CHARLOTTE — In the home of the Charlotte Hornets, Ron “The Truth” Killings, Ric and Charlotte Flair, Tarheelia country, hosted NXT’s first non-WrestleMania weekend road show since NXT Takeover: Portland in 2019. Let’s run down everything that happened at NXT Vengeance Day 2023.
The Three Count: NXT Vengeance Day 2023
1.) WWE Loves Them Some “Strange Bedfellows” Tag Teams
With Kiana James and Fallon Henley’s win at NXT Vengeance Day, the trend of the wrestling trope of “can they co-exist” continues. A lot of internet fans tend to point out the overuse of this tactic. Nothing against Henley or Jame. As a matter of fact, they worked really well with each other in a great tag team match against the longest-reigning women’s tag team champions of all time, Kitana Chance and Kayden Carter.
This match showcased great athleticism by all parties involved. It also put light on how NXT since the start of the 2.0 brand has been building up the tag division to have quality matches and solid teams going forward.
Side Note: Kitana and Kayden are main roster ready. These women have been a part of NXT for five years, Kitana known outside of wrestling as Kacy Catanzaro, an American Ninja Warrior competitor who showcased herself as one of the top women to ever compete in the show prior to WWE. Chance was part of the Mae Young Classic in 2018, alongside Kayden Carter formerly known as Lacey Lane, who trained under the Team 3D Academy as Crash Wrestling Women’s Champion. This team is ready and are a top team in Wrestling men/women/person, period!
2.) Jacy Jayne is More Than a Third Wheel!!!
Jacy Jayne, one-third of the infamous Toxic Attraction trio was looked at as a third wheel with the main focus of the group being directed to former NXT Superstar and Women’s Champion, Mandy Rose and tag team partner Gigi Dolin. This storyline heading into NXT Vengeance Day seemed to have Jacy as the clear-cut heel. She was easily the most entertaining aspect of the match with her mannerisms, and clear antagonistic attitude towards Roxanne Perez and even her own partner.
She played the role of a heel really well, and it seems like Jayne doesn’t get enough credit for being the more charismatic member of The Attraction. This due to the overall consensus among fans having Mandy and Gigi being talked about for their “sex appeal.” Jacy is a testament to “Middle Child” syndrome as a part of the group but was never given the credit for being the strongest talker of the group.
After this episode of NXT, it seems that she is primed to be a top heel of the brand looking to move out of the shadow of Toxic Attraction. It’s sad to see this team disband, however, it does make sense for the long-term storyline and historically, they could run it back.
Props have to be given to Dolin as well due to some of the heavy and more gnarly bumps that she took that evening and on Tuesday’s NXT.
Kick out: New Day’s Boost to the Tag Team Division Was a Short-Term Success
The best thing about Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods coming down to NXT is that it’s playing to the rebranded brand’s continuity with the main roster by having established talent come down to the brand and enhance the overall importance of NXT and the rise of the movement down in Orlando.
Shawn Michaels stated that New Day’s time in NXT was a huge factor in establishing the brand and selling tickets for Vengeance Day. New Day also put over Gallus in a huge way and helped showcase a tag team division with leaps and bounds of potential by putting Pretty Deadly, Briggs and Jensen, Enofe and Blade, Chase U, and the new champions Gallus in prominent roles. The tag team division needed a kick in the pants for a while since it was the weakest division of NXT since key departures with Imperium, Legado Del Fantasma, Hit Row, and various tag teams from the Black and Gold era.
3.) Melo is up Next
After a lackluster main event between NXT Champion, Bron Breakker and Grayson Waller, Carmelo Hayes alongside Trick Williams came out and told Bron Breakker he was next, and rightfully so. Ever since, Deadline, Melo has been the clear-cut choice to challenge Breakker.
However, if it wasn’t Waller in the way, it was Crews. Now there’s no other option that makes more sense than Carmelo Hayes to challenge for the NXT title. This is the perfect opportunity for the NXT brand to go in a new direction with the men’s top title by putting Hayes in a main event slot heading into the 2023-24 WWE/NXT season.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the WWE Network and Peacock.
