Pantoja’s NXT Deadline 2023 Review

NXT Deadline

December 9^th, 2023 | Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut

I might not be reviewing NXT on a weekly basis but I still follow the show and Deadline sounds like it’s on tap to be a solid show. I didn’t cover last year’s show but I really liked the Iron Survivor gimmick and am looking forward to more.

Axiom vs. Nathan Frazer

It’s our Kickoff match! This was supposed to happen this past week but it got interrupted so now we’re getting it here. Right off the bat, we got the fast paced, exciting match you’d want from these two. Just a bunch of well done spots to show of their athleticism, smooth wrestling skills, and quickness. The idea here was that Frazer seems to be getting more aggressive and vicious, which only became more prominent as he grew more frustrated with not beating Axiom. Their friendly rivalry could be by the wayside. They went back and forth, hitting each other with some big moves that really got the crowd going. I also appreciated that while they delivered a tough act to follow, they also didn’t overdo things to the point where nobody could follow. Axiom hit a sweet moonsault outside but Frazer came back with a nice superplex combo. Axiom then beat him with sick Spanish Fly and Golden Ratio in 10:53. A hell of a way to start a show. [***¾]

Shawn Michaels came out to start the show, looking to hype the crowd the way Triple H used to. He asked if the crowd was ready but then we got Company Man Punk in a Bret Hart hoodie. They had a little joke about it since Shawn made up with Bret and Phil made up with Hunter. Punk teased joining NXT and hugged HBK before leaving.

Onto the main card.

NXT North American Championship: Dominik Mysterio [c] vs. Dragon Lee

From Shawn Michaels to CM Punk to Rey Mysterio. What is this, 2009? Rey accompanied Dragon Lee, who notably replaced the injured Wes Lee. Oh, Rey ended up on commentary. Dom has successfully defended the title twice against Lee, doing so on NXT in August (***¼) and on Raw in September (***½). Loud “we want Mami” chants at the start since Dom had no Judgment Day with him. Lee took advantage, bringing the fight to the champ and overwhelming him at times. It wasn’t long before Dom took over, complete with throwing disses at his dad and doing some Eddie Guerrero spots. Lee’s double stomp spot looked great as always, even if it’s contrived. Dom got too cocky and went for 619, which missed. Lee got two on a sitout powerbomb before capturing the title with Destino in 10:40. Another really good, entertaining match with the right winner and finish. [***½]

Iron Survivor Challenge: Blair Davenport vs. Fallon Henley vs. Kelani Jordan vs. Lash Legend vs. Tiffany Stratton

For those who don’t remember, this is like a Scramble Match but when you get beaten, you go to the penalty box for 90 seconds. Two people start, a new entrant every five minutes and a win gets you a point. Winner gets a title shot at New Year’s Evil. We begin with Fallon Henley and Blair Davenport. I liked how they both went for flash pins in the early stages. It’s the kind of logical thing that is so overlooked in so many matches. Other than that though, I didn’t love this opening exchange. Maybe it’s because I’m not big on Blair. Tiffany Stratton was next and I wish she started against Henley given their rivalry. Babyface Fallon spent some time getting worked over by the heels in this section, including being trapped in a double armbar. Tiffany planted Henley with the Alabama Slam only for Blair to dump her outside and steal the pin for the first point just ahead of Kelani Jordan joining the fray. After returning from the box, Fallon came in hot and pinned Stratton with the Shining Wizard to tie things up. Lash Legend came in last and immediately made an impact. She used her power to score two points in under two minutes. People were so ready to write her off after some bad early performances but she’s really improved. Goes to show that fans shouldn’t be true talent evaluators. Blair scored another pin to tie this at 2 with about 5 minutes left. Stratton got on the board by hitting Lash with a moonsault, meaning Lash and her two points got sent to the penalty box with about 90 seconds left. Kelani used a 450 to nearly tie it with a double pin but it got broken up. With 15 seconds left, Blair got another pin and Lash returned but time expired at 25:00 before she could do anything. Would’ve been my last choice for a winner but the match was a lot of fun again. [***½]

 

Post-match, Blair cut a promo on Lyra Valkyria, who then showed up in the aisle. However, she was then jumped from behind by the returning Cora Jade. Yes, put the focus on Cora over Blair.

