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NXT DEADLINE REPORT
DECEMBER 7, 2024
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. @ THE ARMORY
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
I attended this show on Saturday night with Wade Keller. The Armory is a very cool venue, though I should have remembered that the floor seats are unforgiving, so if you can’t sit in the first few rows, you should really sit in the mezzanine.
-Vic showed shots of various wrestlers around town. Je’Von Evans rode the roller coaster in the Nickelodeon Universe theme park in the middle of the Mall of America, and Trick Williams had a moment with one of the many murals of Prince that can be found in the city. Pure pandering, but it worked on us.
(1) JE’VON EVANS vs. WES LEE vs. NATHAN FRAZER vs. ETHAN PAGE vs. ????? – Iron Survivor Challenge match for #1 contendership to the NXT Championship
The first two entrants were endurance machines Evans and Lee. Throughout the match, the crowd was relentless in their distaste for Lee (to the point that our other companion asked me what Lee did to deserve such hatred). The mat had a video game sponsor splashed in the center, which I never knew since we had floor seats. The two started quickly. Lee hit a half-and-half early on which had a nasty landing on Evans’ neck; I think he was meant to roll through further but tried to tuck instead. Some rollups ensued. There was a big screen that would’ve been very helpful to many in the arena who had floor seats, but they didn’t use it that way. Lee worked Evans over for a short heat sequence and snuffed out a couple of hope spots. Lee hit a double stomp, then kind of overshot a tope suicida on the ramp side (we were on the announce table side, and could see the miss pretty well from our angle). Back inside, the two jockeyed for position. Evans went for a couple of cutters and Lee fought them off. Lee then pinned Evans with his feet on the ropes. We couldn’t really see spots on the mat, including covers, so we didn’t know about the feet on the ropes live. Evans headed to the penalty box just as #3, Nathan Frazer, entered.
The pace kept up as Frazer battled Lee. They got in a lot of quick offense as Evans was able to rejoin the fray and hit the two of them with a plancha over the corner. Action went back inside and the three took turns with mid-level impact stuff as they started going for more covers. Frazer and Evans got a singles showcase as Lee took a breather. Both guys went for frequent rollups and covers, trying to catch up with Lee. Lee and Evans were outside on the ramp side and Frazer hit them both with a tope suicida, which connected, though he almost tripped on the rope in a spot that could’ve gone bad.
Ethan Page was #4 as anticipation built about who the secret fifth man would be. Page came in all cocky and Frazer rolled him up almost immediately for a three count, tying Lee for the lead. Page didn’t want to go into the penalty box, but Evans was able to shove him in and shut it. Evans gave him a too sweet and a crotch chop, paying off his scene with X-Pac from Tuesday. The first three men again went at it as Page waited. Frazer and Lee paired off. Frazer hit a Phoenix Splash and went for the cover, but time elapsed and Page came in and rolled up Frazer to score a point. Everyone is on the board but Evans. Frazer headed to the box and on the outside, Page put Evans on his shoulders, and Lee ran the ropes for a tope suicida Doomsday Device. Back inside, the three had a couple of near-falls and Frazer reentered. They exchanged kicks and did a spot where all four were laid out, setting the scene for the surprise entrant.
#5 was Oba Femi, at which point it became clear why this match was so hard to call; we didn’t have the benefit of knowing Femi was in the match. Page dumped Evans to the floor in the hopes that Femi would focus on him. Femi hit the ring and he dominated everyone. Evans tried a cutter but Femi threw a big uppercut and covered for three. “Oba Femi” chant. Femi hit a backbreaker and covered Page, but Lee broke it up. Vic wondered why Femi was allowed to just walk into the matchup, which I’m glad they addressed (I imagine Page, in particular, will bring this up on Tuesday). Femi hit a powerbomb on Frazer and covered, but Page yanked the referee out and to the floor. Femi charged to the outside and charged Page into the closed penalty box. Evans couldn’t get out when time expired, so he climbed up and hit a plancha on a couple of guys. Inside, Evans hit a top-rope cutter on Lee for a fall that tied the match 1-1-1-1-1.
