WWE NXT Results, live recap, grades, and more: MULTI-TIME CHAMP crashes the show, will compete next week in tag team action!

FULL RESULTS FOR WWE NXT FOR JANUARY 25TH, 2025.
TONY D'ANGELO defeats Ridge Holland by pin.
WES LEE defeats Dion Lennox by pin.
LEXIS KING defeats Charlie Dempsey 2 Round to 1 Round.
KARMEN PETROVIC defeats Jaida Parker by pin.
NIKO VANCE and BROOKS JENSEN defeat Luca Crusafino and Stacks Lorenzo by pin.
OBA FEMI defeats Eddy Thorpe by pin.

OVERALL GRADE FOR WWE NXT (JANUARY 21, 2025): C.
Most of the matches were forgettable. The pairings in the title matches weren't enticing like in the past. Bookers can't figure out who's the face between Dempsey and King. The women's action was okay.

Femi stares down Waller and Theory until he senses a presence behind him. It turns out to be Trick Williams, who Femi pinned to win the title. He wants a rematch again. Thorpe tries to rush him but he's dropped by a big knee from Trick. Nice, completely bury the guy who just had a good showing in his biggest match.

Eddy hits an elbow drop off the top for two. The two trade shots. Thorpe hits a snap German Suplex and goes for another jumping elbow but Femi grabs him by the neck. He chokeslams Thorpe for a very close call. Eddy moves out of the way when Femi rushes him in the corner. Thorpe sends Femi to a corner but is caught when attempting a kick. Femi tosses him across the ring before hitting the Fall From Grace for the win.
Result - Oba Femi defeats Eddy Thorpe by pin.

GRADE: B.
The match started off slow and clunky but the last five minutes were good. Thorpe didn't get squashed and looked like he belonged in the match. It was a good ending sequence as well.

Femi hits a run of offense with a bevy of strikes. He slams Eddy for two. Austin Theory and Grayson Waller watch the match from the arena pulpit. Femi goes for a chokeslam but Thorpe transitions into an armbar. As is required whenever a wrestler locks in an armbar, the star lifts the submitter up for a slam. Femi does this but Eddy rolls through into a pin attempt. Eddy hits a Stunner to ground Oba.

They keep mentioning records randomly throughout WWE programming. Please don't bring that into WWE.

Femi clotheslines Thorpe before tossing him across the ring. Eddy rolls out of the ring but Femi pursues him. He goes to bash him with a forearm but Thorpe moves. Femi bashes the ring apron.

It's main event time as Eddy Thorpe gets a one-on-one shot against Oba Femi. Thorpe hits a German Suplex and an elbow drop for one.

Announced for next week are:
Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade vs. Bayley and Giulia
Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson vs. Bianca Belair and Naomi
Trick Williams vs. Wes Lee.

Kelani Jordan with the weakest slap attempt in history . . .

Ethan Page cuts a pre-taped promo about the path of carnage he's cut through Je'Von Evans, Dante Chen, and Cedric Alexander. Evans wants to fight Page but ISN'T MEDICALLY CLEARED BECAUSE HEALING TAKES TIME!!! Cedric says he'll take care of Page next week. A Town Down Under then comes in to suck up to Ava so they can show up in Atlanta next week. Theory IS from A Town . . . .

Dion Lennox is pissed backstage and says "I'm done with this place" before we see Izzi Dame talking with Tony D. The Family is looking for The Don backstage. He's talking with Izzi Dame and again, she says they're even. They say they were looking for him but ended up losing. The Don says Stacks has been the Underboss for two years and should know by know he can do it without The Don sometimes.

Sarah Schreiber interviews FrAxiom and they say they just escaped with a win last week. Josh Briggs and Inamura claim they're more interested in going to TNA than facing them. Nathan Frazer says they'll gladly defend the titles but Briggs and Inamura haven't beaten anyone to be worthy of a shot. He's not wrong. OTM then rushes in blabbing something and they all fight. I thought this brawling nonsense between unworthy teams was done.

