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NXT VENGEANCE DAY REPORT
FEBRUARY 15, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. @ ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS ARENA
AIRED ON PEACOCK
REPORT BY KELLY WELLS (@spookymilk), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
NXT Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Backstage Correspondent(s): Sarah Schreiber
-Oba Femi, A-Town Down Under, Bayley, Roxanne Perez, Cora Jade and Giulia were all shown either arriving or looking at landmarks. Perez was at the Jefferson Memorial and both Jade and Giulia were shown (at different times) peering at the Washington Monument.
-Important moments and debuts were shown from Vengeance Day’s history, including Carmelo Hayes finally turning on Trick Williams after months of teasing. A voice-over promoted the matches to come as quick shots were shown of tonight’s competitors.
(1) STEPHANIE VAQUER vs. FALLON HENLEY (c) (w/Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyx) – NXT Women’s North American Championship match
Vaquer entered first to a strong reaction. Fatal Influence have a good entrance and look, but it all sort of falls flat because they aren’t getting featured much, even with Henley holding the championship. Kelani Jordan and Karmen Petrovic were shown watching from the seats, both somewhat in the pitcure for this championship.
Big “Stephanie” chant even before the lockup. They grappled early and Vaquer took down Henley. Henley reversed into a head scissors and Vaquer escaped. They reset. Lockup and a standing switch takedown by Vaquer. Vaquer rolled through a wristlock and the two went to frequent reversals. The crowd overreacted to every small reversal of momentum, making for a fun atmosphere. Vaquer trapped Henley in a crossface and the outside members of Fatal Influence pumped her up to get her to reach and break. Stephanie set up her knee spot and Henley rolled away to the outside to get the crowd booing.
Henley laid a palm strike into Vaquer, who sold it with cold, dead eyes. They went to more reversals and Vaquer briefly trapped Henley for two. Henley trapped Vaquer in an armbar and Vaquer rolled her up to break. Vaquer whipped Henley to the corner and did a hanging triangle until the ref broke it up. Henley booted Vaquer to the floor, and she and Nyx distracted the ref while Jayne hit Vaquer with a pump kick. “Ref you suck” chant. The announcers got into it about where the ref’s focus should have been.
Henley slowed things down and built heat. Henley rode Vaquer like a bronco over the second rope, then laid in some rights and palm strikes. Basement forearm by Henley got two. Henley remained confident, which was a nice break from the usual over-sold shock when pins don’t happen. Blockbuster by Henley, who got two, and then immediately did the shock oversell on not getting three. Oh well. Henley worked a brief headlock.
Vaquer broke free and the two exchanged rights. Henley missed in the corner, but then yanked down Vaquer by her hair to boos. Vaquer responded in kind and hit a beautiful crescent kick and a 619. High cross-body by Vaquer, then a belly-to-back suplex. Vaquer hit her knee attack as the fans counted along to ten. Vaquer covered for two. Vaquer hit a corner lariat, but Henley responded with a corner elbow.The two worked a few escapes and counters and Vaquer trapped Henley for two. Hair mare by Henley, and the two sold on the mat.
Vaquer hit Eat Da Feet and then a nasty dragon screw out of the corner. Meteora by Vaquer. Cover for two. Henley laid in a knee and then hit a pumphandle exploder to gain separation. Vaquer evaded a Rocker Dropper but Jayne threw a hard right when Vaquer went to the ropes. Henley rolled her up for two and Jayne sold annoyance as the camera caught her reaction. Vaquer laid in a headbutt and Henley backdropped Vaquer right after. Henley went up and Vaquer threw a right that sent her to the floor. Vaquer fought off the Fatal Influence cronies, then cut down Henley with a strike to the back of the knee. Vaquer hit a shoulder breaker on the apron, then a flying cross-body to the outside that took out all three members of Fatal Influence.
Back inside, Vaquer hit SVB, then went up and hit Spiral Tap to finish.
WINNER: Stephanie Vaquer at 15:01.
