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One of the biggest changes in WWE over the past few years is more footage of what is happening behind the scenes. The latest backstage footage revealed a Hall of Famer congratulating a newly-crowned champion after NXT's New Year's Evil show.
On Tuesday's special episode of NXT, two new champions were made after Giulia beat Roxanne Perez to become the NXT Women's Champion, and Oba Femi outlasted Trick Williams and Eddy Thorpe to take home the NXT Title.
In a post on X (fka Twitter) the official page of WWE NXT shared a never-before-seen video of Shawn Michaels congratulating The Ruler after his latest triumph. Michaels, who is the man in charge of developmental, seemed happy to see Oba Femi as the new NXT Champion.
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Oba Femi and Trick Williams started the Triple Threat match without Eddy Thorpe, who was attacked by the former backstage earlier in the night. Thorpe would later show up and participate, falling short in his quest to win the NXT Championship.
Williams hit his Trick Shot finisher on Thorpe, who was holding a chair. It allowed The Ruler to hit his patented Pop-Up Falling Powerbomb for the pinfall victory.
Oba Femi praises fellow WWE NXT star
Speaking on The Takedown on SI podcast, Oba Femi had nothing but praise for the man who beat him and took the NXT North American Championship. The Ruler explained that he had a great time working with Tony D'Angelo, who also defeated him in a rematch at Halloween Havoc.
"We definitely hurt one another, three hard-hitting matches, pushing each other to the limit. Tony knows that we have mutual respect for one another now, he knows that. And he knows why we have that respect, because as hard as he and his family hit, I hit that much harder. ... Tony can talk all the trash he wants. Tony knows he was rocked. I had him on the back foot the entire feud," Oba Femi said. [H/T Wrestling, Inc.]
Despite the loss to Tony D'Angelo, Oba Femi climbed the ladder in WWE by winning the 2024 Iron Survivor Challenge. He then started the year by winning the NXT Championship.
