NXT Deadline (December 2022)

Original Airdate: December 10, 2022

From Orlando, Florida; Your Hosts are Vic Joseph and Booker T

Opening #1 Contender's Iron Survivor Challenge Match: Cora Jade v Indi Hartwell v Roxanne Perez v Zoey Stark v Kiana James: So the idea here is that we have 25 minutes on the clock, and each fall scores a point, along with certain things to mix up the standard Iron Man formula, such as penalty boxes, and staggered entry. It’s kind of a cool combination of an Iron Man match, a Fatal-Five Way, and a WarGames. And it’ll still be shorter than these stupid modern WarGames matches! Perez and Stark start, and there’s lots of feeling out. James is next into the match, and nothing of note is really happening. It’s just moves, no storytelling. We finally get a fall when Stark hits Perez with a tilt-a-whirl kneeling facebuster at 9:31. So, that sends Perez to the penalty box for 90 seconds, which is a cool touch. Jade is next in, and dives right onto both downed combatants to get a pair of two counts. Perez gets out of the box in time to slug it out with her, and she rolls James up for two. But then Jade schoolboys James for a fall at 12:38. We get the three ladies not in the box trading submission holds, until James gets out of penalty, and attacks them all. Hartwell is the last into the match, and all five of the competitors are almost impossible to tell apart. When did everyone in the promotion start wearing the same exact gear? Hartwell nails Perez with a big boot for a pinfall at 16:00. Perez, desperate to catch up, starts throwing things at everyone, and manages to take Stark into a cradle for a pin at 18:37. That puts Perez on the board, and poor James is the last one out. She tries the same trick of spamming cradles, but can’t pick up a fall, and everyone backs off to regroup. That leads to a four person slugfest, until Zoey gets out of the box, and runs wild, with five minutes left. Perez manages a Canadian destroyer on Jade to pull ahead of the pack at 23:02. With less than two minutes left, all Perez needs to do is run out the clock, and she uses the remaining women’s desperation against them. Perez tries evading, but since it’s not elimination, no one wants to let anyone else get a fall with time running out, and there’s save after save. James hits Stark with a Spanish fly, but Jade saves at two, and gets a cover on Stark herself for two - as time expires at 25:00. So Perez wins with two points, and she’d be in the right place at the right time when her title shot came around, dethroning Mandy Rose to win the NXT Women’s title when Mandy was released from the promotion. I dug this new match format, but not this particular version. The workers involved here were backyard level, and they just didn’t have what it takes to pull this sort of thing off. ¾*

Alba Fyre v Isla Dawn: Fyre charges with chops right away, and they spill to the outside, where Alba puts the boots to her. Fyre tries a tope, but Dawn kicks her in the head to block, but Fyre takes control back with a short-superkick on the way back in. Reverse STO gets Fyre two, so she tries a submission, but Dawn shifts it into a cradle for two. Fyre tries a backslide, but Dawn blocks, and drops her into the turnbuckles to buy time. Dawn with a corner whip to rebound Fyre into a backbreaker for two, and Dawn goes after the arm. She exposes a middle turnbuckle, but Fyre manages a sunset cradle for two before Isla can use it. Dawn fires back with a kneesmash for two, and a snapmare sets up a kick to the shoulderblades. Dawn works an armbar from there, and a flying kneesmash gets her two. Fyre manages to dump her to the outside to buy time, and Alba dives after her with a flying somersault senton on the floor. Both beat the count back inside for a slugfest, and Fyre gets a release gourdbuster. She adds a series of kicks, but Dawn fights her off, so Fyre plants her with a tornado DDT for two. Backslide, but Dawn blocks, and drills her with a saito suplex for two. Dawn goes upstairs, but gets knocked to the floor by Fyre, and Alba dives at her with a tope out there. Fyre with a gory driver on the floor, and she drags Dawn in to cover for two. Fyre with a slam to set up a flying somersault senton splash, but the referee is vomiting up black goo, and can’t make the count. Fyre stays on her with a superkick, but the referee is still getting Papa Shango’d, so no count. Another referee runs in, but it’s too late, and Dawn kicks out at two. Dawn drives her into the exposed buckle while the second referee checks on the first, and Dawn scores the pin at 9:52. I enjoyed this one, but thought the finish was too silly for what this promotion goes for most of the time. ** ½ 