(Wells’s Analysis: Excellent opener that’s likely Henley’s best match to date. The two worked well together throughout and Fatal Influence got involved just enough. Vaquer got her gold shortly after Giulia did, completing the movement toward the hot new faces on the brand. Henley, who’s just gotten so good from a character standpoint, unfortunately faded into the background even during her reign as the brand started to flood with incoming talent. I honestly think Fatal Influence is more at risk of being lost in the shuffle on NXT than they are on the main roster right now; it might be about time to think about whether one or all of them can make the move up and see what happens)
-On socials, Sol Ruca and Zaria had an odd-couple day at a beach and a park as Ruca tried to teach Zaria some outdoor sports, and Zaria kept failing and taking it out on inanimate objects. This isn’t where I thought we’d see Zaria this soon, but Team Hell No worked for a reason.
(2) JOSH BRIGGS & YOSHIKI INAMURA vs. AXIOM & NATHAN FRAZER (c) (NXT Tag Team Championship match
Briggs was wearing a leather jacket with a skull on one shoulder, looking a little like he walked out of a Mad Max movie. Inamura’s hair has to be seen, as it defies conventional description. Inamura and Axiom opened the match and worked some reversals. Frazer made the blind tag and worked over Inamura with some lightning-quick offense. Enzuigiri by Frazer, and Axiom tagged in again and hit a neckbreaker. Inamura laid in just one chop that flattened Axiom. Briggs tagged in and hit a boot that leveled Axiom, then put a knee to Frazer to send him to the floor. Inamura tagged in and they double-teamed a chokeslam into a backbreaker. Cover for two.
Briggs tagged in again and he took down Axiom with a lariat. Briggs slowed down and worked a headlock. Inamura tagged in and worked some quick strikes, then a loud chop. Inamura fired up and the crowd followed suit. Inamura laughed off a chop from Axiom with nothing on it. Axiom laid in some more shots that Inamura absorbed, and Inamura threw another nasty one. Inamura set himself up to absorb another chop, a la strong style, and Axiom took him out with the Golden Ratio. A cheap shot like that would be booed by Japanese audiences and I’m semi-surprised it didn’t happen here, but the crowd was just pro-both teams throughout.
Both guys tagged and Frazer & Axiom worked some double teams to cut down Briggs. Frazer covered for two. Another tag by the champs, who had their usual miscommunication moment, allowing Briggs to hit slams and powerbombs. Inamura tagged in and the challengers teamed up for a powerbomb. Frazer broke it up and all four men sold on the mat. “This is awesome” chant. Inamura went up, but took too long and Axiom went up with him and hit Spanish Fly from the top. Frazer went up for the Phoenix Splash but Briggs recovered and hit a chokeslam from the top that also took out Axiom on the way. Another “NXT” chant now.
Frazer and Axiom sped it up and worked to cut down Briggs, who hit a Stan Hansen lariat. Inamura pounced Axiom into a corner, then set him up for a uranage. Frazer jumped on his back, but Inamura held on, slammed Axiom, and then slammed Frazer atop him. Inamura covered Frazer for two. “Inamura” chant as he went to the top and fired up. He went for his awesome frog splash, but the challengers moved. On the outside, the champs took out Briggs, and then in the ring, they hit high-low from the top to get the duke on Inamura.
WINNERS: Nathan Frazer & Axiom at 10:23.
(Wells’s Analysis: What a fun, breezy ten minutes that was. Frazer and Axiom work a lot of nonstop spotfests, but they’re honestly at their best in this big vs. small environment. Briggs and Inamura made perfect foils for them, and they could keep this going, or they could fast-track the challengers to the main roster as I think their power and striking ability speaks for itself already)
-As the teams shared handshakes all around, they were jumped by the silhouetted foursome that’s been teased on TV for weeks. It was Dion Lennox, Cutler James, Saquon Shugars and Osiris Griffin (Corey called out Lennox and James by name, but not the others, so no idea if their names are sticking). There was a “Who are you?” chant. Apparently they couldn’t make out Lennox, who’s been a TV a lot already.
-WWE Roadblock will emanate from MSG on March 11th. I’m still not used to the “WWE” branding on these shows. I wonder if anyone out there was confused on whether the show was an NXT show or not.
