Coming off a wild NXT Deadline where Oba Femi reclaimed the NXT Championship and Je’Von Evans punched his ticket as Men’s Iron Survivor, this week’s WWE NXT on The CW felt like the first, brutal step into a new era. The Ruler stood tall with gold back on his shoulder, Evans gambled his freshly-earned title shot immediately, Blake Monroe’s Women’s North American Championship open challenge descended into chaos, Hank & Tank came home from Japan, and Shiloh Hill finally stepped onto NXT TV. By the end of the night, we had a shaken-up main-event picture, a loaded card for next week, and New Year’s Evil starting to take shape.
Here are the full results
- Kelani Jordan def. Jordynne Grace
Kelani pinned Jordynne with a 450 Splash after dropkicking her through the barricade and targeting the leg. - NXT Women’s North American Championship Open Challenge – Blake Monroe (c) vs. Thea Hail – No Contest / Match Never Started
Thea jumped Blake from behind in a Kimura before the bell; Monroe tapped but the match was never officially underway, so the title did not change hands. - Shiloh Hill def. Lexis King
In his NXT in-ring debut, the LFG Season Two winner put King away with a back suplex dropped into a neckbreaker (Whisper To The Beast in some recaps). - Sol Ruca def. Wren Sinclair
After Wren worked the leg, Sol rallied and hit the Sol Snatcher for the win. - NXT Championship – Oba Femi (c) def. Je’Von Evans
Evans cashed in his Men’s Iron Survivor title shot on live TV, but Ricky Saints pulled the referee and cost him the match; Oba retained with Fall From Grace.
Deadline fallout, cash-ins and a shaken kingdom at the top
The night opened with a full recap of Deadline before Oba Femi walked out as a two-time NXT Champion, soaking in the moment and defining “true power” as something that doesn’t bend, break or beg. He made it clear he’s finished with Ricky Saints, and he’s already looking ahead to stepping into the ring with Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Saints, however, wasn’t ready to ride off quietly. The former champion stepped out to congratulate Oba, admitted Femi was the better man at Deadline, then reminded everyone that the series is 1–1 and demanded his rematch. Before that could be settled, Je’Von Evans hit the scene. The freshly crowned Men’s Iron Survivor told Oba he was cashing in his guaranteed title shot tonight, turning what could’ve been a calm celebration into a time bomb aimed straight at the main event. Oba, confident as ever, accepted on the spot.
From the opening promo alone, NXT made it clear: Deadline wasn’t the climax—it was the prologue.
Kelani Jordan finally solves Jordynne Grace
The first match out of the gate saw Kelani Jordan and Jordynne Grace pick up their unfinished business from the Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge. Grace jumped Kelani before the bell, muscling her around with Michinoku Drivers, short-arm neckbreakers and power offense, but Kelani pivoted to a smart, surgical game plan—attacking Jordynne’s leg and hamstring on every opening.
The turning point came when Grace tried to introduce a chair. The referee intercepted it, Kelani dropkicked Jordynne through the barricade, then dragged her back inside and hit a picture-perfect 450 Splash to finally hand Grace a clean loss.
Backstage, a frustrated Grace vented that she “can’t even beat rookies or Kelani.” Thea Hail—ever the hyperactive motivator—burst in to cut a passionate pep talk, insisting it was time for Grace to believe in herself again. Jordynne scoffed at getting advice from a “16-year-old,” only for Thea to proudly correct her to 22 and “grizzled” after four years in NXT.
That scene quietly set the emotional fuse for the chaos to come.
Blake Monroe’s open challenge implodes before the bell
When Blake Monroe strutted out for her first-ever NXT Women’s North American Championship Open Challenge, she did it with all the ego you’d expect. On the mic, “The Glamour” called herself a role model the women’s locker room idolizes, said she was in a generous mood with the holidays approaching, and invited “somebody less fortunate” to step into her spotlight.
The entire women’s locker room poured onto the stage, but Monroe’s perfect picture shattered in an instant. Instead of walking down the ramp like everyone else, Thea Hail blindsided Blake from behind, dragging her into a Kimura and cranking back until Monroe tapped in panic—all before the bell ever rang. The referee never called for the start, so officially there was no match and no title change, but visually? The champion just tapped out on national TV in her own open challenge.
Thea celebrated as if she’d won the championship outright while Blake bailed to the floor clutching her title, outraged and humiliated. Later in the night, Monroe stormed into GM Ava’s office, blaming her for the embarrassment and declaring “no more open challenges.” Ava calmly agreed—then dropped the hammer: next week, Blake must defend the Women’s North American Championship in a sanctioned match against Thea Hail.
Thea’s surprise ambush didn’t just hijack the segment—it created a fully-fledged title match for next Tuesday and cast serious doubt on Blake’s aura as an untouchable Glamour champion.
Shiloh Hill’s bruising NXT debut
NXT then made good on weeks of hype for Shiloh Hill, the LFG Season Two winner, as he finally made his in-ring TV debut against Lexis King. Hill didn’t stroll in like a wide-eyed rookie; he came in swinging, battering King around ringside before the bell even rang and turning the opening minutes into a one-sided mugging.
King rallied with dropkicks and corner offense, but once Shiloh ripped out his mouthguard and handed it to the referee, the switch flipped. A barrage of lariats, shoulder blocks and heavy strikes set up his unique finish—a back suplex transition into a neckbreaker—to seal his first NXT win.
The message was loud and ugly: Shiloh Hill is not here to blend in. He’s here to hurt people and climb fast.
