Reviews

The John Report: WWE NXT 01/07/25 Review (New Year’s Evil)

By John Canton • Published 8th January 2025
WWE NXT January 7 2025 Review

This week on WWE NXT was New Year’s Evil featuring The Rock doing a promo in the main event, plus multiple NXT Title matches on a big show for the brand.

It’s the first NXT episode on Netflix for me in Canada. I have access to The CW, which Americans use to watch NXT, but I’m going with the Netflix version of the show.

This is a big show with some interesting matches, so I’m going to go with a full recap rather than a summary-style review of some matches.

They are at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles for this week’s show. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport, friend me on Facebook, or chat with me on the Bluesky App as well. Let’s get to it.

There were some arrivals shown from earlier in the day including Roxanne Perez, Giulia, Oba Femi, Eddy Thorpe, and Trick Williams.

A black truck was shown driving up to the building and it was the WWE legend The Rock, who said he would be there when he appeared on Raw. Rock had some of his ZOA energy drink with him as he walked out with the People’s Title.

The commentary team was Vic Joseph and Booker T as usual with Corey Graves joining them this week.

Analysis: It appears to be a full-time change with Graves joining NXT. I thought he might be on Smackdown, but it sounds like WWE wants to go with just Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett as a two-man team, which is fine with me. I’m a bit surprised that Graves was moved to NXT since he’s been on the main roster for a lot of years and does the PLE’s with Michael Cole, so maybe that is changing too. Anyway, I do like Graves as an announcer.

NXT Women’s Championship: Roxanne Perez vs. Giulia

The referee was wearing the same grey-style shirt that the referees wore on Monday’s Raw in LA as well. Ring announcer Mike Rome did the in-ring championship introductions. Perez was the champion for over 270 days going into this match.

Perez rolled up Giulia leading to a bridging pin for a two count. Giulia went for a submission, but Perez got out of it. Perez did a cartwheel followed by a slap to the face. Giulia nailed Perez with a slap to the face along with a missile dropkick. Giulia hit a running kick. Perez wrenched on Giulia’s left arm across the top rope. Perez stomped on Giulia’s left arm.

(Commercial – During the break here on Netflix, they showed slow-motion videos of the NXT wrestlers and a graphic that said “We’ll Be Right Back.” There was also a clock in the upper right corner counting down from 3:00 for the commercial.)

The match continued with Perez and Giulia exchanging forearms. Giulia hit a running dropkick to knock Perez down. Perez came back with a top rope hurricanrana for a two count. Perez wrenched on the left arm. Giulia and Perez each hit belly-to-back suplexes. Each woman hit open hand palm strikes to the head. Perez pulled down Giulia by swinging the left arm. When Giulia was on the floor, Perez hit a suicide dive on the floor. Giulia went up top and hit a double underhook superplex. Giulia hit a spinning Michinoku Driver for a two count. The fans chanted ‘this is awesome” for them. Perez applied the Crossface submission, but Giulia managed to get to the ropes. Perez let go and went for Pop Rox, Giulia avoided that and Perez dropkicked Giulia out of the ring. Giulia hit a Northern Lights Bomb on the floor. The referee counted the two women out on the floor and Cora Jade showed up to put Perez in the ring while Giulia crawled into the ring. Perez hit Pop Rox for one…two…no! Booker: “What the hell!” Perez applied a fujiwara armbar and Giulia countered it for a two count. Giulia hit a running knee. Giulia hit a Northern Lights Bomb for the one…two… and three. New champion! It went 14 minutes.

Winner by pinfall AND NEW NXT Women’s Champion: Giulia

Analysis: ***1/2 I thought it was a very good match that really picked up in the final few minutes. Perez hit Pop Rox, Giulia kicked out of it and that led to Booker’s funny reaction since he is biased for Perez. I liked the psychology of the match with Perez working over Giulia’s left arm for most of the match, but then it kind of went away a bit so maybe Giulia could have sold it a bit more later in the match. I expected a title reign here since Perez had the title for about nine months, so it felt like the right time to crown a new champion. I thought Giulia would win back in October when NXT moved to CW, but they waited until the new year and that’s fine too.

