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WWE NXT Deadline 2025 Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of NXT Deadline 2025 on December 6.
Friday during SmackDown, a special addition was made to the men's NXT title bout between Oba Femi and Ricky Saints. Whoever wins will not only leave with the belt, but they will get to fight Cody Rhodes at the next Saturday Night's Main Event.
The only other title on the line Saturday night was the men's North American Championship. Ethan Page put his belt on the line against AAA's Mr. Iguana.
In addition to the men's and women's Iron Survivor bouts to earn title shots at New Year's Evil, we also saw Tatum Paxley take on the woman who used to be her best friend, Izzi Dame.
Let's take a look at everything that happened at this year's NXT Deadline.
Ricky Saints vs. Oba Femi
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Last time in action: Saints defeated Femi (No Mercy), Saints defeated Trick Williams (NXT, Nov 11)
The match that kicked off Deadline was the NXT title bout between Saints and the man he beat for the title at No Mercy, Femi.
Saints tried to go for one of Femi's legs right away, but the powerhouse easily tossed him aside. The champion looked hesitant as the challenger backed him to a corner.
The first few minutes made it look like this would be a walk in the park for Femi, but Saints kept finding ways to neutralize his offense by focusing on his arms and legs to take away his power.
They took their time working up to the more exciting stuff, so the first half of the match felt a little slow in places. They started picking up the pace around the halfway mark.
Taking their time and building up the pace slowly allowed them to sell for each other and make this feel like a hard-fought contest. There was no doubt that this would be good, but it may have ended up surpassing their previous encounter.
In a somewhat surprising outcome, Femi was able to regain the NXT title with the Fall From Grace. This ends Saints' reign at just over two months.
Result: Femi defeated Saints
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- The way Saints kept trying to apply an armbar and Femi kept overpowering him to counter it was a good sequence.
- Booker T needs to learn to stop talking over his commentary partners. Vic Joseph was in the middle of a sentence when Booker yelled "Oh yeah!" to react to something Femi did.
- Demi was showing a couple of heel tendencies. He wasn't cheating, but he was showboating more than he usually does.
- Saints using a hurricanrana was a nice surprise.
Women's Iron Survivor Match
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Competitors in action: Kelani Jordan, Lola Vice, Kendal Grey, Sol Ruca and Jordynne Grace
The women's Iron Survivor match was up next. Jordan and Grey were the first two Superstars in the ring, so they spent the entire 25 minutes in the ring. Here is a rundown of who got pins and submissions
- Grey pinned Jordan
- Jordan pinned Grey
- Vice pinned Grey
- Grey pinned Grace
- Grace pinned Jordan
- Ruca pinned Jordan
- Ruca pinned Vice
- Jordan pinned Grace
- Grace pinned Jordan
- Vice pinned Grey
- Grey pinned Vice
This match format is unconventional, but the five women booked to compete did a good job making it work for them. It would be hard to pick a standout because all five women contributed to this being a fun encounter.
They ended up at a five-way tie with two pins each with just two minutes to go. Grey was able to score one more pinfall before the timer ran out to become the new No. 1 contender for the NXT women's title.
Result: Grey won
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- It's great that Jordan has found more confidence in her character, but she still doesn't feel right as a heel for some reason. She just seems better suited to being a babyface.
- Grey does so many little things that make it clear she is miles ahead of many of her peers in the developmental system. WWE would be wise to invest in her because she could end up being a top star on the main roster if she keeps progressing at this rate.
- The submission Grace used looked incredibly painful.
- The timer for when Ruca would enter the match was off by about 40 seconds somehow.
- Jordan attacked Ruca's knee before she got into the ring. It led to trainers helping her to the back, but she eventually came back and got two pins immediately.
- Ruca doing a kip up with one good leg was impressive.
Ethan Page vs. Mr. Iguana
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Last time in action: Page and Chelsea Green defeated Lola Vice and Mr. Iguana (AAA, Nov. 22)
The men's North American Championship was on the line when Mr. Iguana challenged Page for the title.