-Stacks, in a pre-taped segment from the Italian restaurant, ran down the story of how Izzi Dame “played” Tony D’Angelo. Stacks said Spears and his gang had to pay, Stacks said he would take care of this himself. The camera panned back and showed that Stacks was sitting at the table alone. He said payback wouldn’t be pretty. I still think Stacks has a better chance at being an important player down the road than D’Angelo does, so hopefully this is an actual push.
-Ethan Page and Je’Von Evans were shown getting ready for their upcoming match.
(3) TRICK WILLIAMS vs. EDDY THORPE – Strap Match
The crowd chanted “Eddy sucks” along to his music and he told them to get louder. Williams hasn’t gotten the TV minutes of late, but he’s still getting the crowd reactions. I still don’t get why they’ve seemingly cooled him down so much, though.
The two went at it before the bell, and the ref tried to get them to get back in the ring to get strapped together to no avail. Trick dominated Eddy around the ring and took him out inside the ring. Williams put the strap on himself, then finlly put it on Thorpe. The ref called for the bell as if it was fair to do so. Usually they get control first, but this one is so personal I guess I get the exception. Williams remained in control with the strap early. Williams got dumped but he yanked Thorpe’s arm over the top rope. Williams went up but Thorpe yanked him down. Thorpe wrapped the rope around Trick’s legs and laid in some rights. Thorpe posed and soaked in some boos. He went to the second rope and posed again, and Williams yanked him to the mat.
Williams missed a big shot with the strap, then got himself hung up over the top as he missed a pump kick. Thorpe wildly swung at Trick’s back with the strap and Williams sold the agony. Thorpe kept up the beating as the crowd chanted “F*** you, Eddy.” Thorpe tied up Williams to the post outside and kept up the swings with the strap. Williams tried to set something up but Thorpe yanked Williams into the post and then hit a pump kick. Thorpe rolled Williams back in, still messing around and jawing with the crowd.
Thorpe kept up the jawing after he went inside, and Williams rolled him up for two. Thorpe hit a strap-assisted backbreaker and whipped Thorpe some more. Thorpe yanked Williams into the second turnbuckle, then did it again in the opposite corner. Both guys were welted up already. Williams tried to fire up but Thorpe suckered him in and laid him out in the corner. Leaping elbow by Thorpe got a long two. Thorpe missed a shot and Williams slammed Thorpe, then hit a strap-assisted crossface. Thorpe heavily teased tapping, then reached the bottom rope. This doesn’t actually break the hold in a strap match, though, and the announcers called it out. Williams released, then slammed Thorpe to the mat again.
Williams swung at Thorpe over and over as he tried to run to no avail. He kept it up as Thorpe was grounded. Williams missed an axe kick but then hit a couple of flapjacks. He kipped up. Trick Shot sent Thorpe to the outside. Williams tried to drag him back inside but he was dead weight. They went back inside and exchanged pump kicks. Williams leaped and missed, and Thorpe yanked up the strap into Trick’s nethers. Thorpe hit his own Trick Knee and…got the three! Shock rippled through the crowd and they caught some of the bigger reactions.
WINNER: Eddy Thorpe at 10:56.
(Wells’s Analysis: I approve of the elevation of Eddy Thorpe, who’s finally getting his time at the top after being jerked around in the lower part of the card as a face. I’m less shocked than the crowd at this result, though Trick really is a big name for Eddy to beat in what will likely act as a de facto #1 contender’s match for Roadblock. I assume Trick finally gets back to Oba at Stand & Deliver, unless Trick is tapped for the main roster around that time. The men’s main event scene needed some elevation, and now it finally has another big player. We’ll see how far he can run with this ball)
-Hype for LFG and Evolve.
-Cora Jade and Bayley each got ready for the Women’s Championship match.
-Recap of the debut of Ricky Starks. The whole segment was shown again. New content with Starks showed and he said this Tuesday, he’ll officially sign his contract. Once again, nobody – including Starks – said his name, so there’s still no confirmation that it’s the name he’ll be using.
