NXT Vengeance Day (2024)

The 2024 NXT Vengeance Day was a professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was the fourth annual Vengeance Day event held for the promotion's developmental brand NXT, and the 12th Vengeance overall. The event aired via WWE's livestreaming platforms and took place on February 4, 2024, at the F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, Tennessee, marking NXT's first livestreaming event to be held in Tennessee.

Six matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Ilja Dragunov defeated Trick Williams to retain the NXT Championship. In other prominent matches, Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker defeated Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams to win the Men's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, which was the opening bout, and Lyra Valkyria defeated Roxanne Perez and Lola Vice to retain the NXT Women's Championship; this started as a singles match between Valkyria and Perez, however, midway through the match, Vice cashed in her Breakout Tournament contract, converting it into a triple threat match.

Background
Vengeance was originally established as a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event for WWE in 2001 and it was held annually until 2007, followed by a one-off event in 2011. Since its revival in 2021, it has been held annually in February for WWE's developmental brand NXT under the title NXT Vengeance Day, a reference to the event taking place on or around Valentine's Day. On November 27, 2023, NXT's fourth Vengeance Day event, and 12th Vengeance overall, was announced to be held on February 4, 2024, at the F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, Tennessee. This was subsequently NXT's first livestreaming event to be held in Tennessee, and it aired on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets. Tickets went on sale on December 8, 2023.

Storylines
The event included matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program, NXT, and the supplementary online streaming show, Level Up.

The Men's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is a tournament composed of eight male tag teams from the NXT brand, with the winner earning a future NXT Tag Team Championship match. The tournament began on the January 9 episode of NXT with the final scheduled for Vengeance Day.

On the January 9 episode of NXT, Ava announced a 20-woman battle royal where the last four remaining wrestlers would compete in a fatal four-way match to determine a number one contender for Lyra Valkyria's NXT Women's Championship at Vengeance Day, which was scheduled for the following week. Kiana James, Fallon Henley, Kelani Jordan, and Roxanne Perez co-won the battle royal with Perez subsequently winning the fatal four-way match to face Valkyria for the title at Vengeance Day.

On the January 9 episode of NXT, SmackDown's Dragon Lee defeated Lexis King to retain the NXT North American Championship. After the match, Oba Femi cashed in his NXT Breakout Tournament contract and defeated Lee to win the title. The following week, Lee interrupted Femi and challenged him to a rematch for the title that same night, but Femi declined, revealing he was discontinuing Lee's tradition of open challenges and establishing himself as a heel in the process. Lee instead said that he would face Femi at Vengeance Day. Femi said he would take the challenge into consideration and accepted Lee's challenge the following week.

Trick Williams, the winner of the men's Iron Survivor Challenge at Deadline, was due to face Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship at NXT: New Year's Evil. However, Dragunov suffered an injury (kayfabe) two weeks prior to the event and was not medically cleared to wrestle. The title match was then rescheduled for Vengeance Day.

Preliminary matches
The opening match was the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic contested between Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams. In the opening stages, Williams delivered an uppercut and a swinging neckbreaker to Corbin for a one-count. Williams delivered a pop-up haymaker to Corbin, while Hayes landed a superkick and the Fade Away on Breakker. Hayes then attempted to suplex to Breakker, but Breakker countered it into a cutter. Breakker delivered a suplex to Hayes for a one-count. Breakker then attempted a belly-to-back suplex to Hayes, but Hayes landed on his feet and tagged him Williams. Williams delivered two leg lariats and clotheslines to Corbin. Williams then performed the Book End on Corbin for a two-count. Hayes then delivered a slingshot senton and a springboard moonsault to Corbin for a two-count. Hayes then delivered the First 48 Codebreaker to Breakker for a two-count. Corbin then performed a somersault plancha on Williams and a Deep Six to Hayes for a two-count. Hayes then performed a gourdbuster and attempted the Nothing But Net, but Corbin caught him and attempted the End of Days, but Hayes escaped. Williams then delivered a leaping neckbreaker to Corbin. Breakker then delivered a spear to Hayes and pinned him to win the match.

