Greetings and salutations everyone. Tonight the wrestling world is in mourning as the news of Jay Briscoes untimely passing made the news as NXT was on the air.

This week’s show features the fallout from New Years Evil as the build to Vengeance Day continues on February 4, 2023. Without further ado, let’s get to it.

Apollo Crews and Axiom vs. Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams

The match started with Williams and Axiom locking up. Axiom was able to gain the early advantage as he broke the stalemate and dropkicked Williams. This early advantage didn’t last long as Williams came right back up shoulder tackle and an added shimmy for himself. Williams with a beautiful pop up punch and Melo tagged in after. Axiom hit a beautiful looking armdrag and huracanrana at the same time to both Williams and Melo. Crews was tagged in. Crews came in hot and dropkicked Melo and Williams. Crews then hit them hiptosses but Melo hit a pop kick and La Mistica on Crews for the opening pin attempt of the match.

Crews got right back up and hit Melo with a knee and Axiom came back into the ring illegally to deliver a German Suplex on Melo. As Melo tried to go outside to re-group, Crews picked up Axio with a military press slam and threw him onto both Melo and Williams. Axiom with a rollup after a front chancery for a two count on Melo. Melo got up and both he and Axiom hit each other with a double clothesline to take each other out.

Both Crews and Axiom hit Williams and Melo with chained German Suplexes. As Axiom went for a kick, Melo caught it and tossed Axiom’s foot to Crews’ face. Melo then slammed Axiom and got yet another 2-count. Axiom was caught on the wrong side of the ring as Melo and Williams cut hi off from his partner and laid a beating on him. Axiom was able to get away from them and do a hot tag to Crews who came in and went nuts on Melo with punches. Crews continued his hot streak as he hit a few corner splashes followed by an Enzuigiri on Melo. Crews with a Military Press Slam and standing moonsault combo onto Melo. Crews went for a pin but Williams broke this up. This got Axiom back in the ring who hit WIlliams with a modified Golden Ratio to take him out of the ring. Melo now caught his breath and went for a Nothing but Net but Crews dodged it and got the three count via a roll up on a shocked Melo.

Winners: Apollo Crews and Carmelo Hayes 

Out in the streets near a bridge, Toy D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo were walking. Tony dumped coins over the ledge and said that the bridge is where things start and end. D’Angelo said that Stacks is a solid earner and is willing to take the bullet for the Family. D’Angelo said that the Dijak match didn’t end how he wanted and Stacks apologized profusely. Stacks then told D’Angelo he should do what he has to and he turned his back to Tony facing the ledge. D’Angelo then had a leather jacket with the family emblem on it and said that Stacks is now an underboss, as he handed Stack the jacket. Stacks thanks Tony.

Highlights from last week’s 20 woman battle royal aired. Toxic Attraction were then shown backstage, heading to the ring

The Hardest working reporter in all of professional wrestling, McKenzie Mitchell is with Tiffany Stratton. Stratton is annoyed by Mitchell. Mitchell mentioned that Stratton is struggling with the locker room. Mitchell then showed Stratton footage of last night where Stratton was struggling to get into her locker room. Indi Hartwell walked out and said that it wasn’t her locker room anymore. Indi tore the sign and added a “Women’s Locker Room” sign. Tiffani talked trash about Indi saying that Hartwell could fit her entire wardrobe in a garbage bag. Stratton then said that she’s going to prove she’s the number one and only one in the division.

Toxic Attraction Speaks

Both Jacey Jayne and Gigi Dolin are in the ring with mic’s and they said “We told you so”. They gloated at the fact they both won the 20-Woman Battle Royal last week. They said that they are always on the same page as a team. They even fell out of the ring at the same time. Dolin then said there is no animosity or jealousy between them. Dolin then ended her schtick by saying that the Toxic Attraction Revenge Tour is in full swing. Jacy then talked about Roxanne Perez and put her in notice for Vengeance Day on February 4.

Lyra Valkyria’s music hit and she heads to the ring with a mic in hand. Valkyria said that she would have won last week if it wasn’t for Cora Jade. She then said that she doesn’t see Toxic Attraction as Championship Material. Jayne asked Valkyria where she came from and said that they’ve been Tag Champs longer than shes even been around in NXT (USA at least). Dolin tells Valkyria to go to the back of the line. Valkria comes back and says that she sees two women who can’t beat Perez on their own. Toxic Attraction heard enough and attack Valkyria but the NXT Women’s Champion, Roxanne Perez made the save.

