SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT TV REPORT
DECEMBER 2, 2025
ORLANDO, FLA. AT THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON THE CW
REPORT BY DAVID MILLER, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Corey Graves
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
[HOUR ONE]
-The show opened with Vic Joseph announcing that Corey Graves is stepping in this week for Booker T, which automatically ensures a more enjoyable listening experience. They cut to Ava, standing mid-ring with the participants in the upcoming women’s Iron Survivor Challenge. Sol Ruca agreed with Ethan Page that she was a world-class talent. Jordynne Grace interrupted her to assert her dominance, but Lola Vice shut her up in Spanish. She talked about how many times she’d been screwed. She couldn’t resist swiveling her hips as she blamed Lainey Reid for not being champion right now. Evolve Women’s Champion Kendal Grey said she was the only champion in the ring right now. Kelani Jordan began running down Grey as the crowd very loudly tried to drown her out with boos.
-Fatal Influence interrupted the proceedings. Jacy Jayne said that now that the championship is back around her “beautiful, itty-bitty two-inch waist”, that order has been restored. She said she wouldn’t let any of the losers in the ring ruin it for her. She ran down all the women one by one. She made fun of Kelani for losing her championship recently. Kelani said she’d still be champion if it wasn’t for “this meathead”, referring to Grace. This provoked a fight between the two. Fatal Influence attacked the other three women, who soon ran the heel trio out of the ring.
– “Earlier today”, Joe Hendry and Thea Hail were talking when Stacks and Arianna Grace walked up. Grace was giggling incessantly, then got into a verbal joust with Hail, who challenged her to a match.
-Thea Hail made her ring entrance before they cut to the first commercial break of the night. [c]
-When they returned from the break, Ava was walking in the back with security. She instructed them to keep Kelani and Jordynne as far apart from each other as possible. She encountered Fatal Influence and read them the riot act for their constant interference, then told them they would be taking on Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, and Kendal Grey in a six-woman tag team match tonight, which they were highly offended by.
(1) THEA HAIL (w/Joe Hendry) vs. ARIANNA GRACE (w/Stacks)
Grace took advantage of Hail being distracted by Stacks to take control of the match. Hail sidestepped a charging Grace, who went flying out of the ring. Hail hit a dive through the ropes onto Grace. Stacks tried to interfere, but Hendry quickly dispatched him. Hail clamped on a Kimura lock, which Grace promptly tapped out to.
WINNER: Thea Hail by submission at 2:47.
(Miller’s Take: That was short and sweet, but exactly what it should have been. Grace is a thoroughly obnoxious, narcissistic heel who isn’t taken seriously, and Hail is full of spit and vinegar. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a push for the very talented Hail.)
-Outside the arena, Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors nearly hit OTM with the car they were driving. Andre Chase walked up to settle OTM down, then turned his attention to Dixon and Connors, who seemed to be arguing over something. He called them “bleeping” idiots and warned them that OTM wasn’t about to put up with their offbeat shenanigans.
Josh Briggs entered wearing Papa Shango’s smoking skull on his jacket before a commercial break. [c]
-Another John Cena interview clip aired before they cut to Ava, who was in the back with Je’Von Evans, TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater, Myles Borne, and Joe Hendry. Robert Stone handed Ava an open box with her name on it, which she set aside. She told the four men that if one of them got the pin in their 8-man tag team match tonight, they’d get to pick their spot in the Iron Survivor Challenge. As they left, she examined the contents of the box, which appeared to be pieces of black paper. It was hard to tell what it was.