The next match was a No Disqualification match between Dijak and Joe Gacy. In the opening stages, Dijak delivered a lariat and a release bodyslam to Gacy for a one-count. Gacy then delivered a running cannonball to Dijak into the steps and hit Dijak's head on the steel steps multiple times. Dijak then delivered a Cyclone Boot to Gacy for a one-count. Dijak then proceeded to perform a Death Valley Driver to Gacy for another one-count. Dijak the out Gacy's head into a trash can and delivered an elbow drop. Gacy then delivered a Saito suplex and a Uranage for a two-count. Dijak then delivered a sit-out chokeslam to Gacy onto a chair for a two-count. Gacy then performed an avalanche German suplex to Dijak for a two-count. Gacy proceeded to wrap duck tape around Dijak's eyes. Gacy then attempted to hit the Upside Down, but Dijak caught him and delivered Feast Your Eyes, but with his eyes still shut, he wasn't able to make the pin. Gacy then delivered a DDT and a diving splash to Dijak onto a chair for a two-count. Dijak removed the duck tape from his eyes and hit Gacy with a nightstick. Dijak then delivered Feast Your Eyes and pinned Gacy to win.

The next match was a six-person mixed tag team match contested between The Family (Tony D'Angelo, Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and Adrianna Rizzo) and OTM (Lucien Price, Bronco Nima and Jaida Parker) (accompanied by Scrypts). In the closing stages, Price and Nima performed a double Samoan Drop to D'Angelo and Stacks for a two-count. Price and Nima then performed an assisted powerslam to Stacks for a two-count. D'Angelo then performed two overhead belly-to-belly suplexes to Nima. D'Angelo then delivered a butterfly suplex and spinebuster to Price. D'Angelo and Stacks then delivered an assisted somersault plancha to Price and Nima, while Rizzo delivered a diving crossbody to Parker, Price and Nima. D'Angelo then delivered a pop-up spinebuster to Price and then delivered the Forget About It fisherman neckbreaker and pinned Price to win the match.

The next match was for the NXT Women's Championship contested between defending champion Lyra Valkyria and Roxanne Perez. In the opening stages, Perez attempted a suicide dive, but Valkyria impeded it with a forearm smash. Perez then delivered a side Russian legsweep and a springboard moonsault to Valkyria for a two-count. Valkyria then delivered a running fisherman suplex and a release German suplex to Perez for a two-count. Perez then hit Pop Rocks, but before Perez made the cover, Lola Vice came down to the ring and cashed in her Breakout Tournament contract, turning the match into a triple threat match. Vice delivered a Windmill kick to Perez for a two-count. Vice them locked in a triangle choke on Perez, but Valkyria used a diving splash to break up the submission. Perez attempted a diving crossbody to Valkyria, but Valkyria caught her and delivered the Night Witch. Valkyria then delivered a uraken to Vice for a two-count. Perez then delivered another Pop Rocks to Valkyria for a nearfall. Tatum Paxley then came down and attacked Perez. Vice attempted Buenas Noches, but Valkyria ducked and delivered Night Wish to retain her title.

In the penultimate match, Oba Femi defended the NXT North American Championship against Dragon Lee. In the opening stages, Lee delivered a corner dropkick and a diving double foot stomp to Femi for a two-count. Femi then delivered a one-arm spinebuster and a suplex for a two-count. Femi then delivered an elbow drop and three backbreakers to Lee for a two-count. Lee then delivered a superkick to Femi then proceeded to deliver a tornado DDT and a running bicycle knee strike for a two-count. Lee then performed an enzeguiri on the apron and then a sit-out powerbomb on Femi for a nearfall. Femi attempted a chokeslam to Lee on the floor, but Lee countered it into a DDT. Femi attempted a powerbomb, but Lee countered it into a hurricarana for a two-count. Femi then delivered a lariat, a hip toss and a pop-up powerbomb to Lee and pinned him to retain his title.

