WWE NXT Live Coverage - December 12th, 2023

[Kemo]

Dijak and Eddy Thorpe to throw down TONIGHT!

The rivalry between Eddy Thorpe and Dijak is far from over after Thorpe interfered in the Men's Iron Survivor Challenge. Dijak looked poised to become the Iron Survivor, but Thorpe appeared and began attacking the bringer of Hard Justice, costing him an NXT Championship opportunity.

– We open the show with a live shot of Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes walking into the arena together in a good, fun-spirited mood. A bunch of media approaches them and asks Trick about New Year's Evil. Hayes walks off as Trick hypes up his title shot coming up at the next NXT special event.

– From there, we head into a lengthy video package recap looking back at the NXT Deadline 2023 final premium live event of the year from this past Saturday night in Bridgeport, CT.

– Now we shoot inside the CWC live in Orlando, FL. where we see Hayes is down and clutching his knee in pain as referees tend to him. Trick runs up and asks what's going on. He asks if he saw who did this. No one did.

– Inside the ring in the CWC where Cora Jade is standing with a microphone. She gloats about being back and says fans have been begging for her return, crying themselves to sleep at night and kissing her 8x10 photos before bed.

She says no one liked her before and they all of a sudden love her now? She continues to heel it up as she talks about how no one cares about Lyra Valkyria. As she continues talking, Valkyria's theme hits to cut her off.

Out comes the NXT Women's Champion who points out the one thing that Cora failed to mention, which was that she attacked her behind. She says she's been gone for four months and nothing has changed, she's always going to take short cuts the way she always has.

Valkyria says she might not have changed in the last four months, but things around here have. She says she is the NXT Women's Champion and she's not someone she can push around anymore. As she continues talking, she's cut off by Blair Davenport's theme.

The winner of the 2023 Women's Iron Survivor Challenge emerges and says Valkyria might be at the top, but not for long. She also mentions that Cora Jade isn't one of the top dogs either. She tells Lyra she needs to be focused on her right now, not Jade.

She says at New Year's Evil she'll become the champ she has always been destined to be. As they continue talking, tyhe theme for Nikkita Lyons hits and out she comes saying she hasn't forgotten what Blair did to her in the parking lot.

All four ladies brawl until Nikkita and Lyra knock Jade and Blair out of the ring. They stand tall in the ring side-by-side and then we shoot over to Booker T and Vic Joseph on commentary who welcome us to the show.

They recap the opener and then show us footage from NXT Deadline 2023 of the interaction between Noam Dar and The Meta-Four, and the trio of Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen and Fallon Henley, which culminated in a mixed tag-bout being set between the two teams for tonight.

Noam Dar & The Meta-Four vs. Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen & Fallon Henley

Once that video package wraps up, we return live inside the CWC where the theme hits to bring out NXT Heritage Cup Champion Noam Dar, Lash Legend, Jakara Jackson and Oro Mensah. As the foursome make their way out and head to the ring for our opening match, we head to a pre-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, the team of Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen and Fallon Henley make their way to the ring and everyone starts brawling right away. The smoke clears, the dust settles and then the bell sounds to officially start this one off.

After some early back and forth action, we see The Meta-Four team pull ahead, as all members of the group are standing tall in the ring as their opposition re-groups on the floor at ringside as we head into a mid-match commercial break as the match continues.

As we settle back in from the commercial time out, we see Tiffany Stratton watching the action on a monitor backstage as the match continues in the ring. During a spot on the floor with Fallon Henley, Stratton did a run-in and the two brawled to the back while Briggs ultimately picked up the pin in the ring.

Winners: Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen & Fallon Henley

– In the doctors room backstage, we see Trick Williams watching on as the doctor checks on Carmelo Hayes' leg following the mystery attack at the start of the show. The doctor tells him he's medically cleared to compete. Trick asks Hayes if he knows who did it.

Carmelo says he doesn't but he knows someone who did something like this before. He says he's gonna call his ass out. Trick tells him he's got business to handle with Dragon Lee. Hayes says they'll each handle their own business. We head to another commercial break.

– When we return, we see eight men standing on the entrance ramp. One-by-one the ring announcer introduces them as the eight competitors in the 2023 NXT Men's Breakout Tournament.

Those men are Trey Bearhill, Dion Lennox, Luca Crusifino, Tavion Heights, Keanu Carver, Riley Osborne, Myles Borne and Oba Femi. After they are introduced, Lexis King runs out and hits one of them with a steel chair.

NXT Men's Breakout Tournament Match: Myles Borne vs. Oba Femi

Now it's time for the first match in the ongoing 2023 NXT Men's Breakout Tournament, as Myles Borne and Oba Femi make their way to the ring. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one.