Carmelo Hayes vs. Lexis King

Lexis King has a cool entrance. Then the bell rings and you have to watch Brian Pillman Jr. Hayes really is Him but this was not a case of a pairing working out. They didn’t seem to have much chemistry or mesh well. Melo was in control for a lot of this but whenever King got going, the match got less interesting. King tried to inject some story in here, asking for a handshake from Hayes only to get flipped off. They took a pretty rough spill outside before King got two on a Jackhammer. The hell did that come from? Hayes rallied with a Codebreaker and then won with Nothing But Net in 11:13. A bit surprised at a clean loss for King already though that’s how I’d prefer it. This was pretty bland. [**]

Post-match, King thanked Hayes for the PLE spotlight before saying that he wasn’t the one who attacked Trick Williams.

Iron Survivor Challenge: Bron Breakker vs. Dijak vs. Josh Briggs vs. Trick Williams vs. Tyler Bate

Dijak and Briggs started this with some hard hitting action. It was an enjoyable five minutes that saw Dijak hit Feast Your Eyes for the first fall just as Tyler Bate was arriving. That meant Bate and Dijak got to have an exchange which I really liked. As soon as Briggs got back in, he laid out Dijak with a lariat to even the score. Once Dijak got back in, he was rolled up by Bate and we had a three-way tie with a frustrated Dijak headed back to the box. The reaction for Trick entering fourth was great, including the crowd chanting “WHOOP THAT TRICK” long after his music stopped playing. Trick catching a leaping Dijak with a clothesline after jumping off of Briggs’ back was one of the coolest spots I’ve seen lately. Bate took the lead on Trick with Tyler Driver ’97 about a minute before the final entrant, giving him a 2-1 edge. As expected, Bron Breakker dominated upon arrival, immediately gaining three points to take the lead in about 30 seconds with Spears on Briggs, Bate, and Dijak. Trick, with 0 points, was left alone against him. Trick survived until everyone returned and hit a big dive onto the pile. Then, the match really got going. Dijak scored a fall and then Bron hit him with a super Frankensteiner right into a Bate powerbomb, allowing Bate to tie it. With five minutes left, Bron and Bate had 3, Dijak had two, Briggs had 1, and Trick had 0. Dijak and Briggs did stereo moonsaults on Trick and Bron to each get a point. Trick desperately went for a pin upon getting out of the box but was Speared through the guardrail by Bron, who was then chokeslammed through the announce table by Dijak. We had 2:30 or so left as Trick returned to roll up Briggs and steal his first fall. He then took Feast Your Eyes but Eddy Thorpe showed up to pull the referee out and hit Dijak. As he did, Trick rolled him up to score another point but Bate then hit him with Spiral Tap. However, Trick countered the Tyler Driver ’97 into a pin and tired it with 10 seconds left. Bron wanted the Spear only to eat a knee and Trick then got another three count, winning 4-3 in a miracle comeback. Outstanding match. They used the gimmick so well, gave us a fantastic dramatic late sprint that never felt like a cheap superhuman spot, and everyone played their roles well. [****½]

Steel Cage Match: Kiana James vs. Roxanne Perez

For a feud that has seen both ladies be very aggressive and pretty violent, they kept that up at the start, going right at each other and slugging away. The problem was that the level of intensity didn’t stay as high as it needed and this fell into the long list of forgettable WWE cage matches. They really don’t have a way of making these impactful and they all feel kind of timid and same-y. It didn’t help that the crowd was dead, most likely due to the emotion spent in the previous match. What the ladies did here was all relatively fine and not bad, it just didn’t really stand out either. They also went with the tired, cliched ending as Perez had it won only for Izzi Dane to show up and slam the door on her head. That allowed James to hit the Deal Breaker on a chair to win in 11:30. That was largely inoffensive but lackluster at best. [**¼]

NXT Championship: Ilja Dragunov [c] vs. Baron Corbin

This is like the perfect spot for Corbin. He can show up, have a good program and match with the NXT Champion, and move up and down the card. The story worked here as Corbin put the focus on the ribs, giving him a big target that he could work over and over. Ilja’s selling was on point as you really got the sense that he was hurting from start to finish. A key to his matches is his selling because of his fighting spirit. I think one issue was the length as Corbin’s at his best in 10-15 minute matches rather than tough touching 20. Ilja had to fight from beneath and he’s always great at that. He gives off the vibe of being someone you have to kill to beat, which adds something to his big matches. The closing stretch saw them throw big bombs like Brainbusters, DVDs, and Corbin’s Deep Six. I appreciate that End of Days is mostly protected as Ilja countered it here rather than simply kicking out to garner a pop. Ilja hit some H Bombs to stun Baron before finishing him off with Torpedo Moscow in 20:58. A really good match that dragged just a bit but accomplished what it needed to. [***½]

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

A really entertaining show from NXT. Hayes/King and Perez/James missed the mark but everything else delivered, including a hard hitting main event, a welcome title change, and two great Iron Survivor matches that were a blast.