It’s official—Oba Femi has muscled his way to the top, capturing the WWE NXT Championship at New Year’s Evil in a dramatic triple threat match against Trick Williams and Eddy Thorpe. The match was a swirling vortex of deceit, opportunism, and sheer power, but Femi emerged as the undeniable force in the end.
The Build-Up: Lies, Iron, and Double Pins
Femi earned his shot after dominating the Iron Survivor Challenge at Deadline, becoming the rightful number one contender. Eddy Thorpe, however, used a play straight out of the drama handbook: staging his own attack to garner sympathy and wiggle his way into a title match. When a double-pin finish in that subsequent match further complicated things, General Manager Ava ruled that all three men would collide at New Year’s Evil for the title.
The Match: Thorpe Tricks, Femi Destroys
True to form, Thorpe’s theatrics continued on Tuesday night, as he was “attacked” backstage before the match began. Ava wasn’t buying it this time and declared the bout would proceed. Thorpe’s absence left Trick Williams and Oba Femi to battle it out early on, with Femi showcasing his brute strength and Williams relying on speed and cunning.
When Femi nearly sealed the deal with a sit-out powerbomb on Williams, Thorpe made his inevitable dramatic entrance, pulling the referee out of the ring to halt the count. This sparked a brutal sequence where Femi pummeled Thorpe in the ring, giving Williams an opening to hit the Trick Shot—but it wasn’t enough to put Femi down.
The final moments were a crescendo of chaos: as Williams lined up a second Trick Shot, Thorpe re-entered the fray, wielding a steel chair like a man with nothing to lose. With Williams taken out, Femi seized the moment, delivering a crushing sit-out powerbomb to secure the victory and the NXT Championship.
What’s Next?
With Femi as champion, NXT enters a new era dominated by power and determination. For Trick Williams, it’s back to the drawing board, while Eddy Thorpe might need to find better excuses—or a sturdier steel chair.