WWE NXT Level Up 12/27/2024

WWE NXT Level Up 12/27/2024

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/wwe-nxt-level-up-12202024.html

Byron Saxton and Vic Joseph are on commentary. 

This is the final edition of NXT Level Up. It's going to be replaced by WWE LFG, which is a new version of Tough Enough. We haven't seen it yet though so we don't really know what it's going to look like. Oddly, this show will also be airing at the same time as AEW Rampage, which is also having its last show tonight. It reminds me of GAEA/AJW and WCW/ECW closing in the same weeks as each other. It's going to effect Friday's on this site as there will be 2 shows less left to do each week.

The announcers mention that this is the last episode of Level Up. Byron says it's been an honor and says let's level up for one last time.

Wendy Choo, Kali Armstrong and Lainey Reid vs Kendal Grey, Carlee Bright and Layla Diggs

This may be the first women's trios match on Level Up. LR and KG go at it. KG hits a nice spear and LR hits mounted shots. KG lariats her. KG waistlocks Choo. Choo backrolls and stares at her. KG hits a northern lights suplex then armlocks her. Choo has both arms yanked at once. Choo forearms Diggs. Diggs hiptosses Kali then slams her.

CB is flipped onto Kali by Diggs. CB flying headscissors Kali out of the corner. CB armlocks Kali and Kali grabs the hair. Kali powerslams CB. Choo bangs CB's head off the mat. Choo neck twists CB then cartwheel forearms her in the corner. Choo running facekicks CB.

LR snapmares CB then pounds on her. LR running euros CB in the corner. CB's head is banged off the buckles then LR twisting suplexes CB for 2. Kali runs the ropes fast and shoulders CB over hard. Diggs comes in and running lariats Lr. She spin kicks and side kicks her. Diggs does a forward cartwheel splash on LR and Choo. Diggs suplexes LR for 2. KG hits a hard running euro on Kali and throws her out. CB cannonballs Choo off th apron. LR cradles Diggs and Diggs pump kicks her. Diggs hits a nice scissors kick on LR and wins.

Thoughts: It was a fun tag match here. It's sad we didn't get more of it and probably will never see it again. Diggs had a good hot tag segment and hit some nice looking kicks here. Kali had another good showing as a powerhouse. KG didn't get much in but her spear was nice.  

Dante Chen is interviewed in the back by someone with a British accent. He says he has mixed emotions. He says it's an honor to be on the final match of Level Up. He says he's nervous and has a lot to live up to. He says he's proud of what he achieved on this show. He says he has to win tonight. He says he doesn't know which 3 men will challenge him but he will end the show with his hand raised as the gatekeeper of NXT.

We see some graphics of people who were on the show like Lola, Kelani, Oba, Je'Von Evans, Myles Borne, Tavion Heights, Thea Hail and Dante Chen. They thank the fans and said one person became synonymous with the show it's fitting that he is in the last match.

Dante Chen's Open Challenge Gauntlet Match

Leg 1 - Dante Chen vs Keanu Carver

They lock up. Chen front facelocks him. KC throws him off. Chen armlocks him then KC slams him. KC misses an elbow drop and Chen armdrags him. KC blocks an armdrag then hits a nice powerslam. KC rams Chen into the corner and hits corner spears.  KC is pushed into the buckles and Chen rolls him up to win.

KC spinebusters Chen after.

Leg 2 - Dante Chen vs Harlem Lewis

HL slides in and goes for the pin. Chen backrolls then takes a knee to the gut. HL suplexes him for 2. HL splashes Chen's back in the corner. HL foot chokes him. HL boots him in the corner. Chen rolls up HL then hits a big double chop. Chen pins HL.

Leg 3 - Dante Chen vs Kale Dixon

Kale shoves Chen with his foot. Chen jawbreakers him. Kale clubs on Chen's back then chops him hard in the back. Kale kind of does an sto and 2nd rope twisting splashes him. Kale hits punches. Chen back body drops him. Chen hits some shots then backfists him. Kale avoids a pump kick and goes out.

Kale drops Chen chest first on the mat. Kale mocks Chen's pose then Chen superkicks him. Chen pump kicks Kale and flips him with a double chop. Chen then gets the win.

Thoughts: They didn't have a lot of time for the 3 matches here but it was fine. The younger guys had decent showings and Chen got the heroic win in the end as expected. It was fine for what it was and got the younger guys on the show while rewarding Chen for his years of hard work.

Chen does his pose after as the crowd cheers.

Overall thoughts: There were two matches here but both were rarities for Level Up. I don't think we ever had a 6-woman tag before or a gauntlet match so those were nice surprises. Both were fine for what they were and the women's match was fun with Diggs and Kali having a good showing. Having Chen be featured on the final show and having him get the big win at the end was a nice way to close things and a nice thank you to Chen. They referenced some of the show's history here as well and it was a good final episode of NXT Level Up.

Overall thoughts on NXT Level Up: It was my favorite show of the week and I'm going to miss it. It was a real treat to see some of the younger talent and we would have not seen most of these people otherwise due to roster bloat. We saw dozens of TV debuts on this show and we got some rare hidden gem matches that we wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I wish the show would have been more of a wrestling show at times with more angles, storylines and gimmick matches but that was never going to happen. I also wished the show would have been a bit longer so we could have seen more of NXT's rookies.

I kind of knew the show's existence was at risk. They never advertised it and rarely even mentioned it, so only super hardcore fans knew about it. The show was also a pain in the butt as it only aired live on Peacock and if you didn't see it or didn't know how to pirate, it wouldn't be uploaded to Peacock until 2 weeks later. The show started airing at 10:40pm instead of at 10pm for Smackdown Lowdown, which is now going to have to change times or be cancelled. It was announced that Smackdown was going to go to three hours and WWE LFG debuting also made it more likely that this would end. I'd be more hyped for WWE LFG, but we don't know what WWE LFG looks like yet. It will likely not have as many matches, it seems like it'll have people who can't really even do matches yet and it will surely not be on 52 weeks a year.  I'm also concerned that we are going back to the 2000's where WWE had people down in OVW and DSW that nobody outside the area got to see because the shows didn't air.