Borne jumps into an early offensive lead as Vic Joseph talks on commentary about how he is a Drew Gulak pupil with a ton of potential. The fans start chanting for Oba, who eventually fights his way into the offensive lead as the commentary duo of Vic and Booker talk about his background.

We see Oba dominate for several minutes until he walks into a big power slam from Borne that shifts the momentum back in his favor. Oba takes back over, however, for a catch-and-plant slam with authority for the pin fall victory to advance in the tourney.

Winner and ADVANCING in the tourney: Oba Femi

– Now we see Lyra Valkyria and Nikkita Lyons talking backstage ahead of their tag-team showdown later tonight against the team of Cora Jade and Blair Davenport. They notice a picture missing from Valkyria's locker room while talking about Tatum Paxley. Lyons says Paxley is weird. We head to a commercial break.

– When we return from the break, Kelly Kincaid is standing backstage with Tiffany Stratton, who vents about Fallon Henley costing her the win in the Women's Iron Survivor Challenge at NXT Deadline and then putting her hands on her earlier tonight. She says she's gonna show that little cow-girl where she belongs and walks off.

NXT North American Championship Match: Dragon Lee (C) vs. Tyler Bate

Dragon Lee's theme hits back inside the CWC and we see the brand new NXT North American Champion make his way down to the ring. He settles inside as the commentary duo of Vic Joseph and Booker T speculate on who his first title defense is going to be against.

The theme for Tyler Bate hits and out comes "The Big Strong Boy" for this high-stakes title tilt here on the post-Deadline episode of NXT on USA. He makes his way into the ring and the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running.

We see some back-and-forth action and then head into a mid-match commercial break after a big high spot on the floor. When we return, we see Dragon Lee hit a running, jumping basement drop kick on Bate in the corner. Bate fights back and hoists Lee up for his airplane spin, which goes on forever.

Ultimately, in the end, Dragon Lee fought back into the front-runner position and finished Bate off via pin fall to retain his NXT North American Championship in his first official title defense. The two hugged in a sign of respect after the match wrapped up.

Winner and STILL NXT North American Champion: Dragon Lee

– We head backstage and see Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen talking about pulling off the victory over Noam Dar and The Meta-Four in the opener. Up walks Fallon Henley who apologizes for leaving them hanging. She says everytime she sees blond she sees red.

Briggs talks about how after tonight he should be in line for a Heritage Cup Championship shot. Jensen talks about how Briggs isn't built for multiple rounds, as he's a first-round knockout kind of guy. Briggs is offended by this. Fallon says he can do it. Jensen comes around.

– Trey Bearhill is being replaced by Lexis King in the 2023 NXT Men's Breakout Tournament. The decision was made after King spoke with Ava Raine backstage after attacking Bearhill with a steel chair earlier tonight.

Eddy Thorpe vs. Dijak

Dijak makes his way down to the ring and settles inside. When the theme for Eddy Thorpe hits, Dijak runs up the aisle and the two brawl before the match. Dijak beats Thorpe down at ringside and yells about him costing him the Men's Iron Survivor Challenge at Deadline this past weekend.

Thorpe fights back and takes over after running Dijak into the steel steps. Back in the ring, the bell finally sounds to get this match officially off-and-running. We see Dijak is already bleeding out of the side of his head. He goes to slam Thorpe into the turnbuckles in the corner but the whole turnbuckle pops off and breaks.

Now we see a bloody Dijak go on to use the steel turnbuckle piece to further beat down Thorpe as the commentators point out his rib injury. A bunch of officials rush to the scene to deal with things as fans boo. Dijak goes to leave but turns around and comes back to add further punishment to Thorpe.

Winner: No Contest

– The Chase U logo flashes on the screen and then we head to the Chase U classroom where Andre Chase learns they only earned $66 on the bake sale. They earned $245 on the car wash. Chase tells Duke Hudson not to worry about it because he's gonna handle his debt.

We see Thea Hail and Jacy Jane talking among themselves and they head off with Chase's permission. Damon Kemp walks up and sets something down in front of him, presumably money, and says he's got a proposition for him. He walks off and we head to another commercial break.

– When we return from the break, we see Cora Jade and Blair Davenport reluctantly getting along ahead of their women's tag-team main event showdown later tonight against the team of NXT Women's Champion Lyra Valkyria and Nikkita Lyons.

NXT Men's Breakout Tournament Match: Keanu Carver vs. Riley Osborne

Back inside the CWC, the theme for Keanu Carver hits and out comes the newcomer, as Vic Joseph and Booker T point out on commentary that he will be making his wrestling in-ring debut match right now. They talk about how big of a deal that is under these high stakes circumstances.

Riley Osborne comes out next to a pretty good pop for a brand new guy, and he settles inside the squared circle as the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. Osborne jumps into an early offensive lead and then Carver takes over and hits power spots on the Chase U pupil.

