The NXT crew traveled out of state for only the second time since the pandemic for Vengeance Day, which took place in Charlotte, NC, at the Spectrum Center. On our traveler’s minds were championships and probably vengeance, too.
1. NXT North American Title: Wes Lee [c] vs. Dijak
What a TakeOver match! Dijak is almost a foot taller than Lee and tossed him into all sorts of exciting problems while always being Right There for the comebacks too. Lee bumped like he was on Peacock and hit spots that were not only spectacular but looked credible against Dijak. He also hit a perfect Space Flying Tiger Drop (amazing!), countered a torture rack into a poison rana (overkill), and countered a powerbomb from the top rope with a hurricanrana at just the last second (scary!). Exciting action led to exciting near falls that ended a couple minutes after the peak; I repeat, what a TakeOver match! ****
2. NXT Women’s Tag Team Title: Kayden Carter & Katana Chance [c] vs. Fallon Henley & Kiana James w/ Briggs & Jensen
Commentary described Kayden & Katana while they entered as “all about having a good time … partying … [and] getting at it … but taking care of business tonight,” which describes almost nothing but accurately summarizes how undefined they’ve stayed as they went from PC trainees to NXT Tag Team Champions. Their title defense on PLE looked a too rehearsed and got outshined by a love story outside the ring between Kiana James and Brook Jensen. And onto Monday Night RAW went Kayden & Katana, those WWE Superstars… **3/4
3. 2/3 Falls: Apollo Crews vs. Carmelo Hayes w/ Trick Williams
Carmelo Hayes continued his climb up the card going 2-0 in this match with Apollo Crews, who returned to NXT last year and can possibly see the future. They did a lot of cool stuff but had to spread it across 20+ minutes, with not much more than Hayes quietly working the neck in between. Crews’ old heater Commander Azeez (back to the Dabba-Kato now) returned towards the end of the match and attacked Crews after. Charlotte… they watched it. ***1/4
4. Fatal 4-Way Match – NXT Tag Team Title: The New Day [c] vs. Andre Chase & Duke Hudson vs. Pretty Deadly vs. Gallus
New Day got pops, Gallus worked holds, Pretty Deadly were funny, and Chase U delivered at the end with Hudson’s hot tag and Chase’s figure-four leglock. The Pretty boys caught Kofi’s trust fall plancha but revealed their true character by immediately dropping him, then Gallus put down Woods to crown another new set of tag champs. Fun stuff, mostly forgettable. ***1/4
5. Triple Threat Match – NXT Women’s Title: Roxanne Perez [c] vs. Gigi Dolin vs. Jacy Jayne
Mandy Rose had been NXT Women’s Champion for over 400 days when she was released in December. On her last night she dropped the title to Roxanne Perez, who now faced her two protégés in a Triple Threat. So there was action. And dissension. But mostly action. The kind that keeps a remarkable pace from bell-to-bell. Jayne connected with an incredible V-Trigger and a table was setup at some point, which Dolin ended up falling through from the top rope when she tried to stop a top rope Pop Rocks on Jayne. That kind of match. ***1/2
6. Steel Cage Match – NXT Title: Bron Breakker [c] vs. Grayson Waller
Waller strutted and talked his Australian brand of shit before Breakker hit a clothesline and the Frankensteiner. Waller jumped over a spear, low blowed Breakker and hit a roll-through Stunner for something like a near fall. Waller tried to climb out of the cage but Breakker caught him, superplexed him, and speared him for 3. After the last three matches a singles match inside a Steel Cage felt refreshing in its’ simplicity, but it was between two guys who still wrestle too basic to make the most of anything. It followed the plot of a serviceable WWE main event but I wasn’t convinced anyone wanted the NXT Championship let alone VENGEANCE. ***
Happy Thoughts: NXT Vengeance Day peaked with a great opener between Wes Lee and Dijak, which reflects well on them but didn’t make the show very fun to watch. 2.5 / 5.0
