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NXT TV REPORT
JANUARY 13, 2026
ORLANDO, FLA. AT THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON THE CW
REPORT BY DAVID MILLER, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Correspondent: Kelly Kincaid
[HOUR ONE]
-A video package of last week’s New Year’s Evil aired.
-This week’s show picked up where New Year’s Evil left off, with a shot of the NXT Championship belt sitting in the middle of the ring. The men’s division was standing around the ring as Ava made the official announcement that Oba Femi had vacated the title. She said the men’s division was wide open now and started talking about opportunities when Ricky Saints interrupted. He told her she could hand the title over to him now. She said that on February 3rd, there would be a six-man ladder match to determine the new NXT champion. She placed the belt on a hook and let it rise toward the ceiling. As it rose, the roster climbed into the ring, and everyone started brawling.
-Suddenly, Keanu Carver from Evolve came out and launched one wrestler high over the barricade and into some plants in the crowd, pounced another one over the top rope and to the floor, and put another through the announce desk. Saints looked on from the ramp horrified at the devastation caused by the newcomer.
-Back from the break, Ava was walking in the back and talking on the phone to somebody. Tony D’Angelo was discreetly shown walking past her in the background, and no mention was made of it. Robert Stone walked up to her and informed her that Blake Monroe was on her way.
(1) KELANI JORDAN vs. LOLA VICE
As Vice posed on the ring apron, Jordan dropkicked her to the floor. Back in the ring, Vice asserted her dominance. They went into a series of spin kicks, followed by Jordan dragging Vice’s face across the top rope. Jordan put the boots to her, but took a knee to the gut when Vice reversed a whip into the ropes. Jordan slapped Vice, who smiled at her. They took it to the floor, so of course that means it’s commercial time. [c]
When they returned to action, both women hit simultaneous pump kicks to take each other down. They rose to their feet, slugging it out. Jordan missed a spin kick, and Vice hit a German suplex. Vice tried a hip attack, but Jordan moved out of the way. Vice caught her as she turned around with a leg off the ring apron and to the floor. She connected with the second hip attack, but Jordan turned the tide and climbed to the top. She came off with a splash but only got a two-count out of it. She went for a split-legged moonsault, but Vice caught her in a triangle choke. She slipped out and rolled up Vice, but the referee caught her hanging onto the second rope and broke the pin. Vice hit a devastating back fist for the win.
WINNER: Lola Vice at 11:27.
(Miller’s Take: You can never go wrong by opening the show with a Kelani Jordan match. Vice, although I don’t see her as main event material, definitely has a spot on the upper card and a solid fan base. After the match, Vice got in the camera and told Jacy Jayne she was coming for her.)
-A video package of Tavion Heights aired that made me care about him just a little. He talked about coming for Jasper Troy’s Speed title. That was followed by Jasper Troy saying he didn’t need 5 minutes to beat him. [c]
-The announcers ran down a preview of WWE’s podcasts this coming week.
(2) JASPER TROY (c) vs. TAVION HEIGHTS – Speed Championship Match
No ring entrances for either man, as they were both already in the ring after they returned from the commercial break. Heights took it to the much larger champion in the beginning, but by the end of the first minute, Troy was splashing Heights into the canvas. He maintained control through the second minute and into the third as Booker T growled something incoherent into the mic. Shiloh Hill was shown warming up in the back as Heights tried fighting his way back into the match with two minutes remaining. He amazingly lifted the somewhat enormous Troy for a bodyslam, then fired up and hit a top rope splash for a two count. Troy caught him off the ropes with a black hole slam to bring it to an end.
WINNER: Jasper Troy at 4:09 to retain the Speed Championship.
(Miller’s Take: The upside to Jasper Troy being the Speed champion is that it limits his in-ring time, which effectively hides his lack of experience and limited move set. Heights has all the in-ring capability in the world, but I just don’t think we’re going to see him go much further than this, as he has consistently failed to connect with the crowd.)
-After the match, Heights was attacked by Lexis King.
-Outside Ava’s door, WrenQCC and Zaruca bickered over who deserved a shot at the NXT Women’s title when the champ herself poked her head out the door and told them to pipe down because she was having a meeting with the GM. They entered the office to find Ava with Fatal Influence. She told all of the women that they would compete in a triple threat tag team match next week, with the winners to receive a shot at the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship, currently held by The Iinspiration. [c]
-Lexis King walked through the back and bragged to Chase U when he ran across them. Stacks and Arianna Grace joined him and backed him up. As they all parted ways, Robert Stone walked past them and reminded King that he can’t just go around attacking people. Stone tried to brush off Myles Borne, who wanted a word with him, but Borne aggressively grabbed him and demanded to be in a qualifying match. Stone said he’d see what he could do.
-Another video package of Elio LeFleur aired. He spoke of his career in French, with English subtitles. They’re really building this kid up, so I’m looking forward to seeing him.
-Ethan Page walked up to Ava and assumed his position in the upcoming NXT ladder match, but Ava told him he wasn’t going to be a part of it. As he pleaded his case, she offered him a qualifying match if he would vacate the North American title, rationalizing that he would have to give it up if he won the NXT title anyway. He declined. She told him he would be defending his NXT championship next week against Elio LeFleur. Page was not amused. Ava and Page play so well off each other.
-Blake Monroe was shown walking in the back, with an unspoken of Tony D’Angelo once again seen lurking in the background. [c]
-The show returned to cartoon starbursts as Blake Monroe admired herself in the mirror. She made her ring entrance and said she had every intention of reclaiming her championship last week. She minimized what she did last week and said nobody knows what to do with someone as beautiful as her. She said she’s the standard and the most complete woman in NXT. She said she lost her patience last week.
[HOUR TWO]
-As she continued to drone on and on, Jaida Parker interrupted. A “Miss Parker” chant broke out as she entered the ring, followed by a thunderous “Jaida” chant. A genuinely delighted Parker blew kisses to the crowd before starting to speak. Monroe immediately interrupted her, prompting Parker to drop the mic, then drop Monroe. She high-stepped, then Hipnoticked Monroe to the floor. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and if Miss Parker is going for a full-fledged babyface run, the time away did her good. Fans have been wanting to cheer her for a long time, so it was good to see her come back to the rousing ovation she received.
-The NXT Progressive Spotlight was on rising star Shiloh Hill. He told a hilarious Christmas story from his childhood involving chaos with a family of squirrels he brought into the house, pointed out his dancing ability, and said losing his tooth as it fell into Arianna Grace’s mouth was a happy accident. He talked about his upcoming title match against Stacks to end the segment.
-Stacks, accompanied by Arianna Grace, made their ring entrance before they cut to a commercial break. [c]
-A video package of DarkState beating up a lot of people aired, reminding us that they’re still a part of the roster. I nearly forgot they are the current NXT Tag Team Champions.
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)
(3) STACKS (c) (w/Arianna Grace) vs. SHILOH HILL – TNA International Championship Match
Stacks took control early but missed a dive into the corner and nearly swallowed the turnbuckle, which led to Hill getting a very near fall. Hill grabbed an armbar and swung Stacks around by his arm. Ouch. Hill suplexed Stacks over the top rope. [c]
Back from the break, Hill was upside down in the corner getting kicked around by Stacks. Hill fought back but continued to be overwhelmed by the champ. Hill caught him off the ropes with a great tilt-a-whirl slam, which brought the crowd to life. He took out his tooth and then took out Stacks. He hit a unique slam variation, followed by a shooting star senton for a two-count. Stacks got a two-count of his own. They did the always entertaining spot where Hill slid out of the ring and put his arm around an unsuspecting Grace, who turned and recoiled in horror as she realized the arm around her neck belonged to Hill.
Stacks grabbed Grace’s hand for leverage on a pin attempt, but it was right in front of the referee, who quickly broke the pin attempt. Hill cradled Stacks for a pin, but Grace gave Stacks a discreet shove with her foot to reverse the cradle, leading to the three-count.
WINNER: Stacks at 4.44 to retain the TNA International Championship.
