NXT Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Final: Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker VS Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams
NXT Vengeance Day 2024 kicked off with the Final of this year’s NXT Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic as Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin took on Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams. Whilst there were a couple of mishaps (some of which were completely bad luck), I enjoyed this match as I thought all four guys put on a good showing. The crowd were certainly behind Trick Williams, but that’s not to say that they weren’t reacting to Baron and Bron either. The closing parts of the match saw everybody attempting their big moves before Breakker went to Spear Trick, only for Melo to take the bullet instead which ultimately cost Trick Melo Gang the match as Bron Breakker pinned Hayes for the 3 count to etch his and Baron Corbin’s name on the prestigious Dusty Cup. Melo protecting Trick for his NXT Championship match was a genius bit of booking.
Grade: B
Dijak VS Joe Gacy: No Disqualification
The next match saw Dijak and Joe Gacy go one-on-one in a No Disqualification Match. I thought this was a good contest with plenty of creative moments and ideas, including Dijak taking a nasty bump to the outside through a table which was covered in Lego whilst Gacy wrapped Duct Tape around the eyes of Mr. Cool at one point. In the end, Dijak was able to deliver a second Feast Your Eyes to get the win, and yeah, this worked well.
Grade: B-
The Family VS OTM: Six-Person Mixed Tag Team Match
After a pretty good video package, it was time for The Family and OTM to have a Six-Person Mixed Tag Team Match. I’ll be honest, this was a fine but forgettable contest. I don’t really enjoy either of these teams and it didn’t feel big enough to deserve to be on a Premium Live Event stage. One thing I will say is Adrianna Rizzo hit a very good dive at one point. In the end, Tony D’Angelo dropped Lucien Price with Forget About It to score the victory for The Family.
Grade: C
NXT Women’s Championship: Lyra Valkyria VS Roxanne Perez
It was then time for the second marque match of the night as Lyra Valkyria put her NXT Women’s Championship on the line against Roxanne Perez. I thought both Lyra and Roxanne hit some pretty decent moves in this one and it was very close to call in terms of who was ultimately going to win the match. However, it all changed when Lola Vice arrived to cash in her NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament Contract (despite Tatum Paxley’s attempt to stop it) meaning the match became a Triple Threat. From here, Lola came close to getting the victory as did Roxanne Perez, but interference from Tatum Paxley ultimately allowed Lyra Valkyria to deliver her finisher to get the victory. From a storyline perspective, having Lola Vice cash in meant Roxanne Perez was once again screwed out of holding the NXT Women’s Championship so that’s a good move. However, Vice cashing in during then match and then losing just makes her look incredibly dumb!
Grade: C+
NXT North American Championship: Oba Femi VS Dragon Lee
In the penultimate match of the night, Oba Femi had his first Championship defense of his career when he took on Dragon Lee for the NXT North American Championship. I thought the action here was pretty decent, Femi’s been really impressive since debuting in the NXT Men’s Breakout Tournament whilst Dragon Lee has clearly shown that he’s a very talented individual. This was also a reverse of the traditional David VS Goliath contest as Goliath (Oba) in this case was way less experienced than David (Lee) which made up for an interesting dynamic. In the end, Oba Femi was able to get the victory with his awesome Powerbomb, and I hope this now means that Dragon Lee will be on the Main Roster full time.
Grade: B-
NXT Championship: Ilja Dragunov VS Trick Williams
And in the Main Event of NXT Vengeance Day 2024, Ilja Dragunov put his NXT Championship on the line against Trick Williams in what was a highly anticipated showdown. Earlier in the night, Trick Williams had busted his mouth open, and after about two minutes of this one, it was Ilja Dragunov who was bleeding from the nose. This only served to fire Ilja up even more (which is pretty scary) and whilst the action was decent in the first half of the contest, it really picked up when Carmelo Hayes “accidentally” delivered a chop block to Trick after Melo got in the face of Dragunov. Williams then recovered to hit a H-Bomb on the NXT Champion before Dragunov nailed Trick with two of his own (including one from the top rope) for what I thought was the ending of the contest. However, Trick was somehow able to kick out! Trick Willy was then able to fight back and hit a really good looking kick which The Mad Dragon kicked out of at 2.99! I’m not kidding, this was AJ Styles and Roman Reigns levels of brilliant late kick outs! We then got a ref bump as Trick accidently caught the official (and Carmelo Hayes) before Williams dropped Ilja with the Trick Knee, only for their to be no referee to count the pinfall. We then saw both competitors firing themselves up in the corner before they both ran at each other, and ultimately, it was Ilja Dragunov who connected first with Torpedo Moscow which was enough for The Czar to retain his NXT Championship. I thought this was a superb Main Event, especially the final 6 or 7 minutes which was full of brilliant near-falls and action packed drama. In fact, this reminded of the old Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Andrade, Aleister Black (and more) days of NXT. However, we weren’t done there as after Ilja Dragunov exited the stage, Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams embraced before Carmelo delivered a chop block to seemingly put an end to Trick Melo Gang. Melo then wreck Trick’s knee with repeated steel chair shots to the point where the steel chair had bent in half! The show then went off the air with Williams out in the ring, the crowd booing (and even swearing) at Carmelo Hayes whilst Melo told the crowd “you made me do this”. I have one word for this, PERFECTION!
A+? What, what?!!!