Thea Hail and Jacy Jane are shown in the Chase U students section cheering on Osborne as Carver continues to take it to him. After some more back-and-forth action, we see Osborne hit a Shooting Star Press off the top for the win.

Winner and ADVANCING in the tourney: Riley Osborne

– We shoot backstage where we see Drew Gulak and his cronies, such as Charlie Dempsey and others, approaching NXT North American Champion Dragon Lee. After they exchange words, Lee agrees to defend the title next week, but he won't find out which one he's defending against until the show.

Nikkita Lyons & Lyra Valkyria vs. Cora Jade & Blair Davenport

Back inside the CWC, Nikkita Lyons' theme hits and out she comes to get us ready for our main event of the evening. As she settles inside the squared circle, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break.

When we return, we see Thea Hail acting like a girl with a crush as she and Jacy Jane approach Riley Osborne to congratulate him on winning in his opening round match in the ongoing 2023 NXT Men's Breakout Tournament. After that wraps up, we head back inside the CWC.

The theme for Cora Jade hits and out she comes to boos from the Orlando crowd. Also coming out is her partner Blair Davenport, who gets a ton of boos as well. The bell sounds and it's time for our final match of the evening here on this week's post-Deadline episode of NXT on USA.

We see Valkyria and Davenport kick things off as the commentators hype their scheduled title tilt at the NXT New Year's Evil special event coming up following Blair's win in the Women's Iron Survivor Challenge at NXT Deadline 2023 this past weekend.

Blair quickly tags out and in comes Cora Jade, who doesn't fare much better against Valkyria, as the champ continues to dominate. Nikkita Lyons tags in and manhandles Jade, who quickly tags back out. Davenport comes in and the commentators talk about her being the one to take out Lyons in the parking lot nearly a year ago.

Jade tags back in and gets in some offense on Lyons, which shifts the offensive momentum in her team's favor. Davenport tags back in and picks up where Jade left off, taking it to Lyons as we head into a mid-match commercial break as the action in our main event of the evening continues.

When we return, the action continues with back-and-forth offense shifts in momentum until the finish comes, which sees Cora Jade score a pin on the champ Lyra Valkyria after Blair Davenport did the work. The commentators point out that Cora once again stole Blair's shine like she mentioned earlier tonight.

After the match, we see Tatum Paxley runs out and gets upset that someone is in the ring with Valkyria, so she throws Lyons out to the floor and then looks at Valkyria like a creepy stalker. That wraps up the post-match scene and then we head into another commercial break as we see Trick Williams walking to the ring.

Winners: Cora Jade & Blair Davenport

– The catchy-ass theme song for Trick Williams hits and out comes the Men's Iron Survivor Challenge match winner from Saturday's NXT Deadline 2023 premium live event in Bridgeport, CT. He settles in the ring to fans loudly chanting "Whoop that Trick!"

His music cuts off and the fans chant "You deserve it!" at Trick. Trick talks about how NXT has year-end awards every year and he'll put his performance in the Iron Survivor Challenge on Saturday against any other bout of the year.

Trick goes on to call himself, "Trick James, b*tch!" for a huge pop when talking about his world title opportunity against "The Mad Dragon" Ilja Dragunov at NXT New Year's Evil 2024. As he continues talking, Ilja Dragunov's theme hits and out comes the champ.

Dragunov settles in the ring and says although he was getting prepared for his own title defense against Baron Corbin in the NXT Deadline 2023 main event, he heard about the impressive performance Trick had. He talks about Trick riding more momentum than anyone before right now and gives Trick his respect.

As they talk about both being ready to do whatever it takes at New Year's Evil and then the theme for Carmelo Hayes hits and out he comes. Trick tells him this ain't the time. Hayes says this can't wait. He reveals the man who attacked him tonight is the same person who attacked Trick.

He tells Ilja it was him who did both attacks. Ilja looks shocked at him saying that and he says, in believable fashion, that he had nothing to do with either of those attacks. Hayes tries to tell Trick that Ilja had more to gain than anyone in doing that.

Hayes says Ilja knew if he had to face one of them, he knew he'd have to face both of them. Dragunov says he knew Hayes was arrogant but he didn't know he was delusional too. Hayes says he knew if he broke them two up that the whole world would point their finger at him.

Carmelo continues to try and build a case for Ilja being the mystery man but Dragunov again insists it wasn't him. He then questions if Carmelo was even really attacked. He tells Trick to look him in his eyes. He says he didn't attack him and he needs to talk to his friend.

Hayes tells Dragunov that he and Trick are on the same page again. He tells Dragunov he doesn't deserve that title like Trick does. He goes to yank the title away from Ilja and it accidentally hits Trick and lays him out. The fans chant "Melo's Guilty!" as this week's show goes off the air.

[LionDen]

Not a bad show.

.. and your winners are Cora Jade and Blair Davenport.