NXT Vengeance Day 2026 Review
NXT is back at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida for Vengeance Day. This will be the sixth consecutive year that the Vengeance Day name will be attached to an NXT event.
I have to admit, though, that the card for this show is, on paper, one of the weakest looking cards in NXT history. However, as I’ve said a ton in the past, these are the types of shows where WWE often delivers a surprisingly high quality viewing. Will that continue here? I’m sure hoping so.
Let’s have some fun.
Jaida Parker vs Blake Monroe – Street Fight
We’ve seen what the former Mariah May is capable of in “hardcore” matches during her time in AEW. Obviously, she won’t be allowed to come anywhere near that level of violence and chaos in NXT, but what will she pull off here?
Ms. Parker goes to set a table up, and the crowd cheers. Blake hits her in the back with an umbrella a few times, tosses her to the side, undoes the table set up, and puts the table away as the crowd boos. Heel work, folks.
These types of matches often feature weird logic. If I have access to a weapon, and I get to use it on you for a bit, why in the world would I then toss the weapon aside so that I can attempt to perform wrestling moves on you? No, I’m going to beat the dog shit out of you until I am physically unable to do so. Of course, that’s only a step or two away from the old line of thinking that wonders why a wrestler wouldn’t just bring a gun and shoot their opponent if nothing is against the rules, but I digress.
So far, I’m really enjoying the intensity that both women are showing. Again, they’re hamstrung a bit because everyone knows this can’t devolve into a bloody gorefest, but both Jaida and Blake are putting some extra razzle dazzle behind their offense here.
Blake pulls a bag out from under the ring. We eventually find out that the bag is full of comically large “diamonds.” If those were real, it would be trillions of dollars worth of gems that just got poured onto the mat. Either way, Jaida is tossed onto the diamonds, and then takes the Glamour Shot DDT on them… one, two, three… and Blake Monroe gets the win.
Good match, even if it never quite reached a top tier. Both women worked hard, as I said, but there wasn’t anything that really stood out here that will have you remembering the match a month from now. 3 Stars
Tony D’Angelo vs Dion Lennox
The match is starting off in the parking lot of the Performance Center… aka the single most dangerous place on the planet.
The parking lot section of the match lasts approximately 20 seconds, and then they brawl their way into the building. Sure. Why not?
DarkState continues to find their way to get the numbers game going, but Tony D keeps fighting them off. This is a regular singles match, but NXT officials are allowing all of this to take place because Dion and Tony wanted things to be “on sight” to start. It will be very funny to see all of this brawling, followed by them finally making it to the ring and using technical wrestling on each other.
They’ve finally made it to the ring! Sure enough, the opening bell is heard. Here we go.
Tony D takes Dion to Suplex City with five consecutive Germans.
Like the first match, both Tony and Dion are working with extra aggression here. It fits in with the story that they’ve been telling for the last several weeks, although this is a bit different, as they aren’t able to do the same things in the ring without the Street Fight stipulation.
Suplex through the announce table from atop the elevated barricade in the first row, and both men crash to the floor! That was a cool looking spot, drawing a “this is awesome” chant from the crowd.
Tony D gets the pin and the win after a wild affair. Pure intensity from the moment they met in the parking lot until the match came to an end. It didn’t last as long as perhaps it could’ve, especially considering the match only officially began when they reached the ring, but everything we got was enjoyable.
Do I grade the match from bell-to-bell, or do I grade it including all of the stuff that happened in the parking lot and the backstage area? I didn’t keep track of the official time, but I think the bell-to-bell portion took a little over five minutes. If a “normal” match lasted that long, I would have a hard time giving it a really good grade because of that. I think I’ll include the pre-match stuff here, just to make things easier on myself. If we’re counting everything we just saw, I’ll give it 3.5 Stars. Tony D’Angelo looks like someone who is ready to compete for the NXT Championship now that he appears to have gotten rid of his DarkState problem.
Izzi Dame vs Tatum Paxley – NXT Women’s North American Title Match
If we’re going off of the story that these two have been telling with each other, I would fully expect this to be another high-intensity match.
Hey, sure enough, they’re taking the fight to each other immediately after the opening bell.
The NXT crowd loves them some Tatum Paxley. They’re solidly behind her, giving her the biggest face reactions of the night so far.
