NXT: New Year's Evil (2022)

**NXT 2.0: New Year's Evil** was a specialepisode of WWE's weekly television series NXT, broadcast on the USA Network. It took place on January 4, 2022, at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida for their NXT brand division. This was the final event to feature the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, as it was unified into the NXT North American Championship at this event.

 City

Halloween Havoc
Vengeance Day

2021
—

Four matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Bron Breakker defeated Tommaso Ciampa to win the NXT Championship. In other prominent matches, North American ChampionCarmelo Hayes defeated Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong in the opening bout to unify both titles and Mandy Rose defeated Cora Jade and Raquel González to retain the NXT Women's Championship. The event also marked an appearance by Rick Steiner, who had not appeared in the company since 1994. After the event went off-air, Steiner celebrated with his son, Bron Breakker, after he had won the NXT Championship.

## Production

### Background

New Year's Evil is a professional wrestling event currently produced by WWE. It was used for a special episode of WCW Monday Nitro on December 27, 1999; WWE acquired World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 2001. After 21 years since that WCW event, WWE revived the name for their January 6, 2021, episode of NXT. At NXT WarGames, it was announced that the second edition of NXT: New Year's Evil would be held on January 4, 2022, at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

### Storylines

NXT: New Year's Evil featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.

On October 26, 2021, at Halloween Havoc, Tommaso Ciampa defeated Bron Breakker to successfully retain his NXT Championship. At NXT WarGames, Team 2.0 (Breakker, Grayson Waller, Tony D'Angelo, and Carmelo Hayes defeated Team Black & Gold (Johnny Gargano, L. A. Knight, Pete Dunne, and Ciampa) in a WarGames match, with Breakker pinning Ciampa to win for his team. On the December 21 episode of NXT, Ciampa told Breakker that he earned his second chance at the title, and will get it at New Year's Evil.

At Halloween Havoc, Mandy Rosedefeated Raquel González in a Chucky's choice Trick or Street Fight match to win the NXT Women's Championship. At NXT WarGames, Cora Jade, Io Shirai, Kay Lee Ray, and González defeated Dakota Kai and Toxic Attraction (Rose, Gigi Dolin, and Jacy Jayne) in a WarGames match, with Jade pinning Jayne to win for her team. On the December 21 episode of NXT, after beating Kai in a Street Fight match, González called out Rose to demand a title rematch but got Jade instead, leading to Rose appearing on the titantron to challenge both of them in a Triple Threat match for the title at New Year's Evil. The following week, Rose arranged a tag team match between Jade and González against Shirai and Ray, where the winning team gets to challenge her for the NXT Women's title at New Year's Evil. Later in the episode, in the main event, Jade won for her team after pinning Ray.

On the September 21 episode of NXT, Roderick Strong defeated Kushida to win the NXT Cruiserweight Championship. Three weeks later, Carmelo Hayes cashed in his NXT Breakout Tournament contract, and defeated Isaiah "Swerve" Scott to win the NXT North American Championship. After the two men brawled with each other on the December 21 episode of NXT, Malcolm Bivens challenged Hayes to a match on Strong's behalf, leading to a contract signing the following week, where both titles will be up for grabs and unified at New Year's Evil.

## Event

### Main Event

* NXT Championship: Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs. Bron Breakker

Bron Breakker broke an X on his way to the ring to symbolically show how he was ending the former era of NXT. The big man looked dominant early, but The Blackheart began ducking the rookie while hitting a big dropkick and corkscrew plancha. Breakker fought back and went to the top rope, but Ciampa tripped him into the tree of woe for more stomp and a running low dropkick. The rookie answered with a spinebuster and standing moonsault for two. He again went to the second rope but hesitated, allowing The Blackheart to send him outside. Once again, Ciampa tried to send Breakker hard into the unprotected cement, but Breakker answered by sending him into the announce table. The rookie followed up with the military press powerslam, barely broken up by Ciampa grabbing the rope. The Blackheart caught Breakker between the legs with the rope and hit two running knees into the Fairy Tale Ending for a crazy nearfall. The two fought on the second rope, and Breakker fought back to hit a bulldog then locked in the Steiner Recliner for a tap out. Afterward, Ciampa gave a nod of approval to the young star earning his win.

## Results

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 * (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match