NXT Championship Number 1 Contender’s Match: Ilja Dragunov VS Wes Lee
A big edition of NXT kicked off with Ilja Dragunov and Wes Lee battling for the opportunity to face Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Championship in the Main Event of No Mercy. This was a great match, both guys brought everything to the fight and I had a great time. Some of the dives that Wes Lee pulled out were absolutely ridiculous whilst Ilja Dragunov’s strikes are insane! There were also multiple moments in the match where Dragunov thought he’d won, but Wes (being Wes) was able to kick out. In the end, though, The Czar nailed the Kardiak Kid in the back of the head to pick up the victory and book his ticket to California. Carmelo Hayes then came out to ringside to stare at his rival whilst Wes Lee walked off looking pretty dejected. Great opening match that proved why Dragunov and Lee are two of the best wrestlers in 2023 (in my opinion).
Grade: B+
Baron Corbin “Calls Out” Baron Corbin, Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen and Myles Borne VS Drew Gulak, Charlie Dempsey and Damon Kemp, Dana Brooke VS Lyra Valkyria
We got a recap video showing us what happened to Von Wagner at the end of NXT last week before Baron Corbin made his way down to the ring. Baron said he was stunned at what happened last week before he called out Bron Breakker, only to congratulate the former 2-time NXT Champion for showing a “killer instinct”. Bron didn’t care about this though and told Baron that he didn’t do it for his respect before the two agreed to have a match at No Mercy. Breakker and Corbin then started to slap each other before a fight had to be broken up by officials. Corbin-Breakker is one of those matches that isn’t exactly inspiring but does have the potential to be quite good. I’m now very intrigued to see who the crowd gets behind given both guys are proper Heels. Also, why hasn’t Bron been fired yet (or at the very least suspended)?
Grade: C
Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen, and Myles Borne then made their way down to the ring as they were about to face Drew Gulak, Charlie Dempsey, and Damon Kemp in six-man tag team action. This match was incredibly short and couldn’t have gone much longer than 2 minutes. After Myles Borne protected Fallon Henley, he then showed his true colours by taking out Brooks Jensen, allowing Damon Kemp to pick up the victory. Fallon looked stunned by all of this whilst Gulak seemed impressed with Borne. Only time will tell whether this was an effective match/segment or not.
Grade: C
Andre Chase asked Duke Hudson if he knew where Thea Hail was. Duke said he’d check his phone, only to realise that Thea had turned off her location thing (I don’t know how iPhones work). We then cut to Thea doing this before she was talking with Jacy Jayne. Two men then walked over and made fun of Hail so Jayne stood up for her. Jacy and Thea then beat the two guys up and we’ll probably never see those two again. It’s also worth mentioning that Thea asked Jacy to take her clothes shopping next week which should be interesting. Lyra Valkyria was then in the ring as she was about to face Dana Brooke. This was another short match that Lyra was fully in control of. Dana got a bit of offense in, but she was soon out for the count after Valkyria nailed her with a kick and delivered a Splash. After the match, Lyra shook Dana’s hand before Brooke tried to attack Valkyria from behind. However, Kelani Jordan stopped her. I don’t really know where this is heading. All I do know is Lyra should be higher up the card than this.
Grade: C
NXT Global Heritage Invitational (Group A): Axiom VS Tyler Bate, The Creed Brothers VS Edris Enofe and Malik Blade, Akira Tozawa VS Nathan Frazer: NXT Global Heritage Invitational (Group B)
We got the announcement that a new Women’s Breakout Tournament is coming soon which I think is a great thing as I always enjoy the Breakout Tournaments and the likes of Cameron Grimes, Carmelo Hayes, and Roxanne Perez are just some of the names who’ve gone on to do great things since being in the tournament. Eddy Thorpe was then being interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell before Dijak appeared on the screen and started “marking his territory” by whacking his belt on a tree. I didn’t get this. The NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio then bumped into the NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes backstage before Dominik pulled out a brilliant line by calling himself “the new A-Champion”. This stunned Melo before the two agreed to have a match next week which is really cool... As long as Melo wins. Becky Lynch was trying to cut a backstage promo before she was interrupted by Kiana James. Kiana wasn’t impressed with Becky so Lynch told her that she can show her (Becky) what she’s got (Kiana) after she becomes the brand-new NXT Women’s Champion. It was then time for a Group A match in the NXT Global Heritage Invitational as Axiom went one-on-one with Tyler Bate. This was a pretty decent match with important stacks in it. A win for Tyler Bate would put him in a good position going forward in the tournament whilst anything other than a win for Axiom was likely game over when it comes to going to No Mercy. Both guys came close to winning it on multiple occasions, but in the end, it was The Big Strong Boi who got his first points of the tournament after nailing “The Spanish Superhero” with the Tyler Driver 97. Also, Meta-Four watched on dressed like they were in a Safari Park, and Noam Dar’s costume was completely bonkers!
