NXT Deadline Review

Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge: Cora Jade VS Roxanne Perez VS Zoey Stark VS Kiana James VS Indi Hartwell

NXT Deadline kicked off with the women’s version of the brand new “Iron Survivor Challenge” match. Roxanne Perez and Zoey Stark started the match which does make sense and after 5 minutes, Kiana James came in. In this next 5 minute period, Zoey Stark managed to get her name on the scoreboard first after hitting her excellent finisher onto Roxanne Perez. Perez being pinned meant she had to go into the penalty box and as she did that, Cora Jade’s music hit and she was more than happy to laugh at her former friend. It then didn’t take too long for Cora to get a fall as she managed to score a point with a surprise roll-up on Kiana James. Indi Hartwell was the last woman to enter the match and she was able to get her name on the board after hitting a big boot onto Perez. With less than 5 minutes to go, Stark, Jade and Hartwell all had 1 point whilst Perez and James were yet to get off the board. Roxanne managed to change this by pinning Zoey Stark before she hit Pop Rox onto Cora Jade to get the winning fall with just under 2 minutes to go. Overall, I thought this was pretty good. The concept worked in my opinion and everyone looked good. Indi Hartwell was the only person not to be pinned which is important to note whilst Kiana was the only person who didn’t score a point. However, this was easily James’ best performance in NXT. Cora Jade is always really good and her selling off Perez winning the match was excellent and in my opinion, Zoey Stark was the MVP of this match. She was involved in a lot of things that happened in this match and you could definetly tell that she was the veteran in this match. As for Roxanne Perez, she has been built into the person that can defeat Mandy Rose for the NXT Women’s Championship and this win puts her in the position to do that. A fun match to kick-off the show.

Grade: B

Alba Fyre VS Isla Dawn

Alba Fyre took on Isla Dawn in a match in which the former NXT UK Women’s Champion was looking for revenge. Both women went for dives early on and it was pretty competitive throughout. On the outside, Alba managed to hit the Gory Bomb onto the floor but she couldn’t get her in the ring quick enough to get the victory. Instead, Fyre went to the top rope and hit the Swanton Bomb but as she went for the cover, the referee started to choke black slime (I don’t know what it was). Another ref ran down but at this point, Dawn was able to kick out and when that ref went to check on the ref who was chocking in the corner, Dawn threw Fyre into the exposed turnbuckle before she hit her finisher to get the win. Overall, I thought this was pretty alright. This was the kind of performance that I’ve been expecting off of Fyre and Isla Dawn looked pretty good too. Even though the thing with the referee was a bit odd, I was laughing at it and I’d rather be doing that than not reacting at all. Two fun NXT Women’s matches, haven’t said that for a while.

Grade: B-

NXT Tag Team Championships: Pretty Deadly VS The New Day

Earlier on in the night, Pretty Deadly got their own video package highlighting their run in NXT. It was absolutely brilliant. The New Day came out to a massive ovation whilst Pretty Deadly’s gear was Christmas themed. Both teams went back and forth and after lots of offense, the match featured different comedy spots. Usually I wouldn’t like that but given who’s involved, it makes a lot of sense. The best one was when all four men did the Eddie Guerrero thing. After all of this, Pretty Deadly looked to have gotten the win when Kit Wilson hit Woods with the NXT Tag Team Championship belt behind the referees back but somehow, the former King of the Ring managed to kick out at 2. Pretty Deadly went to hit Spilt Milk but Kofi pulled out Wilson, hit him with the Trouble in Paradise before the New Day hit their tag team finisher onto Elton Prince to get the victory meaning the New Day are the new NXT Tag Team Champions! I totally understand why people would complain about Pretty Deadly not getting the big win, but they looked great in this match. Wilson and Prince showcased that they can hang with one of the greatest tag team teams in history. Also, the New Day winning is such a good marketing tool and if Pretty Deadly win the belts back off of them at NXT Vengeance Day, this whole story would be perfect.

Grade: B+

Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge: Carmelo Hayes VS JD McDonagh VS Joe Gacy VS Axiom VS Grayson Waller

The Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge started with rivals Axiom and JD McDonagh. These two went back and forth before Carmelo Hayes came out. After some fun triple threat spots, Melo picked up the first fall by pinning Axiom. Grayson Waller then came out and he rolled straight into the ring and hit his version of the stunner to pin both Axiom and JD McDonagh meaning the Arrogant Aussie was leading after being in the match for about 10 seconds. At one point, Waller even swore at Booker T! When Axiom’s time in the penalty box ended, he decided to stay in it to beat up JD McDonagh a bit and when he got back into the ring, he managed to score a fall of his own by rolling up Waller before he hit the Golden Ratio to level it up with Waller at 2 falls apiece. Whilst Waller and McDonagh were in the penalty box, Joe Gacy came out and he forced Axiom to submit. Waller came out of the penalty box and decided to beat up Axiom who was going into it before he allowed JD McDonagh to pick up the scraps. Quickly after this, Joe Gacy got himself another fall after hitting his really cool lariat onto Carmelo Hayes. As Axiom’s time ended, he couldn’t get out of the box due to McDonagh holding the door shut. Axiom then decided to punch Hayes in the face before he climbed out of the top of the cage and jumped on the other 3 competitors. With just over 5 minutes to go, Hayes got himself a levelling fall by making Grayson Waller tap out meaning with 5 minutes to go, everyone was on 2 falls except JD McDonagh who was still yet to get on the board. The Irish Ace tried everything to get himself back into the match but it just wasn’t meant to be and with a minute to go, Carmelo Hayes hit the “Don’t Miss” to get the win. Well, that’s what should have happened but Grayson Waller pulled Melo out of the ring, punched him in the face and then rolled into the ring to pin Axiom to take the lead with less then 30 seconds to go. Waller than ran away from Hayes and also pulled JD out of the ring meaning when the timer ended, Grayson Waller became the Iron Survivor. This match was excellent. Axiom put in another great performance whilst Joe Gacy looked amazing. That man has arguably improved more than anyone in the past year and he was also the only man who didn’t get pinned or submitted which is interesting. Carmelo Hayes is a star that could go up to the main roster and go straight into a major feud, he’s that good. As for JD McDonagh, he was my MVP in this match. Everyone performed at such a high level but he was just on it for the entire 25 minutes. Even when he was in the penalty box, he was doing something. When it comes to Grayson Waller, him winning was probably the right call. The way he won was even better and it totally fit in with his character. He even did a shoey afterwards which gave me memories of Daniel Ricciardo winning Formula 1 races. Brilliant performances from everyone involved.

Grade: A-

NXT Championship: Bron Breakker VS Apollo Crews

The main event of a pretty good NXT Premium Live Event saw Bron Breakker defend his NXT Championship against Apollo Crews. Both men started off trying to outpower their opponent before Apollo managed to pick up Breakker. Crews hit 3 powerbombs and he even hit Breakker’s own finisher but he just wasn’t able to get the win. In the end, Breakker’s speed was the key as he managed to wreck Apollo with his devastating Spear to retain his Championship. Unfortunately, this match was a bit dull. It’s a massive shame given the fact that both men are capable of putting on really good matches but this just didn’t work. It was too slow and there was never a moment were Crews looked like he was going to win. This match pretty much sums up their entire feud, tried something different but it just didn’t work. After the match, Grayson Waller met Breakker with his stunner and stood tall with the NXT Championship. Hopefully, those too will put on a much better match at NXT New Year’s Evil.

Grade: C