WWE NXT Battleground Results (5/28): Carmelo Hayes Vs Bron Breakker, NXT Women's Title Match, More
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Tonight's show will be headlined by Carmelo Hayes defending his "WWE NXT" Championship against Bron Breakker, with the challenger having pushed Hayes to a personal level as of late. Meanwhile, a brand new "NXT" Women's Champion will be crowned as the tournament comes to its conclusion as Lara Valkyria faces Tiffany Stratton, with both women having the chance to hold gold in WWE for the first time.
Elsewhere there will be a British Rules match as Noam Dar puts his Heritage Cup on the line against Dragon Lee, and Mark Coffey and Wolfgang will defend their "NXT" Tag Team titles against The Creed Brothers, who are looking to kickstart their second reign with the gold. There is also last man standing action between Dijak and Ilja Dragunov, and the "NXT" North American Championship will be on the line in a triple-threat match.
-WWE NXT Championship Match: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Bron Breakker
-WWE NXT Women's Championship Match: Lara Valkyria vs. Tiffany Stratton
-WWE NXT North American Championship Match: Wes Lee (c) vs. Tyler Bate vs. Joe Gacy
-Last Man Standing Match: Dijak vs. Ilja Dragunov
-WWE NXT Tag Team Championship Match: Gallus (c) vs. The Creed Brothers
-NXT Heritage Cup British Rules Match: Noam Dar (c) vs. Dragon Lee
Wes Lee (c) vs. Tyler Bate vs. Joe Gacy (NXT North American Championship Match)
Immediately all three men go back and forth with some pinfall attempts, but then Tyler Bate and Wes Lee agreee to work together, only for Bate to then not help. However, they do work together and send Joe Gacy out of the ring and they follow him and continue the attack. The two of them pull each other back out of the ring though and they then start brawling outside the ring until Gacy launches himself out of the ring to wipe both of them out.
In the ring, Gacy drops Bate down to the mat and Lee breaks the count, but Lee then leaps over the top rope and looks for a pinfall on Gacy while he German suplexes Bate at the same time. The champion then almost catches Bate out with a pinfall attempt but he is able to kick out. Bate turns around the momentum and ends up suplexing his opponents around the ring as Gacy is then hit with bop and bang before Bate spins Gacy around only to then add Lee to the mix by swinging him at the same time.
Lee and Bate then go back and forth until Bate launches Lee across the ring but Gacy catches him and powerbombs Lee immediately. He follows that by throwing Lee at Bate while he then takes down both men at the same time. Gacy places in a submission on the champion but Bate tries to break it up only for Gacy to just smile at him. The three men then start trading strikes until Lee avoids both his opponents as they bounce off the ropes and then collide as Lee follows it with a double cardiac kick to them.
Lee then locks in a submission on Gacy's back, but he breaks it up by diving into the corner. Bate breaks up the pinfall and hits the Tyler Driver 97, Lee breaks that up with a running knee attack. Gacy managed to knock Bate off the ring apron, and he then sits on the top turnbuckle as Lee dives right past him, over the turnbuckle to take out Bate. However, as Gacy hits the ropes to attack him again, Lee reverses it and does the same with a Cardiac Kick.
Winner (and still North American Champion): Wes Lee
Noam Dar (c) vs. Dragon Lee w/Nathan Frazer (Heritage Cup British Rounds Match)
The two men start out with some mat-based grappling until Noam Dar tries to rip at the eyes which does give him an advantage as he begins putting his focus on the hand and arm of the challenger. Dragon Lee attempts a kick but Dar avoids it and then just as the round comes to an end, Lee has to hold back even though he has Dar ready on the outside to be dove onto.
Round One – Noam Dar 0-0 Dragon Lee (during the break between rounds Oro Mensah runs down to be in Dar's corner).
Lee is straight out of the gate in the second round by attacking the champion, hitting a running dropkick while the Scotsman is sat in the corner. However, Dar smartly holds the legs of Lee after a back elbow to Lee, gaining him a pinfall.
Round Two – Noam Dar 1-0 Dragon Lee
Lee comes out aggressively in the third round with some ground and pound which is followed by a sharp kick to the head. The challenger misses with a top rope move that and tweaks the knee, allowing Dar to take advantage. Dar then gets rocked by a knee strike as Lee follows it with another big strike to the jaw, but as he tries to charge into the corner Dar gets out onto the apron only for Lee to dive over the top rope and hit a hurricanrana.
Lee then connects with a suicide dive and a big knee when they get back into the ring, but Dar kicks out. Lee keeps attacking him but the bell rings for the end of the round, and despite that Dar hits him with a back elbow, claiming he didn't hear it.
Round Three – Noam Dar 1-0 Dragon Lee
Dar connects with a question mark kick and then focuses on an arm submission but Lee gets out with a pinfall attempt. He then locks in a Texas Cloverleaf, but Mensah pushes the rope to help Dar so Frazer confronts him. As he walks away Mensah throws him into the steel stairs but in the ring Lee goes up and around, planting Dar to score a fall.
Round Four – Noam Dar 1-1 Dragon Lee (During his break the cornermen fight and get tossed out of the match)
Lee looks to run and throw Dar to the floor with his legs, but he sees it coming and reverses by powerbombing him onto the apron. Inside the ring he hits another back elbow, yet Lee kicks out. Lee then hits a big powerbomb, but this time it is Lee that kicks out. Jakara Jackson then turns up in the ring, but with the referee distracted Lash Legend shows up and attacks Lee with the bucket being used by the cornermen. Dar takes advantage and takes down Lee again to retain.
Round Five – Noam Dar 2-1 Dragon Lee (Dar retains)
Dijak vs. Ilja Dragunov (Last Man Standing Match)
The two men immediately start brawling, going back and forth with chops until Dijak levels Ilja Dragunov with a lariat. The fight heads out of the ring as Dijak puts the top half of the stairs into the ring, but he is unable to use them as Dragunov starts brawling back at him, yet as he runs to leap off the bottom of the stairs he lands into a big boot, and Dijak follows it by launching him onto the stairs back first.
Dijak then gets out a table, but as he is lifting it Dragunov runs and dives through the table to send Dijak flying which busts himself open in the process. Inside the ring, they continue the back-and-forth attack, but as Dragunov tries to German suplex Dijak he just holds onto the ropes and flings his opponent back which sends him crashing onto the stairs. Dijak then looks to Chokeslam and him onto them, but Dragunov reverses with a DDT, planting Dijak head-first onto the stairs.
With Dijak sitting at the bottom turnbuckle, Dragunov takes the opportunity to run and throw the stairs into him to keep the attack going. He then places them next to his face and heads to the opposite top rope, connecting with a Coast To Coast! Dijak manages to beat the count but is instantly hit with a flurry of chops which he fights back against only for Dragunov to unload with another flurry as both men drop down. However, Dragunov doesn't let up as he continues throwing chops even when they're laying down.
The two men then fire up and despite Dragunov chopping Dijak's neck, he manages to Chokeslam him onto the ring apron, but he beats the count. That angers Dijak who delivers Feast Your Eyes, but he lands on the middle rope which holds him up. He then uses a kendo stick to attack Dragunov with while he is in the corner but he still refuses to give up. Dijak gets a chair and starts unloading big shots to him, but as he goves for another Dragunov hits a running headbutt.
He then leaps from the top of the stairs in the ring to drive Dijak's head directly down onto the steel chair, and he is unable to answer the count.
Winner: Ilja Dragunov
Gallus w/Joe Coffey (c) vs. The Creed Brothers w/Ivy Nile (WWE NXT Tag Team Chapionship Match)
Gallus takes control of this one early on with some frequent tags, but Brutus Creed tags in and he brings Mark Coffey down to the mat to work the arm. Wolfgang then tags in but all four men end up inside the ring but it is the challengers who get the best of the situation and Julius Creed and his brother go back and forth with knee strikes to Coffey which is followed by a belly-to-back suplex.
Brutus gets himself back in the action with some ground and pounds, but a distraction from Wolfgang proves vital as he then hangs up Brutus on the top rope following a blind tag. Gallus then make quick tags to remain in control, with Wolfgang charging in with a low crossbody to Brutus. However, the challenger manages to power up Coffey to drop him to the mat, but while the champion tags out the challenger cannot.
Wolfgang cuts off the ring and then elbows Julius down but that only fires them up and he does tag in as he starts launching the champions around with some belly-to-back suplexes for both of them to show his power. Brutus makes a blind tag as Julius hits another and then a standing shooting star which Brutus follows with a standing moonsault. Gallus then works together with a double team to Julius, but both men get dropped with a Brutus Bomb and everyone is down!
A brawl begins between all of them which Julius comes out on top of, but then Joe Coffey gets in the ring only to be tripped by Ivy Nile as he gets wiped out. However, Ava then appears and throws Nile into the turnbuckle and the distraction allows Gallus to hit their double-team finisher to retain.
Winners (and still NXT Tag Team Champion): Gallus
Lara Valkyria vs. Tiffany Stratton (WWE NXT Women's Championship Match)
Tiffany Stratton and Lyra Valkyria instantly go back and forth shoving each other to try and gain an advantage as they show their aggression, but it is Valkyria that takes advantage by grounding her opponent, almost catching her out with a crucifix pin. She continues to dominate with a hip toss and that leads to Stratton heading to the outside, but she is smart enough to block a dive to the outside.
However, she tries it again and gets caught as Stratton grabs her legs and pulls her onto the ring apron as she then sends Valkyria into the ring post knee first, attacking the previously injured area, which she then does again. She then pulls off her knee brace and that allows Stratton to heavily focus on the area with a dragon screw inside the ring. She then bridges over and adds pressure onto her knee and neck but Valkyria manages to pull out of the hold to break free.
Stratton grabs the leg again so Valkyria slaps her and they go back and forth with them until Stratton once more drops her down onto the knee. Valkyria fights back with a dropkick, but she immediately has to grab the knee and is unable to capitalize on the situation. She then hits two Northern Lights suplexes, but as she attempts a third Stratton kicks the knee only for Valkryia to hit an enziguri as she then dives out of the ring to keep up the attack.
Back inside the ring, she hits a crossbody but Stratton rolls through only for Valkryie to reverse once again to almost score a win via a pinfall. She then goes to the top rope but Stratton pulls her into a tree of woe and dropkicks Valkyria before dropping down from the top turnbuckle only for Valkyria to kick out. Stratton then just stomps on her opponent, but yet again she kicks out.
Stratton tries to show her athletic ability by flipping across the ring but she gets caught and then German suplexed. She then goes for a roundhouse kick but Valkyria's knee gives in and that allows Stratton to drop her as she then goes for the moonsault, but it doesn't connect. This time Valkyria hits the roundhouse kick, but Stratton puts her leg on the bottom rope! The two of them head to the top rope as Valkyria looks for a powerbomb but Stratton holds on and then hits a hurricanrana. This time her Prettiest Moonsault Ever does connect, and she becomes champion!
Winner (and new NXT Women's Champion): Tiffany Stratton
Carmelo Hayers (c) vs. Bron Breakker (WWE NXT Championship Match)
Carmelo Hayes instantly goes for Bron Breakker's knees, dropping down the challenger as he continues attacking the area with a big kick. Breakker pushes him away with an elbow strike, but Hayes catches him with a knee strike and he then hits a pump kick to send him out of the ring. Hayes follows up with a dive to the outside and then several chops until Breakker sends him into the ring apron.
Inside the ring, Breakker nails a spine buster and then attacks Hayes in the corner, but the champion responds with a dropkick. He catches Breakker with a kick as he tries to get into the ring and then drops down on with the fade away. Hayes continues to work the knee of Breakker, but he runs down the champion with a big clothesline to showcase his power advantage, retaking control.
Breakker hits an overhead toss and then a huge Frankensteiner, but Hayes manages to kick out. Hayes attempts to go back to the knee, but Breakker quickly cuts it off with a German suplex to keep the pace slow. Breakker looks for a stalling suplex, but the champion reverses with a DDT and the two men then go back and forth throwing blows at each other. Hayes manages to drop Breakker down again but he only gets a one count so he follows with a cutter that gets him a little closer, but Breakker kicks out again.
Breakker lifts Hayes again but he reverses and then dives across the ring with a springboard but gets caught in mid-air by a huge Spear, yet the champion kicks out! Breakker pulls up Hayes who reverses with an inside cradle and then several superkicks as he then springboards and hits a DDT. He heads to the top turnbuckle and connects with Nothing But Net to retain.
Winner (and still NXT Champion): Carmelo Hayes