WWE NXT Battleground 2023 Results and Review

I have been watching NXT lately, and was going into this show with very little foreknowledge. I guess I should pay more attention to the weekly show. This review is coming a little late, and I decided to skip a bunch of wrestling because I can’t do it all, so we’re going with the big shows, except Night of Champions, because I was working all weekend. Sigh. Here’s my review of NXT Battleground.

Wes Lee defeated Joe Gacy and Tyler Bate in a triple threat match for the NXT North American Title

 An excellent showcase of wrestling from a few different styles. From strong style to modern wrestling, there was a little something for everyone. This was definitely one of the better triple threat matches I’ve seen in a long time, and the trio really put the boots to one another. The crowd was into it, and I definitely felt it was a good opener for the big NXT show. Wes Lee managed to escape with the win, but it was a lot of back and forth before he managed the victory. A fun opener, with a lot of crowd interaction to boot.

Noam Dar defeated Dragon Lee in a WWE NXT Heritage Cup Title

I didn’t realize that this match had rounds. It’s interesting to change things up. The match was a nice back and forth one. Lee was using a more lucha style than Dar, and Dar was doing modern wrestling moves. Both men had turns taking advantage of the leverage needed to win, and each picked up wins before Noam Dar got the upper hand with an extra win. This was a fun match, but not great, I didn’t like the rules, as I don’t think pro wrestling should have rounds.

Ilja Dragunov defeated Dijak in a Last Man Standing Match

These two beat the bricks off of one another. There were a lot of great moments, solid hits, but the stairs were introduced and all bets were off. I haven’t seen stair play like this ever, and wow, Dragunov really beat the crap out of Dijak with the stairs. There were also some incredible chops, that even Ric Flair would be proud of, as there were some moments where the two just exchanged the hardest hits I’ve seen in a match that wasn’t UFC. This was a fight. I say that Dragunov won, but not without a LOT of hits, and what may very well be a legit broken arm or something, cause wow, his body was in bad shape. This was a fight above all else, and it received a lot of praise from the crowd.

Gallus defeated The Creed Brothers in the WWE NXT Tag Team Championship Match

After the match that had so much hard hits, it was hard to get into another. This match was a modern match with a lot of back and forth. The Creed brothers are impressive with their athleticism, and did some moves that I applauded. That included a nice stand up moonsault, and some more back and forth tag team moves that were great. Gallus were more hard hitting, like the Steiner brothers at times, while the Creed Brothers were high flying overall. Either way, good overall match with a lot of back and forth, neither team making a hugely dominant position. The finish came with a couple of distractions, and was not half bad, but this match was definitely not as fun as the Last Man Standing match.

Tiffany Stratton defeated Lyra Valkyria for the WWE NXT Women’s championship

This was an interesting back and forth match. The women were given time to really move around a lot, and Stratton impressed me. I didn’t know what to expect from her, but she definitely put on a show with some hard slaps and good submission moments. Her technical style was on display and it showed. I really liked her style, and looks. Lyra wasn’t bad either, but she was definitely getting attacked a great deal, especially her leg, which was the target of Tiffany’s offense for a great deal of the match. A good match, and definitely better than anything you see on tv from wwe at this point. Stratton has a beautiful moonsault, you gotta see it, it’s sweet. I liked this one, a lot.

Carmelo Hayes defeated Bron breaker in the WWE NXT Championship match

Before this match I was not familiar with either wrestler. Carmelo focused on Bron’s leg, and continued to focus on his offense in the early goings of the match. Bron would get a comeback, but he would favor his knee at various moments in the match. Hayes did some impressive high flying moves, and Bron’s power was on full display here. Hayes won with one hell of a leg drop from the top rope, and wow, just a good finish for a strong match.

Overall Thoughts

No one puts on shows like WWE in terms of fun. AEW might do well, but geez, I’m always stunned by how good NXT is. I’ve recently started to watch again, and am just stunned by the quality. A great show here, and a good main event, but that Last Man Standing match takes the cake. Overall, I liked this night of wrestling and recommend it for sure, you gotta check out what NXT has for everyone to see.