NXT Tag Team Title Match: Pretty Deadly v The New Day: Kit Wilson starts with Xavier Woods, and gets dominated. A big criss cross ends in Wood landing a senton splash for two, and he passes to Kofi Kingston for a combo. That gets Kingston a two count, so Elton Prince uses a distraction, and the champs manage to turn the tide. A ‘twerk off’ ends in Woods getting a tag, however, and the challengers get control of Wilson. They go to work with combos, but Kingston ends up in trouble again, and the champs cut the ring in half. Hot tag to Woods, and Roseanne Barr the door! Funny bit, as the title belt gets brought in, and Pretty Deadly try playing dead to trigger a DQ, but New Day are wise to the trick, and do the same - resulting in the official seeing all four guys down and out, and not knowing what to make of it. That was great. Woods ends up eating the title belt for a dramatic two count, but New Day recover with a combo, and we have new champions at 14:05! This was okay. * ½ 

#1 Contender's Iron Survivor Challenge Match: Carmelo Hayes v Joe Gacy v Grayson Waller v JD McDonagh v Axiom: McDonagh and Axiom start, and JD tries a sneak attack, but Axiom is wise to him. McDonagh ends up on the outside, and Axiom is on him with a sloppy tope. How we don’t end up with several broken necks per show is something of a minor miracle. Axiom sends McDonagh into the penalty box while out there, and he tries a dive on the way back in, but McDonagh blocks with a dropkick. McDonagh tries adding a powerbomb, but Axiom blocks, and plants an enzuigiri on him. Axiom with a nice clothesline to the neck for two, and a cross corner dropkick sets up a seated corner dropkick for two. This is already so much better than the women’s version from earlier. Axiom grabs a waistlock, but McDonagh shakes him off, and delivers a discus clothesline ahead of a sitout powerbomb for two. Hayes is next in, and immediately hits McDonagh with a springboard for two. Axiom gets involved, so Hayes gives him an inverted guillotine legdrop for two, then throws him at McDonagh. Hayes tries a DDT on McDonagh, but Axiom spears Carmelo to block, and covers for two. Axiom dumps both guys to the outside to try a dive, but McDonagh blocks before he can execute. That ends in Hayes nailing both of them on the way back in, but another springboard ends in stereo superkicks. McDonagh hits Axiom with a standing moonsault, but Hayes prevents a cover, and suplexes McDonagh onto Axiom, then pins Axiom at 7:11. With Axiom in the box, McDonagh and Hayes slug it out, and McDonagh suplexes him. Side backbreaker and a standing spanish fly follow, as Axiom gets out of the box, and dives at both with a double flying bodypress. Axiom peppers them both with strikes, leading to a three-way slugfest that ends with all three men looking up at the lights as Waller enters the match. He immediately catches Axiom with a stunner to pick up a quick fall at 10:13. Same for McDonagh at 10:18, putting Waller ahead of the pack with two points. He slugs it out with Hayes, and hooks a somersault cradle for two, but Hayes bridges into a backslide for two. Waller with a clothesline for two, so Hayes bails to the apron, but Waller is on him. He tries an electric chair on the floor, but Hayes blocks, and looks for a dive, but Waller counters with a stunner on the apron as Axiom and McDonagh get out of the box. But, instead of leaving, they end up fighting it out inside the box, with Axiom choking him out, and leaving him for dead in there. Waller takes Axiom out before he can get back to the ring, but Hayes hits Waller with a superkick on the floor to allow himself to roll Axiom in himself. Hayes with a falcon arrow to try and finish him off, but it only gets two. Cradle for two, but a springboard attempt ends in Waller shoving him over the top. Waller adds a slam onto the announce table out there (complete with some trash talk aimed at Booker), and he goes in to finish Axiom - only to have his powerbomb countered with a rana into a cradle at 14:15! Axiom adds a Canadian destroyer on McDonagh, and a superkick earns him another point at 14:36! Before he can go after Hayes, Gacy enters the match, and wrecks both guys. He gets a near fall on Axiom, then puts him in the rings of saturn to force a submission at 16:03. Waller and McDonagh get out of the box, and Waller beats up poor Axiom while Axiom is being led into it. McDonagh adds a beating as well as payback for earlier, and he makes an alliance with Waller, but they get fought off by Gacy and Hayes while trying to get into the ring. And then Gacy just clobbers Hayes to pick up another fall at 17:11, tying Axiom and Waller at two. Waller and McDonagh come in, but Gacy fights them both off with a springboard, and then hits them both with a dive on the floor when they bail. Meanwhile, Axiom has climbed onto the box, and dives onto all three for a dogpile, as Hayes loses his mind since he can’t capitalize. He gets out of penalty in time to nail Gacy with a bicycle kick, and he gets Waller to tap to a crippler crossface at 19:25. That leaves everyone at two points, except McDonagh, who is still not on the board. Gacy hits Axiom with an avalanche, but a takedown gets reversed, and Axiom goes for a triangle choke, but Hayes saves. Axiom kicks him in the head, but McDonagh takes him out before he can capitalize. McDonagh with a suplex on Hayes, but Gacy cuts him off, leaving McDonagh to have to suplex him as well instead of making a cover. He crawls for the cover, but Waller is out of penalty, and charges with a stunner - only for McDonagh to counter with a suplex for two. Everyone takes a moment to regroup, and McDonagh fights a four front war, desperately looking to get on the board. That eventually backfires with all four guys hitting him at the same time, and Gacy looks to put Hayes away with a rings of saturn, but McDonagh saves. Gacy responds by putting McDonagh in the hold, but Axiom saves, so Gacy puts him in the hold, and Axiom struggles to hold on to run the clock. He gets saved by Hayes and McDonagh, who promptly turn on one another. That allows Axiom to recover, so Hayes hits him with a flying rocker dropper, but Waller breaks the count at two. That allows Waller to dive on Axiom himself, and he picks up a third fall at 24:30, pulling ahead of the pack with just thirty seconds remaining. Waller runs around to run the clock out, and he wins at 25:00. This was a far better introduction to the match type than the women’s version, and I really enjoyed the hell out of this. Very strong booking with how they structured the falls, and it was entertaining and engaging throughout. What I liked about this is that it was loaded with spots, but not in place of a story, but to enhance the story. Nothing wrong with spots, but if it’s not rooted in a good story, it feels hollow. *** ½ 

