WWE
NXT BATTLEGROUND 2023
MAY 28, 2023
TSONGAS CENTER
LOWELL, MA

Watch: Peacock

Well, would you look at that? NXT had a show that just so happened to end up on at the same exact time as AEW’s Double or Nothing PPV! Golly gee whiz, what a coincidence! Well, as your WWE correspondent for Voices of Wrestling, I figured I should probably get this watched at some point. So, let’s get it watched.

WWE NXT NORTH AMERICAN TITLE – TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: WES LEE © DEF. TYLER BATE & JOE GACY (W/AVA)

This match came about because, for some reason, Joe Gacy wanted to stick a wedge in the apparent friendship between Wes Lee and Tyler Bate. Lee got mad at Bate because Gacy revealed that Bate…wanted a title match. Despite giving out title matches like Halloween candy, this upset Lee, and now we have a three-way match for the title.

This was Lee’s tenth successful title defense, setting the record for the most successful defenses of this title. This was such a boilerplate three-way match. It was…fine. There’s nothing anyone can do to make me care about Joe Gacy or his cult. The Rock’s hopeless daughter stood at ringside, giving me a chuckle at the thought of Dwayne having to watch former CZW World Champion Joe Gacy. Bate went for a feat of strength spot with Joe Gacy on his shoulders and Lee in a giant swing, but it was so comically slow that Bate had to bail out almost immediately.

They did a lot of STUFF, and Lee won with the Cardiac Kick on a cartwheeling Gacy. Nothing special. **1/2

WWE NXT HERITAGE CUP: NOAM DAR (W/ORO MENSAH) © DEF. DRAGON LEE (W/NATHAN FRAZER)

The Heritage Cup was NXT UK’s midcard title. It’s a takeoff of British Rounds rules matches. Six 3-minute rounds, with the winner being the first to two falls. DQs or Knockouts end the match immediately. If the match goes all six rounds, the man with the most falls wins. The champion retains in the case of a draw.

Dar scored the first fall in the middle of the second round after a backhand and a roll-up. Lee came back in round three with a rana off the apron and a suicide dive. Lee had control at the end of the round, but Dar caught him with a back elbow after the bell. We got shenanigans with the seconds, as Oro Mensah helped Dar get his foot on the ropes for a nearfall before shoving Nathan Frazer into the ring steps. But Lee still scored with a running Destino to score a fall in round four.

Frazer and Mensah brawled to the back between rounds. Lee went for another rana off the apron, but in an insane spot, Dar powerbombed him to the floor. Lee came back later in the round, but then we got the finish. Jakara Jackson distracted the ref, and Lash Legend hit Dragon Lee with a bucket. Dar hit the Nova Roller to win his second fall and the match.

This was Dar’s first defense of his second reign as Cup champion. This is a decent concept for a match, but there are some issues with it. Three minutes is far too short for there to be real back-and-forths within a round. Lee had to come back after that powerbomb within 90 seconds of taking it, then they ran an overbooked finish in the middle of it. I could see this style of match maybe working in a New Japan system, but I don’t see it lasting in WWE. The match was fine. **1/2

LAST MAN STANDING MATCH: ILJA DRAGUNOV DEF. DIJAK

This match has a 9.25 rating on Cagematch, the 7th highest rated match of the year on that platform. It’s rated higher than matches like:

  • El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Kenny Omega from AEW Dynamite (9.15)
  • Both main events of the Double or Nothing PPV (9.04 for the Four Pillars AEW Title match, 8.96 for Anarchy in the Arena)
  • Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley from Wrestlemania (9.03)
  • The Usos vs. Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens Wrestlemania main event (9.15)

I liked this match. These two went out there and beat the hell out of each other. There were creative spots like Dragunov charging through a table to spear Dijak. But this was nowhere near the level of the other matches I listed. It was a good plunder match to get over Dragunov as a tough, never-say-die babyface as he stood tall with nasty welts all over his body. But what worked against it was a crowd that sucked for the undercard of this show and the monologues that have become an unfortunate trademark of this era of this company. Again, I liked this. But let’s calm down here people. This was far from anything resembling a Match of the Year candidate. ***1/2

WWE NXT TAG TEAM TITLE: GALLUS (MARK COFFEY & WOLFGANG) (W/JOE COFFEY) © DEF. THE CREED BROTHERS (BRUTUS CREED & JULIUS CREED) (W/IVY NILE)

Love something like this company loves Gallus. These guys have no heat, as the anti-pop their music got was deafening. They aren’t exactly Furnas and Kroffat in the ring either, as this match was as average as it gets. They’re solid professionals. Good hands. As I talk this out, I suddenly get their purpose in NXT. They’re the steady hands that the fresher talent can base themselves on. That’s great. If we can find a way to make me care about them, that would also be great.

Julius Creed popped off eight overhead belly-to-belly suplex in this one, doing a kip up after all of them. He then effortlessly hit a standing shooting star press. This guy is an absolute freak athlete. Booker called Brutus “Bruti” throughout the match. The finish came after the Rock’s hopeless daughter from the Schism posted Ivy Nile on the floor, leading to Gallus hitting their finish and winning. This was Gallus’ fifth successful defense of the titles. **

WWE NXT WOMEN’S TITLE TOURNAMENT FINAL: TIFFANY STRATTON DEF. LYRA VALKYRIA

In 2023, the NXT Women’s Title lineage has looked like this:

  • Roxanne Perez started the year as champion
  • Perez vacated the title (I think?) after collapsing after a title defense
  • Indi Hartwell won the title at Stand and Deliver
  • Hartwell hurts her ankle in a title defense and gets drafted to Raw, so she vacates the title a month later

There have been constant qualifiers for title matches and tournaments going on around this title, so hopefully putting the belt on Stratton here will settle it down. Most likely, they’ll call her up and we’ll get another 2 months of qualifiers and tournament action.

I’ll tell you what though, this match was baaaaaaad. First of all, I’m at the point where I’m wondering why these people bought tickets to this show. They sat in silence as Stratton put holds on Valkyria’s bad leg. It was entertaining seeing Stratton put Valkyria in both a Llave Inmortal and a Numero Dos after the end of the Best of the Super Junior tournament in New Japan. I was waiting for her to break out a Tsutenkaku German.

That aside, this was just bad work in this one. Stratton has million-dollar potential, but she’s as green as a million-dollar bill would be, and it showed here. Valkyria isn’t a ring general in her own right either, leading to several clunky spots throughout this match. One in particular was Valkyria crumbling on a kick attempt due to the bad leg, but Stratton bumped for it anyway. It was just a rough night in the office for both women that ended with Stratton hitting the Prettiest Moonsault Ever to win the title. *1/2

WWE NXT TITLE: CARMELO HAYES (W/TRICK WILLIAMS) © DEF. BRON BREAKKER

At least someone repping Boston won something this weekend.

I’ve dumped on the crowd a lot during this review, but they got up for their hometown guy Hayes. This was a good main event as a result. Breakker’s work is still very basic, but I think the explosiveness in his moves works for a strength-based heel like he is. Hayes ran through his offense in bursts before Breakker would cut him off with a power move and stomp on him for a while. He cut off a Hayes springboard with a spear for a nearfall, but Hayes turned the gorilla press slam into a DDT. Hayes kept on Breakker, hitting a springboard DDT before hitting Nothing But Net to win and retain the title. Simple and effective. ***1/4