WWE NXT Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from December 20

The December 20 edition of WWE NXT was ready to celebrate the holidays, including some good tag team championship matches.

New Day's Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods defended the NXT Tag Team Championships for the first time against Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen.

NXT women's tag team champions Katana Chance and Kayden Carter faced their biggest challenge to date. They would fight former champions Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne as well as Diamond Mine's Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley.

Nikkita Lyons finally got her hands on Zoey Stark, and Indi Hartwell would look for some revenge against Elektra Lopez. Axiom battled with Carmelo Hayes.

With new direction needed, Apollo Crews would appear. Bron Breakker was also expected as usual, with Grayson Waller taunting him ahead of their title match. It was a night that would wind down a tumultuous year for NXT.

After an impressive run from Axiom, including a top rope springboard headscissors takedown, Trick Williams tripped The Superhero as he was rolling, setting up Carmelo Hayes for a double knee facebuster and diving axe kick to win.

The prospect of Melo vs. Axiom is a match made in heaven, but this was surprisingly underwhelming for the talent involved. The pace was slow until the commercial break and only got a couple of memorable spots in the closing stretch.

It was still solid, though, even if it did not live up expectations. A rematch will easily outshine this. The A Champion picked up an expected win, but The Superhero will benefit if he can pull off a win over Melo before he heads to the main roster.

Result

Melo def. Axiom by pinfall.

Grade

B-

Notable Moments

• Axiom caught Melo in the ropes followed by a diving crossbody right into an armbar. The A Champion reversed into a powerbomb that Axiom turned into a triangle choke.
• After the match, Axiom dived on to Trick to get some revenge.
• Tony D'Angelo announced he was getting an NXT North American Championship match next week and told Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo to warn Dijak against interfering.
  

Zoey Stark tried every trick in the book to win, and one landed as she rolled up Nikkita Lyons and grabbed the ropes for three.

This was a solid technical showcase that continued to build the story of Stark and Lyons. Because it was short, the two only gave a glimpse of what they can fully do together, but it was a promising beginning.

In 2023, these two could have a really good stipulation match to blow off the feud at a major NXT event. While Stark got the win for now, Lyons is the long-term focus and will likely win the rivalry.

Result

Stark def. Lyons by pinfall.

Grade

B

Notable Moments

• Stark tried to chop block Lyons during her entrance, but Lyons dodged it to begin an early brawl outside the ring.
• Wendy Choo attacked Cora Jade during her interview. 

Toxic Attraction tried to keep ring control throughout this match, but Katana Chance made sure Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne were out of the way.

Kayden Carter reversed Ivy Nile's dragon sleeper into a pin for three while Chance stopped Tatum Paxley from breaking it up.

This was a very good spot-focused match where each team had a chance to shine. Nile and Paxley continue to look better as a tag team, finding chemistry in the ring that took months of training to bring together.

This was the right result as Toxic Attraction did not take the pin. That sets up a two-on-two title bout for NXT New Year's Evil or a main event spot on an upcoming NXT episode where the champions can truly put Dolin and Jayne behind them.

Result

Chance and Carter def. Toxic Attraction and Diamond Mine by pinfall to retain the NXT Women's Tag Team Championships.

Grade

B+

Notable Moments

• Chance planted Paxley with a headscissors takedown off the shoulders of Carter on the top rope for a nearfall that Nile broke up.
• Nile assisted Paxley in hitting an impressive corkscrew senton on Jayne.
• NXT showed a vignette highlighting Oro Mensah's love of the club night life.
• Later in the night, Nile said she and Paxley were continuing to improve, and Indus Sher confronted The Creed Brothers, demanding they show they were 100 percent.

Apollo Crews put over Roxanne Perez's championship win. He turned to the NXT Championship, only to be interrupted by Carmelo Hayes, who wanted the next shot at the title. The two agreed to a future match, though no date was set.

Crews is getting better at the subtle things on the mic, but he still struggles to deliver convincing dialogue. No matter how much personality he has, he cannot sell himself without coming off believable when speaking.

