WWE NXT 12/12/2023

WWE NXT 12/12/2023

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/12/wwe-nxt-1252023.html

Trick Willaism and Carmelo Hayes arrive and are asked questions by the media. Melo leaves as Trick talks. We do a video on Deadline then we cut to Melo, who is down in the back. He is holding his knee and asked what happened. Trick comes in and also wants to know. Trick says to get some help and asks who did it. 

Cora Jade talks in the ring. She said it's been 4 hard months for the fans without her. She said she's back now. She said Deadline was the best day ever as she reminded everyone that everything is better whne she's around. She said nobody talked about the women in the ICS when the event was over, they were talking about her.

Lyra Valkyria then comes out. She said she forgot to mention that she jumped Lyra. Lyra said she's been gone for 4 months yet is still going to take shortcuts like always. She said she may not have changed in the last 4 months, but she changed and is now the women's champ.

Blair Davenport came out. She said she won the iron survivor and said Cora isn't. Blair says she will be champ like she was destined to be at New Year's Evil. Lyra said she will never take the title from her and said she's surprised her and Cora aren't best friends since they like to jump people from behind.

Nikkita Lyons comes out. She said she didn't forget what Blair did to her in the parking lot. Blair hits her and all 4 girls fight. The heels get beaten up and roll out.

We see clips of the fight between Meta-Four and Briggs/Jensen/Fallon at Deadline.

Dragon Lee is interviewed by Kelly Kincaid, Lee talks in Spanish and said Saturday was a dream come true. Lee said he respects Wes Lee and wants to defend the title as much as he did. He said we will find out who his next challenger is in the ring.

Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen and Fallon Henley vs Meta-Four(Noam Dar, Oro Mensah and Lash Legend)

The faces get nailed as they pose on the ropes. The men fight outside and Lash knees Fallon in the gut. Lash elbow drops Fallon's back. Fallon gets in her face then gets on her back with a sleeper. Lash drops Fallon with a forearm then Fallon kicks her in the leg and the back of the head. Fallon gets thrown into her corner. Jensen gets in and Lash eggs Jensen on.

Jensen atomic drops Oro and hits forearms. Tiffany Stratton is watching this in the back for some reason. Jensen face busters Oro then he and Briggs double shoulder Dar. B&J then slide out and punch their opponents on the middle rope. Lash then throws Fallon out onto B&J.

We go to PiP break and return. Jensen back body drops Oro over the top. Oro leg sweeps him then Jensen takes a double shot from Oro and Dar. Dar elbows Jensen in the head then headlocks him. Dar leg kicks Jensen and euros him. Jensen hits a big lariat then Dar ankle locks him. Jensen tags in Briggs but the ref doesn't see it. Oro then hits a springboard ryder kick. Dar spinning back elbows Jensen for 2. Fallon hurricanrana's Lash over the top then Oro bottom rope ueors Briggs on the floor. Tiffany Stratton comes in and fights with Fallon.

Jensen cradles Dar for 2 then Dar flying shining wizards him. Briggs gets in and punch flurries Dar. Briggs throws Oro into Dar and makes him ddt him. Briggs hits a big lariat on Dar and picks up the win.

It was a fast pace tag that wasn't bad. Nothing too special about it though. Meta-Four essentially losing 2v3 made them look bad here though. I liked Briggs' lariat and Dar's spinning back elbow.

Carmelo Hayes is getting worked on in the medical office and Trick Williams comes in. The doc says Melo is cleared. Trick says he doesn't know who did it but knows who did something like this to him before. He said he won't say it here, but in the ring and will call that person out. Trick says he needs to handle the business with Dragunov and he'll handle this.

We are introduced to the people in the Men's Breakout Tournament. Riley Osborne is representing Chase University here.  They say Oba Femi is the favorite to win it all. Lexis King comes out and chairs Trey Bearhill in the back. The refs then break it up.

NXT Men's Breakout Tournament 1st Round - Oba Femi vs Myles Borne

Oba shoves him back and Borne hits a nice dropkick. Oba hits some shots. Borne goes up and over and dropkicks him in the back. Borne boots Oba then trips him. Borne double stomps his back for 2. Oba hits shots to the gut then lariats him.

Oba picks him up for a backdrop then lifts him and slams him down hard. Oba running euros him in the corner then Borne powerslams him for 2. Borne is lifted and thrown down then Oba pop-up powerbombs him for the win.

Oba shockingly got the win here. He looked good throwing Borne around and Borne did okay. It was short though and the crowd wasn't real into it likely due to not knowing much about either guy. I was disappointed to see Borne lose here.

