Can't Knock The Hustle: An Unnecessary Change In NXT (*Contains Spoilers*)

12/23/2024 01:11 PM

Writer’s Note: It says so in the title, but I want to repeat that this column discusses spoilers for the upcoming episode of NXT, which airs on 12/24, a day or so after this column goes live. Keep that in mind. If you don’t want any part of the show to be spoiled, you can skip down to my Weekly Power Rankings and read from there. Just consider yourselves warned.

At the NXT Deadline show, Oba Femi made a surprise return to the company, winning the Iron Survivor Challenge to earn a shot at the NXT Championship.

It was the natural next step in his meteoric rise through the ranks in NXT.

Dovetailing with the events of Deadline was the mystery surrounding a backstage attack on Eddy Thorpe. Because of the attack, Thorpe was removed from the Iron Survivor Challenge, opening the door for Oba Femi to make the aforementioned return.

The mystery was solved after NXT General Manager, Ava, gave Thorpe an NXT Championship shot. It was something of a “make good” for him, since he lost his chance to earn a title shot at Deadline. This is when Thorpe himself revealed that his master plan worked out… he staged his own attack, knowing that he would be removed from the Iron Survivor Challenge, which is an insanely difficult match to win, and then he’d able to politic his way into a one-on-one title shot.

Absolutely brilliant move.

Thorpe took Trick Williams to the absolute limit before a controversial finish saw him take the official loss, although he had a case to be made that he actually pinned the champion.

If the story ended there, I wouldn’t be writing about this topic here, now would I?

NXT would tape their following episode, set to air on Christmas Eve, and the controversial finish between Trick Willy and Eddy Thorpe was discussed.

The solution?

To add Thorpe to the Trick Williams vs Oba Femi match at New Year’s Evil, making it a Triple Threat.

Why?

No, seriously… why?!?

In the current format of NXT, with the current roster they sport, there isn’t a bigger match that they could deliver than Trick vs Oba. As a matter of fact, you could make an argument that the match would be a better fit at Stand & Deliver during WrestleMania weekend.

If there was a match that didn’t need a third competitor, that would be it, especially when that competitor is Eddy Thorpe. I like the guy, and as I said, his heel plan was a tremendous one, but he hasn’t exactly been presented as a “big deal” in NXT. The last time he won back-to-back matches on NXT television was a full year ago, when he defeated Dijak twice. He has a grand total of one three-match winning streak, and that was during his first three televised matches in NXT, when he defeated Myles Borne, Javier Bernal, and Damon Kemp over the span of a seven-week period. Not exactly a Murderer’s Row of opponents.

It’s not necessary. At all.

Let’s look a little deeper, though.

We’ve seen a similar scenario a million times in the past… a big wrestling match sees a third competitor or team added out of nowhere. Far more often than not, it’s because one of the original two (or, sometimes, both) wrestlers or teams is being protected. Wrestler A and Wrestler B shouldn’t be taking pins right now, so let’s put Wrestler C in the match and they can take the pin instead.

Is that what this is?

Let’s look at the current champion. How does Trick Williams look if he is defeated by Oba Femi? How much is he “hurt” by having his shoulders on the mat for a three count? I don’t think he’s hurt much, if at all. This is Oba Femi, after all. He’s one of the most dominant and destructive entities that has ever stepped foot inside of an NXT ring. Unless the match went like Bob Backlund vs Diesel at Madison Square Garden in 1994, Trick isn’t going to look bad taking a loss against Oba Femi. He would remain one of the most popular acts in all of NXT, and you’d either have the thrill of the chase with him all over again, or he’d be off to the main roster.

If you wanted to flip the coin, you’d have more of an argument to be made. As dominant as Oba Femi has been during his brief career, he has still lost two of the last five matches he’s participated in. To show how strong he has been made to look, those are the only two matches he has lost on television or pay-per-view, period. If you want to make the argument that Oba probably shouldn’t be losing his third match in a relatively short period of time, that’s fine, but the counter argument is a simple one… Trick Williams is THE guy in NXT. Losing to him isn’t something to be ashamed of, no matter who you are.