Backstage, Creed Brothers were training at the Diamind Mind Gym. The Creeds were arguing over who gets to face Jinder Mahal next. Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley walk in and Nile screams at them asking what’s happened to them and says they’re far from where they need to be. Nile told them both to grow a set and figure things out.

Stevie Turner with a Live Stream promo going over last week’s Women’s Battle Royal. She finished this off by saying that she would have won if she was in the Battle Royal

Alba Fyre vs. Sol Ruca

Match starts off with a lock up before Ruca trips Alba Fyre, then plants her with a facebuster. Ruca went for a pin, but Fyre kicks out. Fyre delivers a pair of kicks to her chest, then delivers a chop and a superkick. Isla Dawn then appears to watch the match and of course Fyre gets distracted and that allows Ruca to deliver Sol Snatcher which gave her the huge win!

Winner: Sol Ruca 

A Dijak promo aired all about Justice. He said he came back to NXT to collect punitive damages and Wes Lee has enough to fill his bag by giving him the NXT North American Championship. He said he’d offer Wes Lee a plea bargain for the title, but Lee has no shot of leaving Charlotte, NC with the championship. Dijak said it won’t be vengeance day for Lee, but judgement day.

Vic Joseph Sit Down with Grayson Waller

We then head to a video of Vic Joseph as he is with the #1 Contender to the NXT Title Grayson Waller. Waller says New Year’s Evil was supposed to be the night he saved NXT and he had Breakker beat. He says he knew exactly what Bron Breakker was going to do, but the reason he’s not sitting here as champion was something that was out of his control: the middle rope snapping.

Joseph says he thought Waller would be crowned as NXT Champion after delivering a vicious knee, and Waller agrees. Waller said he went to the middle ripe to finish him off and the next thing he knows, the ref was counting to 10 and he lost. Waller then pulled out a replica of the NXT Title and says at Vengeance Day he will pin Breakker no matter what happens.

Joseph hyped the Cage Match between Waller and Breakker at Vengeance day. Waller hyped up NXT being back on the road and said who’d be better to ride the car than Grayson Waller. Waller said he’s taking the title and Charlotte,North Carolina  viral when he wins the title

Gallus, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang were walking backstage. They hyped up beating Briggs and Jensen as they are on their way to the ring.

The show cut to Briggs, Jensen, and Henley heading to the ring and talking about how they are going to take care of Gallus

Backstage, Alba Fyre is with a bat to the throat of the referee of her match earlier tonight. NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Katana Chance & Kayden Carter walk in and ask her what’s going on. Fyre says she can’t win title matches, losing to rookies and feels nothing is going her way. Carter & Chance tell her to relax, and Fyre snaps at them. She says NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion Alba Fyre sounds good to her. Carter & Chance say they’ll take on anyone at any time, but she doesn’t have a partner. Fyre says she doesn’t need one and walks away.

Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen (w/Fallon Henley) vs. “Gallus” Mark Coffey and Wolfgang

The match started off with a good ol brawl. Gallus brought Jensen to their corner, cutting him off from Briggs. Jensen was able to escape after a mild beating and tagged Briggs in who quickly got to work and slammed Mark and got a two count out of it. Wolfgang and Jensen got back into the match and Gallus once again cut Jensen off from his partner and this time they were able to beat down on Jensen. Booker made mention that Jensen might be distracted by Kiana James. Briggs was able to finally tag back into the match but Gallus continued their dominance over their opponents. Briggs blocked a back suplex on the exposed floor outside and was able to turn this around and hit Mark with a Suplex of his own.

Briggs with a backdrop on Mark and tags in Jensen. Jensen cleaned house of both Gallus boys. Jensen’s back gave out unexpectedly during a suplex and Wolfgang came back into the match who hits Jensen with a Crossbody for a 2-count. Jensen rolls to tag Briggs and now it’s Briggs who cleaned house of the Gallus boys as he hit Mark with a diving shoulder tackle. On the outside, Wolfgang slammed Jensen back first on the concrete. Briggs hit Mark with a Lariat, Body Slam, Standing Splash combo.

On the outside of the ring, Henley is calling for medics for Jensen who appeared injured. Briggs was distracted by this and Mark rolled him up for only a 2-count. Both men were back up and Mark and Briggs take each other down with double clotheslines. Back on the outside, Kiana James comes out to check on her man Jensen. Henley and James begin to argue about how to best take care of Jensen. The medics are also there all at the same time, Briggs fought the Gallus boys off with punches. It was too much for Briggs though as Mark takes him down witha  right handed punch and their Enzuigiri, Power Slam Combo for the win.