(2) JOSH BRIGGS vs. TAVION HEIGHTS
The two men brawled on the floor before the match started as fans chanted “Briggs, go away”. Once inside the ring, the referee rang the bell. Briggs went for an early pin attempt before Heights turned the tide of the match with some rough takedowns. He threw forearms at Briggs’s noggin and nearly pinned him after an overhead throw. He continued throwing forearms until Briggs pitched him outside the ring, then destroyed him with a boot as he tried to re-enter the ring. Briggs hopped out to the floor to engage Heights, who lifted Briggs and powerslammed him through the barricade before they cut to a split-screen commercial break. [c]
After the larger, more obnoxious screen on the right espoused the virtues of Nyquil, Burger King, Progressive, and some show on The CW with a dog, they returned to full screen. Briggs hit a side slam and followed it up with a splash for a two-count. He kept Heights grounded with an armbar until he escaped and nailed a running dropkick. The offense was short-lived, though, as Briggs continued to bully Heights. Briggs took off the chain from around his neck in front of the referee but dropped it. Heights hit a belly-to-belly suplex and covered Briggs, but the referee was late with his count because he was busy getting rid of the chain. Briggs came back with a big lariat for the win.
WINNER: Josh Briggs at 11:36.
(Miller’s Take: This was decent, but nothing special. Heights is very talented but just lacks that “it” factor that’s needed to rise above even mid-card level in NXT. The Olympic athlete gimmick worked for Kurt Angle, but Heights is no Kurt Angle. Despite winning this match, Briggs seems to be losing steam. He’s a good heel, but he needs some wins over higher-tier talent to gain any momentum.)
-In the back, The Culling, now a trio, were shown making their way to the entrance. Joseph said Izzi Dame had some explaining to do. [c]
-The Culling, led by Izzi Dame, made their ring entrance. She put down the fans, then said she corrected a mistake with Tatum Paxley. She took credit for Paxley’s success and called her selfish and stubborn. Dame said Paxley was only NXT Women’s champion because she allowed her to be. The crowd chanted for Tatum as Dame said she’d end her in San Antonio. Paxley appeared onscreen. With eye makeup streaming down her face, she said she was sitting in the family spot, with three empty stools around her. She sobbed as she asked Izzi why she tore apart what was steady in her life. Dame interrupted her and told her to come out to the ring and do something about it unless she was scared. Paxley said she was scared because at Deadline, she would have to make Izzi feel all of her pain.
-In the women’s locker room, Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, Kendal Grey, and Wren Sinclair were chatting about the upcoming six-woman tag team match when Zaria approached them. Ruca immediately stood up and apologized to Zaria for not being out there for her match at Gold Rush. Zaria said it looked like she was moving on just fine and told her not to expect her to be out there for her match tonight. Sol apologized again and said she understood, then left with the others to prepare for their match. [c]
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of “PWT Talks NXT” with Kelly Wells and Nate Lindberg, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
[HOUR TWO]
(3) FATAL INFLUENCE (Jacy Jayne & Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid) vs. KENDAL GREY & LOLA VICE & SOL RUCA (w/Wren Sinclair)
Vice and Reid started the match by shoving each other, which prompted the rest of the women to enter the ring and throw down. They all took turns diving to the outside before it settled back down to a one-on-one. Ruca took the tag and went to work on Reid. Henley and Grey faced off, with Grey getting the best of that confrontation. Jayne took the tag and briefly scuffled with Grey before Henley tripped her up from outside the ring, allowing Fatal Influence to gain the offense. The trio posed for the camera before they cut to a split-screen commercial break. [c]
After some guys got letters shaved into the back of their heads on behalf of a chicken shack, among other uninteresting and repetitive commercials, they returned to full screen to find Jayne beating on Grey. Vice took the hot tag and started throwing feet at everyone. She ran from corner to corner with hip attacks, then tagged in Ruca. Henley landed a bodyscissors takedown for a near fall. It all broke down with everybody hitting big moves. Ruca hit a Sol Snatcher out of nowhere on Jayne for the pin.
WINNERS: Kendal Grey & Lola Vice & Sol Ruca at 11:14.
