WWE NXT Review - January 9, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Blair Davenport def. Lyra Valkyria

I've never been the biggest fan of Lyons, but she's definitely improved from where she was, and working with women better than her (like Davenport) will help her in the long run. They had a decent match and the brawl beforehand gave it some fire out of the gate. I was surprised this took place only a week after Davenport lost to Lyra Valkyria, but Davenport winning means their feud isn't over yet and the victory allowed Davenport to rebound.

Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker def. Gallus (Mark Coffey and Gallus) in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinal Match

Corbin and Breakker make for a hell of a team, and with neither of them having anything going on at the moment, it's smart to pair them together in the Dusty Classic. They clearly have chemistry as partners and I honestly wouldn't mind seeing them win the whole thing (despite Breakker being long overdue for a main roster call-up). This was a nice, hard-hitting hoss fight with Corbin and Breakker proving they can coexist in the end.

Tatum Paxley Saved NXT Women's Champion Lyra Vakyira From Lola Vice and Elektra Lopez

Say what you will about the material itself, but I thought Valkyria came across as much more confident on the mic here than she has in the past. Vice was a bit weaker in her role, but the segment accomplished what it needed to in setting up a tag team match as well as establishing there will be a Battle Royal (which will transition into a Fatal 4-Way) next week to determine Valkyria's opponent at Vengeance Day.

Josh Briggs def. Oro Mensah

Briggs confronted Noam Dar prior to the commercial break demanding another opportunity at the NXT Heritage Cup Championship after their last encounter ended in a disqualification. I can't say I'm clamoring for a rematch, but at least this keeps Briggs busy for a bit now that he's on his own. This was a fairly basic bout, but it was what it needed to be with Briggs going over decisively ahead of his next outing against Dar.

NXT Tag Team Champions The Family (Tony D'Angelo and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo) def. OTM

I'm not sure beating Chase U was enough to earn OTM this opportunity (instead of just taking part in the Dusty Classic), especially when they're still super green, but I thought they fared perfectly fine here. Granted, this was far from great (the final few minutes in particular were rough), but it could've been worse. The Dusty Classic is coming back at the perfect time because The Family desperately need fresh, credible competition.

Cora Jade def. Gigi Dolin

It's clear Jade is just killing time until she faces Valkyria for the NXT Women's Championship, either at Vengeance Day or Stand & Deliver. Dolin is a name fans are familiar with who Jade can beat to continue building momentum. Dolin has seemingly regressed since the Toxic Attraction breakup, which is unfortunate, but Jade is the one on the ascent right now. This was okay but featured nothing out of the ordinary.

Nathan Frazer and Axiom def. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinal Match

Frazer and Axiom work as well as partners as they do as opponents. There was no question they were winning here, so it was hardly surprising that this was essentially a squash win for Frazer and Axiom. Nothing against Hank and Tank, but they're not all that interesting as characters. I don't know what the Dusty Classic bracket looks like, but I can certainly see Frazer and Axiom making it the finals to face Corbin and Breakker.

NXT North American Champion Dragon Lee def. Lexis King; Oba Femi def. Lee to Win the NXT North American Championship

To recap, King failed to win the NXT Men's Breakout Tournament, received a title shot anyway because Lee's open challenge gimmick, and lost that, too. I like King and believe he has potential, but man, he's been booked like a total loser so far in NXT. He and Lee had an enjoyable main event, but we've see Lee have better defenses against superior opponents. Femi cashing in the title shot he earned from winning the Breakout tourney was teased earlier in the episode, but I didn't think he'd actually go through with it this soon. He's way too inexperienced to be champion this early in his run, so I'm not super high on this move, but we'll see what he can do and how they intend to follow up on it.

Overall Show

What the hell happened to Ilja Dragunov? I thought his "injury" was just storyline related, but they pulled him from New Year's Evil at the last minute and he wasn't featured on this episode at all. Vengeance Day is coming up in less than a month and they need to announce the main event in the next week or two (and if it's Dragunov vs. Trick Williams, then make it official). That aside, this was a middle-of-the-road show. NXT has lost a step from where it was a few months ago, but it's not as much of a chore to sit through as it was in the first year or so of NXT 2.0. The Dusty Classic kicking off was notable along with Femi being crowned the new NXT North American Champion. I've seen less eventful editions of NXT, so this wasn't a waste of time.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews