Results
- Thea Hail def. Arianna Grace (2:46)
- Josh Briggs def. Tavion Heights (11:36) (Recommended)
- Sol Ruca, Kendal Grey & Lola Vice def. Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid (11:12)
- Bronco Nima & Lucien Price def. Uriah Connors & Kale Dixon (4:38)
- Myles Borne, Je’Von Evans, Joe Hendry & Leon Slater def. Dion Lennox, Osiris Girffin, Saquon Shugars & Cutler James (14:49)
Iron Survivor competitors get into it just days before Deadline
After two weeks on the road, NXT returned to the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, for this week’s episode of TV. This was an important episode for the brand, as it was the final show before the promotion heads to San Antonio, Texas this weekend for Deadline.
They didn’t waste any time previewing this weekend’s Premium Live Event (PLE) in the opening segment, as entrants in this year’s Iron Survivor match (Jordynne Grace, Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, Kelani Jordan, and Kendal Grey) appeared in the ring for an “Iron Survivor Summit.”
Ruca said that things haven’t been that great for her recently, but winning the Iron Survivor match would be a 180 for her career. Vice said she was picked for this match because she keeps getting back up after getting screwed. Grey said she’s the only champion in the ring (she has an EVOLVE title). Jordan’s heel turn has certainly worked, as she was nearly booed out of the building once it was her time to talk.
The Summit was eventually crashed by Fatal Influence, with NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne showing up to remind everyone that whoever wins the match will be a “lucky loser” at New Year’s Evil next year.
A brawl broke out between Grace and Jordan after Jordan said she would still be the TNA Knockouts World Champion “if it wasn’t for this meathead.” Everyone else involved in the Iron Survivor match, as well as Fatal Influence, got involved in the brawl to end the segment. Kind of a cookie-cutter preview segment here.
NXT General Manager Ava didn’t appreciate Fatal Influence’s involvement in the segment. As punishment, she booked the trio against Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, and Kendal Grey for later tonight.
Thea Hail makes quick work of Arianna Grace
In a clip from earlier in the day, Stacks and Arianna Grace were seen making fun of Thea Hail and Joe Hendry following their loss at Gold Rush. Hail stood up for herself, saying she believes she can beat Grace tonight.
With Hendry in her corner, Hail faced off against Grace in the opening bout of the night. We got a quick plug before the match for Channing Lorenzo’s upcoming bout against TNA International Champion Steve Maclin at Final Resolution this weekend.
Hail sent Grace out of the ring for a tope suicida just two minutes in. She followed up with an Exploder suplex and then a running head kick in the ring, but had her momentum stopped by Stacks, who grabbed her leg. Hendry took Stacks out of the equation, giving him a Standing Ovation chokeslam onto the ring apron. Moments later, Hail caught Grace with a kimura for the win in just under three minutes.
We saw OTM nearly get run over by Chase U’s Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors, who were struggling to manage the Tesla they were in. OTM warned Andre Chase that if the tag duo runs into them again, it’ll be “on sight.”
Referee distraction helps Josh Briggs take hard-hitting win over Tavion Heights
Another grudge match was up next, with Tavion Heights and Josh Briggs facing off in singles action. This matchup was made after Briggs and Heights got into a brawl inside the Madison Square Garden Theater at Gold Rush. Things picked up where they left off, as these two got into it at ringside before the bout was officially underway.
Briggs got a near fall in the first minute of the match with a chokeslam followed by an H-Bomb-esque forearm to the head. Heights answered back with a German Suplex then a lunging lariat for a two-count.
Heights spent the next two minutes throwing Briggs around the ring with huge slams. Briggs tossed Heights out of the ring then caught him coming through the ropes with a nasty boot to the head. Heights picked up Briggs at ringside and sent him through a barricade at ringside as the show went to a commercial break. These two were cooking early on!
Heights started to mount a comeback at the 10-minute mark, knocking down Briggs with a hip toss, a pair of lariats, then a slingblade. Struggling in the match and looking for an upper hand, Briggs took the chain off his neck and attempted to use it as a weapon, but the referee saw him do that and took the chain away from him.
This distraction allowed Heights to drop Briggs with an overhand right, then score a belly-to-belly suplex. The referee was somewhat slow to start his count, tossing away Briggs’ chain before tending to the pinfall attempt. Briggs was able to put a foot on the bottom rope to break the count at the last moment.
Heights got in the face of the referee, disputing what was a somewhat delayed count. This allowed Briggs to drop Heights with a kick to the back of the head, then take him out with a hard lariat for the pinfall win in 11 minutes. I really enjoyed this one, even if I have been a little cold on some of the programs these two have been in as of late.
Izzi Dame vs. Tatum Paxley joins NXT Deadline
Izzi Dame, alongside the rest of The Culling, came to the ring for the next segment. Dame defended her betrayal of Tatum Paxley at Gold Rush: “I didn’t betray Tatum, I corrected a mistake. A mistake I made the second I thought Tatum could ever stand beside me as an equal.”
Dame took credit for Paxley becoming NXT Women’s Champion in the first place, saying it wasn’t a coincidence that her title reign started after she was brough under her wing. She then announced that she will finish what she started when she faces Paxley at Deadline this weekend. This not great promo was finally cut off by Paxley, who was shown on the titantron sitting in The Culling’s usual vignette spot.
With dramatically smeared makeup due to crying, Paxley sold this matchup quite well from the perspective that she’s not mad, but simply heartbroken: “I’m scared because I don’t know what I’ll become without your hand on my shoulder,” she said. “I’m scared because at Deadline I’m gonna have to make you feel all of my pain.”
Sol Ruca pins the champ ahead of Iron Survivor appearance
In a match made backstage earlier on the show, Fatal Influence’s Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid faced Kendal Grey, Lola Vice, and Sol Ruca.
Grey and Ruca went flying early with dives off the top rope and to the outside. Grey was isolated during a commercial break, but eventually gave Vice the hot tag. Vice put each Fatal Influence member into a corner of the ring, then scored a trio of running hip attacks. She tagged in Ruca – the former Speed champ got a near fall onto Henley with a shoulderbreaker.
Ruca sent Jayne out of the ring with a superkick, but that slight pause got Henley back into the match. Henley came off the ropes with a Blockbuster before tagging out. Jayne and Reid connected with a double-team knee strike to Ruca. Vice, Reid, Grey, and Henley all got into the ring for a move each as part of a fast-paced sequence before it finally came back to Ruca and Jayne.
Ruca escaped a roll-up pin attempt from Jayne, dodged a Rolling Encore, then came off the ropes with a Sol Snatcher for the pinfall win in 11 minutes. No bigger statement win for Ruca ahead of Deadline, pinning the brand’s champ. Fun match, especially as it picked up its pace near the end.
Zaria attacked Kendal Grey at ringside with a spear, although it looked like she was initially aiming for Sol Ruca. Drama!
Backstage, we saw Dion Lennox announce that he is transferring his NXT Tag Team Championship to Saquon Shugars so he can fully focus on earning an NXT Championship via the upcoming Iron Survivor match.
OTM sends a message to Chase U
Following their interaction in the NXT parking lot, OTM faced off against Chase U’s Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors.
Chase U got the jump on OTM and teased a potential upset win, but OTM took control of the match once they settled into the bout. Dixon slapped Lucien Price in the back then came running off the ropes for a move, but ate a huge side kick to the head. Bronco Nima tagged into the bout and dropped Dixon with a huge front kick.
Wanting to send a message, Nima went for a pin but then lifted Dixon’s body off the canvas to keep the match going. OTM hit a double-team move, with a Dixon getting slammed stomach-first onto a knee. Dixon kicked out after surviving all of this, somehow.
After surviving the onslaught, Dixon countered a move from Price into a Codebreaker, giving him the chance to tag Connors back into the match.
Connors started to gain some steam, including some flashy kicks and a springboard DDT onto Nima for a near fall. Dixon got back into the match and set Connors up for an awesome stunner in the ring. Chase U tried for stereo dives to the outside but were caught by both members of OTM, who then tossed their opponents into eachother. OTM brought Connors back into the ring for a double-team slam for the pinfall win in four minutes. These two teams both had some fun stuff here, but the crowd couldn’t have cared less.
Ethan Page was seen leaving NXT, saying that he was expecting a night off this weekend at Deadline. Ava, who pointed out that Page hasn’t defended his North American title since Halloween Havoc, said that she found someone, and appearing in the passenger seat in Page’s car was Mr. Iguana! There’s another match for this weekend.
