We have another NXT event here, and this one's interesting, as we're getting a completely new match type on this card. I'll talk about that and more below. Zoey Stark vs. Cora Jade vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Kiana James vs. Indi Hartwell (Iron Survivor match) Our opener is the aforementioned Iron Survivor match, a completely new match type they've come up with for this event. I like to think of this as a mix between Lucha Underground's Aztec Warfare (where people enter Royal Rumble-style but eliminations are by pinfall or submission) and an Iron Man match (person with most falls when the timer expires wins). There's also a penalty box involved, but that's beyond me. Anyway, the point of this match is to crown a new #1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship, and we have five rising stars here vying for the opportunity. I was worried that this match would be convoluted and weird, but seeing how this played out assuaged my concerns. Once there were more than two people in the match, the entire thing felt like a desperate scramble to gain a fall, and pretty much everyone was doing whatever they can to take the lead (stealing pins, going for rollups, breaking other pin attempts). I think everyone got a chance to shine here (even Kiana James, who seemed like the odd one out), but it was ultimately Roxanne's story as she fought from underneath after being the first sent to the penalty box. The last few minutes were intense, as there was a four-way tie, and Roxanne was able to gain a second fall near the end. She ends up becoming the women's Iron Survivor, but only barely, as Cora Jade could have gotten a pin if it weren't for the time limit. For the first go at this match type, I quite enjoyed this. Alba Fyre vs. Isla Dawn The former Kay Lee Ray has been chasing the NXT Women's title for a while now, but her latest attempt at it was thwarted by former NXT UK mainstay Isla Dawn. I've been partial to Isla Dawn's work for a while now, so it personally excites me to see the wicked witch stateside in a high-profile feud. I thought this was a decent if standard back-and-forth match, but things get really interesting near the end. Just when it seems like Fyre had things won, the referee (who was grabbed by Dawn moments before) started vomiting black goo. The resulting distraction allowed Dawn to throw Fyre into an exposed turnbuckle and win the match. I loved that she won via witchcraft. Pretty Deadly (c) vs. The New Day (NXT Tag Team Championship match) Well, this is a shocker. Recently on NXT TV, Pretty Deadly's latest challengers made themselves known, and it's none other than one of the most decorated tag team champions in WWE history. New Day coming to NXT was not on my bingo card, and a match like this is easily must-see. As expected, this was a thrilling contest featuring two excellent tag teams, with a lot of high-octane action. It was also quite a hilarious match, as we got a brief twerk-off and perhaps the greatest spin on the classic Eddie Guerrero fake chair shot spot ever done. In the end, the New Day actually go the distance and become the new NXT Tag Team Champions, adding another title reign to their already illustrious career and joining the elite few teams to hold every active tag team title in WWE. I look forward to seeing their run as champs on NXT going forward. JD McDonagh vs. Axiom vs. Grayson Waller vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Joe Gacy (Iron Survivor match) Now we have the men's Iron Survivor match, and just like the women's match, this is for a #1 contendership. After seeing how well the women's match went, I was quite excited to see this one play out (especially given the caliber of talent we have here). I thought the women's match was pretty good, but damn, this Iron Survivor match was even better. The action was faster paced, that mad scramble for points felt more palpable, and there were a lot of points scored that made things all the more intense. Everyone here had a great showing, especially Gacy (who I think is rather underrated in-ring), and I liked how the penalty box was used as part of the action this time around. After all that excitement, Waller steals a pin to break a four-way stalemate and secures his spot as the Iron Survivor by playing keep-away like the little shit he is. This was a blast to watch, and I would not be opposed to this concept being an annual thing. Bron Breakker (c) vs. Apollo Crews (NXT Championship match) Breakker's latest challenger is none other Apollo Crews, a former NXT alum who returns to the brand to claim the gold he never did in his first run. Straightforward story, bit of a friendly rivalry, nothing big. This was an interesting matchup, as for once, Breakker is facing off against somebody who matches his physicality. Crews is a similarly big dude and has the same mix of freakish power and surprising agility as Breakker does, and it was neat to see that stalemate play out in the ring. It was a decent main event overall, but at this point, Breakker winning is a bit predictable. The Iron Survivor matches were easily the highlight of this event, and I'm quite happy that their execution made them fun to watch. I look forward to seeing the new #1 contenders challenge for their respective titles, and New Day being tag champs in NXT should be fun.
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June 2024
Derryck
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