Main event
In the main event, Ilja Dragunov defended the NXT Championship against Trick Williams (accompanied by Carmelo Hayes). In the opening stages, Williams attempted a pop-up haymaker, but Dragunov countered it with an enzeguiri and then performed the Constantine Special. Dragunov then delivered two German suplexes and a big boot. Dragunov then delivered a snap German suplex on the floor and a Death Valley between on the apron. Dragunov rolled Williams back into the ring and delivered a Coast-to-Coast for a two-count. Williams attempted a Cyclone Kick, but Dragunov ducked and delivered a powerbomb and proceeded to perform an H-Bomb, but Williams moved out of the way and delivered an enzeguiri. Williams then delivered a Codebreaker and two leg lariats. Williams then delivered a leaping clothesline and uranage off the apron to Dragunov. Hayes started trash talking Dragunov, which caused Dragunov to push Hayes into Williams's knee. Williams delivered a leaping neckbreaker, but Dragunov followed it up with an H-Bomb for a nearfall. Dragunov then delivered a powerbomb and two H-Bombs to Williams for a nearfall. Dragunov attempted the Torpedo Moscow, but Williams escaped and delivered a Cyclone Kick for a nearfall. As Hayes was distracting the referee, Williams attempted to push Dragunov out of the way, but ended up knocking out the referee. Williams then delivered the Trick Knee, after which a different referee appeared to count a nearfall. Dragunov then delivered a bicycle knee strike and another H-Bomb. Dragunov then attempted to perform another H-Bomb, but Williams got his knees up. Dragunov attempted to deliver the Torpedo Moscow, while Williams wanted to impede it with the Trick Knee. However, Dragunov hit the Torpedo Moscow first and pinned Williams to retain the title. After the match, Hayes feigned consoling Williams and then delivered a chop block to Williams's leg. Hayes then brought out a steel chair and repeatedly hit it on Williams' already injured knee. Hayes then covered Williams with a TMG (Trick-Melo Gang) shirt and started taunting him as the event went off the air.

Reception
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter rated the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals 3.5 stars, the No Disqualification match 3.25 stars, the six-person mixed tag match 2.25 stars (the lowest rated match on the card), the NXT Women's title match 2.75 stars, the North American Championship match 2.5 stars and the NXT Championship match 4 stars (the highest rated match on the card)

John Canton of TJR Wrestling gave the show a 7.5/10, saying "A good show. I wouldn’t call it great, but the main event between Ilja Dragunov and Trick Williams was excellent. The other match that stood out to me was the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals with Bron Beakker & Baron Corbin beating Trick & Melo in the opener; that was a lot of fun. Everything else on the card was okay and mostly predictable. Dijak had a fun brawl with crazy Joe Gacy. The NXT Women's Title match turned into a three-way. Lots of fast-paced action there. Nice job by Lyra, Roxanne and Lola. The six-person mixed tag was just average. Oba Femi continues to impress with less than ten TV matches at this point, yet he’s good enough to keep up with a talented, quicker guy like Dragon Lee. I think the show was lacking great heel vs. face rivalries. NXT has too many “I respect you” babyface matches. Lots of stories for sure, but I want to see some bigger storylines for the champions of the brand".

Kevin Berge of Bleacher Report graded the show a B+, saying "NXT delivered a night to remember at Vengeance Day, but it's one that comes off as a preamble to the top program NXT is ready to produce. The opener set up vulnerabilities for Trick Williams that cost him his shot at Ilja Dragunov in the main event. However, both matches suffered a bit from the need to set up something bigger down the line. Dragon Lee and Oba Femi stole the show in what could be the night that made a future megastar. Dijak and Joe Gacy overdelivered in a filler position, but The Family vs. OTM could have been left off the card. As a whole, NXT ensured fans remembered this night. However, it is Stand & Deliver that will be the gold brand's greatest night of 2024 considering the build to come".

Coby Galenzoski of Wrestling Republic gave the overall show 4.25/5 stars, saying "WWE NXT Vengeance Day 2024 started off the 2024 PLE year for the brand off with a bang. From the solid opener and the No DQ match. To The Women’s Match and The epic Main event from Ilja Dragunov and Trick Williams. The show revolved around Trick Williams pulling double duty and his stories with Ilja and Carmelo. The main event delivered along with the show ending with the heel turn from Carmelo Hayes to Trick Williams. I felt the atmosphere surrounding the whole night was a top notch atmosphere especially with Vic Joseph calling the show with Wade Barrett. A very solid PLE from NXT to start the year with a climatic moment in their biggest story".