The green grappler attempted to get into All Ego's head with some mind games, and it seemed to work at first. He had Page struggling to find his footing for the first few minutes.
While a good portion of this bout was designed for comedy, they tried to mix in some wrestling, too. Unfortunately, they had a couple of missteps along the way.
They eventually found their groove, so the second half was much better than the first. Mr. Iguana hit several high-flying moves that popped the crowd, and All Ego sold all of them perfectly.
Despite a good effort from the challenger, Page was able to hit his finisher for a clean win to retain the NA title.
Result: Page defeated Mr. Iguana
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Iguana playing dead was funny, but it's not the kind of spot you expect to see on a WWE or NXT PLE.
- Page turning his back on Iguana to complain to the ref is the kind of rookie move his character should not be making.
- It seemed like Mr. Iguana was off a step. He had a couple of mistakes that Page had to cover up.
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Izzi Dame vs. Tatum Paxley
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Last time in action: Paxley lost to Jacy Jayne (NXT Gold Rush, Nov. 18), Dame, Paxley and Vice lost to Fatal Influence (NXT, Nov. 4)
Paxley was looking for revenge against her former friend when she stepped into the ring with Dame in the penultimate match of the night. Shawn Spears and Niko Vance tried to distract Paxley, but it didn't work.
Dame looked like she was going to comfort Paxley as she cried, but the former champion turned her sadness to anger and hit a few punches. Dame tricked her into a hug at ringside so she could throw her into the steel steps.
Dame had control for a long time, but Paxley eventually began building some momentum.
This match had a lot of aggression, but it fell a bit short compared to everything else we saw on the card. They may have focused too much on the story and not enough on the in-ring action.
Thanks to a distraction from Spears, Dame was able to hit her finisher to get the pin and the win.
Result: Dame defeated Paxley
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
- They went a little overboard with Paxley's makeup.
- It feels like WWE has no real plans for Vance. He barely wrestles. Even Spears has taken a back seat in recent months.
- Dame has good physicality and mic skills. If she can polish her in-ring work a little, she will be a valuable talent.
Men's Iron Survivor Match
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Competitors in action: Joe Hendry, Je'Von Evans, Leon Slater, Dion Lennox and Myles Borne
The main event of Deadline was the men's Iron Survivor match. Slater and Evans were the first two Superstars in the ring. Here is a rundown of how this match went.
- Evans pinned Slater
- Lennox pinned Evans
- Hendry pinned Borne
- Slater pinned Hendry
- Borne pinned Lennox
- Evans pinned Borne
This match didn't pack in as many pinfalls as the women's bout, but it made each pin feel more important. Both bouts felt competitive for different reasons, which was great because it meant they both stood out for different reasons.
Much like the women's match, it was a five-way tie heading into the last couple of minutes. Lennox locked one of the refs and Evans in the penalty box, but Evans escaped through the opening at the top and took him down with a dive.
It was genuinely hard to tell who would win at the end because everyone came close, but Evans scored a pin on Borne with a few seconds left to get the win.
Result: Evans won
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
- We got another weird promo from Shiloh Hill.
- Evans and Slater work so well together as both partners and opponents. WWE would be wise to sign Slater as soon as his TNA deal is up.
- Borne won the right to pick his spot. He chose to come out in the third spot instead of last.
- The dive Borne hit over the top rope was great.
The Final Word
6 of 6As a whole, NXT Deadline was a decent show, but three matches stood out the most. The NXT title bout and the two Iron Survivor matches are what everyone will be talking about.
Femi winning back the title was slightly surprising because it meant Saints' reign ended after just a little over two months, but it opens the door for some interesting possibilities.
The men's and women's Iron Survivor matches were both great for different reasons, but the most important thing was that it felt like the two best people won.
Grey has been impressive in every outing, and Evans is clearly earmarked for success. It's tough to say if either will win at New Year's Evil, but it was great to see them get the victories on Saturday.
Ending the show with the return of Tony D'Angelo is going to get people talking, especially since he appears to have altered his gimmick a bit. It's going to be interesting to see what he has to say on Tuesday.
Grade: B
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