TJR: WWE NXT Vengeance Day 2025 Preview
It’s WWE NXT Vengeance Day featuring Oba Femi and Giulia defending their titles on a show with four title matches.
The first WWE NXT PLE of the year is called Vengeance Day taking place on Saturday, February 15th, which is one day after Valentine’s Day. It’s taking place in Washington, D.C. one night after SmackDown takes over the city. The venue is different, but I think it’s a smart move for WWE to run an NXT PLE in the same city of SmackDown because it gives fans a chance to see two shows in a row.
The NXT Champion Oba Femi and NXT Women’s Champion Giulia just won their titles at New Year’s Evil last month, so I think it’s unlikely that either one of them is going to lose their titles just one month after winning them. That might hurt the show a bit in the eyes of some fans because those matches feel predictable. However, I think the NXT brand has done a good job of building a six-match card and the two non-title matches especially have great stories going into those matches.
Ricky Starks debuted on NXT TV this past Tuesday and I expect to see him again at this show. I don’t know if he’s going to attack somebody or just do a promo, but I think it makes sense to have Starks appear. There is also going to be a new stable debuting at the show although we don’t know the names of everybody in that group yet. Watch and find out.
You can watch NXT Vengeance Day on Saturday, February 15th, streaming live at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on Peacock in the United States and on Netflix for many of us internationally including me in Canada. It has an early start time like the Royal Rumble did. Elimination Chamber in two weeks has a 7 p.m. ET start time.
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NXT Tag Team Championships: Nathan Frazer & Axiom (c) vs. Josh Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura
I’m a big fan of Frazer/Axiom (aka Fraxiom) as the NXT Tag Team Champions, but at some point, this title reign is going to end. It wouldn’t shock me if Briggs & Inamura won just because Briggs has yet to hold gold in NXT. Briggs was a NXT UK Tag Team Champion with Brooks Jensen, but he hasn’t won a title on the NXT brand yet and he’s been there for over three years, so maybe the creative team will think he’s due. I like Inamura a lot as a veteran power wrestler who works well with Briggs.
This could be the best match on the show just because Frazer & Axiom make everybody around them better. I think Briggs will work well with them and the match should be very entertaining. I’m going to avoid picking a title change here, but I think it’s a possibility.
Winners: Nathan Frazer & Axiom
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Strap Match: Trick Williams vs. Eddy Thorpe
This has been built up fairly well since Thorpe recently turned heel by doing cheap attacks against Oba Femi and also on Trick Williams. Thorpe failed to take the NXT Title from Femi, which led to this rivalry against the former NXT Champion Williams. I think this whole thing is just a way to keep Trick busy before we get to the Trick/Femi match for the NXT Title at Stand & Deliver.
Thorpe is a good wrestler and I wouldn’t mind a push for him, but I think this should be an easy win for Trick. Doing a strap match is a way to show that Trick is a tough guy who can win a match that is out of his element. The announcers will try to push the idea that Trick is at a disadvantage in a match like this, but I think Trick winning is an obvious result.
Winner: Trick Williams
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NXT Women’s North American Championship: Fallon Henley (c) vs. Stephanie Vaquer
This is a match that has been built up fairly well with Vaquer earning a shot at the title and also beating Shotzi on her way to this title shot. I don’t mind Henley and her Fatal Influence group with Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyx, but I think it’s important to put Vaquer over as a dominant force in the women’s division in NXT.
If Henley wins then it’s probably going to be due to her friends Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyx getting involved. I don’t think that’s going to happen, though. The trio of Vaquer, Zaria and Giulia were all brought in around the same time with a lot of fanfare and I think it’s the right time to put the title on Vaquer.
Winner AND NEW NXT Women’s North American Champion: Stephanie Vaquer
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Je’Von Evans vs. Ethan Page
This one has been built up for a couple of months with Ethan Page doing a brutal attack on Je’Von Evans where Page broke Evans’ jaw in the storyline. It was the kind of thing you don’t see very often, but Page stomping on a chair on Evans’ mouth was brutal looking and Evans has done an excellent job of selling it. The story is that Evans is cleared to return, but he’s barely cleared, so there is a lot of risk for Evans in this match.
My guess is that Page is going to be on the main roster after WrestleMania, so I think this feud will last until at least Stand & Deliver during WrestleMania weekend. With that in mind, I think it makes sense for Page to get the win here while Evans should get the win at Stand & Deliver to win the feud. If Evans wins here then that’s fine and maybe he’ll multiple matches, but I think it’s more likely that Page wins here. Evans is a guy who could be NXT Champion later this year and if not then next year is likely. I’m excited to watch Je’Von grow as a WWE superstar. Working with a veteran heel like Page will make Evans better too. I’m looking forward to this.
Winner: Ethan Page
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NXT Championship: Oba Femi (c) vs. Austin Theory vs. Grayson Waller
I don’t love this as an NXT Title match, but I think the match quality should be strong. What I don’t like is that Femi was a guest on Waller’s talk show that involved Theory and that led to Theory and Waller getting an NXT Title shot on a PLE. I understand why it was done because it feels like a handicap match with Femi facing the buddies Theory/Waller so that stacks the deck against Femi a bit.
While I understand the story going into the match, I doubt there is anybody watching this who thinks that Theory or Waller is going to leave with the NXT Title that Femi won just over one month ago. What’s most likely going to happen is that Theory and Waller will each get nearfalls, then they will have issues getting along and Femi will capitalize on that to get the win.
As I alluded to earlier, I think Femi against Trick at Stand & Deliver is very likely, so this is all about making Femi look strong.
Winner: Oba Femi
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NXT Women’s Championship: Giulia (c) vs. Bayley vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Cora Jade
I think this match should be the main event of the show. The women’s division in NXT is a strength of the brand.
A main roster star and NXT legend like Bayley in the match is cool with me although I don’t think she has a shot to win. I also doubt Roxanne Perez has a shot to win since she’s the former champion who is most likely going to be on the main roster perhaps by the end of this month.
Cora Jade being added to the match was okay with me because we already had a triple threat match on the show, so making it a four-way makes it better. Jade might become NXT Women’s Champion later this year, but not yet. As for Giulia, she won the title over a month ago, which means it’s unlikely that she is going to lose so soon after winning it.
The match quality should be strong here with a lot of nearfalls and some fast-paced action throughout the match. As I said, I’m going to with Giulia to retain.
Winner: Giulia
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BONUS TOPICS
The Match I’m Looking Forward To The Most
NXT Women’s Championship: Giulia (c) vs. Bayley vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Cora Jade
The Match I Care About The Least
NXT Women’s North American Championship: Fallon Henley (c) vs. Stephanie Vaquer.
Longest Match
NXT Women’s Championship: Giulia (c) vs. Bayley vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Cora Jade about 18 minutes.
Shortest Match
Trick Williams vs. Eddy Thorpe for about 11 minutes.
Excitement Level on a Scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high)
I’m going with a 7 out of 10. I think the NXT brand is solid right now, but it’s necessarily at its absolute best. I think the card has some predictable matches and they will likely have a better card at Stand & Deliver in two months. It will still be an entertaining wrestling show. I just think it’s pretty good, but not necessarily a great card.
I’ll be back with a review of the WWE NXT Vengeance Day on TJRWrestling.net on Saturday, so check that out live or after it’s over. You can also tweet me on X/Twitter at @johnreport as well.
If you want to send an email, send it to me at mrjohncanton@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.