NXT: New Year's Evil (2026)

Last updated

NXT: New Year's Evil
Promotion WWE
Brand NXT
DateJanuary 6, 2026
City Orlando, Florida
Venue WWE Performance Center
NXT special episodes chronology
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NXT: New Year's Evil chronology
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The 2026 NXT: New Year's Evil was a professional wrestling television special produced by WWE for its developmental brand NXT. It was the sixth annual New Year's Evil special episode of NXT and seventh New Year's Evil overall. It took place on January 6, 2026, at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, and aired live on The CW.

Contents

Four matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Oba Femi defeated Leon Slater of partner promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling to retain the NXT Championship; following the match, Femi left the championship belt in the ring, relinquishing the title. In the night's other matches, Izzi Dame defeated Thea Hail in an open challenge to win the NXT Women's North American Championship, Jacy Jayne defeated Kendal Grey to retain the NXT Women's Championship, and in the opening bout, Tatum Paxley defeated Izzi Dame.

Production

Background

New Year's Evil is a professional wrestling television special currently produced by WWE held around New Year's. It was originally broadcast as a special episode of World Championship Wrestling's (WCW) Monday Nitro on December 27, 1999; WWE acquired WCW in 2001. [1] After 21 years since that WCW event, WWE revived New Year's Evil for its developmental brand NXT as a special episode of NXT on January 6, 2021, [2] and it has since been held annually in early January. The sixth annual NXT: New Year's Evil took place on January 6, 2026, at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, and it aired live on The CW. [3]

Storylines

The card consisted of matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were be predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program, NXT, and the online streaming show, Evolve . [4] [5]

At NXT Deadline, WWE Evolve Women's Champion Kendal Grey won the Women's Iron Survivor Challenge to earn an NXT Women's Championship match against Jacy Jayne at New Year's Evil. [6] [7]

Also at NXT Deadline, Je'Von Evans won the Men's Iron Survivor Challenge to earn an NXT Championship match against Oba Femi at New Year's Evil. [6] [8] However, instead of waiting until New Year's Evil, Evans demanded his title match on the following episode of NXT. As a result, NXT General Manager Ava announced that the other four men who competed in the Iron Survivor Challenge—Dion Lennox, Joe Hendry, Myles Borne, and Leon Slater from partner promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)—would compete in a fatal four-way match the following week, where the winner would earn a title match at New Year's Evil. Later that night, Femi retained the title against Evans, thus confirming he would be the defending champion at New Year's Evil, [9] while Slater won the fatal four-way on the following episode to become the new #1 contender. [10]

On the December 9 episode of NXT, Blake Monroe was supposed to hold an open challenge for her NXT North American Championship, however, several women appeared, including Thea Hail, who attacked Monroe. [9] This led to a match between both women on the following episode with the title on the line, [10] however, a legitimate unplanned finish occurred, as Monroe was originally booked to retain the title. During a pinfall attempt by Hail, Monroe was supposed to kick out, but did not get her shoulder up in time and the referee counted the pin, naming Hail the winner and new champion, causing confusion to Hail, Monroe, and WWE's production team. It was reported that this affected WWE's creative for several wrestlers that was planned over the next two weeks as WWE was scheduled to tape the next two episodes of NXT in advance due to the holidays, with adjustments being made immediately. [11] On the following episode, Monroe demanded Hail to give her the title back, which Hail declined, however, she agreed to a title rematch at New Year's Evil. [12] At the start of the event, the title match that was supposed to open the show did not take place after Monroe viciously assaulted Hail during the latter's entrance. Monroe was subsequently banned from the building for her actions. Despite her injuries, Hail wanted to defend the title and decided to hold an open challenge, which Ava approved.

Entering 2025, Tatum Paxley formed an alliance with Gigi Dolin and Shotzi. At the end of May, Dolin and Shotzi were released by WWE, effectively disbanding the team. [13] Izzi Dame then successfully recruited Paxley into The Culling (Dame, Niko Vance, and Shawn Spears) by preying on Paxley's emotional instability from losing her former teammates. On the October 14 episode of NXT, Paxley won a battle royal to become the #1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship by last eliminating Dame and Jordynne Grace, [14] and subsequently defeated Jacy Jayne to win the title at Halloween Havoc. [15] As champion, Paxley agreed to hand out title matches, much to the chagrin of The Culling. At week 1 of NXT: Gold Rush, Paxley lost the title back to Jayne after The Culling turned on her. [16] Paxley then sought revenge against Dame, culminating in a match at NXT Deadline, which Dame won after interference from The Culling. [6] Paxley continued to haunt The Culling, playing psychological games with Vance and Spears, and on the December 30 episode of NXT, Dame called out Paxley, bragging about her. Paxley eventually came out, and announced that she would face Dame at New Year's Evil. [17]