After the match, Giulia celebrated with the NXT Women’s Title. Booker told Graves it was his fault for bringing bad luck.

Analysis: It wasn’t a super loud reaction to Giulia’s title win, but I think the fans were excited about seeing a title change.

Eddy Thorpe was backstage selling an injury on the stairs while WWE Medical and security checked on him. Ava the NXT GM showed up saying she’s seen this before where Thorpe fakes an injury. Thorpe said he was really attacked, but Ava walked away looking like she didn’t believe him.

Stephanie Vaquer made her entrance for a high stakes fatal four-way match.

(Commercial)

It was announced that NXT Vengeance Day will take place on Saturday, February 15th in Washington, DC. They are doing Smackdown in the same city the day before that.

A video aired recapping Ethan Page’s vicious chair attack on Je’Von Evans that saw Page stomp on a chair that was on Evans’ mouth. Evans sold it with a bloody jaw. A video aired featuring Evans saying he can’t sleep, he can’t eat and he can’t talk. Evans said because of what Evans did to Cedric Alexander too, he’s going to make Ethan feel his pain.

Analysis: I like the story. Evans did his part to sell it by not being able to talk properly, which is the right way to sell that kind of injury.

Cora Jade vs. Kelani Jordan vs. Stephanie Vaquer vs. Lola Vice

The winner gets a shot at the NXT Women’s North American Title.

Jordan, Vaquer and Vice all got nearfalls while Jade was there to break up a pin. Jade hit a running back elbow and a double foot stomp to the back. Vaquer did her repeated knee smash to Jade while Vice was there to break it up. Jordan superkicked Vice followed by Jordan hitting a double dropkick on Jade and Vaquer. Jade and Jordan hit a double clothesline. Jordan hit a twisting slingshot dive over the top onto Vice. Jade hit a somersault dive off the apron onto Jordan on the floor.

(Commercial)

The match continued with Vaquer hitting some headbutts on Jade along with a kick on Vice. Jordan grabbed Vaquer, who came back with a dragon screw leg whip off the ropes. Vaquer hit double knees on Jade. Vice was aggressive with kicks to the ribs for Vaquer followed by Vice doing her kicks to the body on Jordan as well. Jade was back into it with a jumping kick on Vice. Jade charged, but Vice sent her over the top to the floor. Vaquer jumped off the top with a cross body block on Vice and Jade on the floor. Jordan went up top and hit a moonsault onto the three women on the floor. Back in the ring, Jordan hit a top rope cross body block and Vaquer rolled through for two. Vice broke up a pin attempt by Vaquer and Jade hit a jumping knee on Vice. Jordan hit an Olympic Slam on Jade. Jordan went up top for a 450 Splash, but Jade avoided it. Vice hit a back elbow on Jordan. Vaquer superkicked Vice and threw Vice out of the ring. Vaquer hit a backbreaker called the SVB for the pinfall win after 10 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Stephanie Vaquer

Analysis: ***1/4 It was an entertaining match that was fast-paced with all four women having plenty of offense and looking like they could win. I figured a babyface wrestler would win since the NXT Women’s North American Champion Fallon Henley is a heel, so it made sense for a face to win. Vaquer has had a decent run in NXT so far, but she came up short in some of the bigger matches, so it’s a nice win for her leading to a title shot.

Ava the NXT GM was in her office talking to the tag team of Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn saying whoever wins a tag team match will get a shot at the Women’s Tag Team Titles. Oba Femi walked in to tell Ava, who was interviewed by Sarah Schreiber, that he attacked Eddy Thorpe on purpose because Thorpe attacked him last week. Ava said she’s not changing the match. Femi said that’s fine because whether Eddy does or doesn’t make the match, the result remains the same.

Fatal Influence made their entrance for a six-woman tag team match. The commentary team didn’t say much, so they must have been plugging something that was edited off the Netflix broadcast.

(Commercial – The clock was at four minutes for this break.)

It is weird watching the international broadcast because Vic was reading an ad for Topps trading cards and then it cut out. I get that some ads in America don’t work internationally, but it is just strange when the audio gets muted.

They showed WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque and WWE President Nick Khan at ringside. The fans cheered for the bosses.

