NXT NO MERCY 2023: THE NXT SUPERSTARS ARE THE FUTURE AND THE FUTURE IS NOW!
By Michael Weaver, Jr. [E-Mail | Facebook | Instagram | Website | X]
Last night’s NXT No Mercy 2023 might have been one of the best premium live events under the NXT brand. The event originated on Saturday, September 30, 2023 from the Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield, California. No Mercy was one of the few premium live events I’ve seen in 2023 that was exciting action from the beginning of the show and lasted until the show faded to black.
This premium live event began with a singles match as Bron Breakker went one-on-one with Baron Corbin. NXT Officials added extra security around the ringside to make sure both men stayed in the ring. However; the security didn’t seem to be very intimidating to either man. The action began when Breakker flew out of the ring and landed on Corbin. The two men then migrated towards the security who found themselves ignored after Breakker tossed Corbin over the barricade. After the men battled throughout the NXT Universe, they returned over the barricade, and when the security guard told Breakker to keep the action in the ring, the rabid dog of NXT politely answered the security guard with a punch, and then thought the other security guards would like to have a punch so he gave them one as well. The bell FINALLY rings to officially begin the match after Breakker and Corbin enter the ring. Later on when the match returns to the outside, the announce table is broken as Corbin slams Breakker through it. But Breakker actually makes it to his feet first and spears Corbin. When the action returns to the ring, Breakker signals to the crowd that he’s going to hit Corbin with his finishing move; but he’s distracted when he looks up and sees Mr. Stone, the manager of Von Wagner, on the top rope. Stone leaps off the turnbuckle only for Breakker to catch him and toss him on top of the security at ringside. The match then ends when Corbin nails The End of Days and pins Breakker. Your winner is Baron Corbin!
Match Rating = ⭐️ ⭐️
Our next match was for the NXT North American Championship between NXT North American Champion: “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio (¼ of The Judgment Day) against Trick Williams with Dragon Lee as the special guest referee. “Dirty” Dom came to the ring with a black eye. Once the action had gotten underway, Mysterio attempts to hit the challenger with a superkick but Williams ducks and Mysterio ends up nailing Lee instead. With the special guest referee rolling out of the ring but a new referee rushes down to ringside to take over. Several minutes later, the youngest member of The Judgment Day attempts to run the ropes but rushes into the new referee and now THAT referee is knocked out of the ring. Later, Mysterio goes outside and retrieves the North American Championship. Once he returns to the ring, the champion charges at the challenger but is nailed with a running kick to the jaw. Williams covers Dominik and it’s Dragon Lee who returns to the ring to make the three count. Your winner and NNNNNEEEEEWWWWW NXT North American Champion is Trick Williams!
MATCH RATING = ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Editor’s Note: Before I continue, I want to bring something to the attention of the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative and WWE Hall of Famer: “The HeartBreak Kid” Shawn Michaels. According to the WWE Rulebook, unless the match is a specialty match where there are no disqualifications, a foreign object cannot be brought into the ring during a match and cannot be used. Last night we saw the NXT North American Championship brought into the ring by Dominik. Moments later we saw Trick nail Mysterio with a kick. That kick connected with the NXT North American Championship which then collided with Mysterio’s jaw. Now while Williams was not the individual who brought the championship into the ring, he should not be punished. The referee SHOULD have disqualified Dominik for bringing the championship into the ring but since he did not, the only right decision Mr. Michaels should make is to vacate the NXT North American Championship and hold a rematch between Mysterio and Williams at this Tuesday’s NXT! Surely Michaels believes in law and order! And it’s obvious Dragon Lee was only out to cheat Dominik because if he wasn’t out to cheat the champion, he would’ve called for the bell and disqualified him. I hope Mr. Michaels reminds everyone that the WWE Rulebook was written for a reason and not just to sit pretty on the WWE Board of Directors’ bookcase.