Results

No.ResultsStipulationsTimes [18]
1 Tatum Paxley defeated Izzi Dame by pinfall Singles match 11:40
2 Jacy Jayne (c) (with Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid) defeated Kendal Grey (with Wren Sinclair) by pinfall Singles match for the NXT Women's Championship [19] 12:34
3 Izzi Dame (with Niko Vance and Shawn Spears) defeated Thea Hail (c) by pinfall [a] Singles match for the NXT Women's North American Championship 10:01
4 Oba Femi (c) defeated Leon Slater by pinfall Singles match for the NXT Championship 11:11
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

Notes

  1. ↑ Hail was originally scheduled to defend the NXT Women's North American Championship against Blake Monroe in the first match of the event. However, Monroe attacked Hail prior to the match and NXT General Manager Ava banned Monroe from the arena. Hail then decided to defend the title in an open challenge instead. [20]

Aftermath

After Oba Femi successfully defended the NXT Championship against Leon Slater, he left the NXT Championship belt in the middle of the ring, implicating his relinquishing of the title.

References

  1. ↑ Rueter, Sean (December 6, 2020). "NXT goes with a WCW deep cut for its next themed episode". Cageside Seats. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  2. ↑ Thomas, Jeremy (December 6, 2020). "WWE Announces 'New Year's Evil' Special Episode of NXT". 411Mania. Archived from the original on December 7, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  3. ↑ Thompson, Andrew (December 6, 2025). "NXT New Year's Evil To Air On The CW On January 6th". Fightful. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  4. ↑ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE . Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 Moore, John (December 6, 2025). "NXT Deadline results: Moore's live review of Ricky Saints vs. Oba Femi for the NXT Title, Iron Survivor Challenge matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Archived from the original on December 7, 2025. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  7. ↑ Thompson, Andrew (December 6, 2025). "Kendal Grey Wins Women's Iron Survivor Challenge Match At NXT Deadline". Fightful. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  8. ↑ Thompson, Andrew (December 6, 2025). "Je'Von Evans Wins 2025 Men's Iron Survivor Challenge Match At NXT Deadline". Fightful. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  9. 1 2 Moore, John (December 9, 2025). "NXT TV results (12/9): Moore's review of Blake Monroe's open challenge for the NXT Women's North American Title, Jordynne Grace vs. Kelani Jordan, Shiloh Hill's debut". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  10. 1 2 Moore, John (December 16, 2025). "NXT TV results (12/16): Moore's review of Leon Slater vs. Joe Hendry vs. Dion Lennox vs. Myles Borne for a shot at the NXT Championship, Blake Monroe vs. Thea Hail for the NXT Women's NA Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  11. ↑ Alba, Jon (December 17, 2025). "Update On Blake Monroe Accidentally Losing WWE NXT Women's North American Title". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  12. ↑ Moore, John (December 23, 2025). "NXT TV results (12/23): Moore's review of Chelsea Green vs. Sol Ruca for the WWE Women's U.S. Title, Lola Vice vs. Izzi Dame, Shiloh Hill and Skylar Raye vs. Stacks and Arianna Grace". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved December 23, 2025.
  13. ↑ DeFelice, Robert (May 3, 2025). "Shotzi Moved To The Alumni Section Of WWE Superstars Page". Fightful. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
  14. ↑ Moore, John (October 14, 2025). "NXT TV results (10/14): Moore's review of a battle royal for a shot at the NXT Women's Title at the Halloween Havoc, Matt Cardona vs. Josh Briggs, Blake Monroe vs. Zaria". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved October 16, 2025.
  15. ↑ Moore, John (October 25, 2025). "NXT Halloween Havoc results: Moore's live review of Ricky Saints vs. Trick Williams for the NXT Championship, The Hardys vs. Dark State in a Broken Rules match for the NXT Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Archived from the original on October 28, 2025. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  16. ↑ Moore, John (November 18, 2025). "NXT TV results (11/18): Moore's review of Tatum Paxley vs. Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women's Title, Blake Monroe vs. Sol Ruca for the NXT Women's North American Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved November 18, 2025.
  17. ↑ Moore, John (December 30, 2025). "NXT TV results (12/30): Moore's review of Ethan Page vs. Moose for the NXT North American Championship, Ricky Saints vs. Je'Von Evans, OTM vs. Swipe Right". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved January 3, 2026.
  18. ↑ Moore, John (January 6, 2026). "NXT TV results (1/6): Moore's review of New Year's Evil with Oba Femi vs. Leon Slater for the NXT Championship, Jacy Jayne vs. Kendal Grey for the NXT Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved January 6, 2026.
  19. ↑ Thompson, Andrew (December 6, 2025). "Jacy Jayne vs. Kendal Grey For NXT Women's Championship Set For NXT New Year's Evil". Fightful. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  20. ↑ Pulido, Luis (January 6, 2026). "WWE NXT New Year's Evil Results (1/6/2026): Oba Femi vs. Leon Slater, Blake Monroe, Jacy Jayne, More". Fightful. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
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