Main Event: NXT Title Match: Bron Breakker v Apollo Crews: They do some posturing to start, measuring each other. Crews takes control with a side-headlock on the mat, and they trade those for a bit, with Apollo generally dominating the exchanges. Waistlock reversal sequence ends in the ropes, and both give a clean break. Crews tries a hiptoss, but Bron reverses, and they do a reversal sequence off of that - again ending in the ropes, but this time Crews doesn’t give a clean break. That triggers a criss cross, and Crews plants a dropkick to set up a standing moonsault for two. Bron bails, but Crews is on him with a moonsault press from the apron, and a slingshot somersault senton splash gets him two on the way back inside. Crews goes back to the mat-based headlock, but Bron fights to a vertical base, and manages a hanging vertical suplex to set up a standing moonsault of his own for two. Crews bails, but Bron is on him with a somersault senton suicide, only to have a dive off the middle get blocked with a high knee on the way back inside. Crews gets more aggressive with some mounted punches, and a death valley driver gets him two. Three-alarm rolling German suplex gets another two, and a three-alarm no-release powerbomb is worth two. That one looked like it was straining the limits of Apollo’s strength. Crews with a flying frogsplash for two, and a corner splash connects, but a second one does not. That allows Bron a comeback, and a flying bulldog gets him two. Press-powerslam, but Crews counters with a DDT on the way down, and he hooks the leg for two. Reversal sequence allows Bron a chokeslam for two, and he goes for the press again, but Crews reverses for two! That leads to a slugfest, and Crews wins it with an enzuigiri. He looks for a follow up, but Bron slips away, and drills him with a spear at 14:33. This was a nice, solid match. Basic, but told a good story, even if it didn’t break any new ground. And then, afterwards, Grayson Waller comes out with an attack to punctuate his win earlier. ** ¾ 

BUExperience: The men’s Iron Survivor Challenge is worth checking out as a good introduction to a cool new match concept, and the rest is mostly fine, but certainly nothing to go out of your way to see.

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