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NXT Deadline
Promotional poster featuring Ilja Dragunov, Tiffany Stratton, Lyra Valkyria, Baron Corbin, and Carmelo Hayes
Promotion	WWE
Brand(s)	NXT
Date	December 9, 2023
City	Bridgeport, Connecticut
Venue	Total Mortgage Arena
WWE Network event chronology
← Previous Survivor Series: WarGames Next → Royal Rumble
NXT Deadline chronology
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NXT Major Events chronology
← Previous No Mercy Next → Vengeance Day

The 2023 NXT Deadline (stylized as DEADL1NE) was the second annual NXT Deadline professional wrestling livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held primarily for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The event took place on Saturday, December 9, 2023, at the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Seven matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Ilja Dragunov defeated Baron Corbin to retain the NXT Championship. For the event's Iron Survivor Challenges, Trick Williams won the men's, while the women's was won by Blair Davenport. In other prominent matches, Carmelo Hayes defeated Lexis King and in the opening bout, SmackDown's Dragon Lee defeated Raw's "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio to win the NXT North American Championship. The event also notably saw the returns of CM Punk in his first ever appearance on NXT since August 2012 and Cora Jade in her first appearance since August 2023.

Production

Background

In December 2022, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE held a livestreaming event for its developmental brand, NXT, called NXT Deadline, which replaced the previously annual event, NXT WarGames. The inaugural Deadline debuted the Iron Survivor Challenge match-type in WWE for both the men and women, which is a five-person match in which a wrestler attempts to score the most falls before the 25-minute time limit expires to earn a future match for the NXT Championship and NXT Women's Championship, respectively.

On September 28, 2023, WWE announced the return of Deadline, thus establishing Deadline as NXT's annual December event. It was scheduled to be held on Saturday, December 9, 2023, at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and aired on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets. This was also the first televised WWE event held at this venue since NXT TakeOver: XXV in June 2019, when the arena was known as the Webster Bank Arena (renamed in 2022).

Storylines

The event comprised seven matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program, NXT, and the supplementary online streaming show, Level Up.

Qualifying matches for the men's Iron Survivor Challenge began on the November 7 episode of NXT. Dijak became the first qualified entrant by defeating Tyler Bate. The following week, Trick Williams qualified by defeating Joe Coffey. On the November 21 episode, Josh Briggs qualified by defeating Carmelo Hayes. The following week, Bron Breakker qualified by defeating Eddy Thorpe. On the December 5 episode, the final spot in the men's Iron Survivor Challenge was determined by a last chance fatal four-way match between Bate, Coffey, Hayes, and Thorpe, which Bate won.

Qualifying matches for the women's Iron Survivor Challenge also began on the November 7 episode of NXT. Tiffany Stratton became the first qualified entrant by defeating Fallon Henley. The following week, Lash Legend qualified by defeating Roxanne Perez. On the November 21 episode, Blair Davenport qualified by defeating Thea Hail. The following week, Kelani Jordan qualified by defeating Kiana James. On the December 5 episode, the final spot in the women's Iron Survivor Challenge was determined by a last chance fatal four-way match between Henley, Perez, Hail, and James, which Henley won.

After Ilja Dragunov's successful defense of the NXT Championship on Night 2 of NXT: Halloween Havoc, Baron Corbin attacked Dragunov backstage and threatened him. On the November 14 episode of NXT, Dragunov attempted to try and attack Corbin after the latter's match, but Corbin stopped and attacked him. Dragunov then accepted Corbin's challenge for an NXT Championship match at Deadline.

On the July 18 episode of NXT, Raw's "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio defeated Wes Lee to win the NXT North American Championship after interference from his Judgment Day stablemates. After failing to regain the title at The Great American Bash, Lee set his sights on the NXT Championship, which he failed to win at NXT: Heatwave. On the September 12 episode of NXT, Lee failed to become the number one contender for the NXT Championship. Lee was later seen clearing out his locker and when asked about it, Lee said that he was going home and that he was done. Lee returned a month later during Night 2 of NXT: Halloween Havoc and attacked Mysterio after his successful title defense. On the November 28 episode of NXT, as demanded by Mysterio the week before, Lee defeated three former NXT North American Champions in a fatal four-way match to earn a title match against Mysterio at Deadline. The following week, however, Lee announced that he had a legitimate back injury and was not medically cleared to compete. SmackDown's Dragon Lee was then revealed as a replacement to face Mysterio for the title at Deadline with Rey Mysterio in Dragon Lee's corner.

On Night 1 of NXT: Halloween Havoc, Roxanne Perez defeated Kiana James in a Devil's Playground match. Two weeks later, James agreed with Tiffany Stratton that Perez should not be in the Iron Survivor Challenge. James subsequently cost Perez her qualifying match, with Perez in turn costing James hers. On the December 5 episode, Ava announced that James would face Perez in a Steel Cage match at Deadline.

On the December 5 episode of NXT, Axiom and Nathan Frazer had their match interrupted by the competitors in the women's Iron Survivor Challenge, causing the match to end in a no contest. A rematch between Axiom and Frazer was later scheduled for the Deadline Kickoff pre-show.

