Grayson Waller, Roxanne Perez win Iron Survivor matches at NXT Deadline

Grayson Waller and Roxanne Perez made WWE NXT history Saturday, winning the first-ever men’s and women’s Iron Survivor matches at Deadline.

Waller picked up his win by getting his third and game-winning point with less than a minute to go followed by him running away from everyone else to secure the win.

Axiom and JD McDonagh were the first two entrants with neither able to score a fall before Carmelo Hayes entered the fray as the third entrant. With three minutes to go before the fourth entrant, Hayes got a pin on Axiom after hitting a suplex-style cutter.

Waller was the fourth entrant, immediately scoring a pin first on on Axiom and then McDonagh after a combo DDT/cutter on both of them to get two quick points. 

Even after the 90-second penalty box time expired on Axiom and McDonagh, Axiom closed the box and the two men fought inside with Axiom walking out. Several minutes later, Axiom scored a pin on Waller off a Frankensteiner roll-through followed by a pin on McDonagh on a reverse Frankensteiner and Golden Ratio to then tie Waller with two points.

Gacy entered the match last and got a submission on Axiom within a minute to pick up his first point. As Axiom went to the box, Waller attacked him and McDonagh followed suit to leave him in the box. Gacy got his second point after hitting an Upside Down World on Hayes. 

Hayes got his second point after submitting Waller with a crossface as the match approached the 20-minute mark.

With less than a minute to go, Hayes hit his signature diving leg drop on Axiom but was thrown out of the ring by Waller who then pinned Axiom for the third and deciding point. He ran away from all the other wrestlers as the match wound down, securing his win.

With the victory, he earned a future shot at the NXT Championship.

In the main show opener, Perez won the first-ever women’s Iron Survivor match to earn a shot at NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose.

“The Prodigy” opened the match with Zoey Stark, followed by Kiana James entering the fray five minutes later. Stark went up 1-0 right as Cora Jade entered the match, pinning Perez after hitting Zo-Topia. Jade then got a pin shortly after, hitting Pop Rocks on James.

Hartwell was the final entrant, getting a quick pin on Perez after hitting a big boot which sent Perez to the penalty box for a second time as part of the match rules.

Perez managed to get her first point after reversing a Stark Zo-Topia attempt with a pinning combination. With two minutes left, Perez got revenge on her former partner, pinning Jade after hitting a Code Red for her second point which would prove to be the match winner.

James was the only competitor in the women’s match to not score a point while in the men’s match, McDonagh was also unable to pick up a point.