Evans and Femi had a pair-off next and Evans tried to strike quickly and dodge. Femi caught him with a powerbomb attempt but Frazer got into it and the two tried to sting repeatedly and keep Femi at bay. Femi put both on his back, but Lee exited the penalty box and superkicked Femi. Now all three tried to cut down Femi. He did eventually get the upper hand, and he powerbombed Evans, but Page snuck in and rolled Femi up for three. Page mocked Femi and blew him a kiss (Wade got a great photo of it) and Femi went to the penalty box. Ten seconds later, Evans rolled up Page with a crucifix and scored a pin. Page of course wanted nothing to do with Femi in the penalty box, and he pleaded with them to not make him go. He fought it as referee D.A. Brewer tried to put him in, and finally Femi just snatched him and tossed him into the sides of the box over and over. This took full focus until time expired for Femi, bringing him back in, where he tossed Lee and then Evans to the outside. Page’s time expired but he was in no shape to reenter.
Frazer, Lee and Femi went into the ring and the two smaller guys attempted to cut Femi down again, but he chokeslammed them at the same time and scored two points. Evans hit Femi with a cutter, but there was no time left.
WINNER: Oba Femi at 25:00. (3-2-2-1-1)
(Wells’s Analysis: You can’t book someone more like a star than Femi was booked here. Last year, Trick Williams won this match at the last moment by hitting all four other guys with weak rollups. He was the only one not to win with any impact moves and as a result he didn’t look strong at all. No such issues here. The only options we figured Femi had were to go to the main roster or take over at the top of NXT because he’s simply too dominant to be anything but a main event player at this point. Very strong work here by all, with continuing fun stuff from Page as the slimiest guy in the room at all times)
-SummerSlam 2026 (at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis) was promoted.
-Lexis King meandered through a promo from outside, complaining about the cold in Minneapolis (it was the warmest day in about two weeks, at about 45 degrees). He’s gone back to comparing himself to his father and saying he’ll exceed anything he ever did. He said it was worth the fight. King was primarily booed in the arena, but I’m not sure he was supposed to come off heelish, and the crowd was muted throughout this.
-Brief videos of the five women in the main event were shown, preparing for the match.
(2) LOLA VICE vs. JAIDA PARKER – Underground match
The ropes were removed. Wade and I saw almost zero of this match, as it was worked on the mat like underground matches tend to be.
Either PC kids or local talents surrounded the ring and slapped the mat before the entrances. Vice made the entrance first to a decent reaction. Parker got a bigger reaction (both face and heel). Throughout the match, the crowd was pretty split, as both women have played both heel and face recently, and have changed little about their acts during turns.
Action got going quickly as both women went for big shots and early covers. Vice knocked Parker to the floor, then jumped to her from the apron. Parker drove Vice to the apron and took her back inside. Parker hit a trio of bodyslams and went for perhaps a powerslam but Vice snapped on a triangle. Parker lifted and slammed Vice to break (which, by the way, doesn’t work in MMA, but I think they do as much of a facsimile as they can while remaining in a pro wrestling context). Parker hit a big back elbow and worked over Vice until Vice snapped on an ankle lock and Parker crawled to an indy wrestler to break. Vice kicked the guy in the face, because why not, I guess? Vice took Parker to the outside and tried a backfist, but Parker ducked and it hit hard into the post. Oh god, that looked and sounded painful. Vice sold the pain as the match went back up onto the mat.
Parker worked the bad hand and beat down Vice with some elbows. Parker exposed the bad hand by taking off Vice’s glove, and she put the glove on herself. Parker threw down rights on Vice, who tried to cover up. Parker used Vice’s belt to wrap her arm around the post. Vice got back into it by yanking Parker into the post using the belt. Vice fired up and used the belt to take Parker down a few times. Parker got in some hard rights and they both sold for a moment.
