WWE NXT Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights Before Deadline

Ahead of Deadline, WWE NXT set the stage for the last WWE premium live event of the year.

Ilja Dragunov and Baron Corbin met face-to-face one last time before their NXT Championship match.

Carmelo Hayes, Tyler Bate, Eddy Thorpe and Joe Coffey fought in a Last Chance Iron Survivor qualifier. The winner would join Bron Breakker, Trick Williams, Dijak and Josh Briggs in the final at Deadline on Saturday.

Roxanne Perez, Kiana James, Thea Hail and Fallon Henley also competed for the final spot in the women's Iron Survivor Challenge. The show also featured a summit with the winner, Tiffany Stratton, Blair Davenport, Kelani Jordan and Lash Legend.

Alpha Academy challenged Meta-Four to a six-person mixed tag team match, hoping for a measure of revenge against Noam Dar and his group.

These matches and more would highlight a final important night of action for the gold brand before Deadline.

Survivor Qualifier: Roxanne Perez vs. Kiana James vs. Thea Hail vs. Fallon Henley

Roxanne Perez and Kiana James took each other out in this match, leaving Fallon Henley and Thea Hail.

Henley pulled off one of the biggest wins of her career, laying out the Chase U student with a running kick.

This was a solid opener. All four women kept the pace moving. Perez and James were the focus point as their feud continues to escalate.

Since those continue to get in each other's way, the best answer to win this qualifier was Henley. She has a feud building with Tiffany Stratton and is ready for a greater spotlight.

She rounds out a solid, if unusual, field of women for the Iron Survivor Challenge. NXT has taken some chances, elevating lesser-known names over established stars.

Result

Henley def. Hail, Perez and James by pinfall to qualify for the women's Iron Survivor Challenge.

Grade

B

Notable Moments

• James took out Perez early with her loaded bag before planting her on the steel steps.
• Later, The Prodigy and James fell off the barricade through the announce table.
• Lyra Valkyria was shown watching the match, with Tatum Paxley staring through a window.
• Kelly Kincaid interviewed The Valkyrie afterward. Lola Vice and Elektra Lopez warned the champion to watch her back. Paxley challenge Vice to a match.
• Izzi Dame checked on James in the trainer's room before Perez attacked James again. Ava told the two women that they would fight at Deadline.
  

Wes Lee Announces Injury, Dragon Lee Challenges Dominik Mysterio

Wes Lee came out with a crutch to announce that he would be out indefinitely with a back injury.

"Dirty" Dominik Mysterio mocked him until Rey Mysterio told his son he would face Dragon Lee at Deadline.

It's tough to see anyone injured, but this was especially poor timing for Lee, who looked poised to regain his North American Championship.

He will be missed in NXT, though he is also ready for a main roster call-up once healthy. Hopefully, he gets the big push.

Mysterio vs. Dragon is a proven matchup that will make an impact at Deadline, but it does feel like the luchador is stepping backwards by returning to this angle.

Grade

B

Notable Moments

• Lee cut a passionate promo about his love for the business and tearfully promised to be back soon.
• Commentator Vic Joseph confirmed Lee needs surgery and will be out for 8-12 months.
  
• Riley Osborne, Keanu Carter, Tavion Heights, Dion Lennox, Luca Crusifino, Myles Borne, Trey Bearhill and Oba Femi cut short promos ahead of joining the men's Breakout Tournament.
  

Lola Vice (w/ Elektra Lopez) vs. Tatum Paxley

Tatum Paxley set Lola Vice on edge with her unusual behavior, managing to take an early lead with leg submissions.

However, Vice hit her hard until Paxley could not get back up.

NXT has finally found a role for Paxley that is allowing her to stand out. She has been a solid performer for a while but lacked a spark. Her unnerving actions and obsession with Lyra Valkyria should be fascinating to watch play out.

While it would have been nice to see Paxley start this new gimmick on a winning path, Vice could not lose here as she prepares to challenge for gold with her Women's Breakout Tournament contract.

Neither woman stood out seriously in this, which is mainly a problem for the 2023 Women's Breakout Tournament winner. She still has not proved she can compete with top names.

Result

Vice def. Paxley by pinfall.

Grade

C+

Notable Moments

• Paxley showed off an odd flexibility, twisting her body in disturbing ways on the mat.
• Vice took over the action with a series of spinning strikes.
• Afterward, Vice seemed very focused on her Breakout contract, possibly considering cashing it in.
  

Alpha Academy vs. Meta-Four

After Maxxine Dupri took out the field outside the ring, including Lash Legend, Chad Gable caught Noam Dar on the Nova Roller.

He turned it into a grapevined ankle lock, forcing a tapout.

The boys and girls in this match came to work. This was a fun one, highlighted by big moments for the women. The comedy was on point while everyone got a moment to shine.

The right man won for the immediate story. Oro Mensah tried to save Dar, but The Scottish Supernova still fell to Gable, setting up a likely rematch for the Heritage Cup.

Alpha Academy fit so well into the wild atmosphere of NXT. While they all can do more on Raw, the group has thrived in this feud with Meta-Four.

Result

Gable, Otis and Maxxine def. Dar, Mensah and Legend by submission.