OTM was featured in a video talking about how their upcoming NXT Tag Team Title match against Nathan Frazer & Axiom. Price and Nima said they would win the Tag Team Titles next week.

Shotzi, Tatum Paxley & Gigi Dolin vs. Fatal Influence – Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Jazmyn Nyx

The Fatal Influence trio attacked the faces before the bell began. Nyx worked over Dolin with kicks on the floor. The bell rang as Jayne battled with Paxley in the ring, which led to Paxley hitting a dropkick and a cross body block. Paxley hit a double underhook suplex on Jayne, who came back with a hair pull. Jayne kicked Paxley and Nyx tagged in with a big kick. Paxley sent Nyx’s face into Paxley’s knee. Shotzi hit a running splash on Nyx and Paxley hit an elbow drop. Shotzi was legal as Nyx tripped her up. Shotzi rolled up Henley followed by a forearm to the jaw. Shotzi suplexed Henley into the turnbuckle. Henley came back with a knee to the ribs followed by a jumping neckbreaker. A pin attempt by Henley was broken up by the faces. The six women fought in the ring. Shotzi went for a suicide dive on the floor, but Henley avoided it and Shotzi hit the ground. Jayne dove onto Dolin on the floor, Paxley knocked Jayne down and Shotzi suplexed Henley on the floor. All six women were down after taking moves on the floor.

(Commercial)

The heels were in control with Jayne kicking Paxley in the back followed by a senton splash. Paxley gave Jayne a belly-to-back suplex. Dolin tagged in with punches on Jayne along with forearms, a kick to the head, and an STO clothesline for a two count. Nyx went into the ring illegally leading to Jayne hitting a superplex. Dolin hit a double neckbreaker on Jayne and Henley. Shotzi tagged in with a cross body block off the top followed by a suplex/neckbreaker combo by the faces for a two count for Shotzi because Jayne and Nyx broke up the pin. Paxley and Dolin hit enziguri kicks followed by each woman hitting dives onto women on the floor. Shotzi went up top and hit a Senton Bomb on Henley for the pinfall win after 10 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Shotzi, Tatum Paxley & Gigi Dolin

Analysis: **3/4 This was a solid match that was built up in the last few weeks, so I like the intensity shown. Shotzi getting the clean win over the NXT North American Champion Fallon Henley could lead to Shotzi getting a title shot in the future even though we know Stephanie Vaquer earned a title shot as well. Anyway, I think the babyface team winning made sense.

Ethan Page was backstage talking to NXT GM Ava, who complained about what Page did to Je’Von Evans. Page said that has been replayed on every episode of NXT since it happened, yet Page isn’t on the show. Ava said that this is her show and she calls the shots, which led to her father The Rock walking into the scene with his People’s Championship. There were “Rocky” chants, which Rock acknowledged. Rock said it was good to meet Ethan Page and he said he heard about him, but not all good things. Rock said he heard that Ethan broke a guy’s jaw, then Page said Je’Von deserved it and Rock warned him that payback’s gonna be a bitch, which Page doubts. Rock mentioned breaking a wrist, but Page said it was fingers (hey Cedric Alexander). Rock said that if anybody needs anything, they can come to him. Rock shook Page’s hand. Rock said that he is The Final Boss, but on this show on NXT, Ava is the Final Boss. Rock told Page if you are going to be cool with The Rock then be cool with her. Rock said he’ll see Page on the main roster one day, which led to a handshake while Ava appeared happy at that thought. Rock told Page to get his “sweet ass on out of here” and slapped him on the butt. That was funny. Ava said that it’s been a crazy night. Ava asked her father what he was going to say out there. Rock asked Ava for some advice. Ava said that no one can do what Rock can do, but he’s never been in front of the NXT crowd and she said their passion is different. Ava said that he’s going to feel exactly what he’s going to say. Rock said he’ll say it from the heart. Rock touched fists with his daughter Ava and she left.

Analysis: That was a fun interaction between Ethan Page and The Rock. I think Page has a very bright future on the main roster and I think it will happen at some point this year, but I don’t know when. I also liked seeing Rock interacting with his daughter Ava while looking like a proud dad. I think Ava is very good in her role. As a wrestler, it didn’t work out for her, but she’s doing well in the GM role and I’m happy she has found something that works for her.

