[5.0] "This was the wrong main event. Trick should've been called up right after losing the TNA title as I didn't need to see him in another NXT title match, and this is coming from someone who loves him too. It was a super heatless main event, it wasn't bad but I can't blame anyone who couldn't get invested into this."
[5.0] "Not great to be honest, both guys just looked off their game. Far too slow a pace considering the rest of the evening's offerings. Maybe a stipulation would've helped, but there wasn't much good to look back on. Complete disaster avoided at the very least."
[4.0] "I mean... it was a match? Incredibly slow for 17 minutes, followed the traditional WWE philosophy of "the middle of the match is a spot, cover, kickout at 2, wait a full minute before the next spot." Trick looked not great in this. For a strike-heavy wrestler he was getting ZERO noise out of his kicks or chops. The Bookend through the announce desk immediately followed by Trick Shot in the ring was miserable. Most of the match was emoting or selling and it felt heatless. Crowd was pretty dead accordingly. Ricky's assisted tornado DDT finish was cool because I love a good tornado DDT but that's not really moving the score anywhere for me."
[7.0] "Ricky Saints and Trick delivered a strong main event for the NXT Championship. Trick dominated early with aggressive strikes, a Blockbuster, and suplexes, including a Book End through the commentary table, keeping Ricky on the defensive. Ricky battled back with suplexes, strikes, a Crossface submission, and a series of comeback moves, including a Stunner-like counter and a Spear. The finish came with Ricky hitting a Tornado DDT off the ropes for the pinfall win. This was a very good championship match. Most of the action focused on Trick controlling the pace and Ricky mounting comebacks, creating a solid back-and-forth dynamic. The table spot was memorable, and Ricky retaining made sense given his recent title win. Trick continues to show he's ready for bigger stages, demonstrating improvement and versatility in the ring. While the Tornado DDT isn't my favorite finisher, it fit the match and Ricky's style. ***1/2"
[4.0] "A main event that capped off the tone of the whole event to be honest. It felt off, disjointed and was badly produced. Crowd again was low energy but at this point I can't blame them. It's pretty concerning that this early into Ricky's reign that he has arguably had both Oba and Trick's worst NXT Title matches and he's the one constant in all the variables - And they were back to back as well."
[6.0] "Two guys politely agree to wrestle. The pacing was fine but it felt like someone kept pressing snooze on the excitement. Trick's got charisma, sure, but charisma can't save a match that's one DDT away from nap time. Decent effort, totally undercooked. Felt more like a Tuesday than a title fight."
[4.0] "You know it's a bad sign when you decide to do some internet banking admin during the middle of the main event. This wasn't awful, it was just boring. Nothing happened and it finished with a DDT; someone give this man a convincing finishing move if the plan is to keep NXT's top belt on him! The show finishing with Tatum made it feel like giving us a subpar main event was just part of the plan, weirdly; could we not have finished with the women's title match?"
[4.0] "Rough night in the office. This felt more like when you and your buddy in elementary school would get in make shift taunt offs until getting enough special charge to hit a finisher and hope just that would win. It had some action and man do crowds love these guys, just give us anything more in-ring. This match may have had more time posing in those 10 minutes then it had wrestling."
[3.0] "This was my intro to both wrestlers and, uh, it wasn't a very good first impression. I don't know if they just have no chemistry together or what, but this was a disappointing main event."
[4.0] "The best part of the match was the start, where Trick keeps telling Ricky he's going to put him through the table. Unfortunately, it was downhill from there. It was a little boring, partly because they didn't have great chemistry. Ricky's moveset is a bit awkward considering his size. Trick's finisher looks crap - and it was funny how Ricky goes through a table and then eats a Trick Shot, but still kicks out."
[7.0] "Trick Williams vs. Ricky Saints was a good match that got a bit scrappy towards the end. Ricky once again took the brunt of the damage. How much longer can Ricky keep the underdog role going? Interesting reaction from the audience too, very mixed for both wrestlers. Expected winner, too early in his reign to drop the title just yet."
[7.0] "Actually, I liked this match, but it wasn't good for the main event. Yes, dynamic was great for all of this match, but for intresting moments it only were mocking each other, breaking announce table and finish. Kinda poor for last match on the show, where battling 2 main superstars of NXT."
[4.0] "Boring, sloppy, badly paced, badly structured. This looked like developmental in all the worst ways. I've seen Ricky have better matches but considering who he was trying to get a passable match out of, I don't feel comfortable blaming him. Considering the fact that this looks Trick Williams Sean song before the main roster, this was a disaster. I've never been more convinced that Williams is nowhere near good enough for the main roster. He just isn't ready and maybe never will be. Just being big and in shape won't be enough. This match was outrageously bad, and no amount of NXT reactionary overrating on here is going to change that,"
[4.0] "Presumably, Trick Williams's final match in NXT, as he has been rumored to move up to the Main Roster, was a very much a letdown of a match. This match was really boring, and I know this is Ricky Saints' 1st Title Defense; they and Trick Williams didn't have good chemistry in the ring, and the match felt like it dragged in certain moments. But Ricky Saints prevailed and retained his title, and nothing happened afterwards, no returns or attacks, just Ricky Saints soaking in the moment, and I feel like this match needed a stipulation because if they added that, the match would've been a lot better."