(Miller’s Take: This followed the tried-and-true formula of all six brawling to start the match, dives from everyone to the floor, one wrestler being dominated for an extended period, and a hot tag with everyone hitting a big move, but it works for me when you’ve got six talented wrestlers who can pull it off. Henley is especially talented and ready for the main roster if you ask me. Grey has the “it” factor but needs more seasoning. I haven’t seen anything particularly impressive about Reid yet, but I also haven’t seen that much of her. The NXT women’s division is overflowing with talent at this point, and quite honestly, Raw and Smackdown could use some help right now.)
-After the match, Ruca, Grey, and Vice were celebrating on the floor when Zaria flew into the picture with a spear that nearly cut Grey in half. Ruca and Vice saw it coming and moved out of the way, leading the announcers to speculate that the spear was intended for Ruca. Sol got into a shoving match with Zaria as Vice tried to keep them separated. Sinclair tended to Grey as Jacy Jayne looked on approvingly.
-An NXT Anonymous clip eavesdropped on Je’Von Evans chatting with NXT Champion Ricky Saints. They joked with each other a bit. Evans talked about being a bit annoyed by the “future champion” label that Saints pinned on him, saying he’s wrestled for AAA, went toe to toe with Gunther, and wrestled at Madison Square Garden. Saints talked him up before they amicably parted ways.
-OTM made their ring entrance prior to the commercial break. [c]
-Another John Cena clip aired before DarkState was shown hanging out in the back. Dion Lennox said since he wanted to go after singles gold for the group, he wanted to give his tag team title belt to one of the other members. Cutler James told Saquon Shugars to take it. He objected, but James insisted. Oba Femi walked up and said the ruler has arrived. He commended Lennox on making the Iron Survivor Challenge, but Lennox reminded him that the last time they were together, Femi blew him off like he was a nobody. He said if Femi took the gold back, he’d snatch it from him and knock his teeth down his throat. Femi told him not to get ahead of himself.
(4) OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price) vs. CHASE U (Kale Dixon & Uriah Connors) (w/Andre Chase)
Chase U went on the attack at the bell. With OTM on the outside, they dove through the ropes onto them. Back in the ring, it didn’t take long for Chase U to run into a brick wall in OTM. Dixon fought back valiantly and hit a searing chop to Price’s back but ate a huge superkick. After an assisted gutbuster, OTM got a two-count. Connors took the hot tag and showed some serious fire. Dixon took the tag, and Chase U dominated until they took it out of the ring, where they were caught as they dove off the apron and slammed into each other by OTM. Back in the ring, OTM hit a rather unimpressive assisted Alabama Slam on Connors for the win.
WINNERS: OTM at 4:39.
(Miller’s Take: Chase U had me thinking they might actually pull this one off, but they didn’t get the job done in the end. It was a nice little match to get both teams a little TV time, but nothing more.)
-They showed a clip of Ethan Page & Chelsea Green defending the AAA Mixed Tag Team Championship against Mr. Iguana & Lola Vice at AAA Alianzas a couple of weeks ago, then cut to the parking lot, where Ava asked Page where he was going as he was getting into his car. He said since his services weren’t needed tonight, he was leaving. She reminded him that the North American title hasn’t been defended since Halloween Havoc. He said since he was the best wrestler in WWE, he doubted anyone would want to face him. Ava said she knew of someone and pointed in his direction. Page turned to see La Yesca staring at him through his passenger side window. Page leaped out of the car like it was on fire and accused Ava of setting him up. Iguana shouted, “Pongase verde” and honked the horn as he drove off in Page’s car. Page ran after the car as he asked Ava if she was going to call the cops. She replied, “What am I gonna say, a reptile stole your car?” [c]
-Tonight’s Progressive NXT Focus was on… drum roll… Shiloh Hill, sans tooth. Still seated at his control center, he said he had a great Thanksgiving and ate raccoon for the first time, but it was kind of greasy. He then went into a story about a Thanksgiving he spent as a kid when he crashed his snowmobile and had to spend the night in the woods. He pondered how cool it would have been if he’d been eaten by wolves, then abruptly transitioned into talking about being coached by The Undertaker in LFG. He showed what I would describe as symptoms of psychosis before randomly getting up to look for bleach.
