis, and I can't say I missed her presence at all. Most of the NXT women's division is either better or has more upside than she does, so serving as a stepping stone for stars such as Zaria is probably the role that makes the most sense for her at this point. This was perfectly fine for what it was and thankfully didn't overstay its welcome.

Trick Williams Accepted Eddy Thorpe's Strap Match Challenge for Vengeance Day; Ricky Starks Debuted

Both of these segments were short, so I figured I'd lump them into one paragraph. Williams' promo was fairly basic, but it confirmed that he'll face Thorpe in a Strap match at Vengeance Day. Meanwhile, I think we all knew Starks would be NXT bound before long, but I didn't think it'd be so soon after he got his official release from AEW (which was reportedly on Monday). This was an awesome surprise and he made an impact right out of the gate with his promo. His style suits NXT perfectly and I'm glad he's going to NXT first as I fear he'd be lost in the shuffle on the main roster right now. It's worth noting they never referred to him as Ricky Starks, but I sincerely hope that's because they're still working out the legalities and whatnot and not because they intend to change his name (which I'm honestly expecting).

NXT North American Champion Tony D'Angelo def. Ridge Holland in a Steel Cage Match

This feud hasn't done a whole lot for me, personally, but to their credit, D'Angelo and Holland had a good cage match. I thought Izzy Dame's interference would "backfire" and it'd cost D'Angelo the title, but they saved her turn for afterward. Apparently she's the latest member of Shawn Spears' crew. We'll see if that makes a difference in the long run. It was refreshing to see the North American title spotlighted for the first time in months, but this feels like the most depleted the division has been in a bit. Give that strap to Starks as soon as possible, please.

Overall Show

Starks' shocking debut was obviously the biggest highlight of the episode (props to WWE for putting that together so quickly and capitalizing on the buzz he had stemming from his AEW departure), but this was an effective go-home show for Vengeance Day on the whole. The card is complete and they even added Jade to the NXT Women's Championship match. I wasn't a fan of that, but I'm sure it'll deliver, regardless. I enjoyed this edition of NXT and I hope Starks' signing is an indicator of the show maintaining this quality heading into Stand & Deliver.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews