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NXT Deadline (2023) -- Results & Afterthoughts\

The 2023 NXT Deadline (stylized as NXT DEADL1NE) was the second annual NXT Deadline professional wrestling livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held primarily for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The event took place on Saturday, December 9, 2023, at the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Seven matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Ilja Dragunov defeated Baron Corbin to retain the NXT Championship. For the event's Iron Survivor Challenges, Trick Williams won the men's, while the women's was won by Blair Davenport. In other prominent matches, Carmelo Hayes defeated Lexis King and in the opening bout, SmackDown's Dragon Lee defeated Raw's "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio to win the NXT North American Championship. The event notably featured an appearance by CM Punk in NXT for the first time since August 24, 2012; and the return of Cora Jade, who had been on hiatus since July 2023.

Match Results:

Singles Match

Axiom defeated Nathan Frazer by pinfall

This opener started off pretty slow and tame but that quickly changed as once they got cooking, this match never cooled down on the high spots and excitement of the near-falls. These are two guys who have great chemistry together and despite a few sequences where the execution wasn't the best (such as that Spanish Fly from the top rope that looked more like a Diving Arm Drag than anything else) it still made for a phenomenal match to start this show off with.

It's like Booker T said, "Follow THAT!" It definitely set the mood for the evening. I have to agree with commentary that it's a darn shame that these two guys weren't included in this year's Iron Survivor match but this current crop of NXT talent is so ripe with potential that it's hard to pick just five people to showcase in those matches.

Seeing HBK and CM Punk interact at the start of this show was a fun little surprise/treat to kick off this show. We know there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that he was going to sign with NXT, but it was nice to see him humor the idea and put it into consideration while hanging out with a lot of the up and coming talent on social media. I know that has to be breath of fresh air to come into a company where the younger generation wants to actually listen to whatever wisdom he wants to pass onto them instead of assuming that they know everything.

Singles Match for the NXT North American Championship

Dragon Lee (with Rey Mysterio) defeated "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio (c) by pinfall

Without the rest of Judgment Day at ringside or around to back Dom-Dom up, this match felt a tad anticlimactic, especially when Dragon Lee went over clean without any interference or any of the usual shenanigans that we have come to expect from that faction.

This wasn't a bad match, it was just painfully missing something and I don't mean "Mami" standing at ringside, even though that would have been an added bonus for some eye candy. This wasn't the way I envisioned Dominik's tenure of pulling double duty on NXT would have ended, but I suppose Triple H wants to lighten his workload and focus solely on the main roster with WrestleMania season right around the corner.

As someone who has watched and followed a lot of Dragon Lee's work in Ring of Honor and other promotions prior to coming to WWE, I know what he's capable of in terms of in-ring ability, but I fear that WWE might be pushing him a little too fast without it feeling genuine. The endorsement from Rey Mysterio is an added plus, but it's hard to tell whether or not the fans are getting behind him. We saw them do this just a few months ago with Santos Escobar before he turned heel, so I don't know how to feel with WWE having Rey Mysterio personally endorse every other Latino Superstar they want to push as the next big thing or as Rey's successor.

Women's Iron Survivor Challenge to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship at New Year's Evil

Blair Davenport (3) defeated Tiffany Stratton (1), Lash Legend (2), Kelani Jordan (0), and Fallon Henley (1)

In comparison to the one last year that debuted this new match type, I can't say that this was my favorite. That being said, the ladies in this match definitely brought the fire though. I selfishly wanted it to be Tiffy Time again with a win for Stratton, but I was fine with Blair Davenport going over. She's had so many start and stop pushes between NXT UK and NXT due to various injuries and other issues/complications that she needed something to give her some momentum. I want to see the former Bea Priestley accomplish great things in WWE as well.

I think Fallon Henley was the MVP of this match and overall workhorse as she started this thing firing off at all cylinders and didn't really miss a beat. I have to admit that I tend to forget that she has prior wrestling experience prior to signing with WWE and it definitely shows for the former independent wrestler Tesha Price. I'm not fans of neither Lash Legend nor Kelani Jordan, but even I can admit that they definitely pulled their weight in this match. Whoever put this match together deserves a gold star for making Lash Legend the final entrant into this match. Longer matches definitely aren't her strong point but the more they can emphasize her size and power advantage over the other women and put that aspect on display while hiding her glaring weaknesses in the rest of her ring work then it would highly beneficial for her in the long run. I feel like they are shoving Kelani Jordan a little too fast down our throats. It's similar to the rise of Roxanne Perez, but at least she had the babyface support to justify it a year or two ago. I don't think she's a bad wrestler, but I fail to see what's so special about her when there's a dozen other female wrestlers who do the same stuff she does, especially when it comes to high flying theatrics.

I thought the finish was hilarious when Blair got the last fall to break the tie and Lash Legend got out of the penalty box only to chase her around the ring to no avail.

The post-match of this match saw Lyra Valkyria come out on the stage to stare down with Blair Davenport only to be laid out from behind by the returning Cora Jade. I'm sure most people know that she took time away to get a boob job (one look at her chest can clue people into that much like Stratton's "enhancements" last year), but I'm anxious to see where she lands in terms of this current state of this women's division. It's slightly different than when she left it. Stratton has been dethroned and her former bestie/frienemy isn't any closer to the title as Stratton is currently.

Singles Match

Carmelo Hayes defeated Lexis King by pinfall

Truth be told, I haven't been keeping up with NXT as much as I should have going into this show, so I don't have a clue about this whole situation where Lexis King is being pegged as the one who attacked Trick Williams and framed Carmelo instead.

This was another match with an anticlimatic finish. It was a good match up to that point where Hayes hit his finisher and beat King clean without any other drama attached to it. I was left wanting more from this match. Here's to hoping that they run this back again down the road.

This match wasn't bad, but I didn't agree with Carmelo going over for Lexis King's first TakeOver outing. He no sold the finish to grab a microphone and taunt Hayes further by informing him that he wasn't the one who attacked Trick Williams either. I hope they aren't making this a roundabout way of still pointing it back to Carmelo in the end anyway. That would be VERY stupid in my eyes when they just sacrificed Lexis King for swerve that doesn't have a significant payoff.

On the other hand, that single match was better than anything the former Brian Pillman Jr. did in his entire AEW career, so there's at least something that he can be proud of. WWE can at least say that they are doing something of note with the guy despite my gripes with who went over here.

I don't think the live crowds are buying that Carmelo is innocent either, especially after King admitted that he made up the whole story about being in cahoots with Hayes just to get a PLE match.

Men's Iron Survivor Challenge to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Championship at New Year's Evil

Trick Williams (4) defeated Dijak (3), Josh Briggs (2), Bron Breakker (3), and Tyler Bate (3)

There's one thing that I have to applaud not just this match but this entire show up to this point for - there weren't any hardcore/extreme rules style spots in this show at all other than a commentary table bump and the barricade bumps. I think that was a big reason why I wasn't particularly too enamoured with the modern WarGames matches at Survivor Series last month. These Iron Survivor matches shine more with pure work rate than relying on too many gimmicks and high spots. Sometimes the match itself being a gimmick is more than enough. No need to put a hat on a hat when it comes to booking a lot of modern wrestling - not just in WWE but as a whole for the sport currently.

My favorite part of this entire match was Bron Breakker's arrival. Dude came into this match like a shot out of a canon and hit Spear after Spear after Spear to rack up points on the scoreboard within seconds, thus reminding people that Breakker hasn't lost a shred of his dominance despite not being in the NXT title conversation as of late. I could easily see him getting called up sooner more than later, despite HBK probably wanting to keep him in NXT a tad longer to work off the very few imperfections in his game before he's on a larger microscope on the main roster.

Speaking of NXT call-ups, it's rumored that Tyler Bate is main roster bound sooner more than later if it hasn't already happened by the posting of this article. We essentially saw him grow up in front of our eyes from his humble beginnings in NXT UK to coming onto his own here in NXT. His performance in this match was definitely noteworthy and worth adding to his already impressive resume.

Much like his stablemate Fallon Henley in the women's Iron Survivor match, Josh Briggs definitely held his own in this match. Ever since I first saw him in NXT 2.0, I thought he had some promise, but this was a treat to see what the big guy could do when they set him loose on his own. Who knows, there might be a promising future for him as a singles wrestler whenever the tag team fizzles out.