(4) JE’VON EVANS vs. ETHAN PAGE
Evans swung wildly and Page ran to start. Both guys missed shots and again, Page ran to draw boos. Evans went out violently with a tope suicida and almost overthrew Page, who caught him just enough to keep him safe as he started to sail over the announce table. Evans beat down Page atop the table, then put him on the floor and splashed him from the sky. Back inside, Evans kept up the momentum with a reverse atomic drop and a suplex. Blue Thunder Bomb, and the ref didn’t count because Page’s shoulder wasn’t down. “Ref you suck” chant. His shoulder wasn’t down, but that doesn’t usually stop the counts, so I guess I get the chant.
Page slowed it down briefly, but Evans hit a springboard elbow for two. “Young OG” chant. Page fought off the cutter, but then got dumped and superkicked on the apron. Evans then hit a cutter on the apron. Both guys spilled out to the floor, where there wasn’t a lot of room in front of the barricade. Gotta be precise tonight. Evans stepped on Page’s head against the steel steps, but Page moved, and trapped Evans’ foot like he did Dante Chen’s and stomped it into the ring. Page had a nosebleed that started sometime before he was laid on the steps, and it was pretty significant. The ref put on his gloves and grabbed some tissues so he could clean Page’s face as the camera went in tight on Evans.
Evans kicked up at Page and then laid in a big palm strike, but Page caught Evans and slammed him down into the mat and ropes. Powerslam got two for Page. Page slowed it down with a leg submission and Evans slowly fought his way to a rope. “F*** you Ethan” chant. They’re a very naughty crowd tonight. Evans hit something like a Superman Punch, then went up, and Page caught him and tried Ego’s Edge. He connected, but Evans kicked out very late. Huh. Page argued with the ref.
Page missed a couple of shots and Evans fought off a stomp. Evans got to his feet and threw his rangy rights and lefts. He missed from the stop and his mouth guard went flying. Page hit his finisher, which put Evans’ mouth right into the mat, and covered for three. So I guess Page might be the de facto #1 if it isn’t Thorpe. Evans spit from another blood capsule after the match, and Page smiled.
WINNER: Ethan Page at 11:58.
(Wells’s Analysis: Loads of fun again with this one as Evans can just hit from anywhere. I thought this might be a feud to get Evans back to the top, but it apparently isn’t his turn for that yet and another Page-Femi match might be in the works. I would bet this one still isn’t finished, though, and likely won’t be until Evans wins at least one meeting)
-Sarah Schreiber talked to Stephanie Vaquer in a locker room. Vaquer said today she made history but her night isn’t over. She said she was staying to watch the main event. This must be the Women’s Four-Way. Both Roxanne Perez and Giulia were shown getting ready.
-A-Town Down Under were shown making their entrance from the back, but Theory stepped forward without Waller to continue teasing dissension as the triple threat was about to get started. They argued in the ring once Waller joined him there.
(5) OBA FEMI vs. AUSTIN THEORY vs. GRAYSON WALLER – Triple threat match for the NXT Championship
Mike Rome handled formal introductions. Theory got his boos, Waller drowned in them, and Femi got his usual great reaction.
Waller and Theory immediately worked on Femi after feigning an argument. They had Femi staggered and shared some more words, then went back at it. Femi caught both as they came off the ropes and chokeslammed them. The two continued trying to cut him down and they went for a double suplex, but he suplexed the two of them instead. Femi worked over Theory in the corner, backed Waller into a different corner, and then press-slammed Theory onto Waller. A-Town again worked together the stagger Femi and they hit a couple knees and sent him to the floor on the announce table side. Waller thought about taking shots at Theory, which Theory saw. The two of them shoved each other a little, then danced around, but it didn’t come to blows as Femi yanked Theory outside. He caught a charging Waller with a loud right.
Femi uncovered the announce table and set up Theory, but Waller slid out to put a stop to it. Femi threw Waller to the steps and Theory tried to separate the steel steps, but Femi ended up getting the top section of them and tossed them into Theory, laying him out. Waller tripped Femi onto the steps and then hit a DDT on the steps on Femi and rolled him inside. “We want tables” chant. No we don’t; this is more brutal than anything tables will add. Waller grabbed a chair and put it to Femi while Theory sold outside. Waller sat Femi in the chair and sailed off the top, but Femi caught him and sidewalk slammed him through the table. The crowd chanted Femi’s “HOO!” taunt. He covered for two, broken up at the last moment by Theory.
