Ricky Saints Beats Oba Femi, Wins NXT Title at No Mercy 2025

Ricky Saints defeated Oba Femi at NXT No Mercy on Saturday night to become NXT champion for the first time.

The stage for Saturday's showdown was initially set last month at Heatwave when Saints confronted Oba following a successful title defense against Je'Von Evans in the main event.

Saints made his intentions to challenge for the NXT Championship clear at that point, but he was interrupted by Josh Briggs on the ensuing episode of NXT, which set up a match between them for the No. 1 contendership.

Saints came out on top, earning him an NXT title match at No Mercy, although it wasn't certain who his opponent would be.

That was because of what occurred during a special edition of the Grayson Waller Effect at NXT Homecoming, which began as a verbal exchange between Femi and Saints until Trick Williams got involved.

Trick made it clear that he wanted to become a three-time NXT champion, so Waller proposed a blockbuster, title-for-title match with Femi putting the NXT Championship on the line and Williams defending the TNA World Championship.

That bout took place on the go-home episode of NXT before No Mercy, and it was a hard-hitting affair that saw both Superstars come agonizingly close to winning on multiple occasions.

During the match, TNA wrestlers were seated throughout the crowd, as they showed up in an apparent effort to stand up against perceived unfair treatment from NXT.

When Williams got in the face of TNA star Mike Santana, who was on commentary, Santana punched Trick, triggering a disqualification.

Once the bell rang, all of the TNA wrestlers in attendance rushed the ring and the NXT locker room emptied, leading to a massive brawl. Amid the chaos, Saints calmly strolled to the ringside area and touched the NXT championship belt, but Oba emerged and pulled it back into his own possession.

Saints arguably had the advantage of being the fresher man at No Mercy since Femi went to war with Trick on Tuesday, and he capitalized on it to add the NXT Championship to a résumé that already included the North American Championship.