Ethan Page runs his mouth, Tony D’Angelo shuts it
In one of the night’s most important character beats, “All Ego” Ethan Page hit the ring to gloat about his position as a double champion and future top star. He took aim at “TikTok wrestlers,” at nostalgic fans, and even at John Cena, claiming the GOAT would be a distant memory a week after retiring—and that he, not anyone else, would fill the void Cena leaves behind.
Then the lights went out.
When they snapped back on, Tony D’Angelo was behind Page. The Don of NXT laid him out, instantly re-inserting himself into the brand’s upper card just days after making his surprise return at Deadline. Later, an enraged Ethan blew into Ava’s office, furious that Tony had attacked him while a fatal four-way for the next NXT title shot was being booked around other names.
Ethan’s ego and Tony’s pride are now officially on a collision course, and it’s all happening while Oba Femi’s title reign and New Year’s Evil main event are still in flux.
Fatal Influence, Kendal Grey, Wren Sinclair and a crowded women’s title scene
The women’s division continued to heat up as Sol Ruca faced Wren Sinclair, with Evolve Women’s Champion and Women’s Iron Survivor winner Kendal Grey backing Wren up at ringside. Ruca briefly got distracted by seeing Zaria in the crowd, giving Wren an opening to chop block the knee and grind away at her leg. Sol, though, fought through the damage and nailed the Sol Snatcher for a key singles victory.
Post-match, Fatal Influence—NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid—hit the ring. Jayne cut a scathing promo on Kendal Grey, calling her a Cinderella story whose “fifteen minutes” would end at New Year’s Evil and insisting that “potential doesn’t win championships.” Kendal fired back, reminding Jacy that nobody expected her to upset Stephanie Vaquer either, and vowed to shock the world again. Wren added that they were coming for all the gold, including Fallon’s Speed Championship, and the scene erupted into a three-on-two beatdown with Fatal Influence standing tall.
Later, in an emotional parking-lot segment, Sol caught up with Zaria. After weeks of tension, they apologized, talked about Saturday Night’s Main Event, and hugged it out, promising to be there for each other—just as Sol prepares for action on one of the biggest nights of Cena’s farewell tour.
Between Jacy vs. Kendal at New Year’s Evil, Blake vs. Thea next week, and Fatal Influence circling every belt in sight, the women’s landscape is as crowded and volatile as it’s been all year.
Hank & Tank come home and call out OTM
In a feel-good return, Hank Walker & Tank Ledger sat down with Kelly Kincaid to talk about their excursion to Japan with Pro Wrestling NOAH and what it meant to grow as former NXT Tag Team Champions. The nostalgia didn’t last long—OTM’s Bronco Nima & Lucien Price interrupted, telling them they should have stayed overseas. Hank & Tank didn’t flinch, reminding OTM they hadn’t forgotten what happened before they left and laying down a challenge for next week’s NXT.
NXT’s tag team scene just gained a returning powerhouse duo, and they’re already walking straight into a fight.
Sol Ruca keeps rolling as New Year’s Evil looms
While the result was straightforward—Sol Ruca beating Wren Sinclair with the Sol Snatcher—the context around it was anything but simple. Wren’s association with Kendal Grey, Zaria’s lingering tension with Sol, and Fatal Influence’s assault all put Sol at the crossroads of multiple intersecting stories: the Evolve–NXT pipeline, the women’s midcard, and the broader build to Saturday Night’s Main Event and New Year’s Evil.
For now, Sol left with a win and a reconciled friend, but she’s walking into an increasingly crowded lane.
Main event: Oba Femi vs. Je’Von Evans – cash-in heartbreak and a heel turn
The main event between Oba Femi and Je’Von Evans felt big before the bell even rang: Iron Survivor winner cashing in early against the newly reclaimed NXT Champion, with Cody Rhodes looming at Saturday Night’s Main Event and New Year’s Evil dangling just ahead.
They wrestled like two men who know each other far too well. Evans threw everything at Oba—springboard cutters, multiple frog splashes, wild dives that sent Femi flying over the commentary desk. Femi answered with crushing power: uranage backbreakers, brutal uppercuts, and suffocating control stretches that kept Evans fighting from underneath.
Then came the breaking point.
Evans seemed on the verge of victory after stringing together cutters and his trademark bouncy offense. But as the referee counted, someone yanked him out of the ring—the camera turned, and it was Ricky Saints. The man Evans had indirectly cost the title at Deadline chose this moment to torch whatever goodwill remained. Evans dove onto Saints in rage, but once he got back into the ring, Oba clobbered him with a lariat and Fall From Grace for the three-count.
Oba retained, Saints turned heel in the most vicious way possible, and Evans’ hard-earned Iron Survivor title shot is gone. The Ruler walked out champion, but the scars from this war—and from Ricky’s betrayal—are going to linger across NXT TV and New Year’s Evil.
Here is everything announced for next week’s WWE NXT
From on-air announcements and backstage segments during tonight’s broadcast, the following are confirmed for next Tuesday’s episode of WWE NXT:
- Fatal Four-Way No. 1 Contender’s Match
Joe Hendry vs. Leon Slater vs. Dion Lennox vs. Myles Borne
– The winner earns an NXT Championship match at New Year’s Evil. - NXT Women’s North American Championship Match
Blake Monroe (c) vs. Thea Hail
– After Thea’s pre-bell Kimura ruined the open challenge and forced Blake to tap on live TV, Ava made the title bout official for next week. - Tag Team Grudge Match
Hank & Tank vs. OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price)
– Fresh off their return from Japan, Hank Walker and Tank Ledger challenged OTM after a tense backstage confrontation.
With a number-one contender’s fatal four-way, a grudge-driven tag clash, and Blake Monroe forced into a straight-up defense against the woman who just made her tap, next week’s NXT is shaping up as a critical bridge between the fallout of Deadline and the chaos of New Year’s Evil.
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