NXT delivered Vengeance Day 2025 at The CareFirst Arena in Washington D.C. with Vic Joseph, Corey Graves and Booker T on the call. Before we begin, Vic Joseph really needs to be put over big time for the excellent job he did as the play-by-play guy who still dabbled into the world of color commentary and comedy with his squabbling with Booker and Graves. When Michael Cole does call it a day, Joseph should be main roster bound and the voice of WWE for years to come.
Now, let’s get into the good, the bad and the Santino Marella of NXT Vengeance Day 2025.
The Good: Fraxiom (Nathan Frazier & Axiom) rumbling with Josh Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura for the NXT Tag Titles was easily the Match of the Night. Fraxiom has been heralded by many as the best team in the game right now, and they do have an argument. They are smoother than silk and as JR would say “quicker than a hiccup.” They keep teasing dissension between the two, but it’s been over a year, please stop doing this. Meanwhile, Josh Briggs had his best match in his NXT run here, playing all the “big man” hits with Fraxion bumping their faces off for him. The star of the match was Yoshiki Inamura. The former sumo and NOAH star really was such a standout. His stout, heavy-handed, high impact style was reminiscent of Masato Tanaka and Daisuke Sekimoto in the best way possible. Hopefully, we’ll see more of him in the future.
We Can’t Forget: Grayson Waller was wildly impressive, bumping his ass off for Oba Femi (who also looked good). Stephanie Vaquer and Roxanne Perez unsurprisingly looked terrific.
The Bad: The Shield Jr. The Spoof Commission. Aces & Fakes. Retribution Redux. Whatever you want to call them, this just didn’t work. Cutler James, Dion Lennox, Saquon Shugars and Osiris Griffin (Holy NXT Name Generator, Batman!) were given the unenviable task of being a mysterious “take over” faction that looked like they were rejects for auditions for Retribution and The Shield. Met with loud “Who Are You?” chants and given a variation of The Shield’s Cerberus Bomb. And to have them come out twice on this show? Man, creative let these four down.
We Can’t Forget: The whole not saying Ricky Starks name is just weird, right?
The Santino Marella: Yay? Huge shout-out to Socially Distanced and Anime x Pop co-host Amanda Rivas who called Santino showing up in WWE in her guest spot on our Royal Rumble predictions column. His daughter, Arianna Grace, introducing him to Ava, was a nice little moment, and one has to wonder what he’s going to bring to the table. Will he be bringing TNA talent to Road Block at the Hulu Theater at MSG? Will there be some sort of big cross-promotional set-up for Stand & Deliver? We’ll have to wait and see.
The Matches:
Triple Threat Match: NXT World Championship: Oba Femi © vs. Austin Theory vs. Grayson Waller: A-Town Down Under did everything in their power to make Oba Femi look like the baddest man alive. Femi, in all fairness, did well for himself as he’s shown he’s more than just all muscle and mass. Waller had one of his best matches in a minute as he threw caution to the wind at all times. Overall, a better match than expected.
NXT Women’s North American Championship: Fallon Henley © vs. Stephanie Vaquer: Vaquer winning was a foregone conclusion. Henley held her own, but it felt that Vaquer was slowing things down a bit for Henley to keep up. This match went a bit long as it was done to give the other members of Fatal Influence some spots. Overall, a solid match that could’ve used a little more.
Fatal 4-Way Match: NXT Women’s Championship Giulia © vs. Bayley vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Cora Jade: This was a solid match that felt a little over-crowded. They definitely tried protecting Giulia here, but she seemed a bit off tonight, which happens. It feels like they’re trying to make her the new Asuka from her black and gold era, but it’s just not connecting. Let her be herself. Cora Jade acquitted herself fine in the match. Her character is over, and she kept up with her partners. I do feel more matches, especially now that they’re working with TNA will do her a world of good. Roxanne Perez, to no one’s surprise, was the glue of the match — keeping all the storylines in the match clicking. Bayley kept the in-ring going and gave the match the extra star power it needed. Overall, solid match and the end with Jordynne Grace appearing was the right way to conclude the show.
Strap Match: Trick Williams vs. Eddy Thorpe: Surprise of the Night. In our predictions column both Mike Mueller and I both thought Trick winning was a slam dunk. A no-brainer. The crowd thought so too, and were fairly deflated after his loss. Trick losing intimates to me that he’s headed to the main roster very quickly. If not, then how does he get his revenge? They’ve already done a violent gimmick match. Regardless, Thorpe winning makes a new star and a contender for Oba Femi. Overall, okay match as it didn’t feel like this ever got out of second gear.
Ethan Page vs. Je’Von Evans: Both men played their roles well, but it felt they had one arm tied behind their back, as they had to adhere to the Evans jaw injury angle. This definitely hurt the finish which saw “All Ego” clock Evans in the face and then go for his finisher. These two have a better match in their back pocket and let’s hope they blow this off with a more violent stipulation down the road. Overall, okay match that was held back by creative rather than the men in the ring.