Parker went outside and separated the steps. Parker set up Vice on the lower steps and hit the teardrop from the post. Interesting way to hit a move that normally requires the ropes. Back up on the mat, Parker continued putting the boots to the bad hand. Parker sat dow into an arm submission, but Vice reversed out of nowhere into a sleeper. Parker broke with a jawbreaker and got her brick. Vice saw it and hit a big kick and snapped on a rear naed choke. Parker wanted the brick but Vice kicked it away and hit a suplex. Vice went for the brick but Parker hit a belly-to-back suplex. Parker again went for the brick and Vice hit the backfist, then rolled into an anaconda vice. Parker passed out and the ref called for the bell.
WINNER: Lola Vice at 10:58.
(Wells’s Analysis: When the bell rang, we didn’t know who won until the music started. That was a pretty strong affair that kept Parker badass while allowing Vice to win her “home field” match. Parker has a lot more potential than Vice at this point, but Vice needed this particular win, and while Parker hasn’t held any NXT championships yet, I’m not opposed to her making the move up as soon as possible.)
-Vic said Minneapolis is the home of “the Vikings, the Twins, and the Wild.” Odd, because it’s also the home of the Timberwolves, and it’s not actually the home of the Wild, who are in the sister city of St. Paul.
-A brief video of Axiom & Nathan Frazer aired. Frazer was comically taped up and had his nostrils plugged, selling the pain from Oba Femi earlier. Axiom said they’d be alright and he’d take care of the match himself if he has to. This dynamic continues to make little sense from week to week, but the long-term bickering and reuiniting works for me.
(3) AXIOM & NATHAN FRAZER (c) vs. MYLES BORNE & TAVION HEIGHTS – NXT Tag Team Championship match
Frazer started the match, weirdly, with Borne. Borne knocked Frazer down early, and Axiom – whose back was turned for some reason – was tagged in as Frazer needed the early breather. Heights also tagged in and he and Axiom had a long grappling segment on the mat where neither could take an extended upper hand. Heights hit a suplex and worked the wrist until Borne made the tag. Axiom booted Borne and tagged Frazer, who ran the ropes for the quick back kick. Frazer sold the pain in his ribs.
OTM walked to the ring and jawed vaguely at everyone in the ring. Frazer hit a rana that sent Heights outside, and soon after, there was a mess of spots that put everyone out on the ramp side. Each guy hit some strikes and after another mess of movement, Heights hit a belly-to-belly on Frazer that sent him to the outside, where he ran into a laid out OTM. OTM tried to get into the ring, and they were sent out. Thanks for making the trip to Minneapolis, guys!
Borne had Frazer grounded in the ring. He worked a headlock, then put the knees to Frazer’s back. Frazer was selling the night like death as Borne tried to put him to sleep. Frazer rolled through a suplex attempt and tried to tag, but Borne cut him off and hit a fallaway slam – no, into a powerslam – for two. Heights tagged in and Borne fed him to Heights for a scoop slam for two. Heights jawed at Axiom, and hesitated enough that Frazer yanked Heights into the tunbuckle. Heights recovered and hit a dominator for two. Heights has become SUCH a force since his Japan excursion. Heights missed in his own corner, and Borne tagged in. Frazer hit an enzuigiri and Axiom came in and dominated both heels after the hot tag. He hit a PK on Heights for two. He missed a second and Heights rolled him up for two. The two exchanged some reversals on the mat and Heights hit a convoluted slam for two.
Axiom tried to make a tag, but Frazer was out on the floor and unable to tag. Axiom missed a dropkick and Heights hit a Death Valley Driver for two. Borne tagged in and Axiom kicked up at him. He got a breather by tossing one enemy into the other on the outside. Frazer tagged in and hit a plancha on both guys. Back inside, he hit a springboard 450 for a long two. Frazer went back up and Borne hung him up long enough for Heights to meet Frazer at the top. Frazer elbowed Heights away and it took too long, so Heights popped up and hit a dominator from the top. The challengers went for a tandem spot but Axiom broke it up.