There’s a woman in the crowd with a “It’s Tatum Tuesday” sign. I think she might be a bit confused. Because it’s Florida, though, she might also be completely drunk at the moment, so she might think it really is Tuesday.
The intensity that started the match hasn’t let up yet. Both women, but specifically Izzi, are throwing some heavy strikes.
With Izzi standing on the ring apron, Tatum gets a running start and dives over the top rope, hitting a Sunset Flip Powerbomb to the floor below. What a spot! My goodness.
Cemetery Drive for the win, and we have a brand new NXT Women’s North American Champion! Tons of action, and a crowd that was invested in everything they witnessed, all the way up to the feel good finish. 4 Stars
Before the next match, we get an in-ring promo segment from the NXT Women’s Champion, Jacy Jayne, and the rest of Fatal Influence. Three of the five matches on the show are women’s matches, and now, we get a women’s promo segment.
She’s cutting her usual heel promo, but she gets interrupted by Zaria. What I am learning as the four women go back-and-forth in the ring is simple… Lainey Reid’s voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me, and I hope I never hear her cut a promo again.
Because we haven’t heard enough talking, now it’s time for Sol Ruca to come out.
We sat through all of that cattiness just for interim NXT General Manager Robert Stone to set up a Triple Threat Match… Jacy Jayne vs Sol Ruca vs Zaria for the NXT Women’s Title on the March 17th episode of NXT. What a waste of time that was. This could’ve been a tweet.
Lola Vice vs Kelani Jordan – NXT Underground Match
Between the promo segment, video packages, ads, and recaps of other storylines, we’ve gotta be pushing 20 minutes since the end of the previous match. There’s no need for that.
Smart offense from Kelani to start, immediately targeting the injured hand of Lola.
Even minutes in, Kelani continues to focus on Lola’s hand. She should be outmatched in something like this against a former MMA fighter, but she’s working a smart fight so far.
As soon as I finish typing that, Lola hits a violent backfist out of nowhere that CLEARLY connected to the chest of Kelani, although Kelani sold it as a knockout blow. Lola gets the mount and lands a shot to Kelani’s jaw before the Barbie-looking Referee steps in to stop it. Lola with the Knockout victory.
I’m not sure how to rate these types of matches, so I don’t. It’s obviously not a real shoot, but it’s also trying not to be a true work, so it’s hard to grade it in either direction. If you’re a fan of these things, or if you’re a fan of either woman, you probably enjoyed this.
Joe Hendry vs Ricky Starks – NXT Title Match
Main event time.
I like Joe Hendry, and I like Ricky Starks, but this has been a very subpar feud for the biggest championship on the brand. There’s not a lot of oomph behind it, and it doesn’t feel like something that should be main eventing NXT pay-per-views for the NXT Championship. There’s not even a “big fight feel” in the air. It’s sad, really.
At least the crowd is behind it. They love Joe Hendry, like every other crowd does, and they also dislike (not quite hate) Ricky Saints.
“All Ego” Ethan Page makes his way to ringside, and he’s eyeing the NXT Championship. He grabs the title and looks at it, eventually trying to slide it in to Ricky, but there’s too much pizazz behind it, and the title slides to Joe. It’s just a distraction, though, and the Referee steps in to remove the belt, allowing for Ricky to kick Joe in the little Hendries.
It doesn’t matter, though, as Joe eventually gets his revenge, kicking Ricky in the little Saints behind the Referee’s back. This is enough for Joe to hit Standing Ovation, and that gets the pin and the win for the champion.
Decent enough match, I guess, but again… it wasn’t enough to where an NXT Championship main event match should be. 3.25 Stars
We go off the air with Hendry celebrating in the ring.
Let’s be real here. This entire show could’ve been an episode of NXT television. It barely went over the two-hour mark, anyway. There definitely wasn’t anything bad on the show, but for the 185th time in a row, an NXT pay-per-view comes and goes without ever truly feeling like a pay-per-view.
At this rate, I’m going to end up watching random NXT Takeover shows and doing review columns for them, just to keep the feeling alive inside of me.
If you’re a diehard NXT mark, you’ll want to check this show out, although you probably already did so if you’re a diehard NXT mark. Otherwise, it’s something that you could skip without missing too much, and I hate saying that about any show.
