NXT Gold Rush 2025: Week Two

After a successful and entertaining first week of action, NXT's 'Gold Rush' event rolled on with week two in New York, a show full of more fun matches, if perhaps some with slightly lower stakes than those of the first show. Regardless, I was once again very excited to see what the talent of NXT, Evolve, and TNA would showcase in their various matches, many of which featuring gold from the three respective brands.

The second week of 'Gold Rush' began with the Evolve Championship on the line, with Jackson Drake defending his gold against Sean Legacy. These have very clearly been the two best Evolve prospects on the WWE ID programme, and they lived up to that, with a physical, athletic, and exciting title match. Both men are evidently so talented already, and their stock will certainly have risen both inside and outside of the NXT locker room thanks to their strong performances tonight.

Following this was the WWE Women's Speed Championship match, with Fallon Henley and Zaria going head-to-head for the gold. With a five minute time limit, this was always going to be a fairly fast match, although it did end up going over that, and that's exactly what it was. I've really enjoyed the character arcs developing with Zaria and her on-screen friend Sol Ruca, and this match added a new crease to that story. The effect that 'Fatal Influence' has been having on the NXT women's division is so significant, and Henley is a major part of that, especially thanks to the in-ring talents that she once again showcased in this match.

The TNA Knock-Outs World Championship was on the line next, as Jordynne Grace and Léi Ying Lee challenged Kelani Jordan for the gold. I thought these women all complimented each other really nicely, with their different fighting styles and personas creating a lot of opportunities for in-ring excellence. A lot of the action flowed through the powerhouse Grace, which both made sense from a strength point of view and because of Grace's immense experience as a performer. I was impressed by some of the smart counters and moves of all three women - it's certainly the best I've seen from Lee, especially since her release. I loved the respect and genuine happiness shown by both the match winner and the crowd - it was lovely to see.

It was now time for the Evolve Women's Championship match, with the title being defended by Kendall Gray against Fatal Influence's Lainey Reid. This was my first time properly seeing Gray in action, and I was definitely impressed. She clearly has a lot of potentional, and seeing her hit some genuinely super impressive moves was very cool. Reid is also fast becoming a reliable performer between the ropes, but she needs more time to develop, in my opinion. Fortunately, NXT, and matches like this one, are a great opportunity for her to do so. Either way, this was a commendable effort from both women.

At last, it was main event time, with Myles Borne and Trick Williams facing off with the added stakes of an 'Iron Survivor' spot on the line. The match was both physical and engaging, feeling like a main event the whole way through. I'm still not fully sold on Borne's in-ring talents - I think he needs a better set of signatures moves - but he and Trick worked very well together. The crowd clearly wanted Williams to win, but Borne did well to win some of them over by the time the match ended. Trick seems to be on the verge of a call-up to the main roster, and I would be shocked if that doesn't happen by 'WrestleMania' next year - he's too good to not have on either Raw or Smackdown, in my opinion.

Overall, I thought this second week of 'Gold Rush' had a lot of positives to it, with the women's triple-threat match being my favourite of the night, but I'm not sure it quite surpassed week one. With that said, both nights were really strong, and have set up 'NXT Deadline' really nicely. I can't wait to see what fun matches NXT will produce in the remainder of 2025, but it's clear that the brand is well and truly on the up once again, and long may that continue.