WWE NXT Review – December 12, 2023
Kicking off this week’s NXT with Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams arrive at the Performance Center as cameras swarm them.
We get a recap of Deadline.
We see Carmelo Hayes grabbing his knee backstage after he has seemingly been attacked.
Cora Jade says it’s been 4 long, hard and difficult months for fans without her. She says everything is fine now that she’s back and Deadline was the best day ever because she reminded everyone that things are better when she’s around. She says no one was talking about the Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge because they were talking about her.
Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria’s music hits and she appears. She says Jade forgot to mentioned that she jumped her and she’s still taking shortcuts as always. She says things have changed in NXT since she’s been gone and she’s no longer the same woman that Jade knew.
Blair Davenport then appears and brags about winning the Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge. She says that she’s here to remind Valkyria that she should be focused on her because she will dethrone her as Women’s Champion at New Year’s Evil Valkyria says she’s surprised that Jade and her aren’t best friends given that they both like jumping people.
Nikkita Lyons then marches down to the ring and Davenport attacks Lyons then Valkyria & Jade join in and all 4 women begin brawling. Jade & Davenport are sent crashing to the outside.
Backstage Kelly Kincaid is interviewing North American Champion Dragon Lee was interviewed & he wished Wes Lee a speedy recovery from his injury before announcing an open challenge for tonight.
6 Person Tag Team Match
Meta 4 (Heritage Cup Champion Noam Dar, Oro Mensah & Lash Legend) vs. Josh Briggs, Brooks Jansen & Fallon Henley
Meta 4 attacks Josh Briggs, Brooks Jansen & Fallon Henley from behind then the bell rings and Legend continues beating down Henley in the ring. Henley delivers a kick to her face before they shove each other. Henley delivers a dropkick and tags Jensen in.
Oro Mensah gets in the ring and hits an atomic drop then fires off right hands and tosses him across his ring.
Briggs & Jensen then deliver right hands to Mensah & Noam Dar through the middle rope but Legend dumps Henley on them to take them down as we go to a break.
After the break Jensen fires off right hands on Mensah’s midsection then dumps him out of the ring but Mensah slides back in and delivers a kick to his knee before Dar tags in and double teams on Jensen with Mensah then delivers an elbow to his head.
Jensen delivers a chop block but Dar fires off right hands on his spine then Jensen trips Dar and looks to hit an enzuigiri but Dar ducks out of the way and locks in an Ankle Lock.
Jensen escapes and tags in Briggs, but the referee doesn’t see the tag as he is being distracted by Jakara Jackson. Mensah delivers a knee in the corner and Dar delivers a back elbow as Tiffany Stratton appears at ringside. Henley begins brawling with her to the back.
Jensen rolls up Dar but Dar kicks out and hits Nova Roller as Briggs tags in and fires off right hands on him then connects with a boot on him.
He follows it up with a clothesline that turns Dar inside out for the win.
Winners: Josh Briggs, Brooks Jansen & Fallon Henley
We then head back to the medical area and see Carmelo Hayes being checked on as Trick Williams flanks him. The doctor clears him for competition and Williams asks Hayes if he knows who did this. Hayes says he has an idea and Williams says he has to deal with NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov before he can help him out. Hayes then tells him to deal with his business and says he’s got things handled.
After the break the 2023 Breakout Tournament participants are standing on the ramp as Lexis King appears on the ramp and hits Trey Bearhill with a chair.
Quarter Final Match Of The 2023 Breakout Tournament
Oba Femi vs. Myles Borne
Myles Borne connects with a dropkick but Oba Femi delivers an elbow to his head then Borne fires off stomps on Femi in the corner then delivers a drop toe hold and a knee to Femi’s spine.
Femi plants Borne and lands an uppercut in the corner but Borne hits a powerslam before Femi fires back with a powerslam of his own for the win.
Winner: Oba Femi (3:35)
Rate: 4
Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria & Nikkita Lyons spoke backstage where they talked about their match against Cora Jade & Blair Davenport. Valkyria opens her locker to see a picture of herself & Tatum Paxley which bamboozled her.
