“Last year was also filled with bleakness, despair and evil,” narrates the opening package of New Year’s Evil, the first episode of NXT in 2026. From the podium, Vic Joseph and Booker T preview tonight’s lineup, one forging on past the loss of staples like Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans to the main roster.
Women’s North American Champion Thea Hail enters to defend against challenger Blake Monroe, who blindsides her opponent before the match can begin. Monroe weaponizes a steel chair and sends her through the barricade, forcing referees to separate them.
Ricky Saints cringes past the fallen champion, kicking off the show instead. “There’s only room for one star,” he says about Williams and Evans. He brushes off Leon Slater and eyes a rubber match against NXT Champion Oba Femi. “That, as if you needed a reminder, is absolute,” says the natural villain.
Tatum Paxley vs Izzi Dame
NXT General Manager Ava orders Robert Stone to find Monroe, steals a production assistant’s headset and tells the booth to play Paxley and Dame’s package. Twenty minutes into the show, she finds Monroe, banning her from the building. Paxley gains control against Dame, who competes without The Culling’s Shawn Spears and Niko Vance at ringside. After break, Dame powers over her opponent with a Liontamer, but Paxley comes back with a top-rope Spanish Fly. They trade strikes until Dame hits a sit-out powerbomb and connects with a Bron Breakker-style cutter. Paxley recovers with a Rolling Thunder kick, a “didn’t get all of it” 450 Splash and the Psycho Trap for victory.
Winner: Tatum Paxley
New French signee Elio Lefleur, formerly known as Aigle Blanc, introduces himself in a vignette. “I’m here to slash the sky,” he says, translating his former moniker to the white eagle.
In the trainer’s room, Hail pleads with Ava to defend against Monroe tonight, but the general manager doesn’t budge. After congratulating her on her recent Smackdown appearance, Ava instead accepts Jordynne Grace’s appeal for an open challenge.
Kendal Grey vs Jacy Jayne (c) – NXT Women’s Championship
Wren Sinclair of Wren-QCC and Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid of Fatal Influence take their respective corners. Grey hits a diving moonsault onto all three of the opposition, but Jayne sentons her into the barricade before break. Grey comes back with Kurt Angle-like fluidity, taking down the straps for a two-count. She hits consecutive German suplexes, Jayne reverses with a knee strike, and Grey delivers a top-rope overhead suplex. As Grey applies an armbar, Reid drags her from the ring and eats a suplex. Sinclair knocks Henley from the apron and takes a Rolling Encore from Jayne. But Grey reapplies the armbar, getting NXT fans to their feet, ultimately pushing Jayne to the ropes. Henley gives the champion backup, allowing her to capitalize with a final Rolling Encore to retain.
Winner: Jacy Jayne
North American Champion Ethan Page bothers Ava in her office and offers the courtesy of taking it in-ring. The Vanity Project fills the void instead, and Evolve Champion Jackson Drake wants to talk 2026. Tomorrow, he defends against “Super” Sean Legacy on Tubi.
Women’s North American Championship Open Challenge
Hail stumbles in like she had a bad dinner. Proving to herself she deserves her controversially won championship, she again declares the open challenge. The women’s locker room empties out to accept, Tatum Paxley pushes through with a chainsaw, and Izzi Dame blindsides the champion from behind. Shawn Spears and Niko Vance shove a referee in-ring and demand the bell rings as Dame dominates. “We want Tatum” a section of fans chant, feebly dying out before the break. Dame gets the knees up on a springboard senton and hits a big boot for a two-count. She escapes a Kimura Lock, catches an outside dive and chokeslams Hail on top of the announce desk. Spears coaches Dame into getting the champion back in-ring, where she hits an avalanche Dame Over to win her first championship. Fans disapprove, siding with the kid and Wednesday Addams instead.
Winner: Izzi Dame
Lola Vice watches the monitors before The Vanity Project and Hank Walker and Tank Ledger argue amongst themselves. Vice wants Dame’s new title but has unfinished business with Kehlani Jordan, who commences in an uninspired pull-apart brawl.
Joe Hendry walks into Ava’s office, demanding a no disqualifications match with DarkState’s leader Dion Lennox next week. He promises to find a “couple of badasses” to even the odds before Ava agrees.
Ethan Page keeps his word, migrating in-ring. Unlike NXT Champion Oba Femi, he says, his North American Championship defenses have made him a globetrotter and an international icon. Speed Champion Jasper Troy interrupts, followed by Josh Briggs, who takes offense to the former’s claim of being “the best big man in NXT.” TNA International Champion Stacks arrives next, calling himself an international icon by title. Shiloh Hill comes out to low-brow “toothless aggression” chants, demanding a shot at Stacks’ championship next week. Tavion Heights calls out Troy, who he faces next week for the Speed Championship. Page goads everyone into a schmoz that he luckily avoids, and Hill stands tall, drooling his tooth onto Arianna Grace.
Hendry asks OTM for backup, ultimately persuading them into line for the NXT Tag Team Championships. Fatal Influence then run into ZaRuca, Sol Ruca comes for Jacy Jayne’s NXT Championship, and the latter questions the legitimacy of their tag team.
Page walks past Myles Borne and Evolve’s Tate Wilder. The North American Champion says Borne stayed out of the previous segment because he isn’t championship material, asking, “Can you hear me now?”
Leon Slater vs Oba Femi (c) – NXT Championship
TNA President Carlos Silva spectates ringside as X-Division Champion Leon Slater aims for the top of NXT. “The Ruler” takes control, chopping down Slater, and popping up the NXT audience. He delivers a backbreaker and whips the challenger over the turnbuckles before break. He chops him down the apron, but Slater avoids a knee strike into the post, further targeting it into the steels steps. The challenger hits a top-rope crossbody, but Femi comes back with a lariat and chokeslam. The champion’s knee gives out, and Slater capitalizes with a big body slam and somersault over the ring post. Femi gets the knees up on Slater’s 450 Swanton, and the challenger gets a close crucifix near-fall. But “The Ruler” recuperates with Fall From Grace, retaining the NXT Championship further into January.
Winner: Oba Femi
Ava cites Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans, Lash Legend and Jordynne Grace as official main-roster call-ups. In her office, she tells WWE Evolve roster members that NXT spots will subsequently be opening too. Robert Stone barges in: “I am so sorry to interrupt. Did you see what Oba just did?” Cameras catch the NXT Championship propped in the ring as Tony D’Angelo looms.