In my opinion, there isn’t a need to “protect” Trick or Oba here. Neither of them are at risk of being “buried” or “hurt” by a loss to the other man. As a matter of fact, with all of the rumors that both men could be called up to Raw or Smackdown soon, you could say that the loser of their match would end up being “rewarded” more than anything else.

So what’s the problem?

I already mentioned it. The problem is Eddy Thorpe.

Rather, it’s the inclusion of Eddy Thorpe.

He doesn’t belong here.

NXT likes to “piggyback” off of the main roster’s biggest shows and weekends. Stand & Deliver is the brand’s version of WrestleMania, and we’ve seen major NXT shows on the same weekend as SummerSlam and Survivor Series through the years. The January 6th, 2025 episode of Monday Night Raw is being labeled as the biggest episode in the show’s 32-year history, and rightfully so, with the loaded card and the show making its debut on Netflix. NXT is again doing the “piggyback” thing by loading up their New Year’s Evil episode, also taking place in Los Angeles, California and airing the day after Raw’s new era begins.

If you’re going to load up an episode of NXT television, Trick Williams defending the NXT Championship against Oba Femi makes perfect sense. As I said, it’s the biggest match NXT can present to us right now. We were set to get a WrestleMania (weekend) main event caliber match on television.

Eddy Thorpe probably shouldn’t even be on the New Year’s Evil card, let alone competing for the brand’s biggest prize there.

On January 6th, we’re getting CM Punk vs Seth Rollins. In almost every measurable metric, that’s something that could easily be a WrestleMania main event. It’s one of the biggest matches WWE could give us right now. Can you imagine if, during the build for Punk vs Rollins, WWE found a way to shoehorn Akira Tozawa into the match? People would be losing their minds, and I say that as someone who has been a huge fan of Tozawa for the last decade-and-a-half, going back to his time for the Dragon Gate promotion in Japan. Tozawa is great and all, but he has absolutely no business participating in a match of that caliber at this point, even if he was given a couple weeks to “rub shoulders” with the main event scene.

Am I overreacting?

Doesn’t anyone notice this?!? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!

NXT had themselves a near perfect option to run with, and decided to take something that wasn’t broken and proceed to throw that thing off of a bridge. If “keep it simple, stupid” was ever a phrase to be used for wrestling booking, this would’ve been it, and somehow, NXT found a way to fuck it all up. That’s especially noticeable these days because the writers and bookers in charge of NXT seem to be firing on all cylinders, with almost everything they touch turning to gold.

If I had to venture a guess… yes, I think Thorpe ends up taking the pin in the title match. Can you imagine, though, if this entire thing becomes even more pointless and we see Trick or Oba taking the pin instead? Hell… can you imagine if Eddy Thorpe becomes the brand new NXT Champion in two weeks? My right eye began to twitch as I typed that out. I think I need to move on before I have a Bell’s palsy relapse.

Weekly Power Rankings

Darby Allin vs Will Ospreay: A blast to watch. In their own way, these two make the strongest cases for what helps AEW stand out from WWE. Now, let’s get this out of the way… the Continental Classic provides clearly defined stakes. Clearly defined stakes = extra motivation for the wrestlers. Extra motivation for the wrestlers = better matches for us to watch.

Will Ospreay vs Ricochet: The Continental Classic provides clearly defined stakes. Clearly defined stakes = extra motivation for the wrestlers. Extra motivation for the wrestlers = better matches for us to watch. I’m aware that not everyone is a fan when these two lock horns, but it entertains me, and that’s why it’s listed here.

Darby Allin vs Claudio Castagnoli: The Continental Classic provides clearly defined stakes. Clearly defined stakes = extra motivation for the wrestlers. Extra motivation for the wrestlers = better matches for us to watch.

