Iron Survivor Challenge Wildcard Match: Andre Chase VS Von Wagner VS Axiom
NXT kicked off with a triple threat match between Andre Chase, Axiom and Von Wagner where the winning would earn the final spot in this weekend’s Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge. Von Wagner was the powerful heel in this match whilst Andre Chase were the very popular babyfaces. The fans were fully behind Mr. Chase and that was helped by Duke Hudson and Thea Hail who were rallying him from the outside. Axiom showcased his amazing speed and agility and one of the dives he hit to the outside was amazing. At one point, Von Wagner looked like he had the match won but thankfully, Andre Chase managed to kick out at the last second. In the end, Chase hit a diving crossbody onto Wagner, but the face of Chase U went rolling out of the ring and this allowed Axiom to connected with the Golden Ratio onto Von Wagner to get the win. Even though the crowd would have gone mental for a Chase win, they were still pretty happy to see Axiom win the match. From an in-ring point of view, he will definitely bring a lot more than the others would have. Also, Axiom deserves to be in it given the fact he has been a proper breakout star in 2022.
Grade: B
A lot of segments, Breakker and Crews, Xyon Quinn VS Tony D’Angelo
We got a video with Cora Jade who said she was going to do whatever it takes to be crowned the first ever Women’s Iron Survivor. She was walking on the bridge Legado used to do their promos on. We then cut to the trainer's room were the doctor cleared Julius Creed. Ivy Nile asked to please check his ribs and as soon as he did, he realised that Creed was in no condition to compete. They clearly weren’t happy with Nile, but she said that she did it for their own good. We then went to Bron Breakker who was once again on his boat and Apollo Crews asked to join him. Breakker taught Crews how to catch fish and the two were both polite to each other but were also taking digs at one another at the same time. This whole Breakker VS Crews feud has been shot weird, they haven’t really done anything in the actual performance centre and their meetings have actually come in their safe places. I don’t think this is a bad thing and it will definitely stand out as a unique feud, particularly if their match this Saturday is as good as it can be.
Grade: B for the Breakker Crews segment
We came back to the arena to see Bryson Montana getting attacked by Indus Sher. Javier Bernal then came out as he was meant to have a match with Montana but as soon as he saw Sanga and Veer, he showcased that he had pulled his hamstring and he hobbled back to the locker-room. This guy is genuinely very funny. Indus Sher then declined the Creed Brothers request for a tag match and made it clear that they are only going to fight them when they are 100% healthy. The Creed’s came out, but they were stopped by both the referee’s and Ivy Nile + Tatum Paxley. I like the idea of Indus Sher beating the Creed’s when they are 100% so there aren’t any excuses. For me, this match should happen at New Year’s Evil (if it happens). We then cut to the back and Thea Hail told Mr. Chase and Duke Hudson that she had gotten herself a match with Isla Dawn. The Duke questioned this but Andre Chase was more than happy to let Thea have this match. We then got a video package for Tony D’Angelo and this was fitting as the Don returned to action after 10 weeks to take on the X-Factor, Xyon Quinn. This was a really short, basic squash match were D’Angelo got the win with his fisherman suplex. This was a good way to put over Tony D but why this was against Xyon Quinn I’ll never know. WWE just hasn’t been able to find a way to make Quinn into a major player that he really should be. After this match, The Don called out Wes Lee and the North American Champion was happy to come out, but he made it clear that D’Angelo would have to wait until he was done with Dijak. The former Dominik came on the screen and he said that neither man will stand in his way of taking over NXT. Not having Wes defend his North American Championship at Deadline is strange and also, if D’Angelo is medically cleared to compete, why isn’t he in the Iron Survivor Challenge. He definitely makes the cut for the top 5 NXT male stars of the year.
Grade: C
Hank Walker VS Charlie Dempsey, Pretty Deadly’s Christmas Story
We got another one of those creepy Scrypts promos where he clearly couldn’t decide what he wanted to write. These video promos are cool; however, they don’t mean as much given how flat the debut of the character actually was. We were then showed a backstage altercation from last week's show between Hank Walker and Charlie Dempsey and that lead into a match between the two. Dempsey dominated this matchup with a bunch of unique technical submissions. In the end, Dempsey was able to make Walker tap but the more important part about all of this was the arrival of Drew Gulak who was watching on the outside. Whether this was Gulak scouting Dempsey for a potential tag team partner or whether the two are going to feud, I’m intrigued. Dempsey looked like a good technical wrestler, but can he hang with someone as good as Drew Gulak. We will have to wait and see.
Grade: C+
It was then time for Zoey Stark’s promo where she made it clear that this Iron Survivor Challenge was meant for her. She made it quite clear that she was going to make history before she was going to go and beat Mandy Rose to become NXT Women’s Champion. It was then time for something I’ve been looking forward to all week, “A real Christmas Story” by Pretty Deadly. Kit Wilson was dressed as Santa Clause whilst Elton Prince was dressed as either a kid or an elf, I couldn’t really tell. Quite fittingly, Prince sat on “Santa’s lap” and the two read the Pretty Deadly Christmas Story that they said they had written. It was pretty decent, all of it rhymed and the main thing to take from this is that no-one is on Pretty Deadly’s level. Then, from out of nowhere, The New Day’s music hit. The Crowd went mental for Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods and the two made it clear that they wanted a shot at the NXT Tag Team Champions. PD tried to get a shot in on the New Day, but they missed before Prince was thrown into the Christmas tree. The New Day then put Christmas boxes onto the heads off the tag champs before they sent them to the outside with a couple of superkicks. The box stayed on Elton’s head which made it even funnier. Overall, this was great. Pretty Deadly are one of the best tag teams in WWE and not many teams can match them, but the New Day is a whole different story. Having those guys on the show is great and I’m so looking forward to the New Day VS Pretty Deadly this Saturday at NXT Deadline. Mainly, because I don’t know who’s going to win. Surely the champs should retain but would WWE really let them beat the New Day, we’ll once again have to wait and see. Also, go watch Kit and Elton’s reaction to the New Day coming out, it’s a work of art.
