WWE NXT live results: The fallout from Deadline
Tonight, NXT moves on from Deadline and begins the build to New Year’s Evil.
Trick Williams and Blair Davenport emerged as the winners of this year’s Iron Survivor Challenge matches, earning them future title shots. Ilja Dragunov vs. Williams for the NXT Championship and Lyra Valkyria vs. Davenport for the NXT Women’s Championship will both take place at New Year’s Evil on Tuesday, January 2.
Though Davenport is next in line for a shot at Valkyria, Cora Jade also has her eyes on the gold. Jade made her NXT return by ambushing Valkyria at Deadline.
Dragunov retained the NXT Championship by defeating Baron Corbin in Deadline’s main event.
Dijak was one of the other men’s Iron Survivor Challenge competitors, but his rival Eddy Thorpe interfered to cost Dijak the match. Thorpe vs. Dijak is set for tonight.
A six-person tag match with Fallon Henley, Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen facing Lash Legend, Noam Dar & Oro Mensah has been announced for tonight. Nikkita Lyons is also set to make her return. Plus, the 2023 Men’s Breakout Tournament will begin.
Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
A Tonya Harding angle opens the show. It begins with the arrival of Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams. The press stop them to ask some questions. Hayes blows them off, and he goes inside the building, Meanwhile, Williams fields some questions.
After a highlight reel from Deadline, cut to the backstage area where Hayes has been ambushed. Hayes clutches his knee, and Williams rushes in to check on his buddy. Something tells me Hayes will be cleared to wrestle by Friday, when he is scheduled for a match on Smackdown.
The returning Cora Jade is in the ring for a monologue. She brags on herself before being interrupted, because no monologue can go uninterrupted in NXT. Out comes NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria to confront Jade, and soon there is another interruption.
Blair Davenport joins the confrontation in the ring, as Davenport earned a title shot as the Iron Survivor. Yet another interruption as Nikkita Lyons rushes into the ring to join the party. Lyons is looking for revenge against Davenport for jumping her, which was the way Lyons was written off the show because of an injury.
A brawl erupts, and a melee ensues. This would seem to set up the returning Lyons teaming up with Valkyria against the returning Jade and Davenport.
New NXT North American Champion Dragon Lee is interviewed by Kelly Kincaid. Dragon Lee basically sets up an open challenge for later on.
Fallon Henley, Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen defeated Meta-Four (Lash Legend, Noam Dar & Oro Mensah with Jakara Jackson) in a six-person tag team match
Meta-Four jumps the babyface rednecks before the bell. The match goes through a split-screen commercial break.
Tiffany Stratton is at first shown watching the match on a monitor. She is supposedly scouting Henley, as the two are programmed together. Stratton later runs down to ringside, where she tangles with Henley. They fight up the aisle and out of sight.
Jensen is in trouble, and Dar hits him with a finisher. However, Jensen falls into his corner. Hot tag to Briggs, and he cleans house. Briggs signals for a finisher, and then Briggs delivers a Stan Hansen Western Lariat on Dar. Briggs then covers Dar for a pinfall.
Hayes and Williams are in the trainer’s room. The trainer tells Hayes he is cleared to wrestle on Friday. It’s a miracle!
The participants in the NXT Men’s Breakout tournament are introduced. Noted in their introduction was the university they came from before signing with NXT. There was even someone from Chase U, which is kind of silly if they are trying to be serious about college backgrounds.
Lexis King runs in during the introductions to attack Trey Bearhill. King pummels Bearhill with a metal folding chair, and Kind has a stand-off with the rest of the field. I guess King wants to be a “breakout” star too, or something like that.
Oba Femi defeated Myles Borne in the first round of the Breakout Tournament
Borne worked over Femi during the body of the match, but Femi makes a comeback. Femi powerbombs Borne, and Femi covers Borne for a three count.
On commentary, Femi was put over as a favorite to win the tournament. He was certainly booked strong. Femi now moves on to the semifinal round.
Tiffany Stratton cuts a promo on Henley. Stratton is better than her, and Stratton also threatens Henley. This is like class warfare, with someone rich against the working class.
NXT North American Champion Dragon Lee defeated Tyler Bate to retain his title
Bate answers the open challenge for Dragon Lee’s first title defense. These two work good together, as their styles blend well.
Stalemate as the show cuts to a commercial break. The back-and-forth action continues after the break. Bate takes control, and he gets to shine. Bate even does a dive to the outside. Dragon Lee fights back, and he does a dive of his own.
They trade near falls, and they tease finishers and signature moves. Really good finishing sequence. Lee is eventually able to execute “Operation Dragon” (which is sort of like a running sliced bread). Lee then pinned Bate, and Lee retains the title. Lee and Bate shake hands after the match in show of sportsmanship.
Josh Briggs wants to challenge for the Heritage Cup. Brooks Jensen questions that, but he ultimately agrees Briggs should challenge Noam Dar.