Waller slipped further from the apron as Theory got his moment with Femi, hitting a nice dropkick. Femi powered through the onslaught again and took Waller up in a corner, but Theory put Femi on his shoulders. Femi then grabbed Waller and it was a huge totem pole suplex. Theory saw his moment and covered Femi for two. “This is awesome” chant.
Femi laid out Waller on the apron, then grabbed a table from under the ring. Femi specifically grabbing a table is odd; there’s nothing a table can do that comes close to what he can do. A-Town intercepted the table, laid Femi out on it, and Theory set up Waller to fly from the top rope and break Femi through the table. Whoa – that’s about as quick as a table’s been used in a while; normally it sits there like a loaded gun for a while.
In the ring, Theory made a cover, and Waller got annoyed. Their bickering allowed Femi to bump Waller to the floor and hit a spinebuster on Theory. European uppercut by Femi. Waller got stuck between them and ate an uppercut also. Femi and Waller went to the announce table and, after some jockeying, Femi slammed Waller through the announce table to a big reaction. Back inside, Theory countered the fall from grace into a DDT, then hit his finisher. At two, Waller yanked the referee from the ring to a big reaction. “Turn on Grayson” chant.
As the two bickered again, Femi slammed Theory, then set up another Fall From Grace. Waller ran into the ring for his cutter but Femi moved and Waller hit it on Theory. Contrived and stupid in theory, but surprisingly clean in execution. As Waller sold the mistake, Femi hit him with the Fall From Grace to finish.
WINNER: Oba Femi at 13:13.
The four guys from the earlier attack – looking like a street gang (I get the Shield jokes everyone’s making, but I see enough differences early on; follow-up will be extremely critical) – charged the ring and laid out Femi. Dion Lennox said he would be seeing Femi sometime, and Femi laughed him off; I’m not sure if people are remembering that moment but it definitely was a precursor to this one.
(Wells’s Analysis: Femi is at his best when in these triple threats where he just keeps coming back like the Terminator no matter how much the other two beat him down. I don’t know whether to expect any follow-up on the A-Town Down Under incident, and if so, to expect it anywhere but the main roster, but if they wanted to keep that story going, they could. The real story is the attempt to fast-track the gang of four to the upper card and see if it takes.)
-Stand & Deliver will take place on Saturday, April 19th. I believe I’m unavailable that entire day. That’s a bummer.
-Via Sarah Schreiber, Ava said it would be interesting to see what the new faction was all about. They swept past that and got to other business, and Arianna Grace showed up to a big reaction and said she had been proud to be the NXT liaison in TNA. She said there was someone she had to meet, and Santino Marella (TNA “Director of Authority”) swooped into the shot to a big reaction. Marella acknowledged that he met Ava when she was very little. Ava teased the fact that she knew he and Grace were father and daughter, but they played it for laughs and didn’t actually go through with saying the words.
-This Tuesday, Kelani Jordan, Jaida Parker and Karmen Petrovic go at it in a triple threat to determine the #1 contender to the Women’s North American Championship. I’m thinking this one keeps up Petrovic’s momentum while continuing the issue between the other two. Also, Sol Ruca and Zaria will face Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson. Stacks will face Shawn Spears. They also showed Ricky Starks and said “This man will sign his NXT Contract.” On the podcast, some were saying they didn’t notice that the name was never said, but I’d wager that most have noticed by now.
(6) GIULIA (c) vs. BAYLEY vs. CORA JADE vs. ROXANNE PEREZ – Fatal Four Way for the NXT Women’s Championship
Perez was introduced, followed by Jade, Bayley and finally champion Giulia. Mike Rome handled formal introductions.
The women discussed it all to start, deciding where to throw hands. Bayley and Roxy continued their issue first, after which our champion took out all three to take the early advantage. The heels, Jade and Perez, briefly teamed up on Giulia. There was a lightning-quick series of pin attempts next, all broken up by others. They reset.
The four threw hands, and Jade and Giulia got bumped to the outside. Perez and Bayley hit tope suicidas on the two, then went to palm strikes. Back inside, Bayley and Perez continued to pair off and Bayley took the advantage with strikes and a basement elbow. Jade yanked Bayley to the outside and then went in to face off with Perez. There was a series of reversals and escapes, and with Perez going for a Russian leg sweep, Giulia stormed in the ring and dropkicked both.
