WWE continued its newsworthy week with the NXT special New Year’s Evil.
The show saw the top 2 championships change hands as Giulia defeated Roxanne Perez to win the NXT Women’s Championship and Oba Femi defeated Trick Williams and Eddy Thorpe to become the new NXT Champion.
In a rematch from the debut episode of NXT on the CW Network back in October 2024, Giulia defeated Perez with a Northern Lights Bomb to win the match and the championship. Cora Jade attempted to help Perez retain the title but was eventually sent to the back by the referee.
The victory brings Perez’s reign to an end at 274 days and completes a trifecta of new Women’s Champions crowned in the past 7 days. Beginning with Tiffany Stratton’s successful Money in the Bank cash-in on Nia Jax on the January 3rd SmackDown to become the new WWE Women’s Champion, Rhea Ripley defeated Liv Morgan on the January 6th Raw to win back the Women’s World Championship.
Later that night, Oba Femi threw Trick Williams into Eddy Thorpe followed by a Fall From Grace Powerbomb to win the match and the title, ending Williams’s reign at 93 days. Femi and Giulia then celebrated with their new titles at the top of the ramp.
Both Giulia and Femi earned their right to challenge for the respective championships by winning the Iron Survivor Challenges back at Deadline.
The Rock Appears Live On WWE NXT
Although Femi’s victory was the final match to take place on the New Year’s Evil special, the show was main evented by The Rock, who appeared on the Tuesday night show for the very first time. On top of confronting a former NXT Champion ahead of time, The Rock also made reference to his confusing interactions with Cody Rhodes on the Raw on Netflix premiere episode.