Our next contest was for the NXT Tag Team Championship and it was a Fatal 4-Way Match between the NXT Tag Team Champions: The Family (“The Don” Tony D’Angelo & Channing”Stacks”Lorenzo) defending against Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo against The Creed Brothers (Brutus & Julius Creed), who had Ivy Nile in their corner, against OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price), with Scrypts in their corner. After the bell rang to begin the match, it was Julius Creed and Angel Garza beginning the match. During the match, “The Don” is attempting a double suplex on Garza and Carrillo but it appears Tony’s right knee goes out as he collapses on the mat. The referee helps D’Angelo move to his corner, where the trainer and doctor are waiting for him. It then appears that the chances of The Family retaining the championship are slim as “The Don” is assisted to the backstage area. Stacks doesn’t just give up though as he continues to battle through the match as if Tony is standing in the corner, waiting to be tagged. The NXT Universe is shocked, later in the match, as D’Angelo begins to limp out of the backstage area with several referees and an official attempting to keep him away from the ring. He yells at them and tells them that nothing is keeping him out of the match before head-butting the official. After Tony returns to the ring, the match concludes with The Family delivering The Badda Bing Badda Boom before “The Don” pins Price. Your winners and still NXT Tag Team Champions are The Family (“The Don” Tony D’Angelo & Channing”Stacks”Lorenzo)!
MATCH RATING = ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Our next match saw the NXT Heritage Cup Champion: “Supernova 11” Noam Dar, with The Meta-Four in his corner, defend the NXT Heritage Cup Championship against The Brawling Brutes’ Butch, with “The Big Strong Boy” Tyler Bate in his corner. The first round ended with no competitor obtaining a fall. The second round saw Dar pin Butch after Mensah kicked Butch in the head before Dar hits the challenger with a running kick to the head. The third round saw Butch tie the match after he nailed Dar with The Bitter End. The score remained tied at 1-1 after the conclusions of the fourth and fifth rounds. The sixth round ended after Mark Coffey and Wolfgang of Gallus ran out of the crowd to double-team Bate. Then with the referee’s attention distracted, Joe Coffey hits All the Best for the Bells on Butch before Dar pins Butch to win the match and retain the NXT Heritage Cup Championship.
MATCH RATING = ⭐️ ⭐️
The next match was the NXT Championship Match between NXT Champion: Carmelo Hayes defending the NXT Championship against Ilja Dragunov. Going into the match, the NXT Champion wondered if he could beat the challenger and had previously stated that he didn’t want people to think he needed Trick Williams’ help to beat Dragunov. This match is one of the few matches that no matter how much one writes or says about it, you have to watch it to appreciate it. Hayes and Dragunov left everything they had in the middle of the NXT ring. Dragunov nailed H-Bombs, a Coast-To-Coast, numerous suplexes and powerbombs. But in the end it took Hayes missing the Nothing But Net before Dragunov nailed a Super H-Bomb to finally pin Carmelo Hayes. The winner of this match and the new NXT Champion is Ilja Dragunov! Hayes and Dragunov is a Match of the Year Candidate for 2023 and you’ll have a hard time finding a better match!
MATCH RATING = ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Our final match was the Extreme Rules Match and it was for the NXT Women’s Championship. In the audience, we are shown Tegan Nox, who will challenge for the NXT Women’s Championship this Monday on WWE Monday Night Raw, no matter who the champion is. This was a battle between the NXT Women’s Champion: “The Man” Becky Lynch defending the NXT Women’s Championship against the former champion, Tiffany Stratton. Everything you could think of was used in this match. We saw chairs, tables, chains, brass knuckles, a grocery cart…EVEN BARBIE DOLLS! The end of this match saw Lynch hit the Man Handle Slam on Stratton before pinning and retaining the championship. And while Lynch is still the champion, Stratton showed that she’s not leaving the NXT Women’s Championship scene and she will be back to battle for the title on another day! The winner of this match and still NXT Women’s Champion is “The Man” Becky Lynch!
MATCH RATING = ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
The men and women of NXT came to NXT No Mercy to show that they are the future and the future is NOW!
SHOW RATING = ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
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