Stacks fights off Vance and Jensen with a dropkick off the top. Luca hits Vance with a Superkick. The Family goes for a tandem move but Brooks pulls the ropes. After some confusion, Brooks hits a kick and Vance hits a Lariat for the win.
Result - Niko Vance and Brooks Jensen defeats Luca Crusafino and Stacks Lorenzo by pin.

GRADE: C+.
Kind of a car crash of a match. The pre-match brawl was the most exciting part.

Luca hiptosses Stacks onto their opponents. Vance and Jensen get control after Jensen pulls Stacks off the apron. Jensen tags in and hits a suplex. Vance looks like Bron Breakker's brother but with way more bad tattoos.

Brooks Jensen and Niko Vance take on Luca Crusafino and Stacks. The two teams brawl before they even get in the ring. I believe this is Vance's in-ring debut on NXT.

Lash, Jakara, Sol, Zaria, and others all stress the importance of Lash and Jakara winning next week to bring the women's tag titles back to NXT.

Parker hits a spinning back elbow and a front facebuster. She gets ready for her hip finisher but Kelani Jordan gets on the apron to distract her. Petrovic rolls her up for the win. Again, Jordan is supposed to be a face, but one with a slight edge.
Result - Karmen Petrovic defeats Jaida Parker by pin.

GRADE: B-.
Good flow and both had their spots. The finish was unnecessary and another example of a supposed face acting like a heel.

Karmen hits a facebuster for a one count. Parker hits an Electric Chair move. Parker adds her sit-down in the corner before trapping Karmen in the ropes.Parker hits a swinging neckbreaker after Karmen kicks her. Petrovic lands a series of moves, highlighted by a Sling Blade for a near fall.

Jaida comes out with new music. Ashante Adonis accompanies Petrovic for the match. Both women mock the other.

Hank, Tank, and Mr. Chase are talking backstage. Hank and Tank are mad that Chase walked out on them two weeks ago. He tells them to break up the team right now because all teams do so at some point. He walks by a bunch of people watching old Chase U footage. Kale Dixon thinks he was awesome but Chase tells him it's over. Dixon has the bright idea that it doesn't have to be over.

GRADE: B-.
King and Dempsey have good chemistry and can wrestle good matches but the rounds thing really dampens the excitement. Having both stars act like heels at points also doesn't help.

Who knows any more if Ava doesn't even know the rules of the Heritage Cup?

Bianca and Naomi cut a promo before their tag tile match next week with Lash and Jakara. Ground-breaking stuff. Up next is teenage love puppy and noisy sword girl Karmen Petrovic taking on Jaida Parker.

King lands a crossbody for a close call. Dempsey reverses a kick to dump King on his head. He crawls to the bucket but Dempsey grabs him. Dempsey lands on the outside and King hits NQCC with a Torpe Con Giro. King tries to get back in the ring by Myles Borne grabs him. King decks Borne. Dempsey almost gets two near falls. Both men walk the ref into the corner. King lands a low blow on Dempsey behind the ref's back. He adds the Coronation DDt to retain the Heritage Cup.
Result - Lexis King defeats Charlie Dempsey 2 Rounds to 1 Round.

King grabs the knucks between rounds but dumps them back into the bucket. He's without a corner person again, but Regal's spirit is in the bucket. Dempsey rushes him and locks in a Guillotine Choke. King breaks it up with a suplex. King responds with some strikes and a Northern Lights Suplex with a bridge for two.

Dempsey controls the early stages of Round 3. He sends King into a buckle head first before hitting a German Suplex with a bridge. They also briefly showed a pair of brass knuckles in King's corner bucket before Round 2. Dempsey has King trapped in a submission but he escapes. King blasts Dempsey with a Superkick for a near fall. Dempsey lands a kick followed by a suplex that traps King to pick up a fall.
King 1, Dempsey 1 after Round 3.

The genius bookers have King picking up a fall during the commercial break. If that happens in a Championship match, it should probably happen on the live broadcast. Another flaw with the Heritage Cup.
King 1, Dempsey 0 After Round 2.

King extends his hand but Dempsey kicks it off. He lands a beautiful dropkick before the two trade armlocks. After going for another leapfrog/inadvertent crotch hit, King pulls up instead of falling into the trap. The two then briefly shake hands.They trade pins as the clock runs out on Round 1.
King 0, Dempsey 0 after Round 1.

