WWE NXT Review - January 14, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT North American Champion Tony D'Angelo Brawled with Ridge Holland While Eddy Thorpe Attacked NXT Champion Oba Femi

Femi continues to show why he's the complete package every time he appears. He's levels above a majority of the NXT roster in almost every aspect (in the ring, on the mic, presentation-wise, etc.). This was a good first promo for him as champion that furthered both feuds and set up two championship matches for next week. I'm surprised they aren't being saved for Vengeance Day, but perhaps that's for the better because Femi vs. Thorpe wouldn't be a worthy main event for that show and D'Angelo vs. Holland is probably just getting started.

Shotzi def. Stephanie Vaquer in an NXT Women's North American Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

Vaquer already won a number contender's Fatal 4-Way on last week's show, but Shotzi pinned NXT Women's North American Champion Fallon Henley in that six-woman tag team match on that same show, so this was logical. They had a well-worked match and I didn't have an issue with the outcome. Vaquer can be the one to ultimately dethrone Henley while Shotzi can be a one-off challenger before presumably returning to the main roster.

Ethan Page def. Dante Chen

Chen is a man without a home right now following the cancelation of NXT Level Up a few weeks ago. Unfortunately for him, his return to NXT TV saw him get squashed by Page, who he had an impressive outing against for the NXT Championship last summer. This was what it needed to be in order to put more heat on Page. Je'Von Evans looked to score some revenge on Page afterward, but Page got the better of him as well and left him laying.

The Meta-Four (Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson) def. The Unholy Union in a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

It was wild to see two teams in NXT give a shit about wanting to contend for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship because there has been almost no focus on those titles since Jade Cargill got taken out two months ago, though I guess Meta-Four can get their shot against Bianca Belair and interim champ Naomi. This was perfectly fine. If aren't any plans for Unholy Union on the main roster, I'm all for them putting over other teams in NXT.

Cora Jade def. Kelani Jordan

There hasn't been much crossover between NXT and TNA lately, so it was cool to see TNA Knockouts World Champion Masha Slamovich sitting in the crowd. Maybe this means Jade will challenge her for that title on an upcoming NXT or TNA event? Jade and Jordan have been at odds for weeks and they had a decent match in the time they were allotted. Jade was owed a win after doing a lot of losing and Jordan can absorb the loss because she's in the midst of a character change.

NXT Tag Team Champions Axiom and Nathan Frazer def. O.T.M. (Bronco Nima and Lucien Price)

This was the first title defense since before Deadline where Fazer and Axiom weren't at a disadvantage. They lost the titles the first time when I least expected it at No Mercy, so it wouldn't have been totally shocking for the same to happen here. Thankfully, it did not (I don't think O.T.M. are the right guys to take the titles at the moment), but they had a fun match. #DIY were shown watching from above, so it looks like we might be getting them against Axiom and Frazer soon. Sign me the hell up.

Roxanne Perez and Bayley Brawled

Perez cut the standard promo recapping her run as NXT Women's Champion and calling the state of the NXT Women's division into question without her on top before Bayley interrupted. The exchange was brief because they had to go off the air abruptly, but what we got was enjoyable. Bayley mentioning that she'll win the WWE Women's Championship from Tiffany Stratton on SmackDown this Friday has me thinking Perez will cost her the win and that could be Perez's first feud on the main roster.

Overall Show

There was a lot of main roster star power on the show this week, which was wise coming off the big number that last week's New Year's Evil episode did (largely due to The Rock's appearance). NXT is bound to lose more talent to Raw and SmackDown soon, so they're going to need to do a strong job of featuring fresh faces, specifically on the men's side. I'm not sure what they have planned for Vengeance Day with two title matches being scheduled for next week, but hopefully that card becomes clear in the coming weeks. This was a thumbs-up show that effectively moved things forward and it felt like there was more meaningful stuff than usual.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews