NXT Vengeance Day 2025 Review

We have arrived at the final NXT pay-per-view event before WrestleMania weekend. The biggest and best time of the pro wrestling calendar year continues on with NXT looking to build things to their own version of WrestleMania, Stand & Deliver.

There are six matches on the show tonight, four of which feature a championship on the line.

Are you ready?

We went through the love of Valentine’s Day. Now it’s time to get to the Vengeance.

Fallon Henley vs Stephanie Vaquer – NXT Women’s North American Title Match

During the match introductions, they show women like Jaida Parker and Kelani Jordan sitting in various places in the crowd. I really wish WWE would stop doing that. It looks so fake and corny, especially when the camera pans to show that a certain section was cleared of fans for the shot.

While I’m at it, I also wish WWE would stop the “here’s so-and-so entering the building and pulling their luggage behind them” shots. I don’t give a single solitary fuck about watching a poorly timed walk-in for half the roster at every single show.

“This is a main event anywhere in the world, I’ll tell you that.” – Booker T, lying his ass off for no reason.

This is a weird crowd. They’re really hot for anything Stephanie Vaquer does, but they’re still not making constant or consistent noise. It’ll be quiet, and then applause for something Steph does, then more quiet, then a random chant for a few seconds, then quiet, and so on.

The match is over, and it was something that definitely took place. I didn’t even get a chance to actually discuss any in-ring action, mainly because there wasn’t much to talk about. Fallon Henley didn’t have her best performance here, delivering some poor strikes on a few occasions, having poor timing on others, and almost botching a ring apron spot completely. The outcome was also expected, with Vaquer winning and becoming the brand new NXT Women’s North American Champion. I think this may have been better served taking place on the weekly NXT television show. 2 Stars

Nathan Frazer & Axiom vs Josh Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura – NXT Tag Team Title Match

Can the duo that many people feel are the best tag team in the world today turn things around for the show as they defend their titles?

LOL @ the footage of Briggs saying that he and Inamura have to look and dress like a tag team now, only for them to show up for this match with Briggs having black and red tights and Inamura wearing black, blue, and gold trunks. They don’t match at all.

Goodness gracious, Inamura is just abusing Axiom with chops and strikes right now. He’s wearing Axiom the hell out, and even getting appreciative applause from the crowd for doing so.

Sure enough, this match has gotten the show on track. We’ve earned our first “this is awesome” chant, and thus far, it is deserved.

Man, that was a lot of fun. The champions retain their titles. This was one of Josh Briggs’ best performances since debuting in NXT, but Inamura was the overall star of the match, without question. He won the crowd over on a few different occasions, even with the crowd supporting the champions.

After the match, we get the debut of the new faction that has been teased on NXT programming the last couple weeks. Four men… let’s just call them NeXTus for now… hit the ring and attack Frazer and Axiom for a few seconds before leaving the ring to a “who are you?” chant. Ouch. I didn’t catch the identities of all four men, but Vic Joseph mentioned that Dion Lennox is one of them. According to social media, the other three are Osiris Griffin, Saquon Shugars, and Cutler James. Well, good luck to them, I guess.

As for the tag match, I’ll give it 4 Stars. Good stuff, especially for a match that I’m not 100% sure hit the ten-minute mark. Imagine what it could’ve been if it were able to reach 12-15 minutes.

Trick Williams vs Eddy Thorpe – Strap Match

This crowd is red hot for Trick Willy. So much so that we’re getting a loud “fuck you, Eddy” chant when Eddy goes on offense.

It should come as no surprise that this has been very physical so far. Both men have been taking turns beating the hell out of their opponent with the strap. The pace has been a bit slow, but that’s also to be expected with this type of match.

Whoa… Thorpe pins Trick to pick up the win. The crowd was stunned, to say the very least. Lots of shocked facial expressions throughout the arena. I’m not sure many people had this outcome picked.

Overall, this wasn’t bad. Like I said, it was really slow, but not in a bad way, and there was tons of physicality. Interesting booking decision, one way or another. Let’s call it 3.25 Stars and we’ll get on with the next one.

Je’Von Evans vs Ethan Page

The build for this match has been comically over-the-top, with the threats that Je’Von might have to retire from the ring if he takes another major trauma to his jaw. It’s such a serious deal that he even has to wear a mouthguard for this match!

Vic Joseph said that the mouthguard Je’Von is wearing is “triple protected.” The sound you heard was my eyeballs rolling in my skull.

Je’Von wanted vengeance, and he may have gotten some already. Page comes up with a bloody nose on the outside, and the blood is dripping on the ring steps. It looks broken, as the blood is all over his face now, covering his mouth and cheeks.

I’m digging this so far. Page is on fire recently, showing a very sadistic side to himself. Evans is working here with the exact type of anger and frustration that he should have for someone who nearly had his career taken away from him.

Creative finish to the match. As Evans is building up momentum, he attempts a dive, only to literally have his mouthguard punched out of his mouth. Three seconds later, “All Ego” picks up the win, and Evans has bitten into another blood capsule. There are people who have been shot a bunch of times that don’t have that much blood pouring out of their mouths. Come on now. Still… the overall match was entertaining. 3.5 Stars

Oba Femi vs Grayson Waller vs Austin Theory – Triple Threat Match for the NXT Title

If Oba loses his title here, expect to see A LOT of people complaining on social media about the black members of NXT being treated poorly during Black History Month. Shit, after Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans lost tonight, there might be a lot of that, no matter who wins this one.

Oba just connected with a slap to Theory’s chest that sounded like a watermelon landing on the sidewalk after falling from the top of the Empire State Building. My Lord. That echoed throughout the arena.

I dig the story being told here. Theory and Waller are going back-and-forth between a tag team and two individuals trying to win a singles title, while the usually dominant champion is facing longer-than-usual odds, but doing so in fighting fashion.

The end was fun. Theory and Waller really tried to one-up each other, and that allowed Oba to take advantage of their lack of confusion to pick up the win. After the match, the lights went out on Oba’s celebration, with the spotlights coming on to show the members of NeXTus in the crowd. They rush the ring and attack Oba, getting the numbers advantage and leaving the NXT Champion in a heap. Those fellows are making a lot of enemies already. NXT officials must have a ton of faith in them to give them the NXT Champion and the NXT Tag Team Champions as enemies on day one.

This was a fun match overall. I could’ve done with it being a bit longer, but it was still 3.5 Stars. That might be underselling it a bit, too.

Giulia vs Roxanne Perez vs Cora Jade vs Bayley – Fatal Four-Way Match for the NXT Women’s Title

Good choice for the main event spot. The international star champion, the main roster star, the former champion who might be making her final NXT appearance, and… Cora Jade is there, too.

They’re really playing this up as a “battle of eras,” with Bayley representing the Black & Gold years for NXT, Roxanne representing the NXT 2.0 time, and Giulia representing the modern era. Cora Jade is there, too.

Lots of fast-paced action from the opening bell. I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody. What is a surprise is how quiet the crowd has been. This hasn’t been a long show, nor has it been one filled with classic match after classic match. With the names involved in this one, I figured the crowd would be red hot, but they’ve been nothing more than lukewarm for most of the action so far.

After non-stop action, Giulia picks up the win, pinning Roxanne to retain her title. Is it bad that I’m almost waiting for NeXTus to come back out and attack her? Either way, this was good stuff. All four women looked good, although I’m surprised at how little Bayley played into things. Another 3.5 Star match.

As Giulia celebrates, Stephanie Vaquer’s music hits, and the new Women’s North American Champion comes to the ring. Both champions raise their titles in the air, but they’re interrupted by the arrival of Jordynne Grace, making her official debut as a member of the NXT roster. Jordynne goes face-to-face with both women as the show goes off the air.

After a skippable (unless you’re a huge Stephanie Vaquer fan) opening match, this was a really fun show. Not a classic that will be remembered at the end of the year, but they don’t always have to be. There are some very interesting directions NXT can go in with a lot of their feuds as we continue on to Stand & Deliver.