Generation NXT - NXT recap for December 12, 2023

Backstage, Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams are interviewed by paparazzi on the way to the arena. After the opening package recapping what happened at last week's show, it is revealed that Carmelo Hayes has been attacked backstage. Trick Williams shows up and tells the referees to get help.

Cora Jade is in the ring. She says that after four long months, the fog was finally lifted, and she states that as deep as the women's division is, it is more fun when she is around. She says the women's Iron Survivor Challenge was one hell of a match, but at the end of the day, everyone was talking about her. All of a sudden, Lyra Valkyria shows up and welcomes Cora Jade back, then says Cora has not changed after the last four months while things in NXT definitely have. As she says that she is not the same woman Cora messed with, Blair Davenport shows up. Davenport brags about being the women's Iron Survivor, then says Lyra should be focused on her right now and that she will become the champion she was always destined to be at New Year's Evil. Lyra says Davenport will not be taking her title before noting that both of them are not best friends despite their both attacking people from behind. All of a sudden, Nikkita Lyons shows up and addresses Davenport for what she did to her in the parking lot. Davenport punches Nikkita, starting a tag team brawl that Lyra and Nikkita get the upper hand in.

Backstage, Kelly Kincaid interviews Dragon Lee, who says that Saturday night was a dream come true, but says it came at the expense of Wes Lee's injury. He saya he will be a fighting champion just like Wes Lee and defend often, and that he will find out who his first challenger will be in the ring tonight.

Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen and Fallon Henley beat Meta-Four (Noam Dar, Oro Mensah, Lash Legend) in a mixed-person six tag match despite Fallon Henley brawling to the back with Tiffany Stratton.

In the trainer's room, Carmelo Hayes is medically cleared for competition. Carmelo says he does not know who it is, but he has a feeling as he knows he has been hit that hard before. He decides to wait until later to tell Trick who it is.

We are introduces to NXT Men's Breakout Tournament participants Trey Bearhill, Dion Lennox, Luca Crusifino, Tavion Heights, Keanu Carver, Riley Osborne, Myles Borne and Oba Femi. All of a sudden, Lexis King attacks Trey Bearhill from behind with a chair and taunts the rest of the participants.

Oba Femi beats Myles Borne to advance in the NXT Men's Breakout Tournament.

Backstage, Lyra Valkyrie is met by Nikkita Lyons. Lyra says that she has people coming at her from all sides and that she will not let Cora Jade's return poison the women's division. Nikkita Lyons says she wants Blair Davenport ten times as badly, then Lyra finds out that Tatum Paxley has pasted her face where Becky's is on the photo on the back of Lyra's locker room door.

Backstage, Kelly Kincaid interviews Tiffany Stratton, who says she is not happy that she lost at Deadline, then says that Fallon Henley will never come close to being on her level. After allowing Kelly to talk, she then leaves.

Tyler Bate answers Dragon Lee's open challenge for the NXT North American Championship.

Dragon Lee retains the NXT North American Championship against Tyler Bate.

Backstage, Brooks Jensen congratulates Josh Briggs on coming through in tonight's match. Fallon Henley shows up and apologizes for deserting them like she did. Briggs then says he wants the NXT Heritage Cup, and despite Jensen's misgivings due to Briggs being a "one round knockout" kind of guy, Jensen and Fallon are game.

Backstage, Ava tells Lexis King that everyone in the NXT Men's Breakout Tournament wants to beat him up, but Lexis King does not care and even thinks Ava is turned on by him. Lexis then finds out that he is replacing Troy Bearhill in the tournament.

Dijak vs. Eddy Thorpe ends with Dijak beating up Eddy Thorpe before tearing off the top turnbuckle and hitting Thorpe with it repeatedly.

At Chase University, as everyone brainstorms ideas for how to help Andre Chase pay back all the money that he gambled away, Scrypts shows up with a briefcase and tells Chase has a proposition for him before leaving.

Backstage, both Cora Jade and Blair Davenport agree to take care of their respective targets as Davenport states that she will be the next NXT Women's Champion.

Riley Osborne beats Keanu Carter to advance in the NXT Men's Breakout Tournament.

Backstage, Dragon Lee is approached by Drew Gulak, Charlie Dempsey, Myles Borne and Damon Kemp. After finding out that Dragon Lee is staying true to his word at being a fighting champion, Gulak says that one among his group will face Dragon Lee next week.

Riley Osborne is met backstage by Thea Hail, who is pushed into meeting Riley by Jacy Jayne. Jayne watches as Thea Hail tries to gather strength to talk to Riley and succeeds, and Kiana James and Izzi Dame show up to tell Thea Hail that Riley is out of her league.

Cora Jade and Blair Davenport beat Lyra Valkyria and Nikkita Lyons soon after the distraction to Lyra Valkyria by Tatum Paxley, who shows up from behind the barricade with a raven's feather. After the match, Tatum tosses Nikkita out of the ring, crawls up to Lyra and hugs her.

Backstage, Hank Walker meets with Tank Ledger as he is preoccupied with their match against Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, Wolfgang) when Gallus shows up and tells them to drink their sorrows away at the pub. Hank says he and Tank have more heart than all three members of Gallus combined, and after Hank and Tank leave, Joe Gacy then shows up from behind the forklift with a cup of coffee.

Trick Williams heads to the ring. He says that Deadline "was a movie" after he became the men's Iron Survivor, and while he usually comes to the ring and cuts up his opponents, he says that he and his opponents put out a banger on Saturday and predicts it will be match of the year. He says that his opponents made one mistake by not realizing he has been "ballin' [his] whole life," then mentions his NXT Championship with Ilja Dragunov. Dragunov shows up and mentions Trick thanking him to pushing him to a whole new level, then says he admires his courage and that he is proud of him. He says he had to go back and watch Trick's match and says that Trick Williams has been the talk of the town in NXT, then says that Trick's journey will come to an end. Trick says that a few months ago, he would have wondered if he had what it took to face him, but now, he is the man, and in three weeks, he will beat the best NXT has to offer and become the new champion. Dragunov says he has suffered too much to become NXT Champion and stay champion, and that he will do whatever it takes to remain champion. Suddenly, Carmelo Hayes shows up. Carmelo Hayes says he hates to interrupt Trick Williams, then says he knows who attacked Trick because it is the same person who attacked him. As Dragunov leaves to let Carmelo and Trick handle their business, Carmelo stops Dragunov, saying it was him. Carmelo says it was Dragunov who took him and Trick out, as nobody benefits more from Carmelo and Trick being separated, and that Dragunov knew he would have to face both of them and did not want to take that chance. He also says that Dragunov made it so that people would point the finger at him and blame him for Trick being attacked. Dragunov then says that he did not attack him, if he did get attacked, and then tells Trick to talk to Carmelo. Carmelo says he and Trick are on the same page now and that Dragunov does not deserve the NXT Championship, and as Carmelo tires to take it away from him, he accidentally knocks Trick down.