Lexis King entered for his Heritage Cup match.

(Commercial)

NXT Heritage Cup: Charlie Dempsey (w/Myles Borne, Tavion Heights & Wren Sinclair) vs. Lexis King

There are “sudden death rules” for this match meaning it’s a one fall match rather than having rounds like most Heritage Cup matches.

King was in control early with a dropkick. Dempsey took down King leading to a front headlock on the mat. King managed to roll up Dempsey for a two count. King did an arm drag leading to an armbar. Dempsey worked over King with uppercuts, which led to King sending Dempsey to the apron and King dropkicked Dempsey off the apron onto Heights and Borne on the floor. King hit a cross body block on the three guys on the floor.

(Commercial)

The match returned with King hitting a forearm. King hit a running clothesline and a chop followed by a Northern Lights Suplex for a two count. Dempsey applied a hammerlock on the left arm. Dempsey had a cut over his left eyebrow while King came back with a powerslam. King jumped off the top with a cross body block, but Dempsey rolled through with an armbar on the left arm. King managed to power out of it with a slam for two. Dempsey went for a crossface chickenwing submission, but King got to the ropes. Dempsey worked over King with punches and a back elbow. King came back with a boot followed by a collision spot where they knocked eachother down. Dempsey got a backslide pin for two. Dempsey went for a leapfrog and King’s head hit Dempsey in the groin. It was incidental contact as Vic said. King hit the Coronation neckbreaker for the pinfall win after 11 minutes.

Winner by pinfall and NEW NXT Heritage Cup Champion: Lexis King

Analysis: *** It was a good match that was even most of the way. The turning point was the spot where Dempsey went for the leapfrog, but King “accidentally” hit him in the groin. As Vic said it was incidental contact and King took advantage, which led to the Coronation for the win. It will probably lead to another match because Dempsey can say that King only won because of a low blow while King can say it was an accident.

Lexis King celebrated with the NXT Heritage Cup and he looked emotional about winning it again.

Analysis: I’m happy for Lexis. He has come a long way as a character and he’s solid in the ring.

The NXT Women’s North American Champion Fallon Henley and Stephanie Vaquer were talking to NXT GM Ava. Shotzi interrupted saying she just beat Fallon in the ring, so she thinks she is the number one contender for the title. Vaquer claimed she was the top contender. Henley told those two women to figure it out and she’ll face whoever wins. Ava said she likes the sound of it, so let’s save it for next week.

They showed WWE announcer Joe Tessitore at ringside with the fans. Joe is the new voice of Smackdown with Wade Barrett.

Oba Femi was shown walking backstage, NXT Champion Trick Williams was also shown walking backstage and we don’t know the status of Eddy Thorpe.

Trick Williams made his entrance as the NXT Champion as the arena erupted in “Whoop That Trick” chants. Booker did his adlibs as usual. Trick posed on the stage as the show went to break.

(Commercial)

Oba Femi made his entrance as one of the challengers. Femi won the Iron Survivor Challenge at Deadline to earn this title shot. Trick has been champion for 98 days going into this match after winning the title three months ago. Ring announcer Mike Rome did the introductions without Eddy Thorpe making his entrance.

NXT Championship: Trick Williams vs. Oba Femi vs. Eddy Thorpe

There are no disqualifications and no countouts in a WWE triple threat match. The first fall wins.

Femi overpowered Trick against the turnbuckle leading to a shoulder tackle. Femi did a waistlock takedown. Trick hit a jawbreaker to break free. Trick put Femi on his shoulders and hit a sitout slam almost like an Attitude Adjustment for a two count. Femi rolled out of the ring as the show went to break.

