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WWE NXT Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From Dec. 2
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE NXT on December 2.
NXT Deadline is coming up on Saturday, and that meant it would be all hands on deck to sell the premium live event and make it worth watching.
We heard from a few people who will be competing at Deadline, but we also had the usual array of action we get every week.
Following the events of last week, NXT general manager Ava booked an eight-man tag match with DarkState taking on Joe Hendry, Je'Von Evans, Leon Slater and Myles Borne.
Let's take a look at everything that happened on Tuesday's episode of NXT.
Opening Segment
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The show opened with Ava standing in the ring with the five women who will compete in the Iron Survivor match this weekend at Deadline. Each woman took a turn giving a short promo about why they will win.
Kelani Jordan got the most heat when she spoke, and she had to try to talk over the boos. She didn't seem too thrown off by it, but the boos were so loud that they distracted from her a bit.
Fatal Influence came out so Jacy Jayne could talk some trash to everyone. Kelani and Jordan Grace kicked off a huge brawl. This segment could have easily dragged on for way too long, but it felt well-times and succinct.
The promos were pretty standard stuff heading into a PLE, but Jordan was definitely the standout due to the crowd's reactions.
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
- Booker T wasn't at the show, so Corey Graves took his place this week.
- The heat Jordan was getting was awesome. WWE needs to capitalize on her heel momentum and give her a strong push heading into 2026.
Arianna Grace vs. Thea Hail
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Last time in action: Grace lost the Battle Royal (NXT, Oct. 7), Hail lost to Ivy Nile (Main Event, Oct. 24)
Stacks, Arianna Grace, Joe Hendry and Thea Hail had a backstage segment that led to Grace and Hail having a match. Stacks helped his new girlfriend get the advantage with a distraction during the first couple of minutes.
Grace had the size advantage, but Hail is just as powerful, has more experience and more speed, so it didn't feel like the David vs. Goliath situation that happens sometimes with a height difference like this.
When Stacks tried to interfere, Hendry chokeslammed him on the apron, allowing Hail to lock in the Kimura for a quick win.
There wasn't much to this, but the way it played out made sense for the story they are telling. It might not be the best match of the night, but this is one of those times when short and sweet was the right way to go.
Result: Hail defeated Grace
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
- Hail's suicide dive looked good.
- Chase U and OTM had a segment in the parking lot.
Tavion Heights vs. Josh Briggs
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Last time in action: Tavion Heights defeated Josh Briggs (NXT, Nov. 11)
The feud between Tavion Heights and Josh Briggs continued this week when they met for another singles bout. Heights won their last encounter, so the big man was looking for some payback.
Briggs is one of those guys who has a ton of talent, the right size, and the physical ability to do anything WWE needs, but his character is getting stale and it feels like he needs something to change so he doesn't end up fading into the background.
Heights, on the other hand, feels like someone who is just starting to put everything together. He started at the PC a little over three years ago and is already an exciting performer in the ring. If he can keep progressing at this rate, he should be on the main roster within a year or two tops.
These two men know each other and work well together. The fight started outside the ring before the ref could even ring the bell. They did a good job making this feel like a grudge match by being as physical as possible.
This was a solid match that made both guys look like tough competitors. Briggs evened the score by getting the pin with a huge lariat.
Result: Briggs defeated Heights
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Briggs needs to update his entrance gear to something about 10% less ridiculous.
- The chokeslam Briggs hit looked fantastic. Heights sold it like a champ.
- The barricade spot was cooler than usual because more pieces of it broke. It looked slightly less planned than usual, but it was definitely still planned.
- Heights almost hooked the wrong leg when Briggs did the rope break spot.
Fatal Influence vs. Sol Ruca, Kendal Grey and Lola Vice
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Izzi Dame and The Culling came out to explain why they kicked Tatum Paxley out of the group. Dame said she tried to help Paxley but she was too stubborn to listen. Paxley appeared on the screen and said she would make Dame feel her pain at Deadline.
After a break, we got the six-woman tag match Ava booked earlier in the show with Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid taking on Sol Ruca, Kendal Grey and Lola Vice.
The babyfaces worked together better in the early minutes to take control. They hit some nice high-flying moves to take out Fatal Influence multiple times.
This was a high-energy match with some fun moments, but it felt a little rushed in places. They didn't take enough time to sell the big impacts, so it felt like they were just going from move to move.
Ruca ended up pinning Jayne to get the win with a nice Sol Snatcher. Zaria ended up trying to hit Ruca with a Spear after the match, but she missed and took out Grey. This caused a huge argument between her and Ruca.
Result: Ruca, Vice and Grey defeated Fatal Influence
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- The audio kept dropping out, possibly to censor something being yelled by the crowd, but it ruined some of Dame's promo.
- Zaria told Ruca she would not be at ringside for her this time.
OTM vs. Chase U
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Last time in action: OTM lost to Alpha Academy (Main Event, Oct. 27), Chase U vs. Hank and Tank vs. Culling went No Contest (NXT, Oct. 7)
Lucien Price and Bronco Nima finally got the chance to get their hands on Uriah Connors and Kale Dixon when they met for a tag match this week.
Chase U surprised OTM by taking the fight to them first. They knocked both guys out of the ring and took them down with dual suicide dives.
It took a few minutes for OTM to regain their bearings, but once they did, they started to dominate. Chase U managed to make a comeback, but it was short-lived. Price and Nima hit their finisher for a quick win.
Chase U looked better than expected, but the match as a whole was nothing to write home about.
Result: OTM defeated Chase U
Grade: C-
Notable Moments and Observations
- The size difference between these teams was wild. OTM made Chase U look like children.
- Dion Lennox was shown giving his tag title to Saquon Shugars backstage.
DarkState vs. Joe Hendry, Leo Slater, Je'Von Evans and Myles Borne
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This week's main event was the big eight-man tag match with DarkState, but Ava added some stakes to the match. The person who got the win for the babyface team would get to pick their spot in the Iron Survivor match. If anyone from DarkState won, Lennox got to pick.
As expected, this was a high-impact match with a lot of physicality. All eight of these guys are young and hungry, so nobody wanted to be overlooked.
It would be hard to pick a standout performer, but Evans would probably be the consensus. He not only had some great moments on offense, but he also sold for DarkState really well.
Borne ended up stealing the pin for his team to get the win and earn the right to choose his spot in the Iron Survivor match.
Result: Hendry, Slater, Borne and Evans defeated DarkState
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- We got another weird promo from Shiloh Hill.
- The announcers said Ava signed off on Lennox giving his title to Shugars so he could pursue singles gold.
- Osiris Griffin almost fell when he caught Slater flying over the top rope.
- The way Evans took out Shugars with a suicide dive into the announce table was nuts.
The Final Word
7 of 7Tuesday's episode of NXT was the go-home show before Deadline, but it didn't feel like pushing the PLE was a huge priority for some reason.
Even though most of the segments dealt with the upcoming event in some way, it just never felt like there was the expected sense of urgency heading into a big show.
The match between Briggs and Heights was one of the best things we got all night, but the main event will probably be the favorite for most people due to how many big spots it included.
The women's division continues to be slightly more interesting than the men's division in some ways, and Ruca has been at the center of a lot of it. It would be shocking if WWE didn't call her up to the main roster soon.
Grade: C
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