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Yesterday, NXT delivered its first pre-recorded episode since moving to the USA Network in October. The episode, a Christmas Special, consisted of one Championship match along with a few other matches to give fans a treat for the holiday season.
There were a total of six matches that took place during the night, with several segments taking place in the middle to recap 2019.
The opening match saw Roderick Strong lay down an open challenge for his North American Championship which was answered by a surprise contender.
Apart from that, a huge tag team match closed the night which sent the fans home happy, thanks to a favorable result.
Shotzi Blackheart also made her debut on the show, while 205 Live’s Jack Gallagher, Lio Rush, and Tony Nese all got time to shine.
In this article, we will look at the 4 things that NXT got right on its Christmas Special episode.
#4 Blackheart’s debut
Shotzi Blackheart made her surprise debut on this week’s NXT as she took on Bianca Belair in singles competition.
While Blackheart had a lot of hype behind her, The EST of NXT wasn’t ready to allow a newcomer to go over her and make a huge statement in her first outing.
The two women battled in a great match where we saw Blackheart play the underdog but dominate in certain parts and even come close to picking up an upset victory over a top contender.
A couple of botched moves did show the newcomer’s nerves. However, Belair did not let that hinder their match and carried on the momentum perfectly to help her get through.
Blackheart’s time in the spotlight came to an end when Belair put her down with the KOD to bag the victory.
This was an overall good match that can work well if the company allows the two women to extend their current feud and gives them more time to work together.
#3 Team Little Big
One of the biggest treats the brand had planned for the fans on this week’s Christmas Special was a match between the teams of Keith Lee & Lio Rush and Damian Priest & Tony Nese.
This was a good match that involved two top risers from NXT and two top performers from 205 Live in a grand match.
Rush seemed to work well as a babyface in this match, and his partnership with Lee allowed him to shine much more than his time with Bobby Lashley last year.
Since there was no storyline in this match, it provided fans with pure action with nothing more and allowed the Superstars to have fun rather than build on anything else.
While it seemed like the company would try to build a storyline between Lee and Priest later through this match, it didn’t seem to happen.
Nese and Priest, on the other hand, showed a lot of chemistry that we did not expect from this odd pairing. They worked really well together, and it did not seem like it was their first time on NXT together.
To end the match, The Man of the Hour delivered The Final Hour off The Limitless One’s shoulders to pick up the victory and send the fans home happy.
It will be interesting to watch Lee compete with Preist whenever the two men get into an actual bitter rivalry.
#2 Dijakovic’s Thicc victory
Dominik Dijakovic has come across some of the largest men in WWE a number of times in his NXT career. This week, he came face-to-face with the thickest one of them all, Bronson Reed.
Both men have gained significant momentum in recent months, and it seems like the two will be heading into 2020 with some great performances under their belts.
While Reed tried to down Dijakovic early on, the latter managed to overcome his attacks thanks to his freakish strength and height advantage.
However, a couple of things did not make sense in the clash. Dijakovic has already shown how he can throw around even someone like Keith Lee. He struggled with this opponent at times and sold Reed’s attacks a bit too much, which surely impacted his image.
While both men weren’t able to keep up with the same pace that the other matches on the card displayed, they were able to give fans some heavyweight action which is never a bad thing.
Dijakovic’s moonsault was a treat to watch, and he delivered a choke into a powerbomb for a massive victory which will help him find direction on NXT in the near future.
Reed and Dijakovic are building well on the Black and Gold brand, and it will be interesting to watch the two men reach the top, where they can give the top men some heavy competition.
#1 Theory’s challenge
This week’s Christmas Special kicked off with an incredible NXT North American Championship match.
Roderick Strong had sent an open challenge to anyone in the back to step up to him, and his challenge was answered by none other than Austin Theory.
In case you didn’t know, Theory signed up with the company in August 2019 and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center. At the time of signing with the company, he held the Evolve Championship and WWN Championship.
This was a great way to have him debut on television and allowed the well-known Superstar a chance to shine on his first outing against a competitor like Strong.
While Theory isn’t a large man, he matched up to someone like Strong perfectly, and the two men managed to deliver a show-stealing performance.
It was great to watch him get a Championship opportunity right at the start, confirming that the company is willing to invest more in the Superstar. However, the North American Champion took him down during the latter stages of the match and picked up the victory to retain his title after making Theory tap out to the lethal modified surfboard submission maneuver.
The crowd gave both men a standing ovation, confirming that they approved of the Christmas Special booking for them.
This was a great way to kick off an episode meant to be a treat for the fans.
