Welcome to the NXT Deadline 2022 review. We are live in the CWC, and the Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge kicks things off.
NXT Deadline 2022
Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge for the #1 Contender to the NXT Women’s Championship
Roxanne Perez v. Zoey Stark v. Kiana James v. Cora Jade v. Indi Hartwell
I listed the participants in the order that they entered. Perez and Stark started the match off, and Booker T gave some really nice background on Perez as he trained her at his ROW promotion. There was a lot of back and forth until James entered the match. This then turned into a standard triple threat match until just before Jade entered at #4 when Stark was able to pin Perez.
Jade eventually pinned James before Hartwell entered the match. Hartwell got a quick pin on Perez to send her back into the penalty box. Perez would get a pin on Stark to even everyone up at one fall with the exception of James. The action pace picks up a little bit to score the next fall.
With less than two minutes to go, Perez hits Pop Rox on Jade to pick up a second fall. Jade rushes back in after her penalty box time expires, but with a few seconds left, she isn’t able to score another pin, and time expires.
Winner: Roxanne Perez
It was wise to have Roxanne go bell to bell for the win here. She was pinned several times in the beginning before being able to bounce back and score two falls to win. I liked the fact that Jade was the deciding fall to put that feud on hold right now. I think that Perez will defeat Mandy Rose to capture the NXT Women’s Championship.
She is more than ready and will likely be main roster bound towards the end of 2023. After the match, Booker T was “crying” to sell the happiness of him watching his student succeed on the big stage.
Backstage, Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley were questioning McKenzie Mitchell about stealing one of Lady Gaga’s dresses for the evening. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance joined in and planted seeds for a future NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship match.
NXT Deadline 2022
Ilsa Dawn v. Alba Fyre
The Battle of Scotland begins, and it was a rather fast-paced start. The match was very back-and-forth and a pretty good match. I did not follow NXT UK, so I was unfamiliar with Dawn’s work. It was a solid match up until the ending. The ending played into Dawn’s weird magic, and she incapacitated the ref when Fyre had the match won.
A second ref came down, but Dawn was able to turn the tables on Fyre and pick up the win.
Winner: Ilsa Dawn
The match was pretty solid up until the magic nonsense at the end. I don’t think it’ll work on a regular basis for a match finish.
The New Day was backstage with McKenzie Mitchell to hype up the crowd before their tag team championship match. They even got Mitchell to do the WWE NXT Tag Team Champions part with them.
NXT Deadline 2022
The New Day v. Pretty Deadly
– NXT Tag Team Championship Match
The crowd was hot for The New Day for almost the entire match. That was great to see. Booker T flipped to the heel commentator for this match, and it seemed to throw the commentary off a bit. The match was really good. Pretty Deadly was able to hang with The New Day, so that was good to see.
They pulled out the old Eddie Guerrero title belt flop spot, which both teams flopped onto the match. That was pretty funny. In the end, The New Day hit the Midnight Hour on Prince to capture the titles.
Winners: AND NEW NXT Tag Team Champions, The New Day
Once Shawn Michaels said that New Day would be sticking around in NXT, you almost knew that the titles were changing hands. That’s not really a bad thing here. The New Day is really popular and could help draw people into tuning in on Tuesday nights. I just hope that they drop the titles to a team that really could use the rub they would get from beating an established team like New Day.
Kayden Carter, Katana Chance, Odyssey Jones, Edris Enofe, and Malik Blade were hanging out backstage when Toxic Attraction’s Gigi Dolan and Jacy Jayne showed up to cause trouble. Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley showed up, and the three teams started fighting, so the guys tried to break it up.
NXT Deadline 2022
Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge for the #1 Contender to the NXT Championship
JD McDonagh v. Axiom v. Carmello Hayes v. Grayson Waller v. Joe Gacy
The participants are listed in the order that they entered. McDonagh and Axiom started the match off fast and furious until Hayes came in. The action kept coming, and Hayes scored a fall on Axiom. Axiom was able to return to the match before Waller entered at #4. Waller immediately dropped Axiom and McDonagh and pinned both of them.
Axiom and McDonagh fought inside the penalty box once they were released from it. The action picked up, and Axiom scored two quick falls on Waller and McDonagh as Gacy was getting ready to enter the match. Gacy got a quick submission on Axiom before things really broke down.
Gacy got a pinfall on Hayes, but Hayes was able to rebound and get Waller to tap out. Everyone at this point had 2 falls except McDonagh, who had none (I see a theme here). The pace really quickened to score that decisive fall and Waller got it with about 30 seconds to go.
Winner: Grayson Waller
This challenge was far more action-packed than the women’s match. I don’t know if the women were told to dial it back or not. This was the better of the two matches. I would have picked Hayes to win to get a NXT Championship match. I don’t see Breakker losing to Waller unless Breakker is ready to go up to the main roster. I don’t see that happening.
McKenzie Mitchell is backstage interviewing Drew Gulak about his NXT return this past Tuesday. I think this could be a good use of his skills. I believe he does do some training at the Performance Center so it makes sense.
NXT Deadline 2022
Apollo Crews v. Bron Breakker
– NXT Championship Match
This was a really good match. Both men have similar styles and showed off how well they can replicate each other’s moves. I really liked the story of how even they are and how it is going to take a misstep to get beaten. Crews used his power to toss Breakker around a bit, which Breakker usually does to his opponents. Crews eventually made a misstep, and Breakker wiped him out with a spear.
Winner: AND STILL NXT Champion, Bron Breakker
After the match, Grayson Waller appeared out of nowhere to drop Breakker to close the show out.
I really liked the match. It was a nice story of how two guys with similar styles and build go and build an exciting match. I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch between these two. Waller dropping Breakker at the end was expected. I still don’t think Waller has a chance against Breakker.
The show was solid from start to finish, which you would expect from an NXT PLE. Perez was made to look like the star in the making that she is. I would really like to see how The New Day matches up with some of the young NXT teams. This has the potential to help elevate that entire division. Crews/Breakker was really good, but I’d have to pick the Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge as the match of the night.
You can hit me up on Twitter (@ciscowebwiz76) with any feedback or discussion.
What did you think of NXT Deadline 2022? Share your thoughts in the comments section below and let Kelly know as well.
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