New Champion Crowned At WWE NXT Deadline
Two title matches took place at WWE NXT Deadline and one of those matches saw a new champion crowned.
The WWE NXT Deadline Premium Live Event from Bridgeport, CT was the final WWE PLE of 2023. It was a show that featured two Iron Survivor Challenge matches that went 25 minutes each along with a Steel Cage Match and more.
In the first title match of the night that opened the main PLE show, Dominik Mysterio defended the NXT North American Title against Dragon Lee. Rey Mysterio, who is Dominik’s father, joined Dragon Lee for the match and had crutches due to a recent knee surgery. Rey joined in on commentary for the match.
It was a rare sight for Dominik Mysterio because nobody from The Judgment Day was at ringside to support him. They weren’t banned from the match or anything like that, but nobody from The Judgment Day was there.
Due to no outside interference from The Judgment Day, Dragon Lee was able to control much of the match, get a lot of offense, and finished off Dominik for the clean win to become the new NXT North American Champion.
After the match, Dragon Lee celebrated with the NXT North American Title while also receiving a congratulatory hug from his wrestling idol Rey Mysterio.
What a moment for @dragonlee95 👏👏👏#NXTDeadlinepic.twitter.com/noabRZYHex
— WWE (@WWE) December 10, 2023
Dragon Lee is a part of the SmackDown roster, but as the NXT North American Champion, that should mean more appearances on the NXT brand as well.
Who Won The NXT Title Match At Deadline?
In the main event, Ilja Dragunov defended the NXT Championship against Baron Corbin. It was a match that saw Corbin work on Dragunov’s ribs throughout the match, but the champion Dragunov showed a lot of heart as usual and kept on fighting back.
The final moments of the match saw Dragunov hit an H-Bomb forearm to the head two times in a row. Dragunov hit a third running H-Bomb to the head. Dragunov even hugged Corbin and said something to him. Dragunov also hit a running Torpedo Moscow uppercut for the pinfall win to retain the NXT Championship.
Up next for Dragunov is an NXT Title defense against Trick Williams, who won the Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge match at Deadline. That match will take place at NXT New Year’s Evil on January 2nd, 2024.