NXT Homecoming was a special episode of WWE NXT, which was held at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. Full Sail University was the original location where NXT was held, which is why this episode was called “Homecoming”. This episode featured current NXT talent and also a lot of the former talent crossing paths. As a fan of wrestling, it was really cool to see current superstars on the main roster go back to their roots and interact with current NXT superstars.
The show opened with a great video package that featured clips from the black and gold era of NXT. It showed many current main roster superstars such as Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Becky Lynch, and it also showed stars who are not currently with the company, such as Paige, James Storm, and Shayna Baszler. It also showed the late Bray Wyatt and the late Luke Harper. I thought the video package was great because I found it really cool to see a lot of the main roster superstars early on in their careers in some of their greatest moments.
At the beginning of the show, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque came out and praised the crowd and promised an entertaining show. Shawn Michaels would later come out and have a fun moment with Triple H that would bring out William Regal, and then Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss would come out and praise many of the women who started on NXT and are now trailblazers in professional wrestling.
That fun segment led into a tag-team match that featured Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair facing off against Izzi Dame and Tatum Paxley. The match itself was my 2nd favorite of the night. I think Tatum Paxley has amazing in-ring abilities. Her finisher, the “Psycho Trap,” is currently one of my favorite finishers in wrestling. Tatum Paxley is also currently one of my favorite female wrestlers in general. These teams seemed like a good matchup. Tatum Paxley and Alexa Bliss remind me of one another with their unhinged gimmicks. Tatum Paxley is also reminiscent of Mickie James when her character was obsessed with my favorite female wrestler of all time, Trish Stratus. I thought this was one of the best Alexa Bliss in-ring performances in recent memory. I feel like her and Charlotte are a great tag-team, and there was no doubt about it after they won the match. I also found the two teams similar in the way that Izzi and Charlotte are both very tall, and Tatum and Alexa are similar heights, and both have dolls.
The Trick Williams, Carmelo Hayes tag match against DIY was great! It was cool to see TNA champion Trick Williams teaming with Carmelo again, and it was very cool to see DIY go back to their roots. It’s wild to see a WWE talent holding the TNA title, but in a cool way. This match made me want to see DIY appear more on SmackDown because it was made clear that they are still extremely talented. Hearing the old music also made me miss it compared to their current themes. Trick and Melo got the win thanks to some help from The Miz.
I wasn’t a big fan of the Ethan Page match against Tyler Breeze. The match featured El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. watching from the crowd. It was cool that he was there since Ethan Page recently matched up against him at WWE Worlds Collide. It was cool to see Tyler Breeze in action again after four years, but I was never a fan of his character, and Ethan Page is just okay to me, so I thought the match wasn’t anything special. Page ended up getting the win.
Grayson Waller hosting “The Grayson Waller Effect” was alright, and I found it funny, but it was mostly Oba Femi and Ricky Saints arguing until Trick Williams came out and set up a match between Trick and Oba with the winner facing Ricky Saints at No Mercy. It was a decent segment, but I was much more interested in the Bobby Roode and Joe Hendry segment that followed it.
We also saw backstage segments between Sami Zayn and Je’Von Evans, Damian Priest and Tavion Heights, Darkstate, and Montez Ford. All three segments were cool. I liked seeing Sami interact with my favorite NXT male wrestler, and seeing Damian give praise and advice to Tavion was cool too. I thought Damian’s reference to his jacuzzi celebration was funny. I always like seeing main roster stars interacting with NXT talent. Finn Bálor had an appearance that really made me want to see him get a singles run. He got an amazing reaction from the crowd, which was great, but sadly, he doesn’t get that kind of response on the main roster because he’s a heel. I also may have only loved this segment because he beat up Lexis King.
The main event was awesome! It was a 6-woman tag match that featured a STACKED team of Rhea Ripley, Stephanie Vaquer, and Lyra Valkyria matching up against Fatal Influence. On top of Rhea and Stephanie being two of my favorite wrestlers in the whole company, I’m also a big fan of Lyra Valkyria and Jacy Jayne, so it was awesome seeing so many wrestlers I love share the ring. This match had wonderful energy, and it showed why Rhea Ripley may be the biggest star in all of wrestling right now. The match featured Rhea and Stephanie hitting the “Devil’s Kiss” in sync, and I thought both teams had good chemistry. It is worth noting that Tiffany Stratton was originally supposed to be in Lyra Valkyria’s place, but wasn’t medically cleared in time.
Overall, I really enjoyed NXT Homecoming! Although we didn’t get the Paige return I’ve wanted for so long, it was still a great show. It was awesome to see wrestlers such as Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, and Sami Zayn interacting with younger talent such as Jacy Jayne, Tatum Paxley, and Je’Von Evans. I know 2025 is 15 years since the beginning of NXT, but I hope we get Homecoming more often. I think it could be a hit if it becomes a yearly show.