(Miller’s Take: I normally only do this after matches, but I just have to say that Shiloh Hill is cutting the best promos in all of WWE right now. His facial expressions and delivery are sincere yet disturbing. He told a story of surviving a cold night in the woods as a child, with wolves howling all around him as if it were a cool adventure rather than a bleak, terrifying predicament. He convincingly comes across as being a few fries short of a Happy Meal, and I’m excited to see what he brings to the table. If his in-ring ability can match that of his promos, WWE has a real superstar.)
-After wondering aloud if Shiloh Hill is on a watchlist somewhere, the announcers ran down the card for this Saturday’s Deadline in San Antonio.
-Joe Hendry, Leon Slater, and Je’Von Evans (who stopped to slobber into the camera) made their ring entrances before the commercial break. [c]
(5) JOE HENDRY & LEON SLATER & JE’VON EVANS & MYLES BORNE vs. DARKSTATE (Saquon Shugars & Dion Lennox & Cutler James & Osiris Griffin)
Borne started the bout against Griffin, who seemed amused with his foe. Shugars soon tagged in and fell to a snap powerslam. Both teams made quick tags, giving everyone a chance for some ring time. Lennox hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Evans, who retaliated with a springboard hurricanrana. It didn’t take long for all of the competitors to hop in the ring and start brawling. DarkState took it to the outside, where they dominated with power moves before they cut to a split-screen commercial break. [c]
The fight continued on the miniscule screen on the left while the much larger screen on the right featured guys shaving with Gillette razors and a Law & Order plug. When they returned to full-screen, Evans made the hot tag to Hendry, but he was stopped quickly by DarkState. They isolated Hendry and took turns thumping him until he made the tag to Slater, who fought his way out of a DarkState beatdown to tag Evans.
Je’Von flew over the top rope and took out Shugars, with both men tumbling over the announce desk and nearly into the second row. He re-entered the ring and performed a beautiful Superman leap over the top rope on the other side, taking down James. Another brawl ensued with all eight men until it settled back down to Griffin and Evans. Slater took the tag, but Borne immediately backslap tagged himself in, which didn’t seem to sit well with Slater. The TNA X-Division Champion hit a swanton 450 onto Griffin, who got laid out by Borne for the three count.
WINNERS: Joe Hendry & Leon Slater & Je’Von Evans & Myles Borne at 15:07. As a result of Borne getting the pin, he gets to choose his spot for the Iron Survivor Challenge.
(Miller’s Take: This was an okay match, but a bit of a trainwreck with very little psychology, sustained selling, or storytelling. As Forrest Gump would say, that’s all I have to say about that.)
-In a darkened room, Ava conducted the contract signing for the NXT Championship match at Deadline. Oba Femi told Saints he only beat him because he had been burdened by a long title reign. Saints responded by talking without really saying anything. Ava announced that for the first time in NXT PLE history, the NXT Championship match would open the show at Deadline.
FINAL THOUGHTS: This go-home show before the final NXT PLE of the year had it’s moments, but they were few and far between. It was good to see Thea Hail get a win, even though it was over the least credible woman on the roster. It was also good to see Zaria show a flash of what she always should have been, which is a monster heel. There’s been talk of who would turn heel in the Zaruca saga, but Zaria makes much more sense to me than Ruca. Zaria has been buried up to her neck for the last several months, so spearing Kendal Grey into the middle of next week was a good start to reclaiming a semblance of dominance. Words can’t express how impressed I am with Shiloh Hill’s promos. Please hurry up and put this new persona in the ring so we can see what he can do with it. I’m glad Ava is putting the NXT title match first because I’m not very invested in it. Saints has underwhelmed me as a champion, and I think it makes sense to put the strap back around The Ruler’s waist.
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