The 2023 NXT Vengeance Day was the 11th Vengeance

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

produced by

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

, and the third annual held for the promotion's

NXT NXT may refer to: Professional wrestling * ''WWE NXT'', a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that began in 2010 ** NXT (WWE brand), WWE's Florida-based brand and former developmental territory * ''NXT UK'', the British spin- ...

brand division. It took place on Saturday, February 4, 2023, at the Spectrum Center in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, marking the first major NXT event to be held in North Carolina and the second Vengeance event held at this venue after the 2006 event, when it was formerly known as Charlotte Bobcats Arena; the arena changed its name to Spectrum Center in 2016. Unlike the previous year's event, which was held as a

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

, the 2023 event was held as a

livestreaming Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

event, marking the first Vengeance Day to air on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

. It was also the first Vengeance, as well as NXT's first major event, to be livestreamed on

Binge Binge or Binges may refer to: Behavior Binge, a behavior engaged in excessively over a short period of time, such as: * Binge drinking * Binge eating * Binge-watching Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Binge'' (EP), a 2018 EP by Machine Gun Kel ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. This also marked the first standalone NXT livestreaming event to be held outside of Florida since NXT TakeOver: Portland in February 2020, and the second NXT event overall held outside of Florida since then, after the

WrestleMania 38 WrestleMania 38 was the 38th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event was held as a two-night event ...

week event, NXT Stand & Deliver in April 2022. Six matches were contested at the event. In the main event,

Bron Breakker Bronson Parmar Rechsteiner (born October 24, 1997) is an American professional wrestler and former American football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extension, brand under the ring nam ...

defeated

Grayson Waller Matthew Farrelly (born 21 March 1990) is an Australian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Grayson Waller. Before signing to WWE, he previously wrestled on the independent ...

in a

Steel Cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

to retain the

NXT Championship The NXT Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. It is defended as the top championship of the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. In ...

. In other prominent matches, Gallus (

Mark Coffey Mark Coffey (born February 13, 1990) is a Scottish professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand. He is the younger brother of Joe Coffey and the pair occasionally tag team together as The Coffey Brothers. ...

and Wolfgang) defeated defending champions The New Day (

Kofi Kingston Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981) is a Ghanaian-born American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Kofi Kingston. He appeared on WWE's NXT brand as one-hal ...

and

Xavier Woods Austin Watson (born September 4, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Xavier Woods. He appeared on WWE's NXT brand as one-half of the current NXT Tag T ...

), Pretty Deadly (

Elton Prince Pretty Deadly is a British professional wrestling tag team consisting of 'Elton Prince'' (born 21 May 1997) and 'Kit Wilson'' (born 4 August 1994). They are currently signed to WWE, where they perform on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extens ...

and

Kit Wilson Kit may refer to: Places *Kitt, Indiana, US, formerly Kit * Kit, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province * Kit Hill, Cornwall, England People * Kit (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Kit (surname) Animals * Young animal ...

), and Chase University (

Andre Chase Chance Barrow (born April 22, 1989) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE where he performs for the NXT brand under the ring name Andre Chase. He was previously known by the ring name Harlem Bravado where he teamed with his ...

and

Duke Hudson Brendan Vink (born 8 February 1990) is an Australian professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Duke Hudson. He is also known for his time in Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW), where he wa ...

) in a

fatal four-way tag team match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

to win the

NXT Tag Team Championship The NXT Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. Introduced on January 23 ...

, and

Roxanne Perez Carla Gonzalez (born November 5, 2001) is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Roxanne Perez, where she is the current NXT Women's Champion in her first reign. She is a former ...

defeated

Gigi Dolin Priscilla Lee Kelly (born June 5, 1997) is an American professional wrestler. She performs under the ring name Gigi Dolin in the NXT brand, and is one-half of the tag team Toxic Attraction with Jacy Jayne, and she is a former record-tying two-ti ...

and

Jacy Jayne Taylor Grado (born June 2, 1996) is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Jacy Jayne as a member of Toxic Attraction. She is a former record-tying two-time NXT Women's Tag Team C ...

in a

triple threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

to retain the

NXT Women's Championship The NXT Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. Introduced on April 5, 2013, t ...

. The event also saw the return of Dabba-Kato, formerly known as Commander Azeez.

Production

Background

Vengeance was originally established as a

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

(PPV) event for

in 2001 and it was held annually until 2007, followed by a one-off event in 2011. Since its revival in 2021, it has been held annually in February for WWE's

developmental brand In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

under the title NXT Vengeance Day, a reference to the event taking place on or around

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

. On December 8, 2022, NXT's third Vengeance Day event, and 11th Vengeance overall, was announced to be held on Saturday, February 4, 2023, at the Spectrum Center in

, marking the first major NXT event to be held in North Carolina and the second Vengeance event held at this venue after the 2006 event, when it was formerly known as Charlotte Bobcats Arena; the arena changed its name to Spectrum Center in 2016. Tickets went on sale December 16. Unlike the 2022 event, which was held as a

, the 2023 Vengeance Day was a

event (but not PPV), airing on

in the United States and the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American entertainment company WWE. It primarily distributes original professional wrestling events, films, television and ...

in international markets, in turn marking the first Vengeance to air on Peacock due to the American version of the WWE Network merging under Peacock in March 2021 (beginning with the 2022 calendar year, NXT's major events no longer air on PPV, only livestreaming). It was also the first Vengeance, as well as NXT's first major event, to livestream on

after the Australian version of the WWE Network merged under

Foxtel Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...