Giulia ran station to station to take out Perez and Jade. She flattened Perez in a corner and covered for two. The next to pair off were Giulia and Bayley, as the heels sold outside. Bayley trapped Giulia for two and Giulia crucifixed for two. There was a dueling chant that was probably 60% Giulia, or maybe it was just the males getting loud. Either way, both were getting heavy cheers. Action went outside and all four were involved again. Giulia and Bayley teamed up on the heels for some stiff strikes, and the two continued being in control inside, but Jade saved Perez from a double suplex and the heels shook hands and did some ground & pound on the babyfaces.
Jade and Perez controlled the next segment with more pin saves and a slower heat sequence. Perez hit a moonsault on Bayley, who skinned out of the ring before she could be covered. Jade and Perez both wanted to be the one to beat up on Giulia, and Jade also put a knee into Perez, ending the partnership, and paired off with Giulia. Jade laid out Bayley with a splash on the outside and rolled her inside. Jade went up but Perez got in her face and snap mared her to the mat. Perez threw down at Jade, then hit her with an uppercut in the corner. Bayley superkicked Perez and then threw rights at both heels.
Bayley paired off with Jade and hit double knees on a draped Jade in the corner. Outside, Bayley hit a running lariat on Perez, then dropkicked Giulia through both sets of ropes. Inside, Bayley hit a stunner on both heels through the ropes. Giulia charged in and hit a Northern Lights suplex on Bayley. Giulia hit a double-underhook slam on Perez. Bayley and Giulia locked up and Giulia worked her modified octopus. Crucifix bomb got two for Giulia, broken up by Perez. Perez snapped on a crossface on Giulia, who escaped and hit a suplex and covered for two, broken up by both other women.
Bayley countered a shot by Jade and hit a side suplex, and Corey invoked Victoria’s name. Bayley took over on offense for a moment until Perez wanted Pop Rox on her, but Jade broke it up and hit a double underhook DDT on Bayley, and then covered. Perez recovered and broke it up.
Giulia took over with suplexes for everyone. Perez went up in a corner and Giulia went there with her and they fought for position. Bayley joined them and finally Jade got in there to complete the tower with both a powerbomb and a suplex. “This is awesome” chant. All four women fought to their feet and threw rights. Everyone spilled outside. Roxanne hit Pop Rox outside on Bayley, then again inside, but Jade rolled up Perez for two. Cora hit the DDT on Perez and covered, but Giulia hit Jade with Arrivaderci. Jade slipped to the outside so Giulia hit it on Perez as well. Northern Lights Bomb, Giulia retained.
WINNER: Giulia at 18:32.
(Wells’s Analysis: Spirited work from all four. It was fast-paced, but never sacrificed the story being told as each woman got extended time to shine; compare to the three-way tag on NXT last week where nobody controlled things for much more than a couple seconds at a time. Perez eating the pin here really feels like a sendoff for her, as she kind of has one foot in the main roster already.)
-Stephanie Vaquer’s music played and she hit the ring. The two international superstars held up their belts as the show ended…
…except, Jordynne Grace’s music played her out to the ramp. She was wearing a “We Are NXT” shirt. “Holy sh*t” chant. Grace sized up the two champions and the show, this time for real, ended.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Giulia and Stephanie having their moment, only to be met by another star who’s entering from elsewhere and comes in with a huge pedigree, was a very strong finish to the show. Some of the women that have been in NXT for a while better hope they get called up soon because there’s more time available for them on TV there than there’s going to be here. Oba Femi continued his march toward inevitable superstardom on the main roster; it’s probably not even a necessity that he hangs out in NXT much longer, though I suspect he’s going to be there for another year. Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura gave the tag champs one of their most enjoyable matches ever, which is a high bar, and we’ve got Eddy Thorpe and Ethan Page both lurking near the main event scene, likely both about to make their play for a championship match (I’d guess Thorpe gets one, while Page continues his issue with Evans). A very enjoyable show from top to bottom here as the talent pool in NXT is as deep as it’s ever been.
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