Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE NXT on January 14.

We're still in the early days of 2025, but WWE's developmental brand kicked off the year with two new champions after Giulia and Oba Femi became the new NXT champions last week.

Here is a look at what WWE advertised for Tuesday's show:

• Oba Femi celebrates winning the NXT title
• Roxanne Perez addresses her future after losing to Giulia
• Nathan Frazer and Axiom vs. OTM (NXT tag titles)
• Shotzi vs. Stephanie Vaquer (No. 1 Contender's match for women's North American title)

Let's take a look at everything that happened on this week's NXT.

Opening Segment

NXT started off with Femi coming out to celebrate winning the NXT Champions at New Year's Evil. He said he said from day one that he was backed by destiny to do everything he has accomplished. He said the ring belongs to him and he will rule how he sees fit.

He put over Trick Williams and mocked Eddy Thorpe before Tony D'Angelo showed up. He congratulated Femi on his win but reminded him that he holds a win over him.

Ridge Holland came out and got into a fight with Tony D. Femi was attacked from behind by Thorpe with a leather strap, which likely means we are going to get a Strap match for the title between them in the future.

The opening segment accomplished the goal of addressing multiple feuds at once, but having the new champion get taken out during his first week with the belt might not be the best way to get a reign started for a guy who is supposed to be a monster.

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The camera didn't catch it but it sounded like Tony D may have tripped on the steps when getting into the ring. Some people in the crowd were laughing when the camera cut back to him. 
• Holland lost so much momentum after the end of the Brawling Brutes. It's sad because he's got a lot of potential. 

Shotzi vs. Stephanie Vaquer

The No. 1 contender for the women's North American title was decided this week in a match between Shotzi and Vaquer.

They started off with a quick pace and traded several takedowns in the first couple of minutes. Both women scored some near-falls and tried to utilize some submissions, but neither one could keep the other down for the three-count.

Shotzi is known as a daredevil but she displayed some solid wrestling ability in this bout. Vauqer is known for her in-ring work, so anyone who can keep up with her is going to look great. Some of the counters they used were very creative.

They were working hard in the second half to keep the intensity high. Fatal Influence showed up and caused some chaos that allowed Fallon Henley to hit Vaquer with her title.

Shotzi didn't see what happened and ended up winning the match with a rollup. She looked upset when she saw Fatal Influence in the aisle. An interference finish is never ideal, but the match was good enough to make up for it.

Result: Shotzi defeated Vaquer

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The way WWE has presented Vaquer has been great. She was more widely known internationally than she was in the U.S. before she was signed, but WWE has made her feel important quickly. 
• Shotzi's hurricanrana looked great. 
• The double underhook suplex Shotzi hit looked awesome and would be a great finisher for her. 

Ethan Page vs. Dante Chen

Ethan Page was looking to take out a lot of his recent frustration on Dante Chen this week, but the young wrestler didn't go down right away.

After Page's initial salvo, Chen made a comeback and started building up a lot of momentum. Page had to resort to yanking him into the ropes before hitting his finisher for the win.

This was basically a glorified squash, but it was done better than most squashes and served a greater storyline with Page, so it was acceptable.

Page crushed Chen's ankle between the steps and ring after the match was over and then just sat there and stared at him for a long time. Je'Von Evans came out and attacked Page, but one shot to his injured jaw put him down.

Result: Page defeated Chen

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

• The way Chen hit the ropes looked incredibly painful. 
• Evans sold the shot to the face really well. 

Meta-four vs. Unholy Union

Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend were in action this week against Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. This match was booked to determine the No. 1 contenders for the women's tag titles.

Jackson and Fyre started with an exchange of holds and reversals, but Fyre didn't wait long before unloading with a stiff chop.

Meta-Four seemed to have the upper hand for the first half, but The Unholy Union eventually turned the tide in their favor.

The growth of Jackson and Legend over the past year has been tremendous and you could see how that hard work was paying off in this match. They kept up with Dawn and Fyre at every turn.

The match lasted two segments and saw all four women put in some great work. Jackson and Legend scored the win to become the new No. 1 contenders.

Result: Meta-Four defeated The Unholy Union

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• At this point, it's hard to tell if Booker T is an awesome commentator or a terrible commentator. His energy is great but sometimes he just says nonsense. 
• Legend might be the most powerful woman in WWE. The ease with which she lifts her opponents is unmatched. 
• Jackson sold a superkick during the commercial like a pro. 

Kelani Jordan vs. Cora Jade

Cora Jade and Kelani Jordan were looking to settle their differences in a singles match. Jade tried talking some trash only to get taken down by both legs and hit with several forearm strikes.

When Jade took over, she quickly grew frustrated that she couldn't put Jordan away immediately.

She ended up cheating by raking Kelani's eyes while the ref's vision was impaired. She followed up with her double underhook DDT for the win.

Had this match been given more time, they could have put on a much better performance. They did a good job with the time they had, but it felt rushed.

Result: Jade defeated Jordan

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Masha Slamovich was shown in the crowd with the Impact women's title. 
• The crowd's chant was pretty annoying, which was obviously by design. 

Nathan Frazer and Axiom vs. OTM

The main event of this week's show saw Frazer and Axiom defend the tag titles against Bronco Nima and Lucien Price. Before the match, the challengers got into a fight backstage but it didn't seem to do much damage.

The difference in size between these two teams was one of the biggest disparities we have seen in a tag match in quite some time. Frazer and Axiom relied on their speed, but OTM was simply too much to handle during the first half.

The champions began to show more life after the break. They had both men locked in submissions at the same time, but Price and Nima were too powerful to keep down. Nima suplexed Frazer onto Axiom to break his hold in one of the biggest spots of the match.

In the end, the champions were able to rally. Frazer put Nima through the announce table with a senton while Axiom hit Price with his finisher for the win. This was a great David vs. Goliath-style bout.

Result: Axiom and Frazer defeated OTM

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The mask Frazer was wearing is the same one a lot of WWE stars have worn after breaking their nose or another bone, and it never gets easier to look at. 
• DIY was shown watching from the crow's next. 
• The look on Frazer's face after Axiom was turned inside out by a clothesline was hilarious. 

The Final Word

Before the final segment, a mystery person was shown arriving backstage. Perez came out to close the show with a promo addressing her future following her NXT title loss to Giulia last week.

She said she is proud of helping to make NXT the best women's division in pro wrestling. Bayley showed up to surprise Perez and give her a bit of a pep talk. They ended up getting into a fight right as the show went off the air.

Overall, this was a pretty standard week for NXT. We saw some good matches, some so-so matches, some backstage segments, and a few promos.

It feels like NXT is entering a new era, which means some familiar faces could be called up soon. Perez seems to be heading to the main roster, and a handful of other stars don't seem to be far behind.

The tag title bout and Shotzi vs. Vaquer were the two biggest highlights of the night but a large margin, so make sure to check those out.

Grade: B-