Grade

B

Notable Moments

• Joe Gacy appeared behind the commentators, telling Vic Joseph how much the crowd loved his work.
• Gable sent Dar and Mensah running to their corners after he locked each in ankle locks.
• Maxxine nearly stole the win early by stacking up Legend. Otis twice almost came in to meet Legend instead.
• Legend body-slammed Otis, shocking the live NXT crowd.
  

Byron Saxton Hosts a Women's Iron Survivor Challenge Summit

Byron Saxton hosted the Women's Iron Survivor Challenge summit. He wanted things to stay civil, but Fallon Henley wanted an early shot at Tiffany Stratton.

A brawl between all four women then destroyed the set.

On the same night Henley won her qualifier, she outshined her future competition with a fiery promo that ended with a memorable "Yeehaw."

Stratton is the obvious favorite in this match, and it's hard to imagine Legend or Kelani Jordan taking that from her.

Blair Davenport might be the choice, but she also still struggles with promos next to her peers. That leaves Henley as a fascinating dark-horse pick.

No matter who walks out the winner, everyone but The Center of the Universe has something to prove in this match.

Grade

B-

Notable Moments

• Stratton and Jordan got into a spat about their shared gymnastics background.
• Legend nearly blew out Stratton's ear drum with her cry after The Center of the Universe interrupted her.
  

Nathan Frazer vs. Axiom

Before Nathan Frazer and Axiom could truly get rolling, the women of the Iron Survivor Challenge came brawling back out. The referee had to call for a no-contest.

Blair Davenport escaped the fray, but Nikkita Lyons returned to lay out the woman who injured her.

This was a waste of time and potential. Frazer vs. Axiom is always a great match. There was no reason to announce and hype it for this result.

If the plan was always for Lyons to make her return and take out Davenport, it should have been done during the summit.

This isn't a massive loss as NXT will go back to this matchup on the Kickoff. It just feels like a cheap tactic to promise a contest like this and swerve away while taking the spotlight off two great performers.

Result

Frazer vs. Axiom goes to a no-contest.

Grade

F

Notable Moments

• Last week, as Frazer nursed a black eye, Axiom agreed to fight his friend when he is healthy.
• Andre Chase announced that Chase U was under academic probation.
  

Survivor Qualifier: Carmelo Hayes vs. Tyler Bate vs. Eddy Thorpe vs. Joe Coffey

Joe Coffey sidelined Eddy Thorpe by further hurting his injured ribs against the steel steps and then nearly knocked out Carmelo Hayes with a Glasgow Kiss.

However, it was Tyler Bate who got the final shot, knocking out Coffey with the Tyler Driver 98 to win.

The Big Strong Boi promised to win the big one, which brought out Dijak and Bron Breakker to disagree. Trick Williams arrived, and a brawl broke out that officials had to break up.

This was a blast of energy. It was difficult to follow everything happening throughout. That did not take away from the action too much, though. This was the best of the night.

Bate was probably the right man to fill out the men's Iron Survivor Challenge. He is an exciting veteran who will keep the action moving. Thorpe was the only other man who would have fit the action.

Trick should win the men's Iron Survivor Challenge. He is the hottest star in NXT. Breakker could steal it, but he doesn't need it. Dijak would be the most intriguing man to take the victory.

Result

Bate def. Coffey, Melo and Thorpe by pinfall to qualify for the men's Iron Survivor Challenge.

Grade

B+

Notable Moments

• NXT Anonymous showed footage of Melo following Trick right before the attack. Trick asked for answers from his friend and got nothing.
  
• NXT showed an X video of Lexis King wishing Melo luck before the match.
  

• Before the match, Thorpe promised to fight through the pain, but Dijak attacked him on his way to the ring.
• The crowd was completely behind Trick even before he arrived.
  
• Hank Walker and Tank Ledger challenged Gallus to a match next week.
• Melo convinced Ava to book him against King at Deadline.
  

Ilja Dragunov Warns Baron Corbin of What Awaits Him at Deadline

Baron Corbin taunted Ilja Dragunov, trying to get him to snap. Instead, The Mad Dragon hugged him and smiled.

The show ended with the men's Iron Survivor Challenge competitors brawling back to the ring.

Corbin and Dragunov nailed the short, focused promo for their match at Deadline. It felt rushed potentially due to earlier matches going long, but the final image of a terrified Corbin staring at a grinning Mad Dragon was perfect.

Corbin cannot win, and he won't win. However, this is a chance to be another career-best match for the WWE veteran.

The chaotic end to the night was repetitive, given all the recent brawls in NXT. However, the brand certainly got the point across that Deadline will be worth watching due to how many stars are invested in winning.

Grade

B-

Notable Moments

• Corbin's acting was on point as his face dropped following the crazed hug from Dragunov.
• Tyler Bate was left as the last man standing at the end of the brawl.
  

Overall Show

NXT chose one pace for this go-home show: lightning speed. This was a chaotic, overbooked night when several segments and matches could have used more time to breathe.

However, the consistency of that pace brought together an engaging night of action while clearly setting the stage for Deadline.

Everyone was brawling heavy. Brawls stretched from one segment to the next, indicating the urgency with which every woman and man needed to fight on Saturday.

The right stars were placed in positions to succeed. The Deadline card was set up nicely to outshine even the strong event from last year.

NXT took the truest brute-force approach to building its final premium live event of 2023, and it worked better than most recent WWE go-home shows.

Overall Grade: B