The good, bad, and ugly from this week’s episode of WWE NXT

Heydorn’s NXT Receipt 1/14/25

The good, bad, and ugly from this week’s episode of WWE NXT

-A pretty cool video package to start the show this week. It was kind of like a reset on the brand in a way, with two new talents as the lead champions. The video also made The Rock’s appearance last week look MUCH better than it actually was.

-As for Oba Femi’s promo to start things off, thumbs up. Femi has always had an authentic touch to his work on the microphone and he found it here. Femi is a babyface at this point, but he’s kept an edge about him. I like a feud with Eddy Thorpe to start his title run. Thorpe can easily do a job, but has also worked well enough to earn a longer look from NXT brass. Like Femi, he’s taken this opportunity and run with it.

I guess this works

-Tony D’Angelo and Ridge Holland brawled at the end of Femi’s promo and that’s a feud that makes sense. I have to think that D’Angelo is headed to the main roster at some point and Ridge Holland makes sense as a heel NXT North American Champion.

-Yeah, look, I know it included a lot of shenanigans and interference, but there’s no way Stephanie Vaquer should be doing a job to Shotzi. Vaquer is a special talent. It makes no sense to treat her as anything but that.

-Nice to see Ethan Page get a solid squash match. It all existed to further build to a match with Je’Von Evans and to that end it worked well. They are taking their time with this program and by the time they square off, it should be a red hot grudge feud.

-Karmen Petrovic and Ashante have zero chemistry together on-screen. Like, none. It looked like cousins kissing each other this week.

-A pretty good women’s tag match this week. Kind of wild to see Unholy Union treated like a launching pad for Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson, but such is life. Legend and Jackson held their own during the match and are a good choice for up and coming opponents for Bianca Belair and Naomi.

Hello Masha

-Oh, hello Masha Slamovich. The TNA and NXT crossover continues. I’ll take Slamovich vs. Vaquer please. Thanks.

-Cora Jade vs. Kelani Jordan was fine. Both women feel like they are in a holding pattern, though. They’ve been in NXT for a long time and don’t appear to be on track to hold gold anymore. For better or worse, the main roster may be calling sooner than later.

-How about that selfie promo from Eddy Thorpe? Really good stuff and it’s a perfect example of a guy doing all he can to elevate his game. Thorpe looked serious, a little twisted, heelish, and real. That’s a good mix.
An OTM showcase

-An excellent tag team main event between Fraxiom and OTM. OTM has grown a lot in the last year and have consistently been able to have some good matches throughout the last four months. As for Fraxiom, well, their stellar — and unexpected run — continues. Looking at the NXT roster right now, it’s hard to find a team that isn’t OTM who is ready to take the tag titles at this point.