What’s Shiloh Hill talking about this week?
Shiloh Hill, who has become somewhat of a fan favorite among POST Wrestling staff as of late, had his latest vignette air next. He described going missing while on a snowmobile trip, an incident that made him “one with the earth.” He transitioned this into talking about his experience on WWE LFG, and how his coach, The Undertaker, encouraged him to let out that “itch” he gets under his skin. “BAH!!! Wake up!” Hill said, clearly getting an itch for a moment. He wrapped up his promo by walking away from his set, saying, “I’ve gotta find my bleach.”
Corey Graves summed it up well: “Vic, is Shiloh Hill on any sort of watchlist?”
Here’s an updated look at this weekend’s NXT Deadline card:
- Ricky Saints vs. Oba Femi (NXT Championship)
- Jordynne Grace vs. Sol Ruca vs. Lola Vice vs. Kelani Jordan vs. Kendal Grey (2025 NXT Women’s Iron Survivor Match)
- Joe Hendry vs. Myles Borne vs. Leon Slater vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Dion Lennox (2025 NXT Men’s Iron Survivor Match)
- Ethan Page vs. Mr. Iguana (NXT North American Championship)
- Tatum Paxley vs. Izzi Dame
Myles Borne walks into Deadline with all the momentum
The main event saw Iron Survivor competitors Joe Hendry, Je’Von Evans, Leon Slater and Joe Hendry team up to face DarkState. NXT GM Ava said that whoever on the babyface side of the team earns the pin will get to pick their spot in the Iron Survivor match. If DarkState wins, Dion Lennox, who is also in the match, will get to pick his spot in the bout.
DarkState was in control of a ringside brawl as the show went to a break, tossing the babyface talents into barricades and steel stairs around the PC. Slater avoided a DarkState powerbomb late in the match, dropkicking away two of his opponents.
Evans tagged into the match then immediately delivered a pair of massive dives, including one which sent him over the commentary table and onto Saquon Shugars – this looked incredible.
Back in the ring, Evans connected with a cutter to Osiris Griffin, then came off the top with a super-cutter. However, the pin attempt was broken up by the three other members of DarkState.
Slater and Borne got back into the ring to wipe out DarkState members. Hendry tossed one DarkState wrestler onto another with a fallaway slam. Lennox dragged Hendry out of the ring for a brawl.
The politics of the specific outcome of the match as previously outlined by Ava came into play late. Evans hit Griffin with a head kick, but Slater gave himself a blind tag as this happened. Just before Evans came off the top with a Swanton 450, Borne tagged himself into the match. Borne gave Griffin a Borne Again, earning him the pinfall victory. Slater and Evans were happy to win, but not glad that they didn’t earn the pinfall advantage. Clever way to end this match, which had some fun exchanges near the end.
Waited his moment, and took it. @mylesborne_wwe just shocked EVERYONE to get the win in the main event! 😱 pic.twitter.com/wx7iJOny3O
— WWE (@WWE) December 3, 2025
Just before the show went off air, we saw a contract signing between Oba Femi and NXT Champion Ricky Saints. Femi warned that the current version of him will destroy Saints. The champ said that he’s the “exception to the rule and The Ruler.” Just before the show went off air, Ava said that their match will open the show this weekend.
This entire segment was just over a minute long:
Signed. Sealed. Delivered.
For the first time in NXT PLE History, the NXT Championship Match will KICK OFF the show when Ricky Saints defends against Oba Femi THIS SATURDAY in San Antonio!!! pic.twitter.com/Vh3BWtq1dP
— WWE (@WWE) December 3, 2025
While I get that the Iron Survivor matches are the biggest part of Deadline, what should be treated as the most important matchup on the card, the brand’s top title being defended, really felt unimportant. I’m not particularly excited to see Saints vs. Femi again, but the way this match was given such little airtime this week, it almost feels like WWE is even less excited.
Final Thoughts
There was some fun in-ring this week, with the matchup between Tavion Heights and Josh Briggs being the standout performance. While I think there could’ve been a little more attention given to the title matchup, I thought the two Iron Survivor matches were built up quite well on the show.