(Commercial)

The match continued with Femi in control as Eddy Thorpe walked out from the backstage area and he had a steel chair in his hand. Femi charged at Trick, who avoided him and Femi went shoulder first into the turnbuckle. Trick went to the turnbuckle, Femi went after him and Trick hit a Book End/Rock Bottom for a two count. Femi and Trick exchanged strikes, Femi ducked a kick and Femi hit a forearm. Trick hit a pump kick, Femi with a shoulder tackle and Trick hit a leaping clothesline. Trick hit a jumping neckbreaker along with a body slam. Trick followed up with a flapjack. Trick blocked a kick attempt leading to a chop. Femi went for a slam, but Trick countered him with a DDT. Trick hit a spinning kick to the face for a two count. The fans chanted “this is awesome” for the match. Trick charged right into an uppercut by Femi. Oba hit a sitout Powerbomb for two, but Eddy Thorpe showed up wit ha chair to pull the referee out of the ring to stop the count. Femi brought Thorpe into the ring with a kick to the head and a back elbow. Femi hit a spinebuster on Thorpe. Femi tossed Thorpe across the ring. Femi hit a running uppercut on Thorpe two times in a row. Trick hit a Trick Shot on Femi for a two count because Femi got his right shoulder up. It was a lazy cover by Trick using his back to cover. Trick charged, Femi shoved Trick and Thorpe hit Trick with the chair to the body. Femi hit the Fall From Grace (Popup Powerbomb) on Trick for the pinfall win. Thorpe fell out of the ring after Trick hit the chair, so there was no pin breakup there. Oba Femi is the new NXT Champion! It went 11 minutes.

Winner by pinfall AND NEW NXT Champion: Oba Femi

Analysis: ***1/2 I thought it was a very good match that was fast paced with a decisive finish that put over Femi in a big way as the new champion. I also like that it wasn’t predictable because I thought Trick would retain here, but doing a title change that feels like a surprise is a good move because it tells the audience that it can happen at any time. The last two title changes have happened on NXT TV episodes rather than on PLEs, which puts over how important the TV show is. My guess is that Trick Williams will probably be on the main roster perhaps as soon as the Royal Rumble or shortly after that. If they do the next draft in the spring then that’s probably when Trick will be there. Anyway, Femi got the win thanks to Thorpe holding up the chair, so it will give Trick an out by saying that he only lost because of Thorpe using the chair. Thorpe can also complain because he was attacked by Femi earlier in the night. Anyway, there are a lot of ways they can go after this. They’ll probably to Femi vs. Trick at Vengeance Day with Femi winning there in a singles match and Trick can move on from there.

Oba Femi celebrated with the NXT Champion as the new champion. Giulia appeared on the ramp beside Femi as both new champions held up their titles. Vic put it over as a new time for NXT with these new champions.

Analysis: I’m happy for Oba Femi, who has come a long way in the last year as a rookie last year and now he’s the NXT Champion. The guy is awesome. I am a bit surprised that both of Trick’s NXT Title reigns were under 100 days in length, but I don’t think that hurts him that much. Trick has a bright future in WWE.

The Rock was up next.

(Commercial)

Next week on NXT:

* Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson vs. Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn

* NXT Tag Team Championships: Nathan Frazer & Axiom vs. OTM

I assume the Stephanie Vaquer vs. Shotzi match is next week too, but it was not shown on a graphic.

Let’s Hear From The Rock

The Rock made his entrance and he got a huge ovation from the fans. A fan was wearing a “pro wrestling is real” shirt, so Rock pointed it out to the camera. That’s a shirt from Ken Anderson/Ken Kennedy and Rock likes the shirt. Anyway, Rock took his time getting into the ring and there were about ten minutes left in the show when he got in there. There were loud “Rocky” chants as Rock posed on all the turnbuckles. When Rock was tossed the microphone, you could see a guy at ringside giving him a time cue. There were more “Rocky” chants. There were also “NXT” chants before Rock spoke.

The Rock was tapping his arm to show that he was getting goosebumps. The censors were out since Rock likes to swear. Rock said this was crazy and there were more “Rocky” chants. Rock: “Don’t f*** around and get me emotional up in this thing [laughs].” Rock mentioned they had 6:33 left in the show. Rock said he goes by the People’s Champion, the most Electrifying Man In All Entertainment, the Sexiest Man Alive and then he ran over his other nicknames calling himself the People’s Champion, The Final Boss and The Rock.

The Rock said that you guys need to help him out with something. The Rock said that this time last year, everywhere he went like every gym, every church, every strip club – he heard from people telling him not to be mean to Cody. Rock said one year later last night Netflix on Raw, it was an amazing, historic night. Rock said he wanted to give props to Cody because he’s been kicking ass and carrying the company.