Grade: B-
A bunch of superstars involved in the Global Heritage Invitational Tournament were watching from a lounge, including Butch who was about to be interviewed. The Bruiserweight talked about his long-term history with Tyler Bate and he knows that Bate will bring out the best in him. As long as Tyler beats Charlie Dempsey on Level Up this Friday, Butch-Bate is a winner-takes-all match. We then found out that the Schism’s tree is starting to rot, and Joe Gacy, and Ava acted like they are now the only two people left in the group. I have no idea where Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler have gone, and hopefully, they’ll be back next week. Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes were then talking in the locker room about stuff whilst Wes Lee was in the background clearing stuff out. He even dumped his “name tag” in the bin which I found interesting. The Creed Brothers’ music then hit as Julius and Brutus were about to face Edris Enofe and Malik Blade in tag team action. This was yet another short match on this show, but the 4 guys involved are talented enough to pull out all their big spots. I do really like Enofe and Blade and I really hope they get pushed to the moon one day, but that day was certainly not today as The Creeds hit their double-team finisher to get the victory. Angel and Humberto watched from the podium/platform area whilst Hank Walker and Tank Ledger just appeared at ringside. I think they wish they hadn’t appeared out of nowhere because they got blindsided by Bronco Nima and Lucien Price whilst Scrypts watched on. All of a sudden, the Tag Team Division is stacked!
Grade: C+
Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria embraced backstage and both shared kind words to one another. Roxanne Perez was then talking to some girls about her experience in the Breakout Tournament before Elektra Lopez and Lola Vice walked in and tried to cause some trouble. Lola also announced that she’s going to be in the tournament and I’m calling it now without knowing anyone else in the tournament that Vice is going to lose in the Final. It was then time for another match in the Global Heritage Invitational as Nathan Frazer knew he had to defeat Akira Tozawa to have any chance of topping Group B. This match was alright, but with more time it could’ve been great. I think it only went about 3 minutes and it ended with Nathan picking up the win after hitting his awesome superplex/twisting neckbreaker combination. I have the utmost respect for Akira Tozawa because for him to come back down to NXT and not only have two of his 3 matches on Level Up but to also lose all 3 of them is both impressive and a shame.
Grade: C+
Joe Coffey and the rest of Gallus talked trash on the mic before Duke Hudson said he was going to spoil their party next week. Either Duke’s not winning next week, or we’re going to get a Fatal 4-Way to decide Noam Dar’s No Mercy opponent because there aren’t enough weeks for them to do a tie-breaking if Hudson, Coffey, and Frazer all tie on 4pts. Mustafa Ali was then interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell and he talked about his big win last week over Dragon Lee before calling Dominik Mysterio a “convicted criminal” which is just a brilliant line. Dragon Lee then walked in and asked Ali if he saw what happened in their match last week in regards to Dom counting too quickly. Ali told Dragon Lee that it doesn’t really matter what he thinks because it isn’t going to change anything, but he did then promise Lee the first shot at the NXT North American Championship once he wins it at No Mercy. I genuinely think that Mustafa Ali is the definition of a tweener because he very quickly changes between being a Heel and/or a Babyface. A cameraman then caught up with Wes Lee who said he’d cleared out all of his things and that he wouldn’t be coming back to NXT. He and his Wife then drove off in their car. If this is to be Wes Lee’s last appearance in NXT for the foreseeable future as he’s going to the main roster, it’s safe to say that The Kardiak Kid’s had a pretty incredible, mental, and monumental run with this brand. When he left, Gigi Dolin attacked Blair Davenport before officials were forced to break it up. Like I said last week, I’m alright with this feud as long as Blair wins.
NXT Women’s Championship: Tiffany Stratton VS Becky Lynch
It was then time for one of the biggest Main Events in NXT TV history as “The Center of the Universe” Tiffany Stratton put her NXT Women’s Championship on the line against “The Man” Becky Lynch. I thought this was a pretty good Main Event that showcased just how good Tiffany Stratton is whilst Becky Lynch proved why she’s one of the biggest stars in the entire company. There were quite a lot of reversals in this match, but Stratton was able to deliver a picture-perfect Swanton Bomb for a 2-count. Becky was then eventually able to get Tiffany into the Dis-Arm-Her, but Stratton was able to get her hand on the rope. In the closing phase of the match, The Buff Barbie Doll failed to land the Prettiest Moonsault Ever before Big Time Becks delivered the Manhandle Slam to get the victory and become the brand-new NXT Women’s Champion! Whilst I really liked this match, I wasn’t a fan of the finish. This was an opportunity to tell the world that Tiffany Stratton is the future of this company by beating one of the biggest stars in all of WWE. Instead, Becky won to make her a Grand Slam Champion. If this ends up leading to Tiffany winning the belt back at No Mercy, I feel better about this whole thing. As for right now, Lynch winning is a downgrade for me.
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