Borne hit a dropkick to send Axiom to the outside, but Axiom got to the corner and tagged. Axiom took Borne to the top and hit the Spanish Fly and Frazer hit the Phoenix Splash. Heights broke it up but Axiom took him out with the Golden Ratio. “NXT” chant. Axiom got to his corner, made a tag, and then ended up hitting a missile dropkick on Frazer as the heels moved out of the way. Heights took out Frazer on the outside and then hit a combo move inside that I still can’t believe wasn’t the finish as it was a long two. Borne tagged in and fed Axiom to Heights, but Axiom hit Heights with a Destroyer. Axiom rolled up Borne for the win.
WINNERS: Axiom & Nathan Frazer at 15:44.
(Wells’s Analysis: After the finish, I turned to Wade and said that it’s weird that the champs are given an “out” to lose basically every match, but they keep winning anyway. This was a smartly-constructed match, as there were more than enough spots to make it seem like this is where it finally ends, all leading to another successful defense. It seems that OTM and the challengers have something on tap, and we’ll have to see if that leads OTM to another title shot or if someone else rises from the crowded pack)
-Royal Rumble and WWEShop.com spots.
-Shots of the women in the main event training ahead of the match.
-Sarah Schreiber interviewed Je’Von Evans, who was still fired up after his big match. He was excited and said he was ready for another, and he’d even show up in the women’s match. He thought better about it and said they’re all badasses. Wes Lee showed up and asked why he was like this. He said one day, Evans will be just like him. Evans said he’d rather not. Lee smacked Evans with a hard slap and reiterated that one day he’ll know why Lee is the way he is. Officials held them apart.
-Hype for the men’s championship match.
(4) TRICK WILLIAMS (c) vs. RIDGE HOLLAND – NXT Championship match
Wade asked me if I thought Holland had any chance. I said no, while admitting that Holland’s run has been pretty solid, and he could actually claw his way back up if fans allow it. Holland got some decent heat and Williams got a pop that left all others in the dust on the night.
Holland took the early advantage and tried an early Redeemer, but Williams slunk free. Williams threw rights in a corner, and after the ref broke them up, Holland went for double chops to the neck.Rope run and a dropkick by Williams. He jumped too early but the camera angle bailed him out. Williams did some ground & pound, then threw rights. Holland hit a right and then a lariat to the back. Holland made a quick cover for one. Williams got in some rights and a leaping lariat. Williams sold the bad neck, established Tuesday, so he didn’t cover.
Action spilled to the announce table said and Holland wanted a belly-to-beloly, but Williams fought him off and charged Holland headfirst into the post. Williams rolled Holland inside and kept at it, beating Holland from one corner to another. Leaping neckbreaker for two. Williams monkey flipped Holland up under the bottom rope. Body slam by Williams followed by another neckbreaker for two. Williams hit a belly-to-back. Williams went to the corner but Holland finally got into it by charging and dropping Williams on his neck. Ridge hit a gut-wrench suplex and kept up the heat on the neck of Williams.
Holland kept it slow and cut off a couple of hope spots. He hit a neckbreaker of his own for two. Vic started worrying about the neck of Williams and said there wasn’t a lot on the kickout. Holland put up Williams in the tree of woe and worked the neck from the outside to boos. Holland smirked and put his arms up for the booing fans. Holland booted Williams as he was still tied up in the tree. Holland tried to untie Williams from the ropes and had to reposition him three times before figuring it out. We were in the perfect seats to see this and busted up a little bit. Holland covered for two, and then ripped off the protective tape on Trick’s neck.
Holland went for a neckbreaker, but Trick rolled through and hit a DDT. Williams got in a few rights and then hit some axe kicks and a flapjack. Williams went for a uranage and Holland reversed to a crossface. Williams rolled him up to break. Book End got two (surprisingly, Vic was now calling it a uranage, perhaps getting away from the calling the trio of Booker T tribute moves as Booker T’s moves). Holland hit a suplex, then went high. He missed a swandive and Trick hit a roundhouse and covered for two. The two sold in opposite corners.