[4.0] "Okay match for the NXT title. This is the kind of match where nothing is particularly wrong with the actual wrestling, but you're just watching guys do moves without any story to care about. It was pretty boring. Trick didn't seem to care and went through the motions. Saints at least tried. They go back and forth, eventually Saints retains. Nothing at all special about this. Shouldn't have been the main event. 4/10"
[6.0] "Hell, I thought I was the one who didn't like it. Apparently most liked it even less. Both guys are cocky as all hell, but one is a babyface for some reason. Yet the other guy is the biggest star, Trick. Who by the way is still careless, unsafe, and his moves look like shit. He bloodied poor Ricky (who is too new and too nice to give the dummy a receipt) in multiple places by being a careles bafoon. Bad looking unsafe kicks, bad looking slams, and even his signature offense looked bad today. Also, WWE made Ricky out to be such a "slickster", that people at one point chanted "Ricky sucks". At one point a bloodied babyface in peril Ricky starts shaking his hips on the top rope and lands in a useless slow russian leg sweep. Not much of this match landed to me, too much of it looked bad, but Saints tried his damndest since he's the one good wrestler in the match."
[6.0] "Ricky Saints vs Trick Williams was pretty good. Both men have a ton of charisma and work hard to have a WWE level main event. I thought they did well in that, but the finish felt flat and anti-climatic, while also hurting the overall flow and story they tried to tell here (***1/4)."
[0.0] "There is no way that these two should be wrestling in the main event of any promotion. Trick Willams still can not work, at all. And somehow Ricky has lost every bit of everything that made him cool and likable in the past. I would much rather see two young talents like Jevon Evans and Leon Slater in the main event not 32 year old Trick Williams and 36 year old Ricky Saints, who are going out' there and not even having passable performances."
[7.0] "War auch ein richtig cooles Match in dieser starken Show. Ricky Saints hat richtig Charisma und workt hier richtig stark. Trick Williams ist wie immer zu arrogant für einen Sieg, keine Ahnung was man jetzt mit Ihm macht."
[5.0] "not bad by any means, just very low heat. I feel like Tatum should have main evented. This was perfectly servicable, but nothing crazy as well. This card in general was very strangely structured. But I would think that this will be one of Tricks final matches on NXT"
[5.0] "Awkward match, with some odd schemistry between the two competitors. Something felt off, and the match showed. Good to see Saints retain, however Trick put in a workhorse like perfromance. There were a few missed spots that were quite obvious. Would like to see another match between the two to see if it was a one off bad night."
[2.0] "ricky saints suuuuuucksssssss... i dunno what happened to him but ever since he came to wwe from aew he has done nothing of note. He beat oba femi and nobody cares 3 weeks later, that should be impossible to achieve. He needs to get out of nxt because he is getting outshined in a developmental show."
[5.0] "Two of the talents of all time coming out to provide us with one of the matches of all time. Let's not beat around the bush: I've had structural criticisms of both Saints and Trick for a long time, and I knew from the minute the match was confirmed that it was going to just be there. Trick and Saints aren't bad wrestlers, by any stretch of the imagination, but they both share a key deficit which prevents them from upward mobility in WWE, which is their utter inability to lead a match, which is what you need here. It wasn't an unmitigated disaster like the match before it, but it wasn't good either. And yet, Trick comes away looking better -- as one would hope he would with the investment NXT has put into him -- outclassing Saints in the same way Femi did last month, despite Saints getting the W in the end. In the end, a disappointing main event from what has been, overall, one of NXT's weakest PLEs in a long while."
[6.0] "This was a boring main event. I don't want to ruin the mens main event but its quite dire. The crowd were not invested in this match whatsoever. The match itself wasn't awful but it just didn't feel like a PPV. It seemed slow, boring and wasteful. Trick Williams has had his time now but he needs main roster calling now. Ricky Saints needs to somehow get himself over as I have seen more reaction from a deceased fish."
[0.0] "What was boring main event. Not even kidding, I was bored to death during this whole fucking match. I like Ricky, but my god this was one his worst match since joining NXT. Trick Williams wasn't good hear either, I hope this was his last match in NXT cause he should just go up to the main roster already. Also, I feel like he didn't even fucking try in his last match cause he just wants to get outta there and just to the main roster. This is easily gonna be the most forgottable NXT main event of 2025."
[8.0] "Bit underwhelming after so many highs on the card, but overall a very safe, by the book, decent match up. Good first defense for Ricky, surprised we didn't get a run in a tthe end but overall nothing bad and caps off a very good NXT Premium Live Event!"