Lexis King and Ava are in a skit where Ava reveals that Kind will replace Trey Bearhill in the Breakout Tournament. Kind hits on Ava, and she does not seem impressed with him.
Eddy Thorpe defeated Dijak by disqualification
A grudge match ends in a DQ, which would seem to set up another mach in the future.
They brawl around ringside before the bell rings to officially start the match. Setting up a stunt, Dijak rams Thorpe into a corner. The turnbuckle snaps, somebody is bleeding.
Dijak picks up the loose turnbuckle, with the rope still attached to it. Dijak hits Thorpe with the the turnbuckle and the referee calls for the bell. Dijak was apparently DQ’d for attacking Thorpe with the buckle. At least that is what I assume is the official ruling, as it was never made official.
The attack by Dijak targeted Thorpe’s ribs, and Thorpe sold big as he clutched his side. This seems to set up a return bout, possibly with a stipulation of some sort.
Riley Osborne defeated Keanu Carver in the first round of the Breakout Tournament
This was billed as Carver’s in-ring debut. He looked decent enough, yet he still lost.
Thea Hail and Jacy Jayne skipped a class lecture to go watch Osborne, and the two women watched the match from the Chase U student section. Hail apparently has a crush on Osborne. She marked out over him in a skit after the match.
Carver delivered a Monty Brown Pounce just before the finish. It looked impressive, but Osborne recovered to set up a shooting star press. Osborne does the shooting star, and he covers Carver for a pinfall.
A backstage skit looks to set up a North American title match with Dragon Lee against either Drew Gulak or his charges Damon Kemp, Charlie Dempsey or Myles Borne. Lee won’t find out which of the four until next week.
Cora Jade & Blair Davenport defeated Nikkita Lyons & NXT Women’s Champion Lyria Valkyria
This is billed as the main event match, but an unrelated angle will actually close the show.
Lyons looked strong at the start, but she is cut off and worked over. Hot tag to the champ, and Valkyria gets to shine. Tatum Paxley appears at ringside to distract Valkyria.
A distracted Valkyria falls prey to the heels. Davenport delivers a Falcon Arrow, but Lyons makes a save. Lyons is knocked out of the ring. Blind tag brings Jade back into the match. She collides with Valkyria. Davenport then delivers her knee strike finisher, but Lyons pulls Davenport out of the ring before Davenport can capitalize.
Lyons and Davenport are fighting on the floor, while Jade steals a pinfall in the ring. Jade gets a three count on Valkyria. So, Jade has now scored a pin on the current champ.
After the match, Tatum Paxley runs in to embrace Valkyria. That freaks out Valkyria. It likely confuses everyone else. Also confusing is the new character makeover for Joe Gacy. He is up next in a wacky segment.
Hank Walker and Tank Ledger have a backstage confrontation with Gallus. Ledger and Walker face Mark Coffey and Wolfgang in a tag match set for next week. Joe Coffey assures them he will not get involved. Joe Gacy then appears dressed as a construction worker. He delivers a comedy line and leaves. Gallus looked confused, as did I.
Other matches announced for next Tuesday include Thea Hail & Jacy Jayne against Kiana James & Izzi Dane in a match set up with in skit earlier on. Also announced for next week is Fallon Henley facing Tiffany Stratton in a grudge match. In addition, Dragon Lee defends his North American title against a member of the No Quarter Catch Crew next Tuesday on NXT.
Other lineups announced for New Year’s Evil, which takes place three weeks from tonigh. Two titles matches were announced, in which the two Iron Survivors get their respective title matches. That includes Lyra Valkyia defending the NXT Women’s Championship against challenger Blair Davenport. On the men’s side, Ilja Dragunov defends against Trick Williams.
Dragunov and Williams meet tonight in a confrontation that will close the show. First, Williams cuts a solo promo. He is then joined by NXT Champ Dragunov.
Dragunov addresses Williams, reminding us of a confrontation the two had weeks ago. Dragunov congratulates Williams on being the Iron Survivor. Dragunov says Williams’ great journey ends at New Years Evil in the tile match. Williams responds by vowing to win the title.
Dragunov apologizes, but he says he will anything to remain champion. That is Carmelo Hayes’ cue to interrupt the confrontation. Hayes said earlier in the show be planned to confront his attacker.
Hayes accuses Dragunov of attacking him and Williams. Hayes outright says Dragunov attacked them, but Dragunov denies it. Hayes insists Dragunov is trying to cause a rift. Dragunov still denies it, but the tone in his voice now sounds a little more guilty.
Dragunov question whether Hayes was attacked at all. Dragunov then points the finger at Hayes, as Dragunov tells Williams he should be suspicious of Hayes.
Hayes grabs for the title belt, causing a tug-o-war with Dragunov over the strap. In the process, Hayes inadvertently hits Williams with the belt. The show goes off the air with a three-way stare down as the live studio audience chants “Melo’s guilty.”