Both guys went down after big boots in the center of the ring. Both made covers for two. The action went outside and Holland put Williams into the apron, then the steps. Holland uncovered the announce table to boos. He went for a powerbomb, but Williams reversed into a back body-drop that sent Holland to the floor, and the table survived. Holland threw Williams toward a rope, and Williams got his neck stuck between two ropes in the spot where Mick Foley lost his ear (as Book called out). Holland hit the Redeemer, and it got two. Though it’s his finisher, we didn’t really buy it in the arena. A few reversals later, Trick hit the Trick Kick and then the Trick Shot to finish.
WINNER: Trick Williams at 15:51.
(Wells’s Analysis: I think they got a lot out of this, given that it just never quite seemed that Holland was a strong challenger to Williams. Holland has barely rubbed elbows with most of the uppercard in NXT as he’s been long embroiled in the Chase U saga. As a result, he kind of seems like he’s visiting from a different world. This was a nice enough, hard hitting match, however)
-An unseen interviewer got words with Ethan Page backstage. He bemoaned the fact that he dropped the ball again. He asked where the hell Oba Femi came from. He said it took him 18 years to get here and it also took him 18 years to figure out that he has no idea how to get back there. He said “I can’t do this” and walked away. We missed much of this in the arena as a lot of the audience was doing an anti-Page chant. Thanks for doing that during a talk segment, guys.
-Ava stumbled through a promotional bit for New Year’s Evil, where she said Roxanne Perez would face the winner of tonight’s main event. Tiffany Stratton, the pride of Prior Lake, Minnesota, stepped into the shot to a big positive reaction. She said she’s here “because it’s my hometown, duh.” She said she had a Tiffany Epiphany: maybe at New Year’s Evil, it’ll be Tiffy Time! Stratton was never actually out in front of the crowd, which was a bummer.
-There was another video explaining how the Iron Survivor Challenge works, in case anyone decided not to watch the opener, I guess?
-Mike Rome explained the rules of the Iron Survivor Challenge, in case anyone skipped the opener as well as the scene immediately preceding this.
(5) GIULIA vs. WREN SINCLAIR vs. SOL RUCA vs. ZARIA vs. STEPHANIE VAQUER – Iron Survivor Match to determine the new #1 contender for the Women’s NXT Championship
Giulia entered first to a good reaction, especially from me. Wren Sinclair entered next, with no real shot to win, but a good shot to show off what she can do in much longer form than ever before.
Sinclair rolled up Giulia for two early. Giulia responded in kind. Reset and Sinclair wanted a test of strength. They kept it up with slight changes for nearly a minute, then went to a series of quick rollups on the mat. Giulia snapped on a headlock, then continued to add torque elsewhere until Sinclair rolled her up to break. Giulia worked a few innovative covers and Sinclair backed up and stared, wide-eyed and fearful (or awestruck). Giulia missed a hard right and Sinclair snapped on a headlock. The two did some more mat work that makes a guy wish a singles match was on the horizon. Giulia laid out Sinclair with a back elbow and she went for a submission. Time expired.
#3 was Sol Ruca, surprisingly the longest-tenured person in this match. She got her shine early, turning this from a deeply technical match into a high-energy one. Ruca slammed Sinclair onto Giulia and covered both, but they both kicked out. Sinclair reversed a move and went into a submission learned from Charlie Dempsey. Giulia jumped on the back of the pair and trapped both with a chinlock. Ruca snuck out and went to the back and all three worked a headlock. After it broke up, Sinclair snapped a Fujiwara armbar on Ruca. Giulia tried to take control but Sinclair put her in a kneebar. Reversals abounded and again, the match was purely technical at this point. Sinclair picked it up and hit a series of shots on Ruca for a near-fall, broken up by Giulia. Ruca ran the ropes and bailed. Sinclair wanted Giulia to send her to the rope for a tope suicida, and Giulia feigned it and then put the knee to Sinclair to a mixed reaction, as that was a pretty heelish thing to do. Giulia hit a Northern Lights Bomb on Sinclair to score the first point.
