WWE NXT Review - January 16, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes def. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinal Match

Needless to say, there wasn't much doubt who was winning here, even if Williams is facing Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship at Vengeance Day (which was announced a little later on). Enofe and Blade are a talented tandem but are stuck at a certain level right now. This was a quality opener and the crowd being behind Williams throughout was a cool touch with the commentators playing up how Hayes might be jealous now that the tide is turning in Williams' favor.

Dragon Lee Interrupted NXT North American Champion Oba Femi

Femi's promo exceeded my expectations. I've heard him do brief backstage interviews, but this obviously the longest promo he's cut yet and he came across really well. He felt like a babyface, yet he denied Lee's request for a rematch. That was weird. I didn't actually expect Lee to be back because I figured he'd return to being a full-time SmackDown Superstar, but perhaps they want him to put over Femi in decisive fashion one last time.

NXT Women's Champion Lyra Valkyria and Tatum Paxley def. Elektra Lopez

This was designed to establish Valkyria and Paxley as a cohesive unit after it took time for Valkyria to warm up to Paxley. I wouldn't call them fast friends, but Valkyria is starting to see her as an acquaintance and not just, you know, a stalker. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about this otherwise, but it served its purpose. Hopefully Lopez isn't close to cashing in her title shot because she's still not remotely ready (though she has improved).

Ridge Holland def. Joe Coffey

This felt like a glorified squash match for Holland, which was slightly surprising. We got a hard-hitting affair for as long as this lasted, but the focus was clearly on highlighting Holland and thus this was not supposed to be a competitive contest. Gallus are essentially in enhancement mode right now and I don't know what they can do to get out of that purgatory. As for Holland, I like that they've hit the reset button with him, but hopefully he'll have direction beyond being built up with wins.

The LWO (Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde) def. Chase U (Duke Hudson and Riley Osborne) in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinal Match

Osborne filled in for Andre Chase, who's busy with other obligations at the moment. Del Toro and Wilde have felt like much bigger deals in NXT lately than they have on the main roster, maybe because they've had a chance to showcase their skills. Maybe an extended stay in NXT for them wouldn't hurt. This was another fun outing from them and Hudson and Osborne scored plenty of offense before eating defeat.

Dijak def. Trey Bearhill

Dijak is back to doing nothing now that his feud with Eddy Thorpe has finished. Evidently, it looks like they don't know what to do with Thorpe, either. Bearhill still feels generic to me, but he'll only improve by working with experienced talent like Dijak. This was a pretty basic bout, but Dijak winning was obviously the correct call. Lexis King attacked Bearhill afterward to further that feud.

Roxanne Perez Won an NXT Women's Championship No. 1 Contender's Battle Royal/Fatal 4-Way Match

A lot of these women are developmental prospects and are regulars on Level Up, so it wasn't all that surprising that this was paint-by-numbers stuff until it turned into the Fatal 4-Way (which featured Perez, Kelani Jordan, Fallon Henley and Kiana James). One thing it did accomplish was setting up several future matches. NXT typically does a nice job of that with these Battle Royals. With Cora Jade getting injured over the weekend (which is super unfortunate considering she just returned), the outcome wasn't obvious, but Perez made the most sense to earn the opportunity. She's in the midst of a slow-burn heel turn it seems and Vengeance Day could be where she finally snaps if and when she loses.

Overall Show

With each passing week, it's become more and more apparent that NXT has taken their foot off the gas, presumably because they secured their television deal with The CW for later this year. NXT TV isn't bad by any means (I'd argue it's consistently solid), but it also isn't as hot as it was a few months ago. That said, this was an adequate episode that further built toward Vengeance Day and made two matches official. That's about it since none of the matches this week are worth seeking out by any means.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews