NXT Vengeance Day 2023: Wes Lee Steals the Show Before Melo Takes Aim

Wes Lee and Dijak open Vengeance Day by making the North American Championship feel like the most important belt on the show. Dijak's size immediately changes the geometry of Lee's offense, forcing the champion to attack from angles rather than simply trade. Every successful comeback therefore looks earned.

Dijak is excellent as the wall Lee must keep climbing. He catches dives, throws Lee through violent transitions and uses his reach to turn ordinary exchanges into survival problems. Lee responds with speed and timing rather than pretending the size difference does not exist.

The match escalates without losing its structure. Near falls arrive after sustained sequences instead of isolated stunt attempts, and Lee's desperation keeps the title defense emotionally coherent. Dijak's hand injury adds an uncomfortable layer without stopping the match.

Tony D'Angelo and Channing Lorenzo appear late and absorb Dijak's moonsault, giving Lee the opening for the Cardiac Kick. The interference keeps the finish from being ideal, but the seventeen minutes before it are too strong to be reduced to the angle. Lee retains after the night's most complete performance.

Cagematch currently rates the match 8.20 from 275 votes, and the Observer reported 4.5 stars. WrestleFile lands at A- / 8.9. It is the match Vengeance Day 2023 is remembered for.

The women's tag title match is competent without ever becoming urgent. Chance and Carter have the smoother team offense, while Henley and James are still presented as an uneasy partnership trying to turn momentum into a championship. That imbalance gives the match a story, but not enough heat.

The champions control the cleanest sequences. Their quick tags and combination offense make them look like the more established team, which forces Henley and James to win through opportunism rather than sustained superiority. The crowd reacts to the near falls without treating the title change as inevitable.

The finish comes when James helps keep Carter's legs from breaking the pin while Henley secures the fall. It is a heelish shortcut and gives the challengers the championships, but the moment lands more as plot progression than competitive climax. The division moves forward without gaining much prestige.

Cagematch currently rates the match 5.46 from 151 votes, while the Observer reported 2.25 stars. WrestleFile lands at D+ / 5.4. It is functional title-change wrestling and the easiest match on the card to skip.

Carmelo Hayes and Apollo Crews have enough athletic ability to make twenty-three minutes look easy, which is part of the problem. The match rarely develops the escalating urgency normally associated with two-out-of-three falls because Hayes takes the first fall and eventually sweeps the match. The format promises more drama than the structure delivers.

Crews controls portions with power and counters, while Hayes increasingly finds ways to redirect the pace toward his own offense. Trick Williams remains present without dominating the match, allowing Hayes to look more self-sufficient than he did earlier in his NXT rise. The first fall gives Melo a meaningful advantage.

The second fall stretches the tension but never fully convinces the audience that a third is inevitable. Dabba-Kato's return distracts Crews long enough for Hayes to land Nothing But Net and complete the 2-0 sweep. Kato then attacks Crews afterward, cleanly redirecting Apollo into his next feud.

Cagematch currently rates the match 6.01 from 159 votes, and the Observer reported 3.25 stars. WrestleFile lands at C+ / 6.5. The result matters more than the match because Hayes leaves looking ready for Bron Breakker.

The tag-title four-way understands that order is not the goal. Four teams enter with different energies, and the match succeeds by rotating those identities quickly enough that the chaos remains legible. The New Day provide star power, Pretty Deadly provide opportunism, Chase U provide crowd energy and Gallus provide blunt force.

Kofi Kingston is the match's most reliable accelerator. Whenever the action becomes crowded, his movement gives the audience a clear focal point before another team interrupts. Xavier Woods is equally useful as the champion who keeps getting isolated when the field collapses around him.

The largest spot comes when Andre Chase superplexes Kit Wilson from the top rope onto the wrestlers gathered outside. It is exactly the kind of four-way excess the stipulation needs, and the crowd finally treats the division as something larger than a collection of pairings. Duke Hudson also receives enough offense to keep Chase U credible.

Gallus win by catching Woods alone and using their assisted finish after the rest of the field has been neutralized. The New Day lose the titles without being diminished, and Gallus gain a clean path into the spring. The result is efficient even if the champions' short reign ends abruptly.

Cagematch currently rates the match 6.66 from 155 votes, while the Observer reported 3.5 stars. WrestleFile lands at B- / 7.3. It is the second-best match on the show and the one undercard bout that consistently feels like a major-event attraction.

Roxanne Perez spends the match solving a numbers problem that gradually solves itself. Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne begin with the obvious advantage of an established alliance, but every near fall introduces another reason for one partner to distrust the other. Perez survives by allowing that tension to grow.

The wrestling is solid rather than spectacular. Perez works quickly enough to keep the two-on-one stretches from becoming static, while Dolin and Jayne transition believably from cooperation to competition once the championship feels individually attainable. The match's story is clearer than its move-by-move ambition.

The finish gives Perez the strongest possible survival image. Dolin goes through a table outside, Jayne takes Pop Rocks from the top rope, and Perez retains without needing an outside rescue. The champion gets the win while Toxic Attraction's collapse becomes unavoidable.

Cagematch currently rates the match 6.11 from 154 votes, and the Observer reported 3 stars. WrestleFile lands at C+ / 6.8. It is a solid championship defense whose greatest value is ending one era and protecting the next.

Bron Breakker and Grayson Waller enter the cage with a clear reason for the stipulation. Their previous title match ended when a ring rope failed during Waller's offense, so Vengeance Day is supposed to remove uncertainty and produce a definitive champion. The result is definitive; the journey is surprisingly ordinary.

Waller attacks before the bell and uses the cage intelligently in short bursts. He traps Breakker in the ropes, creates openings with the steel and gets enough offense to remain credible as a challenger. Breakker's power always feels like the match's controlling force.

The signature sequence comes from the top of the cage. Breakker meets Waller on the climb and brings him back down with a superplex, then follows with Spears to end the match. It is a strong visual and a clean finish, but the match never builds the sense of danger usually demanded by a cage main event.

The real closing development happens after the bell when Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams appear. Hayes and Breakker stare each other down, immediately making the champion's next challenger feel more important than the one he just defeated. That is effective future setup and a revealing comment on the match itself.

Cagematch currently rates the match 5.02 from 165 votes, while the Observer reported 3.25 stars. WrestleFile lands at C / 6.3. It is competent and decisive, but far too restrained for the stipulation and main-event slot.