's channel Binge in January. This also marked the first standalone NXT livestreaming event to be held outside of Florida since NXT TakeOver: Portland in February 2020, just before the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and the second NXT event overall held outside of Florida since then, after the

week event, NXT Stand & Deliver in April 2022.

Storylines

The card included matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on the weekly television program, ''

'', and the supplementary online streaming show, '' Level Up''. On the January 3 episode of ''NXT'', a brawl broke out among many of the female wrestlers. Later that night,

NXT Women's Champion The NXT Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. Introduced on April 5, 2013, t ...

announced that a

battle royal Battle royal (; also royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules. In recent times, the term has been used in a ...

would occur at ''NXT'': New Year's Evil to determine the number one contender for her title at Vengeance Day. At New Year's Evil,

Toxic Attraction Toxic Attraction was a professional wrestling stable in WWE on the NXT brand. The group originally consisted of Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin, and Jacy Jayne. After Rose was released from her WWE contract in December 2022, Toxic Attraction became a tag ...

members

and

were declared the co-winners of the battle royal after they simultaneously eliminated each other. It was then decided that Perez would defend the title in a

against Dolin and Jayne at Vengeance Day. At ''NXT'': New Year's Evil,

defended the

against men's Iron Survivor Challenge winner

. During the match, Waller stood on the middle rope to perform a move, but the rope broke, causing him to fall out of the ring. Waller was unable to make it back in the ring in time to beat the referee's ten count, thus Breakker retained by

countout Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

. Later that night, NXT lead official

Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one of ...

announced that due to the issues with the ropes, a rematch would occur at Vengeance Day, this time as a

. After

Wes Lee Deveon Everhart Aikens (born November 2, 1988) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Wes Lee, and is the current NXT North American Champion in his first reign ...

's successful

NXT North American Championship The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is primarily defended as the secondary men's championship of the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental ...

defense on the November 22, 2022, episode of ''NXT'', Dijak made his return to NXT and attacked Lee from behind—Dijak previously performed in NXT as Dominik Dijakovic before being promoted to

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

as T-Bar. At ''NXT'': New Year's Evil, Dijak defeated

Tony D'Angelo Joseph Arriola (born June 9, 1995) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Tony D'Angelo. Professional wrestling career On the October 5, 2021 episode of NXT, Ariola ma ...

to become the number one contender to Lee's title and the match was scheduled for Vengeance Day. At

NXT Deadline NXT Deadline (stylized as DEADL1NE) was a professional wrestling livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held primarily for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The event took place on Saturday, December 10, 2022, at the WWE ...

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...

's The New Day (

and

) defeated Pretty Deadly (

and

) to win the

. At ''NXT'': New Year's Evil, the returning Gallus (

and Wolfgang) won a

gauntlet match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

to become the number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship, lastly eliminating Pretty Deadly. The following week, Pretty Deadly interrupted The New Day as they spoke in the ring, followed by Gallus, and then a brawl started between the three teams, which led to Pretty Deadly being added to the match, turning it into a

triple threat tag team match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. So ...

. However, on the January 24 episode of ''NXT'', The New Day announced a tag team invitational match between The Dyad ( Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler), Chase University (

and

), and Malik Blade and Edris Enofé for the following week's episode, where the winners would be added to the title match, which was won by Chase University. On the December 20, 2022, episode of ''NXT'',

Apollo Crews Sesugh Uhaa (born August 22, 1987) is a Nigerian-American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Apollo Crews. He started his career in 2009, originally working under the ring name ...

made his first appearance since his NXT Championship loss at NXT Deadline. He talked about not staying out of title contention when

Carmelo Hayes Christian Brigham (born August 1, 1994) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Carmelo Hayes. Hayes is a former one-time NX ...

interrupted. After the two traded barbs, they agreed to a match at a future date. The following week, Hayes and Trick Williams promised to defeat Crews and

Axiom An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments. The word comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning 'that which is thought worthy or f ...

, respectively, on the January 3, 2023, episode, which they subsequently did. At ''NXT'': New Year's Evil, Axiom and Crews agreed to take on Hayes and Williams the following week, where Axiom and Crews won when Crews pinned Hayes. On the January 24 episode, during a segment in a barbershop, Crews challenged Hayes to a

two out of three falls match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

at Vengeance Day, which was made official.

