Figured this would be timely in light of TLC replacing Deadline next month. To be clear, all Iron Survivors eventually received their NXT Championship matches, but three of them didn’t take place at New Year’s Evil, while a fourth had to win a triple threat match at the event. Bold indicates the Iron Survivors whose matches did not occur as originally advertised. The ticks ✅ and crosses ❌ are merely additional context to show which ones actually won their matches in the end, regardless of when they occurred. Deadline 2022/New Year’s Evil 2023 Grayson Waller (vs. Bron Breakker) ❌ Roxanne Perez (vs. Mandy Rose) ✅ Despite it ending in a no-contest, Waller received his opportunity at New Year’s Evil as promised. However, Perez successfully ‘cashed hers in’ just three nights after the inaugural Deadline; Rose was released the following morning. Instead, New Year’s Evil saw the rest of Toxic Attraction in Jayne and Gigi Dolin jointly win a battle royale to determine Perez’s challenger(s) for Vengeance Day, the same event at which Waller would rematch Breakker inside of a steel cage. Both champs retained. Deadline 2023/New Year’s Evil 2024 Trick Williams (vs. Ilja Dragunov) ❌ Blair Davenport (vs. Lyra Valkyria) ❌ Valkyria retained against Davenport clean. Meanwhile, two weeks earlier, Dragunov had been written out with a worked injury sustained against Ridge Holland, meaning Williams would spend New Year’s Evil defending his opportunity successfully against Waller. While awaiting updates, Trick-Melo Gang entered and reached the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, by which point Dragunov had also been cleared to return. At Vengeance Day, Williams lost both matches. Deadline 2024/New Year’s Evil 2025 Oba Femi (vs. Trick Williams) ✅ Giulia (vs. Roxanne Perez) ✅ Prior to Deadline, Eddy Thorpe faked an injury so that he could bypass the Iron Survivor challenge he had qualified for and automatically earn an NXT Championship match against Williams. However, because both men pinned each other in their match, a triple threat was made between them and Femi, who had won the Iron Survivor from Thorpe’s spot. Thorpe again did not make it at New Year’s Evil, this time because he had legitimately been attacked by Femi backstage, so Williams and Femi primarily worked the match as a one-on-one, until Thorpe returned for the finish and Femi subsequently won. Giulia beating Perez the same night meant that, despite the concept now being in its third year, this became the first and thus far only time both Iron Survivors went on to win their ensuing NXT Championship matches. Deadline 2025/New Year’s Evil 2026 Je’Von Evans (vs. Oba Femi) ❌ Kendal Grey (vs. Jacy Jayne) ❌ Grey’s match proceeded as normal. However, like Perez, Evans called his shot early, but this time he lost due to Ricky Saints turning heel, whom Femi had beaten to regain the title in Deadline’s opener. The remaining Iron Survivor participants subsequently competed in a four-way to determine Femi’s next opponent, leading to Femi’s retention against Leon Slater at New Year’s Evil; this marked Femi’s final appearance on the brand, as he immediately vacated the title and got called up. *** This isn’t a complaint, but one would have expected them to protect such a new concept more effectively.   submitted by   /u/Tornado31619 [link]   [comments]