NXT Vengeance Day recap and highlights: Bron Breakker retains, Toxic Attraction reign supreme

NXT Vengeance Day, the latest special live event of WWE NXT, came live to fans from the WWE Performance Centre. And it was a show that shone at times, at others not so much.

Perhaps this was best encapsulated by the main event. WWE NXT champion Bron Breakker defended against Legado Del Fantasma leader Santos Escobar.

The two had a decent match which featured an outside story as well, but it seemingly did not click too well. The match wasn’t bad, but the two did not mesh well despite the contrasting styles.

Breakker wanted to use his power to outdo Escobar; the luchador, on the other hand, used every trick in the book to try and sneak a win.

This included using his stable as well as Dolph Ziggler, who’s been eyeing a shot at Breakker too. He interfered in the match but caught a beating from Tommaso Ciampa, with a match for them set for next week.

What has @HEELZiggler done?!?!#WWENXT #VengeanceDay @bronbreakkerwwe pic.twitter.com/ChGJtq4uP0

— WWE (@WWE) February 16, 2022

Escobar’s demise came when he went for a big frog splash – and missed. Breakker took advantage, got his power moves in and retained.

No one expected Breakker to lose this match, but the real question would be, to paraphrase Goldberg: who’s next? GUNTHER seems the likeliest option but it’s a case of wait and watch.

Maybe Ziggler as a placeholder feud isn’t such a bad idea.

Hayes and Grimes shine together

It feels like stating the obvious, but both Carmelo Hayes and Cameron Grimes are very good pro wrestlers. Their match for the North American championship was easily the best on the night.

It helps that they both have well-defined characters and their heel/face alignment is very clear. But their styles also meshed well inside the ring.

They started out slow, feeling each other out but the pace picked up as the bout went on. It hit a massive peak before the end, and of course the finish involved Trick Williams.

With both men outside, Grimes went for a Cave In but Williams pushed Hayes out of the way. With Trick having eaten the finisher, it left Hayes enough room to take advantage and retain the belt.

‘Melo. Don’t. Miss.#WWENXT #VengeanceDay @Carmelo_WWE pic.twitter.com/lcmUHwgf6o

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) February 16, 2022

The moment of the match though? Hayes telling the belt he will never let it go.

NXT Vengeance Day – best of the rest

• Pete Dunne beat Tony D’Angelo in a fun steel cage match to open the night.
• The Creed Bros won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals, putting end to MSK’s hopes of becoming two-time winners. The match was expectedly a good one and gives Malcolm Bivens’ Diamond Mine something to brag about.
• Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne) beat the team of Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta to retain the women’s tag team titles.
• There were a few segments to hype up the women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Raquel Gonzalez and Cora Jade put in the work via workouts. Wendy Choo wants to team with inaugural Dusty Cup winner Dakota Kai. And Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro are preparing for the tournament too.
• LA Knight beat up Grayson Waller because the latter still thought his restraining order was valid. This despite the fact he beat up Knight last week.

It’s open season on @GraysonWWE!#WWENXT #VengeanceDay @LAKnightWWE pic.twitter.com/w9vw5RhfLJ

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) February 16, 2022

NXT Vengeance Day was okay. Not good, not bad… just fine. 

Grade: C