Instead of announcing it herself, Sarah Schreiber announces Brooks Jensen and Niko Vance will face Luca Crusifino and Stacks tonight. She then interviews Stephanie Vaquer, who doesn't like how her opportunity is being warped by others like Fatal Influence and Shotzi.

Lexis King cuts a promo about his journey from an arrogant newcomer to someone who acts more with honor. Some people don't believe him while others do. He'll defend it against former Heritage Cup Champ Charlie Dempsey.

Lee grabs the mic to challenge Trick for next week and he comes out to punch everyone. He accepts the match and then walks into Dion Lennox as if he's not there. Trick's supposed to be a face, people.

Lee kicks Dion and rushes him but is hit with a Spinebuster. He lands three kicks before landing the Cardiac Kick for the win.
Result - Wes Lee defeats Dion Lennox by pin.

GRADE: C+.
Decent showcase but the match was quick. Lennox needs more time in matches to develop.

Lee hits a Suicide Dive on Lennox. He gets back in the ring but Lennox tosses Lee high in the air only to fall on his face. Vic says Trick slapped Wes so hard he thought his name was Dezmond (his name in TNA).

Up next is Dion Lennox taking on Wes Lee. Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe accompany him for the match. Shouldn't he head to the main roster instead?

Roxy was able to get her little voice over the boos!!!

All four women start to brawl. Surprisingly, the fight isn't broken up by security. Jaida basks in how Bayley mentioned her name two weeks in a row. Kelani runs in to say she mentioned her name first. They argue until Karmen Petrovic comes into act like a love puppy. Teenage drama, folks.

The fans are booing Cora and Roxy like they're Dominik. Cora does a good job ignoring it by speaking over them. They've been holding the division together in NXT's New Era since Day 1. Roxy then tells everyone to shut up. She then talks over the crowd too to give Bayley some props before telling her to beat her feet.

Giulia says Roxy may not look up to Bayley, but she does and hopes to hold the title with as much honor as Bayley did. After some lovey dovey talk between the two, Roxy comes out with Cora Jade.

Bayley then namedrops Jaida Parker, Kelani Jordan, and Lola Vice before mentioning Giulia. Say her name and she appears?

Bayley says she's trying to talk to Perez because she's done a great job building the NXT Women's division but Perez didn't want to hear it. The Hugger is not happy that The Prodigy showed up twice last week to interfere in her big matches. Those actions prove that she isn't ready to be a leader or move to RAW or SmackDown.

Thankfully, the match is over with a Spinebuster.

Bayley is on her way to the ring, probably to call out Roxanne Perez!

Dame says they're even now, even after she helped out last week.

After the match, Dion Lennox steps up to Wes Lee after Lee laughs at Lennox thinking he has potential. As they argue, Trick Williams randomly walks by to his locker. Lee then says "Speaking of former Champs" and Trick then decks him. It was nice to see Malik Blade and Edris Enofe in the background. They've been gone for weeks!

Tony D busts out of a rest hold to land some offense, including a belly-to-belly and a Fishermen's Suplex for a near fall. The combatants trade strikes until Ridge hits a big boot and half-and-half suplex for a two-count. D'Angelo responds with a Spear, but then Shawn Spears gets up on the ring apron. The Family takes umbrage with it but Brooks and Niko come out to fight with Stacks and Luca. As the ref is distracted, Izzi Dame randomly runs in to hit Ridge with a big boot. D'Angelo hits a Spinebuster for the win.
Result - Tony D'Angelo defeats Ridge Holland by pin.

GRADE: C.
The match was short and hurt by the ad break. The pairing was never interesting to begin with and they proved that to be true. They had some good exchanges but this felt like an AEW match - wrestling for the sake of wrestling.

D'Angelo gets control over Ridge briefly but fails to take advantage as Shawn Spears comes out to watch the proceedings.

Ridge drops the champ with a big shoulder block. Tony D returns the favor.

Kicking things off will be Tony D'Angelo defending the North American Title against the ratings maven that is Ridge Holland. I cannot wait for his electric and explosive appearance...