(Miller’s Take: Stacks and Grace are a proven comedic commodity, so when you pair that with the unique zaniness of Hill, you’re going to wind up with something good. Hill is the best natural talker in all of WWE right now, and he’s brand-spanking new to NXT, so I can’t wait to see what lies ahead for this bright young star.)
-The Culling were shown walking in the back before they cut to a commercial break. [c]
-NXT Women’s North American Champion Izzi Dame came to the ring with no sign of Shawn Spears or Niko Vance. She put herself over and said she outsmarted everybody. She bragged about how she rose from defeat last week and went right back out and won. She discussed removing weakness and how it was all part of her master plan. She continued talking about herself until she was finally interrupted by Tatum Paxley, who broke through officials to get to Dame. They were able to separate them, but only after Paxley landed a nose-breaking headbutt to one official.
-Kelly Kincaid interviewed Ricky Saints. He said he was owed a rematch, so he’s already in the ladder match. When he mentioned he would be watching the qualifying match between Shiloh Hill and Josh Briggs, Stacks walked up to him and complained about Hill being in a qualifying match after just defeating him. Saints told him, “Yeah, your girl helped you win the match, but it’s alright. You’ve still got the title, and you’ve still got the girl, so what’s wrong?”, and walked off. That was funny and elicited an audible chuckle from the crowd. Lexis King walked up to Stacks, placed his hand on his shoulder, and suggested they talk. [c]
-The show returned to Tatum Paxley being escorted out of the building as The Vanity Project found the nearest microphone. They announced that they had signed their NXT contracts, then scattered when they saw Keanu Carver walking nearby. A cameraman walked up to Carver, who took exception to the invasion of his privacy and pie-faced the camera.
Vic Joseph ran down next week’s card, including qualifying matches Josh Briggs vs. Shiloh Hill and Eli Knight vs. Sean Legacy. Also on tap for next week is Ethan Page vs. Elio LeFleur and the women’s triple threat tag team match.
(4) DION LENNOX (w/DarkState) vs. JOE HENDRY (w/OTM) – No Disqualification Match
Booker T croaked along with Hendry’s music before the match started. I love Booker T, but he and a microphone go together about as well as steak and cotton candy. Hendry and Lennox jockeyed for position during their initial tie-up before Hendry cut loose with some chops. Lennox came back with some offense of his own and went for a couple of early pins, but got caught with a superplex as he climbed the turnbuckle. They cut to a split-screen commercial break. [c]
After Pizza Hut’s newest annoying commercial pitch, along with other uninteresting plugs, they returned to full-screen. Lennox was in control of Hendry. Shugars wedged a chair in the corner, but Hendry reversed a whip from Lennox, who was sent crashing into the chair and Shugars. OTM handed a set of brass knuckles to Hendry, who used them to deck Lennox for a two-count. Cutler James handed Lennox a kendo stick. He smacked Hendry with it several times before Hendry took it away from him and gave him a taste of his own medicine. DarkState and OTM took turns interfering, then faced off in the ring.
The two groups fought their way to the back, leaving Hendry and Lennox to face off in the ring with a chair fight. Lennox hit a spinebuster on the chair, then Hendry hit a Standing Ovation on the chair. Lennox came back to spear Hendry through the Slim Jim-branded table that had been set up in the corner. Tony D’Angelo hit the ring, chokeslammed both men, then dragged Hendry on top of Lennox for the pin.
WINNER: Joe Hendry at 13:23.
(Miller’s Take: This was serviceable, but, as is the case with most DarkState matches, rather inconsequential. The plunder was kept at an acceptable level, and the inevitable face-off between DarkState and OTM happened. The tweener status of Tony D needs to be addressed before people lose interest.)
-After the match, Ava brought out security to rein in D’Angelo, but he easily laid them all out before leaving the ring as Ava gave him the side-eye.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Not a bad follow-up to New Year’s Evil. I really like how Oba Femi was not even shown after retaining the NXT Championship and subsequently vacating it. My bets are on Shiloh Hill and Sean Legacy advancing next week. After the star treatment Evolve call-up Keanu Carver received, I’d say he’s a shoo-in for the ladder match. Although nothing earth-shattering happened, there were a lot of moving parts to tonight’s show, and the title pictures are heating up nicely.
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