Winners:  “Gallus” Mark Coffey and Wolfgang

James and the medic carried Jensen to the back while Henley went to check on Briggs

Andre Chase confronted Duke Hudson about how Duke Hudson was talking about Chace U taking a lot of L’s recently because of Chase. Hudson said they need to focus on Thea Hail. Hail said she was focused. Andre wished Hail luck and said that she needs to win.  Chase says if Hudson has something to say to him, then he should do so to his face. Hudson says the conversation was taken out of context and deflects the focus onto Hail’s match.

After the break in the trainer’s room, we see Jensen getting checked on by a trainer. Fallon Henley storms in and asks why James was at ringside. Henley tells Jensen that James is using her, but Jensen says that’s not the case. Henley tells him that when she breaks his heart, she won’t be there to pick up the pieces……….. (oh the drama)

Valentina Feroz vs. Thea Hail

They start off with going back and forth with submission attempts. Hail with an arm drag then Feroz with one of her own along with a drop kick. Elektra Lopez comes down to the ring to watch on as Hail rolled up Feroz but Feroz sat and rolled through to get a cover of her own. Hail kicked out and hit a Moonsault. Hudson and Chase are arguing outside of the ring and the ref is now distracted. This opened the door for Lopez to throw a pair of Brass Knuckles to Feroz but she chose not to use them. This allowed Hail to hit a Sports Manship (one percenter) for her first win on NXT TV.

Winner: Thea Hail

Of note, during the match, oseph talked about NXT_Anonymous continuing to creep on people. Booker said in wrestling they call creepers “Stasiaks”.

Joseph noted this was Hail’s first win on NXT TV. Apollo Crews contfonted Trick and Melo in the parking lot to trash talk. Melo said Apollo’s win was cheap. Apollo said he’s going to celebrate by getting a fresh hair cut. Crews walked away laughing.

Now for some sad news delivered during the broadcast. As most know but announced on WWE TV, Vic Joseph said that current Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion Jay Briscoe has passed away at the age of 38 years of age

Backstage Elektra Lopez is with Valentina Feroz. Lopez asks Feroz why she didn’t accept her help and Feroz says she didn’t want to cheat. Lopez says that it doesn’t matter if you play by the rules, you play to win and earn respect. Lopez told Feroz to watch her match next week against Wendy Choo.

NXT Tag Team Champions, New Day Speak

Booker trash talked them through this segment which is funny in a way. Woods and Kofi were dressed to the nines. Kofi said they were wearing dapper drip because they are officially finished with Pretty Deadly.  Woods asked who will be getting the tag title shot at Vengeance Day? They mocked Gallus….

Pretty Deadly, Kit Wilson and Elton Prince come out. Prince said that all of this is nonsense. Wilson asked New Day if this was funny and Woods said its hilarious. Kofi agreed and said that it’s pretty hilarious they lost last week. Woods said all they had to do was get that WWE Memorabillia. Wilson said they are the rightful number 1 contenders.

Gallus comes out. Wolfgang has the mic and said that Pretty Deadly don’t deserve the Tag Title shot. Wilson said that Pretty Deadly weren’t even officially in the Tag Team Gauntlet last week. Mark said that Gallus boys are back on top so everyone’s chances to become NXT Tag Team Champs are done. Wolfgang said they took care of Pretty Deadly and New Day is next on their list. Wood’s made fun of Gallus’ accent but said their body language says they want a fight. As New Day and Gallus were ready to brawl, Pretty Deadly jumped both teams. New Day got the upperhand over Pretty Deadly and dumped them to ringside. Oney Lorcan, Robby Brookside and other NXT suits (No Normal Smiley) came out to stop the fighting.

The hardest working reporter in all of professional wrestling, McKenzie Mitchell is with Roxanne Perez and Lyra Valkyria. She asked them about teaming later against Toxic Attraction. Lyra said she usually flies solo, but she’s making an exception tonight.

Javier Bernal interrupted with a guitar in hand. Javi claimed his christmas album hit the top 40. He said “Feliz Javidad” was flying up the music charts. Lyra was disgusted and Mitchell seemed angry and embarrassed for Javi…

Vic Joseph Sits down with Bron Breakker

Vic Joseph is sitting down with NXT Champion Bron Breakker. Breakker says no one wanted to see the NXT Title match endat New Year’s Evil last week the way it did. He says he was blindsided and rocked by the knee he delivered before the middle rope broke for a second time and says all questions and doubters will be answered at Vengeance’s Day.