I'm not going to lie, but I was all in on backing Dijak winning this thing. Between being a part of that failed upon arrival Retribution faction as "T-Bar" on the main roster to his never-ending series of matches with Keith Lee during his initial NXT run and recent heavy-hitting bouts with Ilja Dragunov, I thought it was a foregone conclusion that Dijak would be the right opponent to line up against Ilja to set up their rubber match in terms of revisiting their previous feud.

Unfortunately, I had completely underestimated how over Trick Williams has become along with that "Whoop That Trick" catchphrase. He's gone from being merely Hayes' corny sidekick and hypeman to a capable superstar in his own right. It's VERY easy to see how Hayes could learn to loathe his best friend's sudden boom in popularity when it was the other way around not so long ago. I loved how he essentially stole the win in this match in its final minutes, cutting it down to a very narrow margin to emphasize just how intense the competition was in this match.

Both Iron Survivor matches were great, but I think I'm going to give the nod to the men having the better of the two this year.

Steel Cage Match

Kiana James defeated Roxanne Perez by pinfall

I love seeing both of these ladies in the Iron Survivor match last year, but this year, it was a different story. It sucks too as I'm a fan of both of these ladies as I feel that they have a promise for the future of WWE's women's divisions. Both of them still have some things that they need to iron out and improve on before they get called up to the main roster.

First and foremost, Roxanne needs to chill out on calling spots so loud. I'm sure went to the school of John Cena in that regard. I get that she was the veteran in this situation and had to act as the leader for Kiana James since she's least experienced out of the two, but this match type was a first for both them.

A large majority of this match felt as if it could have been a simple NXT television taping match without any fancy gimmick attached. On top of that, I felt this was rather tame to say that this was supposed to be a grudge match of sorts. Ever since Roxanne lost the NXT Women's title, she's been trying to develop some sort of a mean streak, but it's not working. I don't want to see her go full blown heel, but I think a tweener vibe would work wonders for her. Thea Hail's heel turn (despite being portrayed as babyfaces with Jacy Jane in women's tag team matches as of late) has been hilariously awesome, but HBK doesn't need to turn all of his squeaky clean babyfaces heel. Let's not forget that Bayley never turned throughout her entire NXT tenure and not for years as a mainstay on the main roster.

As for the finish, I had to utter a VERY loud "Who the fuck is this?" at my television as I had absolutely no idea who the hell Izzy Dame is, coming out here to aid Kiana James in the win while shouting, "IT IZ WHAT IT IZ!" My god that's a corny catchphrase.

On a side note, I think NXT needs to be a tad careful about calling Kiana James "The Boss" if they want any chance of courting Sasha Banks/Mercedes Mone back to the company anytime soon. That's just my two cents.

Singles match for the NXT Championship

Ilja Dragunov (c) defeated Baron Corbin by pinfall

Much like Baron Corbin's last PLE outing on NXT programming, I can't complain about the guy's in-ring ability at this point. He's become one of WWE's "good hands" and that's all you can really ask from a guy who is as exciting to watch as watching paint dry. (Laughs) I can't lie though, he can make me pop when he hits that End of Days finisher that seems to look even better every time that he does it.

I can't get enough of seeing how Ilja sells his opponent's offense along with his own. He makes it look like everything he inflicts onto his opponent or vice versa is killing him the longer these matches play out. His masterful selling helps sell the match and narrative in these matches as you're always left wondering how much more punishment could this guy take on any given night. This was a hard-hitting affair like any other Ilja match, but I'm not going to lie, there wasn't a single moment where I doubted that Ilja was going to retain. HBK allowing Corbin to beat this guy would be booking malpractice and enough to lose what little good will that the brand has accumulated following the wake of NXT 2.0 being dead and buried. Regardless, this was a solid match to end the night on even though there was no doubt on the winner.

The show would end with Trick Williams standing on the stage during Ilja's post-match celebration while Hayes would be looming right behind him. It felt like they were teasing another attack on Trick, but I really hope they aren't going to pull a swerve where it's been Hayes all along. It's like I said earlier in this write-up, I don't think anyone is buying that Hayes is innocent and he's doing a bad job of convincing everyone but Trick Williams of such.

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