Dominik Mysterio Upset by Dragon Lee, Loses NXT North American Title at Deadline 2023

Dragon Lee beat Dominik Mysterio at NXT Deadline on Saturday to win the North American Championship.

Mysterio was originally supposed to defend the title against Wes Lee, but when Lee announced on the final episode of NXT before Deadline that he suffered a back injury that would keep him out for eight to 12 months, Lee stepped in as his replacement.

The rivalry between Mysterio and Wes Lee dates back to the summer when Mysterio made his presence felt in NXT and went after Lee's North American title.

Wes was the longest-reigning North American champion of all time at 269 days, and took down many of the toughest challengers NXT had to offer during his time as champion, but interference from The Judgment Day proved too much, as Mysterio beat him for the title in July.

After losing in a Triple Threat title match against Mysterio and Mustafa Ali, Wes temporarily turned his attention to the NXT Championship.

Wes beat Dijak to earn a title match against Carmelo Hayes, but Hayes was victorious. Wes then faced Ilja Dragunov in hopes of getting a second crack at the NXT Championship, but after Dragunov beat him, Lee walked out of the building and wasn't seen again on NXT programming for nearly two months.

During his absence, Trick Williams beat Mysterio for the North American title at No Mercy in September, but the reign was short-lived, as Mysterio won it back three days later.

Wes made his highly anticipated return to NXT in November, and fell to Baron Corbin in a tightly contested match on the Nov. 14 episode of NXT.

That led to Wes turning his attention back to the North American Championship, but Mysterio wasn't willing to hand out a title shot without making Lee earn it.

Before Mysterio would agree to put the championship on the line at Deadline, he told Wes he would have to win a Fatal 4-Way match against three other former North American champions.

On the Nov. 28 NXT, Wes outlasted Johnny Gargano, Bronson Reed and Cameron Grimes in the four-way bout to become No. 1 contender.

Wes didn't get to enjoy that win for long, though, as he was medically disqualified from competing at Deadline, setting the stage for Dragon Lee to fill in.

Mysterio and Dragon faced each other on a few previous occasions, including a pair of North American title matches on NXT and Raw in August and September, both of which saw Dom come out on top.

The third time was a charm for Dragon Lee, though, as he took down Mysterio and won his first title of any kind in WWE.

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