Event

Preliminary matches

The event began with Wes Lee defending the NXT North American Championship against Dijak. In the closing moments, Dijak attempted a moonsault, but Tony D'Angelo and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo appeared, and took the bullet for Lee. Lee took advantage to perform the Cardiac Kick on Dijak to retain the title. In the next match, Kayden Carter and Katana Chance defended the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship against Fallon Henley and Kiana James (accompanied by Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen). In the closing stages, as Katana and Kayden were preparing for their Neckbreaker/450° splash combination, Henley countered it into a version of the schoolgirl pin, with James holding Carter's legs outside the ring to keep her pinned and become the new NXT Women's Tag Team Champions. This win made Henley and James the first team to win the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship on the main card of an NXT premium live event. Next, Apollo Crews took on Carmelo Hayes (accompanied by Trick Williams) in a two out of three falls match. Carmelo secured the first fall after a crossface chickenwing, forcing Apollo to submit. The second fall came after the returning Dabba-Kato distracted Apollo, allowing Hayes to perform the Nothing But Net to score a sweeping 2-0 win. After the match, Kato acted like he was helping Apollo to his feet, but instead dragged him into a headbutt and performed the Sky High onto a steel chair. In the fourth match, The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) defended the NXT Tag Team Championship against Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince), Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang), and Chase University (Andre Chase and Duke Hudson) (accompanied by Thea Hail) in a fatal four-way tag team match. In the closing moments, with all four teams taken out, Coffey and Wolfgang performed a forearm assisted Emerald Flowsion combination to pin Woods down and become the new NXT Tag Team Champions. In the penultimate match, Roxanne Perez defended the NXT Women's Championship against Toxic Attraction's Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne in a triple threat match. In the end, Dolin was thrown through a table and Jayne suffered a top-rope Pop Rocks to secure the win for Perez.

Main event

In the main event, Bron Breakker defended the NXT Championship against Grayson Waller in a Steel Cage match. While Breakker made his entrance, he broke a logo of Waller's talk show on a poster. Before the match, Waller slammed the cage door into Breakker, who did the same to Waller, with the match starting afterwards. Waller performed an elbow drop on Breakker for a nearfall. Waller then tied Breakker in the ropes and speared him. Breakker then untangled himself. Waller performed an Ace Crusher on Breakker for a nearfall. In the closing moments, Waller went to the top of the cage, but Breakker met him up there and performed a superplex. Breakker followed up with a Spear, and then a second Spear on Waller to retain the title. After the match, Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams appeared. Hayes and Breakker stared each other down as the event ended.

Reception

Dave Meltzer David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON''). He has als ...

rated

vs. Dijak 4.5 stars, the highest of the night. The main event received 3.25 stars, with the 2/3 falls match receiving the same rating. The NXT Women's Championship match received 3 stars, while the NXT Tag Team Championship match received 3.5 stars. Finally, the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship match received 2.25 stars, the lowest of the night.

Aftermath

Carmelo Hayes (with Trick Williams) opened the following episode of ''NXT'' to talk about his win at Vengeance Day, and turned his attention to Bron Breakker and the NXT Championship. Over the coming weeks, he continued to set his sights on the title until a title match between Breakker and Hayes was made official for NXT Stand & Deliver. Also on ''NXT'', new NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Fallon Henley and Kiana James argued about the way they won at Vengeance Day before they walked into a party to celebrate their win, hosted by Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen. During the party, Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince) and Chase University (Andre Chase and Duke Hudson) declared for a match later that night, where Pretty Deadly won. After the match, they were confronted by Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang). This sparked a feud between the two teams, which led to a title match on the March 14 episode, where Gallus retained. Footage was shown of Grayson Waller storming into

' office after Vengeance Day, resulting in him being suspended for a week. After more confrontations, on the February 21 episode of ''NXT'', Waller told Michaels to meet him face-to-face at ''NXT'': Roadblock on March 7, which was confirmed the following week. On the February 21 episode of ''NXT'', Dabba-Kato explained that he turned on Apollo Crews at Vengeance Day because he blamed him for leaving Kato behind when Crews returned to NXT in June 2021. The two would have a match on the March 14 episode, where Kato was victorious. After costing Dijak his NXT North American Championship match at Vengeance Day, Tony D'Angelo continued feuding with Dijak. On the February 21 episode, D'Angelo challenged Dijak to a Jailhouse Street Fight for ''NXT'': Roadblock, which Dijak accepted a week later. After they failed to defeat Roxanne Perez for the NXT Women's Championship, Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne were guests on Bayley's talk show, "Ding Dong, Hello!". Dolin and Jayne talked about whether they should go for the

WWE Women's Tag Team Championship The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling women's tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is the only women's tag team championship for WWE's main roster, thus is defended across bot ...

on the main roster or go their separate ways. After it looked like Dolin and Jayne would stay together, Jayne attacked Dolin with a superkick, breaking up Toxic Attraction in the process. Over the next few weeks, Jayne and Dolin talked about their breakup and on the February 28 episode, a match between the two was scheduled for Roadblock.

Results

References

External links

* {{WWEPPV, Vengeance 2023 WWE Network events February 2023 events in the United States WWE NXT 2023 in sports in North Carolina Events in Charlotte, North Carolina Professional wrestling in Charlotte, North Carolina