North American Title Match
Dragon Lee (c) vs. Tyler Bate
Match starts with Dragon Lee & Tyler Bate shaking hands then they lock up before Lee delivers a shoulder tackle.
Bate gets him up on his shoulders and looks to hits an airplane spin but Lee escapes and delivers a hurricanrana then both level one another with double clotheslines as we go to a break.
After the break Bate delivers a dropkick that sends Lee crashing out of the ring then goes flying over the top rope to level him then tosses him back inside the ring and gets him up on his shoulders but Lee escapes and sends him crashing to the outside.
He delivers a tope suicida and dumps him back inside the ring then hits a kick to him in the corner over the top from the apron then follows it up with a dropkick but Bate gets him up on his shoulders and hits an airplane spin.
Lee delivers a German suplex to Bate and drapes him off the top rope then delivers a double stomp to his chest off the top rope.
Bate sets up for a powerbomb but Lee hits a hurricanrana and a jumping knee then plants him with Operation Dragon for the win.
Winner & Still North American Champion: Dragon Lee (STILL CHAMPION!!!!)
After the match they hug it out.
Brooks Jensen & Josh Briggs spoke backstage before Fallon Henley joins in & said that she left because every time she sees blonde she sees red. Josh Briggs said that he wanted to drink from the Heritage Cup.
Lexis King brags about attacking Trey Bearhill then telling Ava that he aimed to wreak havoc before Ava told King that everyone in the tournament wants a piece of him & she let him know that he’s replacing Bearhill in the tournament.
Eddy Thorpe vs. Dijak
Dijak attacks Eddy Thorpe on the ramp and they brawl in the ringside area by exchanging strikes with one another.
Dijak sends Thorpe crashing into the ring apron but Thorpe sends Dijak colliding with the ring steps then they get in the ring and the bell sounds.
Thorpe fires off kicks on Dijak’s chest but Dijak sends him crashing into the corner causing the top rope to break then hits him with the turnbuckle causing himself to be disqualified.
Winner By DQ: Eddy Thorpe
After the match Dijak then repeatedly hits him with the turnbuckle as referees look to separate them. Dijak retreats momentarily but decides to slide back inside the ring and sends Thorpe crashing into the middle turnbuckle ribs first.
We then head over to Chase U where Andre Chase and the students are catching up about their latest efforts to raise money to help the school. Thea Hail becomes interested after learning from Jacy Jayne can watch Riley Osborne (her crush) during his 1st round match from ringside in the Chase U section. Scrypts walks in and hands a briefcase over to Chase telling him he has a proposition.
Blair Davenport & Cora Jade spoke backstage with Davenport telling Jade that they could work together tonight but she was winning the Women’s Title at New Year’s Evil before Jade told Davenport that she could work with that.
Quarter Final Match Of The 2023 Breakout Tournament
Riley Osborne vs. Keanu Carver
Match starts off with a lock up then Riley Osborne hits a moonsault but Keanu Carver delivers a clothesline that flips him inside out then sends Osborne crashing into the mat with a pair of slams but Osborne fires back with a kick before dropkicking him into the corner.
Carver lands a shoulder pounce but Osborne lands a kick from the apron then ascends to the top rope and hits a Shooting Star Press for the win.
Winner: Riley Osborne (3:28)
Rate: 4
Backstage No Quarter Catch Crew confronts North American Champion Dragon Lee where Gulak asked if he would pay tributes to Wes Lee every week. Lee responded by saying that he has Open Challenges every week to which Gulak responded by saying that they will accept his challenge for next week.
Thea Hail met with Riley Osborne but things got awkward during the conversation. Jacy Jayne & Hail talks about the interaction before Kiana James & Izzy Dame made fun of them.
Tag Team Match
Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria & Nikkita Lyons vs. Blair Davenport & Cora Jade
Lyra Valkyria & Blair Davenport lock up to get this match started before Cora Jade tags in and Valkyria fires off forearms on her chest then follows it up with an arm drag and whips Jade into the corner.
