NXT will kick off 2021 on Wednesday night with the special New Year’s Evil event. Hosted by Dexter Lumis, the pay-per-view-esque event will be headlined by the long-awaited rematch between NXT Champion Finn Balor and Kyle O’Reilly. Another match originally advertised for the show was Tommaso Ciampa vs. Timothy Thatcher in a Fight Pit Match, a unique cage match stipulation that debuted last summer. Ciampa threw down the challenge to Thatcher back on Dec. 23.
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However, WWE.com’s official post for the event has no mention of the Fight Pit Match. The card, as of now, includes:
- NXT Championship: Finn Balor vs. Kyle O’Reilly
- NXT Cruiserweight Championship: Santos Escobar vs. Gran Metalik
- Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Gonzalez (Last Woman Standing
- Damian Priest vs. Karrion Kross
.@NXTCiampa will see Timothy Thatcher inside the FIGHT PIT!!! 🖤#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/7gZhQEjeB5
— WWE (@WWE) December 24, 2020
WWE has since confirmed via William Regal that Thatcher was injured while training for the match. Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that the company knew the match would not be happening as of Tuesday night.
EXCLUSIVE: #WWENXT General Manager @RealKingRegal provides an update on Timothy Thatcher ahead of #NXTNYE. pic.twitter.com/KvHYhijMrx
— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) January 6, 2021
