Welcome to WrestlePurists’ Coverage of the December 19th Episode of WWE NXT.
Fallon Henley Defeats Tiffany Stratton
Fallon Henley wins a quick but solid opening match by roll-up. After the match, Stratton attacks Henley, drags her to the back and covers her in trash.
We then head back to the locker room where Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes are catching up. Melo apologizes for accidentally hitting Trick with the belt last week. Trick asks Melo if he saw who attacked him, Melo says no but still thinks it’s Ilja Dragunov. Because of this, Melo thinks he is entitled to being in the title match and thinks if it’s a triple threat match, there is no way Ilja retains and at least one of them would be champion. Trick disagrees and says he wants his moment and deserves it for winning the Iron Survivor Challenge. Melo agrees to be at Trick’s side for his title match.
Ilja Dragunov In Ring Promo
Ilja says he feels like a third wheel in the Trick/Melo drama. He says that at Deadline, he showed the world who he really is. He says he will be the fastest rising star of 2024. Suddenly Ridge Holland comes out. He says he is back to rewrite his story so he has returned to NXT. He says he career has been a series of unfortunate events and that he back to redeem himself. He says Ilja can help him earn redemption. Ridge says he isn’t asking for a title shot but that he wants to eventually earn it. He says he will run through the entire NXT locker room to get his shot at Ilja’s NXT Championship. Ilja says he is tired of people getting in his face and that Ridge doesn’t have to wait for his shot at redemption. He will get his shot tonight.
Backstage, Trick Williams confronts Ilja Dragunov for having a match with Ridge Holland while he is the next in line. Dragunov says that he is the champion and that he calls the shots. Trick says he won’t be champion after New Year’s Evil.
NXT Men’s Breakout Tournament Match: Lexis King Defeats Dion Lennox
This was a very short match but a pretty good debut for Lennox. King wins the match by pinfall and moves on in the tournament. After the match, Troy Bearhill comes to the aid of Lennox.
We see a Eddy Thorpe video package. Eddy talks about Dijak and how the universe has pulled them back together to settle things. He said Dijak injured him, so he took the Iron survior challenge from Dijak. He challenges Dijak to an NXT Underground Match.
Izzi Dame & Kiana James Defeat Jacy Jayne & Thea Hail
Izzi Dame and Kiana James defeat Jacy Jayne and Thea Hail via pinfall. Hail was pinned by Dame after Hail had James in the kimura, but James wasn’t the legal woman in the match. Riley Osborne was shown in the crowd, watching the match.
After the match, Roxanne Perez and several of the women are in the locker room. Perez is still upset about her loss in the Iron Survivor Challenge. Arianna Grace tries to make her feel better but Perez just gets upset and ends up slapping her in the face.
We return from commercial to Andre Chase and Duke Hudson throwing dice with OTM. Andre is having a little too much fun gambling. Duke looks a little concerned. Andre Chase proposes a match, where if he and Hudson win, they double their money, and if he and Hudson lose, they walk out with what they came in with. Scrypts also wants a tag team title match. Andre agrees but one of Tony D’Angelo’s family members hears this and calls Tony to tell him they are making promises. Tony says it’s ok and Andre tells Duke they are going to repay their debts next week.
NXT North American Championship: Dragon Lee Defeats Charlie Dempsey and Joe Coffey
Prior to the match starting, Gallus came out and Coffey gets himself added to the match. The rest of Gallus were eventually sent away from ringside. Joe Gacy pulled Coffey underneath the ring. Lee wins the match via Operation Dragon over Dempsey. After the match, the No Quarter Catch Crew attacked Lee but Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro made the save.
Back in the locker room, Trick tells Melo that he should be getting the first shot at Ilja, not Ridge Holland. He says that he should be the one to take the title off of Dragunov. Melo nods in agreement but when Trick leaves, he shakes his head and looks disappointed.
Backstage, Cora Jade took back her locker, which now belongs to Karmen Petrovic. Jade throws away the contents of Petrovic’s locker. Petrovic then came into the locker room and asked what happened. Gigi Dolin tells Petrovic that Jade did it.
NXT Men’s Breakout Tournament Match: Tavon Heights Defeats Luca Crusifino
An impressive debut for both of these gentlemen, especially Tavon Heights who looks like a favorite to land in the finals. Heights wins this match via pinfall after hitting a spinning belly to belly suplex. He heads to the semi finals.
We then see a video package highlighting the upcoming women’s championship match between Lyra Valkyria and Blair Davenport.
Following the video package, Nikita Lyons approaches Lyra Valkyria in the locker room. She tells her that she will take care of Tatum Paxley tonight and that she came back for Blair Davenport but she also came back for the Women’s Championship.
Kelly Kincaid interviews Meta-Four. They are celebrating the holidays and Noam Dar says Josh Briggs has a Christmas miracle coming his way. He says he will defend the Heritage Cup against him.
Nikita Lyons Defeats Tatum Paxley
Tatum Paxley dominated this match early on, but Lyons is able to take control late and wins this match via pinfall.
Hank Walker and Tank Ledger are backstage getting pumped for their upcoming match.
Fallon Henley is backstage talking to Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen. She is still very upset with Stratton after what happened earlier. She says she is embarrassed and humiliated. After Fallon leaves, Josh Briggs says that that he thinks he will win the Heritage Cup. Brooks Jensen says he and Fallon will have Briggs’ back, but Briggs says he has to do this one alone. Brooks agrees, but seems upset.
Gallus (Wolfgang & Mark Coffey) Defeat Hank Walker and Tank Ledger
Gallus wins this quick tag match via pinfall. After the match, Gacy is shown in the crowd looking on.
Dijak responds to Eddy Thorpe’s challenge. He reminds Thorpe about what happened the last time they were in the ring together. He asks what he will do when nothing or no one can save him. He says that 2024 will be Eddy’s last match, seemingly accepting the match and stipulation.
Tiffany Stratton says Fallon Henley will never be her and that not matter what, she will always be trash. She then says she will fight her at New Year’s Evil and when she wins, Henley will become her servant.
NXT Championship Match: Ilja Dragunov vs Ridge Holland Ends in No Contest
The main event ends in a no contest when the referee calls the match due to an injury to Dragunov. He seemed to be favoring his neck when medical staff came down to the ring. The entire room is silent as Dragunov is carried out on a stretcher. I believe this injury is storyline but they did an incredible job of selling it.
Another action packed episode that flew by.