Grade: A-
Thea Hail VS Isla Dawn, Enofe and Blade VS Briggs and Jensen
Isla Dawn told Alba Fyre to watch what she was going to do to Thea Hail but before that match, McKenzie Mitchell caught up with Javier Bernal and claimed that he was scared of Indus Sher. Bernal didn’t like this and it got even worse for him as when Ikemen Jiro walked past, he called him a “Big Body Chicken”. Remember when Jiro was going to be one of the stars of NXT 2.0. The match between Thea Hail and Isla Dawn then took place and even though it was pretty short, it served its purpose. Dawn got most of the offense in, but Hail did hit this awesome springboard senton for a near-fall. In the end though, Dawn picked up the win after hitting her finishing manoeuvre twice. On the outside, you could clearly see that Duke Hudson wasn’t happy with Mr. Chase’s decision to let Hail take part in this match. After this, Alba Fyre came out and brawled with Isla Dawn until NXT referees had to break it up. Dawn even attempted to spit poison mist into the former Forever Champion’s face, but she got out the way meaning it connected with a referee. This did a good job in building both the Dawn VS Fyre feud and the storyline involving Chase University.
Grade: B (for the overall point)
Kiana James was then in her office and she talked about how she has a strategy to win this weekend’s Iron Survivor Challenge. I still don’t understand how or why she is in this match and I expect her to get pinned more than once (unless she’s in last). Lyra Valkyria then made it clear that she is coming to NXT next week before we got a tag team match between Edris Enofe + Malik Blade and Josh Briggs + Brooks Jensen. This match was alright, both teams got a bit of offense in and it was important to note that Blade wasn’t wearing any of his dad’s sweaters. Von Wagner did rip one up 2 weeks ago but I’m pretty sure he’s got more than one. Odyssey Jones accompanied Enofe and Blade to ringside but later on in the match, he was attacked by Von Wagner and the two brawled to the back. This distraction allowed Briggs and Jensen to take advantage by hitting the high-low combination to get the win. Fair play to Briggs on this one, he charged with a lot of speed. After the match, the two teams fist bumped to remind everyone that they are all good guys.
Grade: C
Iron Survivor Challenge Wildcard Match: Indi Hartwell VS Fallon Henley VS Wendy Choo
Roxanne Perez was the last woman to get a promo and she made it clear that the only woman stopping her from winning the Iron Survivor Challenge was herself. The cool thing about this promo was she was talking to a mirror which you didn’t know until the end. Shawn Michaels then told us all the rules of the Iron Survivor Challenge match before Fallon Henley was being hyped up Josh Briggs whilst Brooks Jensen was too busy looking at these VIP tickets that Kiana James had given them (her assistant put it in his coat pocket during their match). I thought this was a pretty competitive match and definitely Henley’s best showing in WWE. It helps when she was working with Wendy Choo who has improved massively and Indi Hartwell who is basically a veteran on this roster. Choo looked like she had the match won when she hit her diving splash but unfortunately for her, Hartwell chucked her out before she wrecked Henley with her own finishing manoeuvre to get the win. I’m glad Indi won; she deserves to be on an NXT Premium Live Event. Straight after this, we cut to the Toxic Lounge were Gigi Dolin asked her partners if they were even going to Deadline. That’s a contender for line of the year! Indi Hartwell walked in and told Mandy Rose that everyone can be on top for 364 days, but Saturday Night is going to be her day. She then told Mandy that she is going to be the one to take the NXT Women’s Championship off of Rose. All in all, this was pretty decent.
Grade: B-
The Grayson Waller Effect: Men's Iron Survivor Challenge Competitors
I was already pretty happy with having Pretty Deadly tell a story, so I felt even better when the Grayson Waller Effect was announced. His guests were his fellow Iron Survivor Challenge competitors Carmelo Hayes, JD McDonagh, Joe Gacy and Axiom. Waller welcomed his guests and his best ones were calling JD McDonagh the “Irish Garden Gnome” and as he looked like he was about to put over Carmelo Hayes, he called him “A-loser”. Also, whenever this show is on, I right down some of the best comments. One fan said there should be the “Grayson Awards” whilst another one said that Waller’s fantasy football team is undefeated. Another one said that Australia would have done better in the World Cup if Grayson Waller had played but my favourite one was from Toxic Attraction’s Jacy Jayne. She legitimately put “Why aren’t these 5 guys wearing the brand-new Toxic Attraction shirt”. That’s another contender for line of the year. All four of the other competitors had interesting lines and talked about how they are going to become the Iron Survivor Challenge. Axiom made it clear that he wants to be in at number 1 or 2 whilst Gacy said that he wants to come in at 4 which is interesting. At one point, Waller let Hayes off as he was doing his best Grayson Waller cosplay. He then said that it was a cool shirt! However, the best line came from JD McDonagh who told Carmelo Hayes that he has been “protected since joining the company”. In the end, McDonagh headbutted Waller and the five men brawled. Axiom hit a lovely dive onto Melo before Waller did a dive onto all four men whilst holding his phone. Overall, this wasn’t the greatest GW effect, but it was still a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to their match this Saturday. Melo is the favourite for this match, but I could see the Arrogant Aussie Grayson Waller picking up the victory.
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