Lyra is working out in the back. Nikkita goes up to her and says the tag match is on. Lyra talks about the people who want to challenge her and says it's just another day in the life. Nikkita says as bad as Lyra wants Cora, she wants Blair 10x as bad. Lyra opens her locker and there's a photo of her and Tatum Paxley. Lyra said it was a photo of her and Becky but Tatum put her face over it instead. Nikkita said Tatum's a weird girl.

Tiffany Stratton is interviewed. Tiff said she needs to vent. She said she's sick of Fallon and over her existence. She said she never lived like her and serves people like her. She said she can't dress like her and can't come close to her star power. She said she will never come close to being her.

WWE NXT North American Title - Dragon Lee (c) vs Tyler Bate

Bate side headlocks him, is snapmared and shouldered over. Bate side headlock takeovers him. They kick each other at the same time then try to dropkick each other at the same time before doing headflips up. Bate flying headscissors him and Lee cartwheels through then Bate handsprings through when he gets headscissored. They then lotheslines each other at the same time.

We go to break and return. Bate 2nd rope euros him and dropkicks him out. Bate suicide dives him over the top then exploders him. Bate running ssp's him for 2. Bate handstands in the corner and is superkicked. Bate goes out and Lee topes him. Lee hits combinacion cabron in the corner then corner dropkicks him. Bate airplane spins him and slams him down.

Lee rebound german him, Bate no sells it then rebound lariats him for 2. Bate gets stuck in tree of woe and Lee double stomps him off the top. Lee hurricanrana's him out of the tiger driver position then Lee hits destino to win it.

This was very fast paced with no selling and no lack of action. 

Briggs, Fallon and Jensen talk in the back. Jensen says he pulled through for him. Fallon said Tiff is the one who is garbage. Briggs says he pinned Dar and should be next for a Heritage Cup match. Jensen said that's not his style and Briggs is more of a one round guy. Briggs disagrees and said he needs to think outside of the box. They all agree he can try though.

Lexis King and Ava Raine talk in the back in front of Shawn Michaels' office. King celebrates hitting Trey in the back with a chair. Ava said everyone wants King in the tournament so they can beat him up. King says mission accomplished and says he makes moments happen in NXT. He says she's not the first of the last. Ava says he can replace Trey Bearhill in the Breakout Tournament. They never really explained why or how Ava Raine got powers backstage, but they really need to. I'm not a fan of King being in this tournament because it really should just be for rookies.

Eddy Thorpe vs Dijak

Dijak tries to hit him during his entrance but Eddy avoids it. They fight outside. Eddy is sent into the apron and has his head banged off the commentary table. Dijak says he cost him the ICS then Eddy throws him into the steps. Dijak runs him into the buckles then Eddy hits kicks. Dijak rams him into the buckles again and the top rope comes off. Dijak starts bleeding around the ear bad. Dijak picks up the top rope and hits Eddy with it. Dijak drives the metal part of it into Eddy. The refs comes down to stop it then Dijak drops him over the middle rope connector.

They definitely oversold this one and it was hard to buy Eddy was in as much pain as they made it seem.

We go to Chase U. Chase is looking for numbers from the bake sale and they only made $66. The car wash got $345. Duke rips it, saying it's not enough. Chase says he will take care of it and Duke says he looks like sh!t. Thea and Jacy talk about Riley Osborne and Thea wants to go watch his match. Scrypts comes in with a briefcase, likely full of money. He says he has a proposition for him.

Cora and Blair talk in the back. Blair said she stole her moment. Cora said Lyra did it. Cora said she would have made sure she had her moment. Blair says when she gets her title match, it will be Cora vs her and not Lyra. Blair also says she will take care of Nikkita. Cora says she will take care of Lyra.

NXT Men's Breakout Tournament 1st Round - Keanu Carver vs Riley Osborne

This is Keanu Carver's televised debut. Thea and Jacy are seen watching in the audience. Carver picks him up by the throat and throws him down. Riley flips behind him and rolls him up. Riley shotgun dropkicks him then standing moonsaults him for 2. Riley flips over him then takes a big lariat.

Riley's crossbody is caught and he is fallaway slammed. Carver hits corner spears to the back then backdrops him for 2. Carve does a camel clutch variation and they trade shots. Riley leg lariats him and shotgun dropkicks him into the corner. Carver hits a big pounce. Riley high kicks him from the apron and hits a top rope SSP. Riley wins it.

This was a really good debut for Carver. He looked like he understood what he was doing out there, had good facials and came across well. Riley didn't get to do much here but he got the win here.

Drew Gulak's crew walks up to Dragon Lee. Lee asks what they want. Drew asks if this tribute to Wes Lee is a one off or a weekly thing. Lee speaks in spanish and tells him to learn spanish. Lee says it will be every week and they say they agree for next week. Drew's crew said he will find out next week which one of them is stepping up.