Nikkia Lyons tags in and hits a bodyslam on Davenport before Jade tags back in and wears down Lyons then tags Davenport back in & she hits a neckbreaker as we go to a break.
After the break Lyons rolls up Jade but Jade kicks out and tags in Davenport as Valkyria tags in and delivers a series of kicks then follows it up with a fisherman’s buster and a dropkick through the middle rope on the outside.
She dumps Davenport back inside the ring as Tatum Paxley appears at ringside with one of Valkyria’s feathers in hand as Valkyria takes note but doesn’t think much of it. She looks to hit a crossbody but Davenport moves out of the way.
Lyons provides Valkyria with a hand but Jade intervenes and they begin brawling.
Valkyria rolls up Davenport but unbeknownst to her Jade has tags in as Davenport hits Valkyria with Kamigoye.
Lyons delivers a kick to Davenport on the outside as Jade pins her in the ring for the win.
Winners: Blair Davenport & Cora Jade
After the match Paxley dumps Lyons out of the ring and hugs Valkyria.
Hank Walker & Tank Ledger spoke backstage before they were confronted by Gallus as Walker & Ledger told Joe Coffey to not get involved in their Tag Team match but Coffey said that there would be no need. Joe Gacy then appeared from out of nowhere.
Trick Williams says he would usually come out to the ring to destroy his opponents on the mic but not tonight. He nominates the Iron Survivor Match to be Match Of The Year at the upcoming NXT Awards and his opponents forgot that he’s been balling his whole life. He says New Years Evil is 3 weeks away where he will be facing Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Title.
NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov’s music hits and he makes his way down to the ring. He says things were much different between a few months ago and says he’s proud of how far Williams has come. He says while he couldn’t watch the Iron Survivor Challenge live then congratulates him on his performance in the match.
Williams says he’s the guy now and says he will beat the best NXT has to offer in 3 weeks. Dragunov says he’s suffered too much to become NXT Champion and stay the NXT Champion then says he’ll do whatever it takes to keep things that way.
Carmelo Hayes’ music hits and he makes his way down to the ring. He apologizes for interrupting and says it’s time for him to take care of business. He says his name has been dragged through the dirt over the past 2 months and says the same person who attacked him tonight attacked Williams in October. Dragunov looks to leave but Hayes stops him and accuses Dragunov of being the attacker. Dragunov denies that it was him & Hayes explains that Dragunov has been playing mind games with him & Williams. He says he didn’t want to face both of them rather than one of them. Dragunov calls Hayes delusional and Hayes says Dragunov is more calculated than meets the eye. He says he did exactly what he set out to by pitting him and Williams against each other and Dragunov once again reiterates that he’s not the attacker. He tells Williams he needs to talk to Hayes & Hayes cuts him off. He says him & Williams are on the same page and says Dragunov needs to know how it feels to have something taken from him.
Hayes looks to pull the NXT Title away from Dragunov but Dragunov refuses to let go of it. Hayes manages to pull the NXT Title away from him but accidentally hits Williams with it in the process as Hayes & Dragunov stand in disbelief of what just happened to close out NXT.
Remanding Quarter Final Matches
Lexis King vs. Dion Lennox
Tavion Heights vs. Luca Crusifino
Next Week’s NXT
Tag Team Match
Gallus (Wolfgang & Mark Coffey) vs. Hank Walker & Tank Ledger
North American Title Match
Dragon Lee (c) vs. TBD
Quarter Final Match Of The 2023 Breakout Tournament
TBD vs. TBD
Tag Team Match
Jacy Jayne & Thea Hail vs. Kiana James & Izzi Dame
Tiffany Stratton vs. Fallon Henley
New Year’s Evil Card So Far (Jan 2nd)
Women’s Title Match
Lyra Valkyria (c) vs. Blair Davenport
NXT Title Match
Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Trick Williams
