History makers, legendary tag team challenges champions - Last minute predictions for NXT Deadline
NXT Deadline is the last premium live event of 2022 for WWE. It features a first-time-ever match with the Iron Survivor Challenge. Five men and five women will compete in two such contests, with the winners earning title shots at the NXT and NXT Women's Titles, respectively.
Iron Survivor contestants will compete in a timed match, with a new competitor joining the fray every five minutes. Taking a pin-fall sends a star to a penalty box for 90 seconds. Whichever stars have the most pin-falls at the end of the 25 minutes will be crowned Iron Survivors at NXT Deadline.
🗣 Iron Survivor Challenge!
History will be made THIS SATURDAY at #NXTDeadline!
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In addition to those specialty bouts, Bron Breakker will defend his championship against Apollo Crews. Pretty Deadly will defend the NXT Tag Team Titles against the New Day, who appeared on Tuesday's go-home show.
Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn will also battle it out in a grudge match. Which stars will end 2022 on a high note? Here are the predictions for NXT Deadline.
#5 Will Alba Fyre get revenge on Isla Dawn?
.@wwe_alba and @IslaDawn will collide at #NXTDeadline!
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Both women competed in NXT UK before the brand folded earlier this year. Fyre is a former NXT UK Women's Champion and has been a challenger for Mandy Rose. Dawn recently emerged to cost Alba her latest match against the Women's Champion.
Fyre is one of the most experienced women at NXT and could be headed to the main roster. Dawn just arrived on the scene and has the potential as a supernatural type of female character.
The newcomer easily defeated Thea Hail on the Deadline go-home episode, but Fyre attacked her after the match. Fyre winning would prolong the feud, but Dawn needs a big win to announce herself as a player in this division.
Prediction - Isla Dawn picks up a big win over Alba Fyre at NXT Deadline.
#4 The New Day challenges Pretty Deadly at NXT Deadline
Elton Prince and Kit Wilson shared their version of a Christmas tale on the NXT Deadline go-home show. They posited they had no challengers for the event, but Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods crashed the party.
While it was refreshing and surprising to see Kingston and Woods in NXT, it felt like a match thrown together last minute. The two teams could have produced several entertaining segments before building to an eventual match.
Having the New Day in NXT would undoubtedly help. Pretty Deadly, however, just won the titles a few months ago. Another quick change for the sake of it doesn't seem like the right move. With Kofi and Xavier facing Imperium the night before on SmackDown, it wouldn't be a shock if that trio somehow cost the New Day the win.
Prediction - Pretty Deadly finds a way to defeat the New Day.
#3 Former title challengers face off in the Women's Iron Survivor Challenge
Roxanne Perez, Cora Jade, Zoey Stark, Kiana James, and Indi Hartwell will fight it out to become the first women's Iron Survivor in NXT history. Of the participants, James is the only one who hasn't faced Mandy Rose.
Even with that in mind, she will not make history at NXT Deadline. Rose is a heel, so unless Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne turn on her, a babyface winning makes the most sense. Zoey Stark beating Rose a few months ago would have refreshed things, but she has turned to the dark side.
Cora Jade and Roxanne Perez are both future NXT Women's Champions. One will take the title from the other since it's time for Mandy to move on to other things. Perez will again make history when she becomes the first women's Iron Survivor.
Prediction - Roxanne Perez earns another shot at Mandy Rose.
#2 Which wrestler will be the Men's Iron Survivor?
All 5 participants of the Men's Iron Survivor Challenge at #NXTDeadline meet on The Grayson Waller Effect.
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The men's field of stars is similar to that of the female field for the Iron Survivor match. Due to their long title reigns, both matches feature performers who have already lost to the champions.
Grayson Waller, Joe Gacy, Axiom, JD McDonagh, and Carmelo Hayes will face off for the right to make history. Gacy and McDonagh have already fallen to Bron Breakker. Axiom is talented but seems better suited for the North American Title field.
Waller and Hayes haven't faced Breakker, and both are big stars for the future. Hayes is a favorite of Shawn Michaels and will be the one to take the NXT Championship from Breakker eventually.
Prediction - Carmelo Hayes is the men's Iron Survivor.
#1 Apollo Crews looks to dethrone Bron Breakker at NXT Deadline
With Breakker defeating so many of his fellow stars, there's been a need for main-roster performers to pop up in NXT. Dolph Ziggler was one of the first such wrestlers to challenge the NXT Champion.
Apollo Crews is the latest star to return to NXT. He has a skill set similar to that of the champion. It will offer up a new challenge for the dominant Breakker, but will it be enough for a title change?
While Crews could certainly do well as NXT Champion, it seems Carmelo Hayes is destined to be the next champ. He could take the belt from Crews, but it would be better if he did so from Breakker.
Prediction - Bron Breakker walks out of NXT Deadline as the NXT Champion.