Riley Osborne is in the back. Thea goes up to him with encouragement from JAcy. Thea says she appreciates him when he says he appreciates her being out here. Thea says if he's from around here and he says he's from the UK. Riley says he will go take a shower and Theqa can't figure out what to say. Thea asks how she was and Jacy makes faces. Kiana James and Izzi Dame come up to them. Kiana mocks Thea and Izzi asks if she's delusional. Izzi said he's a whole man and she's a whole child.

Nikkita Lyons and Lyra Valkyria vs Cora Jade and Blair Davenport

Lyra and Blair lock up. Lyra snapmares her and rolls her up. Lyra leg sweeps her. They both miss kicks. Lyra hits forearms on Cora then hiptosses her. Lyra side headlock takeovers her. Lyra jumps off of Blair and bulldogs Cora.

Nikkita gets in and throws Cora. Nikkita slams Blair. Cora gets in and hits her in the back of the head. Nikkita then hits kicks to the body. Blair trips Nikkita then Cora knees Nikkita in the back. Blair neckbreakers Nikkita for 2. We go to PiP break and return.

Cora blocks Nikkita from making a tag. Nikkita rolls her up for 2 then is kicked in the gut. Lyra gets in and lariats Blair multiple times. Lyra crossbodies her and hits some kicks. Lyra fisherman suplexes her then dropkicks her through the ropes. Tatum Paxley appears on the rail at ringside and is playing with a feather. Lyra gets distracted and misses a top rope crossbody.

Cora running forearms Nikkita then takes a step up enzugiri from Lyra. Blair falcon arrows Lyra for 2. Nikkita throws Cora out. Cora and Lyra bang heads then Nikkita pulls out Nikkita. Cora then pins Lyra.

It was just average. I didn't really like how this one was set up. There was too much going on and it felt rushed. 

Tatum Paxley gets in the ring and throws out Nikkita after. She then crawls to Lyra, stares at her and hugs her. Lyrai s confused.

Hank and Tank talk in the back. Tank is excited for Gallus. Hank says they need to prove themselves against them. Gallus walks in and says to go to the pub and drown their sorrows. Hank said they have more heart than them combined while Gallus has been involved in more fights than them. Joe says he isn't getting involved and says to trust him. Joe Gacy then shows up in the forklift behind them. He beeps the horn and is drinking coffee. He says it takes a joe to know a joe and says a cup of joe is better than one joe. Gallus is confused. 

Trick Williams comes out for his confrontation with Ilja Dragunov. He said Deadline was a movie and said he walked out the Iron Survivor. He said he's not going to cut up his opponents and said they put out a banger last Saturday. Trick said he heard there will be an awards show at the end of the year and nominates the Iron Survivor Challenge as the best match of the year. He said he was in the ring with some dawgs and said they forgot that Trick has been balling his whole life. He says he's Trick Curry, Tricky McGrady and Trick James (NBA players).

Ilja Dragunov comes out. He said they stood in this ring a few months ago and said Trick thanked him for getting him to a new level. Ilja said he is proud of him. Ilja said his journey comes to an end at New Year's Evil. Trick said he would have wondered months ago if he had what it takes to face him. He said he's that guy now and is the man now in NXT. He says he will beat the best NXT has to offer and will be the new NXT champ. Ilja said he will do whatever it takes to become NXT champ.

Carmelo Hayes comes out. He says we have to take care of business now. Melo said his name was dragged through the dirt for 2 months. He said he knows who attacked Trick and it's the same person who attacked him. Ilja goes to leave and Melo tells him not to go. Melo says it was Ilja who attacked them. Melo says it don't make sense and Ilja asks what he is talking about. Melo said Ilja gains more from separating them and said he knew that if he faced one of them, he had to face both of them. Melo said he didn't want to take that chance.

Ilja calls him arrogant and delusional. Melo said he knew if he put them against each other, he'd have this all to himself. Melo said he had him beat Halloween Havoc, but Trick came out and distracted him. He said that was Ilja's plan all along. Ilja said he didn't attack him, if he did even get attacked. Trick says "tell me you didn't just say that". Ilja says he doesn't attack him but he needs to talk to his friends. Melo says they are on the same page now. Melo said Ilja needs to know what it feels like to have something taken from him. Melo says Ilja doesn't deserve the title like Trick does. Ilja and Melo fight for the belt and Trick gets hit with it to end the show.

Ilja possibly being the attacker is an interesting twist and is possible.

Overall thoughts: It wasn't a great episode but it was watchable. We got a lot of things happening storyline wise as usual. The Breakout Tournament matches were probably the most interesting matches of the night. The twist of Ilja possibly being the attacker is an interesting idea that would make some sense. We didn't get to see people like Bron or Von Wagner here amongst others though. I thought it was okay show but not the best NXT has to offer.