#4 was Zaria and she beat down Ruca and Giulia, as Sinclair was now in the penalty box. Ruca hit a Sol Snatcher on both Giulia and Zaria, but they both snuck to the outside of the ring and she couldn’t cover. Sinclair reentered and immediately got hit with a Sol Snatcher and a three count, sending her sadly right back into the penalty box. Sol evened with Giulia at this point. Giulia and Ruca both tried to take out Zaria, and when they couldn’t do it alone, they put her through a table together. “Holy shit” chant. Then they took each other out. Time expired for Sinclair again, and she looked at the pile and tried to drag each woman back to the ring, but they were dead weight. Ruca, on the other side of the ring, hit a flip over the top onto both Sinclair and Giulia. Ruca tried a rollup on Sinclair, but she kicked out. Giulia, Ruca and Sinclair exchanged rollups as time expired, bringing the last woman into the fray.
Stephanie Vaquer was #5 and she hit the ring and dominated. She made some covers and had some broken up. She and Giulia had the inevitable staredown to a nice reactino. Behind them, Zaria appeared and she broke up the party by tossing Vaquer into the outside of the penalty box. Giulia put Zaria in a headlock and Vaquer jumped on and made a brief headlock chain. Vaquer got tossed into a corner, and Zaria chucked Giulia onto Vaquer. Zaria hit her finisher on Giulia and scored a point to tie with Giulia and Ruca.
With Giulia in the penalty box, everyone else exchanged quick offense. Zaria hit a moonsault on Ruca and Sinclair. Giulia reentered the match and got back into it quickly. She hit DDTs and big boots on everyone. Giulia went up as there were five minutes left. She hit a missile dropkick on two women and summarily a senton on Zaria for two. Giulia and Vaquer had another staredown and were once again pulled apart by other combatants. Finally they rid the ring of them and had their moment. Vaquer hit a dropkick and then did her knee drop spot. Everyone got involved and Sinclair finally got back into it but Vaquer rolled her up for three. Sinclair threw a fit and went back to the penalty box. The crowd isn’t miked up very well, but I assure you the crowd was wildly into Wren and were bummed when she got pinned that time especially. “Let’s go Wren” chant.
Sinclair got back into the match with less than a minute left. She and Ruca had an exchange and Sinclair rolled her up for three. Five-way tie. She tried another on Vaquer, who kicked out. Zaria hit her finisher on Sinclair, but Giulia ran in and hit the Arrivaderci knee on Zaria and pinned her to take the lead with about 12 seconds left. Vaquer tried to roll up Giulia, but time expired.
WINNER: Giulia at 25:00. (2-1-1-1-1)
Vaquer, who was the only one never pinned, seethed as the match was now over. Giulia acted somewhat surprised that she had pulled it off. She got a bomb of green streamers and soaked up the response. Everyone looked pissed except for Vaquer, who grinned darkly. The show went off the air shortly after the streamers started, but in person, Giulia hung out for at least a few minutes, celebrating with the fans as the other women took their leave. There was no post-match angle offscreen.
(Wells’s Analysis: It’s hard to beat the exciting booking of the opener, but this one made up for that with impact and a lot of very strong technical wrestling, and the work was clean all the way through the significant runtime. I think they did a pretty decent job of holding off on Giulia’s inevitable championship win as long as they could, building anticipation for the title win at New Year’s Evil and likely a showdown with Vaquer at Stand & Deliver a few months later)
FINAL THOUGHTS: The Armory is such a cool, gritty sort of place with a lot of attitude, but floor seating is tough (it was the 9th row we were in, if I didn’t mention it earlier). We didn’t see much of the Underground match live, but everything else came off well from our angle. It was a strong, enjoyable show with no fat that needed to be cut, and pieces are in place for the near future on weekly TV and beyond. Though we were given an official date for the Giulia-Roxanne Perez match, we didn’t get any such information about Williams-Femi, which is a mighty interesting looming match that will put Williams on his heels for the first time in a long while. An easy thumbs up.
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