“What did they say? ‘You can’t be nice to Cody. Don’t be nice to Cody. Don’t drink tequila with Cody.’ Oh, f***. At the end of the day, let us all remind them that The Rock is the Final Boss, thinking 20 steps ahead, so the best thing for them to do is to know their role, shut their mouth, and enjoy the ride that The Rock is taking them on.”

The fans kept chanting things, so Rock was swearing again.

“It says we got about two minutes left. They say we got two minutes, I’m like, f*** all that. We’re gonna go all night [laughs]. Oh, they’re sweating. It’s okay, it’s okay. Alright, I’m sorry for the language, I apologize.”

The Rock said that the truth is he knew he was coming to NXT a few weeks ago, so he talked to Triple H and Nick Khan about how he was coming to NXT, so they said it was a great idea. Rock said he didn’t know what to say. Rock spoke about how Ava said he’ll feel this crowd and this crowd will let him know what to say. Rock said thank you to the fans because Raw on Netflix was the sexy ticket to see the stars of WWE and celebrities. Rock said this show in NXT is what you want to go to. The fans cheered for that and did “NXT” chants. Rock said another swear word that got muted while saying the chills don’t stop. Rock said that it’s easy to go to the place that has all the stars. Rock told a fan that they had stars here too. Rock said that every single one of the fans is critical to this whole thing. Rock said that those girls and guys back there, in three years who knows because they could be the main event of WrestleMania. Rock said that in three years, they could be out of the business. Rock said that it depends on the fans whether they boo or cheer because it depends on how the fans react. Rock said he knows what it’s like because he was Flex Kavana in Memphis. Rock said he knows how important it is to depend on the crowd. Rock said that his job takes him to a lot of places, but he will always come back home to you. Rock said WWE and NXT, he loves you…if you smell what The Rock is cooking. The show ended right there.

Analysis: It was a typical Rock promo in this era where he drops f-bombs and other swear words just to show that he’s having a good time. It sucks watching it on TV because of censorship. I love The Rock as much as anybody, but he needs to know that if everybody else has to follow the rules then he should be able to do it too. Anyway, he did address the promo from Raw where he came off as a WWE Ambassador sucking up to Cody Rhodes instead of feuding with him, which some people hated, but I really didn’t mind that much. I think it was Rock’s way of teasing that maybe there’s going to be some angle coming although I get the sense that he sits out this WrestleMania as a wrestler and only makes an appearance. I guess we’ll see as far as that goes. I did enjoy the promo putting over the fans for their passion and putting over the hard working NXT roster. I’m always going to love The Rock and if you don’t then that’s fine, but I think he’s a great guy who is arguably WWE’s greatest success story, so having him out there to end the show is a smart move. More time would have been nice, but he got through it and it was a fun way to end the night.

Anyway, the CW posted an uncensored version of The Rock’s promo on YouTube that you can check out below although I think it’s only available for Americans because I’m in Canada and it’s not available here.

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Three Stars of the Show

  1. Oba Femi
  2. Giulia
  3. The Rock

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The Scoreboard

This week: 8 out of 10

Last week: 7

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Final Thoughts on WWE NXT

I enjoyed this show a lot. It was promoted as a big deal, it came off like a major episode of NXT and I think it mostly delivered in terms of the action.

I expected the NXT Women’s Title change with Giulia winning, but I was a bit surprised by Oba Femi winning the NXT Title just because I thought Trick Williams would have a longer reign. Lexis King getting the win didn’t surprise me because it felt like the right time for a title change. That meant three title changes on this show. I don’t think Roxanne Perez or Trick Williams will be hurt by losing their titles since they both have very bright futures.

The women’s division was well represented with three of the five matches on the show and all three of those matches were in the first hour. I don’t know if you can say the women’s division is better than Raw or Smackdown, but the depth they have in NXT is really strong right now and it’s fun to watch these women grow together.

The NXT brand got off to a great start in 2025 with this New Year’s Evil episode.

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Thanks for reading. My contact info is below.

John Canton

Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter/X @johnreport