The A Champion helped him along, but despite Crews' former main roster status, Melo still comes off as the bigger star. They can have a very good match together, though, when the time is right.

Grade

C-

Notable Moments

• Melo got under Crews' skin in this interview, leading to the trash talk getting serious.
  
• Booker T sat down with Perez, who explained that she had always bet on herself to succeed without fail.
• Edris Enofé, Malik Blade and Odyssey Jones invited Ava Raine out for a night on the town, but Schism warned them that they were seeking temporary highs. 
  

Indi Hartwell had a solid lead in this match, but Elektra Lopez found some brass knuckles in the turnbuckle that she used to pick up the victory.

This was far from outright bad, but it was a slow showcase of why Hartwell and Lopez are not a good pairing. This match lacked heat, and there was nothing memorable beyond the ending.

Even with the crafty finish, it still left a sour taste. Hopefully, Indi Wrestling is not left in this spot for too long. As much as Lopez needs to be working with veterans, she needs wrestlers who push her.

Result

Lopez def. Hartwell by pinfall.

Grade

D

Notable Moments

• Wes Lee refused to let go of the NXT North American Championship, accepting all challengers starting with Tony D'Angelo next week. 
  

Isla Dawn misted Alba Fyre before her match, and it took 15 minutes for the trainers to clear her. When Fyre got to the ring, Dawn blasted her right hand on the steel step with Fyre's own bat.

It is hard to fully grade this segment as it is not clear exactly what it is leading to. The first match between Fyre and Dawn showed promise, but it ended with a horribly flat finish.

Hopefully, the idea is to redeem that with a stronger heated battle soon. For now, Fyre clearly has a problem to deal with in Dawn that she needs to put behind her before she heads to the main roster.

Grade

C

Notable Moments

• Duke Hudson stole a student's plaque to give Andre Chase for Christmas.
• Hank Walker went to Drew Gulak for advice, and Gulak offered him a chance to attend his seminar next week. 
  

Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen came to work against New Day. However, Kofi Kingston caught Briggs with Trouble in Paradise to set up a rope-walk elbow drop from Xavier Woods to retain.

New Day has raised the in-ring quality in NXT already. This tag team division is rising to the challenge. That may have been the best match of Briggs and Jensen's career to date. Briggs especially showed high upside for the future.

It was fantastic to see New Day truly working at a championship level again. Hopefully, this run lasts a few months because so many more wrestlers can benefit from working with the champions.

Result

New Day def. Briggs and Jensen by pinfall to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.

Grade

A-

Notable Moments

• Kiana James told Fallon Henley that she had put a lien on the bar. Henley challenged James to a match next week for the rights to the bar.
• Pretty Deadly tried to convince New Day to give them a title shot, but the champions continued to give them impossible tasks before that rematch.
• Right before the match, James offered good luck to Jensen. She was later shown watching from the crowd with her assistant.
  
• Booker T continued to be very angry with New Day on commentary because of an unexplained grudge.
• Briggs laid out Kofi and Woods outside with rebound lariats off the ropes, then Jensen set up Briggs for a running big boot on Kofi for a nearfall.
• Briggs hit an impressive and clean moonsault. 
  

Grayson Waller demanded Bron Breakker give him his NXT Championship match, but the NXT champion did not answer. The challenger mocked the champion until Breakker arrived. Breakker speared Waller only to meet a steel plate concealed in Waller's jacket.

Waller ended the night standing tall over his unconscious opponent, promising to win at NXT New Year's Evil.

This is the best story that Breakker has told as NXT champion since he first won the gold, and that is primarily because of Waller. The loudmouth has been the perfect foil for the brash champion.

Waller recreating the spot between Goldberg and Bret Hart decades back worked so well because it makes sense for both men. Breakker has emulated Goldberg as much as his own family as champion, and Waller is building himself up as a thinking man heel to rival anyone.

Grade

A

Notable Moments

• Waller spent the whole night calling out Breakker, certain the NXT champion would not arrive after McKenzie Mitchell said the NXT champion was out of the state.
  
• Stacks went to Dijak's locker room to tell him to stay out of the NXT North American Championship match next week.