On Saturday, December 6th, WWE NXT returned to San Antonio, TX, for its big event, “NXT Deadline.” The show was headlined by one of the most exciting matches in all of professional wrestling, as the Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge took center stage. Je’Von Evans, TNA’s Leon Slater, Joe Hendry, Dion Lennox, & Myles Borne all vied for a shot at the NXT Championship to close out the show.
We also saw Kendal Grey, Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, Kelani Jordan, & Jordynne Grace vie for a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship in the Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge. Also, Ricky Saints defended his NXT Championship against Oba Femi, Ethan Page defended his NXT North American Championship against Mr. Iguana, and Izzi Dame battled Tatum Paxley. So, what were the top three moments of the show?
3. Iron Survivors Decided
When the “NXT Deadline” event rolls around, fans know to expect one thing: the Iron Survivor Challenge. This is one of the more unique matches around today. In a way, it’s the opposite of an Ironman match. In this one, the clock starts at 0:00, and over the course of five minutes each, three more competitors enter, and the competitor with the most falls wins the match at 25:00.
The Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge took place first. Kendal Grey, Kelani Jordan, Jordynne Grace, Lola Vice, and Sol Ruca each tried for an opportunity to challenge Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Championship. Grey got the points rolling, earning her first point against Jordan. However, in the end, when all the competitors were tied at two falls each, Grey hit a “Shades of Grey” on Vice as time wound down, and pinned her to win the match with under five seconds left.
Grey was a very interesting choice to win this one. Taking nothing away from her, but she’s still very new in NXT, so this was about as shocking as it comes. However, Grey is very talented and has a bright future. Now, she gets a chance to capture the NXT Women’s Championship at “NXT New Year’s Evil” in January.
As for the Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge, it closed the show. TNA’s Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans opened the match, as Myles Borne, Dion Lennox, and Joe Hendry each joined the fray later. Over the 25 minutes, all five men showed up and showed out in this one. In the end, Evans landed a small package pinfall on Borne to win the match with three seconds remaining, giving him the victory with two falls, and all the other competitors in the match had one fall each.
Evans was another interesting decision to win the Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge. However, we’re not complaining. Evans and Femi had a Match-of-the-Year contender last time they met, so I’m all for seeing them do battle again. However, someone else may have had some other plans, but we’ll get to that when we go over the top moment of Saturday’s event.
2. Oba Femi Reclaims the NXT Championship
In the opening match of the night, Ricky Saints put his NXT Championship on the line against the former champion, Oba Femi. This was a rematch from the late-September event, “NXT No Mercy,” where Saints defeated Femi to win the NXT Championship. After taking more than a month off to re-focus, Femi returned to NXT and made his intentions clear: he wanted the NXT Championship back.
The biggest difference in this rematch compared to the first time they faced off was that there was something extra at stake here. On a recent episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Femi and Saints were called out by GM Nick Aldis, with Cody Rhodes announcing that the winner would go one-on-one with him at Saturday Night’s Main Event XLII on December 13th.
So, the two men locked up again and had another stellar match. After catching a charging Saints with a Fall From Grace, Femi put him away to reclaim the NXT Championship. Femi will also now get to showcase his talents on the main roster as he goes one-on-one with Cody Rhodes in less than a week. Now, the only question that remains is, where do Saints go from here?
1. Tony D’Angelo Returns
Following Je’Von Evans’ win in the Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge, Oba Femi came to the stage and stared down his future challenger. However, what neither man saw coming was that an old friend was about to rear his head. The lights went out, and when the spotlight came back on the ring, Tony D’Angelo made his triumphant return, laying out Evans.
However, this was a much different-looking D’Angelo. It seems like “The Don” character, that we all knew and loved, has gone away. Now, we’re seeing a bit of a “Hitman” character, which looks equally as cool. One has to guess that this character change is getting D’Angelo ready for a main roster call-up sooner rather than later, as a “Don” character wouldn’t fare very well on the main roster.
The stare down D’Angelo shared with Femi after laying out Evans spoke volumes. Femi looked like he saw a ghost. D’Angelo looked more focused than we’ve ever seen him, and arguably a bit more dangerous. While Femi has a lot to worry about when it comes to Evans, does D’Angelo pose an even bigger threat? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. The only thing we know for sure is that Tony D’Angelo is back.