Lee Moriarty vs Nigel McGuinness: It was fun to see Nigel make his surprise return to Ring Of Honor, the promotion that helped put him on the pro wrestling map. Doing so to challenge for the Pure Championship, the title that he made famous on the independent scene, made it even better.

Axiom vs Oba Femi: We’ve seen Oba have a bunch of “hoss fights” against various opponents, and those are always a lot of fun. It’s matches like this, though, where his size and power match up against the speed and athletic ability that make him truly stand out to me. The way this match was laid out also says a lot about how much the higher ups in NXT like Axiom, as he was made to look great.

Mark Briscoe vs The Beast Mortos: The Continental Classic provides clearly defined stakes. Clearly defined stakes = extra motivation for the wrestlers. Extra motivation for the wrestlers = better matches for us to watch.

Bron Breakker vs Ludwig Kaiser: Kaiser might be one of the most underrated acts in all of wrestling today. He’s someone that could easily be a top tier player for WWE, but the company doesn’t seem to see him that way just yet. I still think the company should’ve kept him and Fabian Aichner/Giovanni Vinci together. Their tag work was phenomenal, and they could’ve been a great addition to what Gunther has been doing since debuting on the main roster. I guess that’s a different discussion for a different day, though.

Komander vs Brody King: The Continental Classic provides clearly defined stakes. Clearly defined stakes = extra motivation for the wrestlers. Extra motivation for the wrestlers = better matches for us to watch.

Athena vs Billie Starkz: Athena’s Ring Of Honor Women’s Title reign is one of the most baffling things I can remember witnessing in wrestling. As of the day this column goes live, she will have been the champion for 744 days and counting. She has defeated everyone that RoH has to offer, time and time and time and time again, but Tony Khan seems to be completely allergic to having her move up to AEW and face “bigger” and “better” talent. Every time you think this is definitely the time Athena drops the title, she wins yet again. Why the fuck did she defeat Billie Starkz again? There’s no reason for any of this.

Axiom & Nathan Frazer vs Wolfgang & Mark Coffey: I wouldn’t complain too much if NXT decided to have Axiom and/or Nathan Frazer performing double duty more often. Those two are absolutely on fire. It’s a beautiful thing to witness.

Finn Balor & JD McDonagh vs The War Raiders: The match itself was good, but I especially enjoy the fact that both Erik and Ivar have been able to overcome potentially career-ending injuries to return to the ring, and they’re now the World Tag Team Champions. Good for them.

Daniel Garcia vs Shelton Benjamin: The Continental Classic provides clearly defined stakes. Clearly defined stakes = extra motivation for the wrestlers. Extra motivation for the wrestlers = better matches for us to watch.

Brian Cage vs AR Fox vs Komander vs Willie Mack vs Mark Davis vs Blake Christian: Such a fun blend of in-ring styles here. Of course, the match was going to be balls-to-the-wall, making it even better.

Alex Shelley vs Johnny Gargano: I’m digging the new heel version of Gargano, and dig the Motor City Machine Guns being his rivals even more. It will be fun to see where things go from here.

This Week’s Playlist: “30 For 30” by SZA & Kendrick Lamar… “Saturn” by SZA… “Snooze” by SZA… “Wet Dreamz” by J. Cole… “Fire Squad” by J. Cole… “Make Me” by Jay Taj… “Never Enough” by Annisokay… “BODYBAG” by Body Prison… “river” by Awake Again… “In and Out” by Lud Foe… “Scatter Brain” by Conway The Machine, Ludacris & JID… “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt… “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Tank… “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Maoli… “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Teddy Swims… “I Can’t Make U Love Me” by Prince… “On My Own” by Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald… “On The Wings Of Love” by Jeffrey Osborne… “I Don’t Have The Heart” by James Ingram… “Can You Stop The Rain” by Peabo Bryson

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