On the October 17 episode of NXT, Trick Williams was added to a triple threat match to make it a fatal four-way match to earn an NXT Championship match at NXT: Halloween Havoc. This announcement caused a rift between Williams and longtime friend Carmelo Hayes. Before the match began, Williams was found attacked backstage by an unknown assailant and had to be taken to a hospital. Later that night, Hayes went on to win the match. Two weeks later on Night 2 of NXT: Halloween Havoc, Hayes failed to regain the title from Ilja Dragunov after being distracted by the returning Williams. The following week, Williams confronted Hayes and asked if he was the one who attacked him before being interrupted by Lexis King. Williams tried to attack King, but accidentally hit Hayes instead. Two weeks later, King cost Hayes his qualifying match for the Iron Survivor Challenge. On the December 5 episode of NXT, Hayes challenged King to a match at Deadline, which was made official.

Event

Pre-show

During the pre-show, Axiom faced Nathan Frazer. In the end, Axiom performed a top rope Spanish fly and a Golden Ratio kick on Frazer to win the match.

Preliminary matches

Main event

Results

Women's Iron Survivor Challenge statistics

• Entry Order: Fallon Henley, Blair Davenport, Tiffany Stratton, Kelani Jordan, and Lash Legend

Men's Iron Survivor Challenge statistics

• Entry Order, Dijak, Josh Briggs, Tyler Bate, Trick Williams, and Bron Breakker

Notes

1. Legend dragged Henley over Stratton and pinned both of them simultaneously.
2. Dijak and Briggs simultaneously pinned Williams and Breakker respectively.

References

1. Currier, Joseph (October 21, 2022). "WWE confirms NXT Deadline special for December 10". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on October 21, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
2. Lambert, Jeremy (September 28, 2023). "NXT Deadline Announced For December 9". Fightful. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
3. Johnson, Mike (September 28, 2023). "Official details on WWE NXT Deadline in CT". PWInsider. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
4. Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
5. "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
6. ^ Moore, John (November 7, 2023). "NXT TV results (11/7): Moore's review of Bron Breakker vs. Von Wagner, Noam Dar vs. Akira Tozawa for the Heritage Cup, Iron Survivor Challenge qualifying matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
7. ^ Moore, John (November 14, 2023). "NXT TV results (11/14): Moore's review of Andre Chase and Duke Hudson vs. Tony D'Angelo Stacks for the NXT Tag Titles, Ridge Holland and Butch vs. OTM, Wes Lee vs. Baron Corbin". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on November 15, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
8. ^ Moore, John (November 21, 2023). "NXT TV results (11/21): Moore's review of Lyra Valkyria vs. Xia Li for the NXT Women's Title, Noam Dar vs. Chad Gable for the NXT Heritage Cup, Iron Survivor Challenge qualifiers". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
9. ^ Moore, John (November 28, 2023). "NXT TV results (11/28): Moore's review of Tony D'Angelo and Channing Lorenzo vs. Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo for the NXT Tag Team Titles, Iron Survivor Challenge qualifiers". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
10. ^ Moore, John (December 5, 2023). "NXT TV results (12/5): Moore's review of Ilja Dragunov and Baron Corbin meet face-to-face on the Deadline go-home show, Iron Survivor Challenge last chance qualifiers". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
11. ^ Moore, John (October 31, 2023). "NXT TV results (10/31): Moore's review of Ilja Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Championship, Dominik Mysterio vs. Nathan Frazer for the NXT North American Title, Bron Breakker vs. Mr. Stone". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
12. Moore, John (July 18, 2023). "NXT TV results (7/18): Moore's review of Wes Lee vs. Dominik Mysterio for the NXT NA Title, Nathan Frazer and Dragon Lee vs. Los Lotharios, Kiana James vs. Gigi Dolin, Tony D'Angelo's homecoming". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
13. Moore, John (July 30, 2023). "NXT Great American Bash results: Moore's live review of Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Title, Dominik Mysterio vs. Wes Lee vs. Mustafa Ali for the NA Title, Tiffany Stratton vs. Thea Hail in a submission match for the NXT Women's Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
14. Moore, John (September 12, 2023). "NXT TV results (9/12): Moore's review of Tiffany Stratton vs. Becky Lynch for the NXT Women's Title, Wes Lee vs. Ilja Dragunov for a shot at the NXT Title, Heritage Cup tournament matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
15. Moore, John (October 24, 2023). "NXT TV results (10/24): Moore's review of Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria for the NXT Women's Title, Tony D'Angelo and Stacks vs. Andre Chase and Duke Hudson for the NXT Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
16. Moore, John (October 17, 2023). "NXT TV results (10/17): Moore's review of Carmelo Hayes vs. Baron Corbin vs. Dijak for a shot at the NXT Title, Lyra Valkyria vs. Tegan Nox, Bada-Bing, Bada-Boom Battle Royal". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on October 29, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
17. ^ Moore, John (December 9, 2023). "NXT Deadline results: Moore's live review of Ilja Dragunov vs. Baron Corbin for the NXT Title, Iron Survivor Challenge matches, Dominik Mysterio vs. Dragon Lee for the NA Title, Carmelo Hayes vs. Lexis King". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
18. ^ "The Mad Dragon reigns supreme at NXT Deadline". WWE. December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2023.

External links

• WWE NXT official website
• NXT Deadline at IMDb

• 2023 in professional wrestling in Florida
• 2023 WWE Network events
• December 2023 events in the United States
• WWE NXT
• Events in Connecticut
• Professional wrestling in Connecticut
• 2023 in Connecticut