The 3 Count Podcast

Brief Review of NXT Vengeance Day (Saturday February 4th 2023)
By: Courtney Wood


NXT North American Championship


Champion Wes Lee and Dijak told the very classic story of speed versus strength in a very hard hitting engaging match that could have gone either way. Overall, it was pretty reminiscent of old school black and gold NXT with the level of equal competition evident by the number of near falls by both men. In the end, Wes Lee retained his coveted championship. Wes Lee has always looked good so his performance is not much of a surprise, but I had to give credit to Dijak as this was ever he has looked in a WWE ring, hopefully this is a sign of good things to come..


NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship


The women’s tag team title match between champions Katana Chance and Kayden Carter and Kiana James and Fallon Hanley was pretty straightforward, a team of best friends versus a team consisting of rivals. The tag team continuity of Katana and Kayden really stood out, they had cohesive offense working as a unit the entire match. Despite all of this, Fallon was able to pick up the victory for her team, ending the longest reigning women’s tag team champions in all of the WWE. Of course the finish was a little controversial as Kiana helped her partner win by less than honorable means; unbeknownst to Fallon. I feel this is going to continue the story of “can they coexist” and them arguing over what is the best way to win, so even though it ended a legendary record-setting title reign I think the storyline implications are pretty exciting.


Carmello Hayes battled Apollo Crews, two out of three falls


The first fall was very technical. Both men were at a stalemate and appeared to be very evenly matched. The biggest difference was Mello seemed to be a little frazzled as Apollo used his strength. The first fall went to Mello once Apollo tapped to a crossface after a series of near falls. Fall number two began with Mello attacking the vulnerable shoulder of Crews. Trick Williams removed the turnbuckle pad trying to help out his friend, unfortunately Mello ended up getting whipped into it. Just as Trick Willams was about to get involved, we saw the return of Crew’s longtime partner Dabba Kato. Mello capitalized on the excitement and hit a leg drop from the top rope for the second and final fall. After the match, Dabba Kato shockingly attacked Apollo Crews, setting up Crew’s next feud and leaving a clear path to the Heavyweight title for Mello. I personally enjoyed how this all played out, I feel it was the right way for this story to end. Mello is everything you would want in a superstar and this made him look so good. The next few weeks should be interesting for everyone involved.


A backstage segment happened after this match, where we saw the new NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions talking with Brooks and Jensen. Fallon said she couldn’t believe they could win and Kiana said it was Brook’s idea. I thought they left it up in the air if she meant Brook’s idea was them as a tag team or the controversial way they won.


Four Way for the NXT Tag Team Championship


The beginning of the match was frantic with members of every single team tagging in and out rapidly, the action was extremely fast-paced and pretty entertaining with this combination of eight individuals each having very different personalities and athletic styles. Some of the action included Kofi hitting a ‘boom drop’ on both members of Pretty Deadly and Mark Coffey, Andre Chase slamming Kip Wilson from the top rope into a massive pile of all the other competitors and Gallas putting Duke Hudson through a table. In the end Gallus hit Xavier Woods with a double team slam to become the new NXT Tag team champions. Overall I felt this match was mostly about showcasing the depth of the tag team division as opposed to competeling or beginning future storylines. Hopefully in the weeks leading up to ‘NXT Stand and Deliver 2023’, we will see a rivalry come out of this still entertaining match.


Triple Threat for the NXT Women’s Championship


The beginning of the triple threat match for the women’s championship started off as expected with Toxic Attraction double-teaming the very likable Roxanne Perez. It wasn’t until Jacey hit Gigi that the cracks began to show. Gigi attempted to get back on the same page with her teammate, but may or may not have inadvertently pushed her partner in the way of a suicide dive. Both members of Toxic Attraction fought amongst themselves before reuniting. In the end, Jacey set up a table on the outside then all three women ended up on the top rope. Gigi went crashing through the table, Roxanne hit Jacey with a pop rox from the top rope to retain her title. The Toxic attraction storyline could have been told a little better, but this was a very good showing for the young champion.


Cage Match for the NXT Heavyweight Championship


The match began with Greyson Waller attacking Braun before he could even make it in the cage. Once in the cage, Braun dominated for a decent amount of time before ending up tied in the ropes. Waller capitalized on this and speared him into the steel. Waller hit Breakerrr in his dog faced gremlin and hit a rolling pop-up stunner for an extremely impressive and close near fall. Waller climbed to the top of the cage. Breakerrr followed and gave him a back suplex which looked devastating. In the end, Breakerrr won with a good looking spear to retain his championship. This match was everything you would have wanted and made up for their less than satisfying ast encounter. Odds are Braun will be called up to the main roster after Wrestlemania, making his next challenger important as he will most likely be the next champion; I personally hope it is Carmello Hayes.


Overall I enjoyed NXT Vengeance Day even though it did not live up to the hype and I am looking forward to Stand and Deliver.