Joseph talked about the Steel Cage Match at Vengeance Day and Breakker says he can’t think of a better scenario because there is nowhere for Waller to run or hide. He says he won’t be climbing over the cage to win, but will pin or submit him in the center of the ring. He says Waller would be a terrible person to lead NXT because he only cares about himself. Joseph talked about Waller running around with a fake replica belt. Breakker said Waller is nothing but trash talk. Breakker said Waller’s claims won’t come true at Vengeance Day. Breakker hyped leaving North Carolina as NXT Champion. Joseph hyped up Breakker vs. Waller at Vengeance day

Tyler Bate vs. Javier Bernal

Before the match “Big Body Javi” was in the middle of the ring trying to be Man Mountain Rock. Javi started playing and signing his Feliz Javidad song and was interrupted by Tyler Bate.

Match starts off with Tyler Bate faking out Javi with a fake handshake. They then lock up  and Bate delivers a dropkick and an arm drag. Bernal delivers a thumb to Bate’s eye, then follows it up with a clothesline. Bernal then with a few punches, but Bate fires back with one of his own. He plants Bernal, then delivers a boot to his midsection and an uppercut. Javi came back briefly but Bate blocked a Bulldog.

Bate now with more punches and another uppercut. Bate with a knee and diving onto Javi. Bate with a T-Bone Suplex and Standing Shooting Star. Javi got out of a Tyler Driver but Tyler hit Javi with two Bop and Bang punches. Tyler tried two Tyler Drivers because Javi couldnt execute the move properly the first time, but Tyler went with it and pinned him after the second one for the win.

Winner: Tyler Bate

Backstage, Duke Hudson and Chase U were carrying celebrating Thea Hail’s first TV win.

Also in the back, Fallon Henley went up to Briggs and Jensen to apologize for snapping on Jensen. Henley said he’s going to try to make it work for Jensen. Henley said she’s going to make it up to Jensen by teaming up with Kiana James in a tag match next week. They all go out drinking….

New Day vs Gallus vs Pretty Deadly for the NXT Tag Team Championship was announced for Vengeance Day. Next week on the show:

  • Katana Chance and Kayden Carter vs. Alba Fyre in a handicap match for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships
  • Indi Hartwell vs. Tiffany Stratton
  • Thea Hail’s Award Ceremony

Lyra Valkyria and NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez vs. “Toxic Attraction” Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne

Very fast paced match. Perez hit Jayne with a dive at ringside to start things off. Lyra hit Dolin with a wrecking ball kick. Perez and Lyra cut the ring in half on Jayne and get the advantage for a but until Dolin tagged in. Perez and Valkyria used quick tags to keep the momentum ont heir sie against Toxic Attraction. Jayne blind tagged in and mounted Perez for punches then Dolin tagged in and got a two count off a Jackknife Pin. Toxic Attraction now with quick tags of their own as they cut the ring in half as they work over Perez.

Perez was able to escape this as she hit Jayne with facebuster. Lyra got the hot tag wtih Dolin also tagging in. Valkyria cleaned house with kicks. Valkyria then hit Dolin with an Exploder Suplex. Valkyria is in full control of Toxic Attraction as she climbs to the top rope. Cora Jade ran out to shove Valkyria off the top rope as payback for eliminating her last week. Jayne and Perez tagged in. Perez gave Jayne Thesz Press punches. Valkyria recovered from the toss and gave Jade a crossbody. Valkyria and Jade continue to brawl all the way to the back leaving Perez alone against Toxic Attraction.

Back in the ring,  Dolin hit Perez with a superkick and Toxic Attraction went for their high low finisher, but Jayne accidently missed and hit Dolin with a spinning boot. Perez threw Jayne out of the ring and then hit Dolin with Pop Rocks (Code Red) to pick up the win.

Winners: Roxanne Perez and Lyra Valkyria

Roxanne Perez posed with the NXT Women’s Championship at the top of the ramp while Gigi and Jacy bickered in the ring as Vic Joseph announced that there would be a face to face summit between Perez and Toxic Attraction next week.

3.5

NXT TV: January 17, 2023

All in all this was a very hard week to focus while writing the report due to the news of Jay Briscoe’s death. That said, this was a good show. This show pushed all championship program’s as we inch closer to Vengeance Day on February 4th. My one minor gripe with that card is the amount of gimmick and multi-person matches on the card. Overall, solid show.