Ilja Dragunov Defeats Trick Williams, Retains NXT Title At NXT Vengeance Day

Ilja Dragunov defended the gold at NXT Vengeance Day.

Ilja Dragunov defended the gold at NXT Vengeance Day.

At NXT Vengeance Day, Trick Williams challenged Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship in the main event. Earlier in the show, Williams and Carmelo Hayes lost in the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic to Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin. Having already been through one tough match, Williams seemingly was not at his best heading into the main event. Still, he had the support of Carmelo Hayes, who accompanied him to the ring.

Williams and Dragunov threw everything they had at each other. The bout got physical right away, as Williams bloodied the champion’s nose and Dragunov made Williams’ mouth bleed. Ilja controlled the action early on and he gained momentum with a Death Valley Driver onto the apron. Dragunov maintained the advantage, but Williams persevered. They traded blows, and Williams fired up as he stunned the champion with a flurry of offense. Trick then slammed Dragunov off the apron. Hayes got involved as he argued with Dragunov, who shoved Carmelo into Trick, seemingly injuring Williams’ knee in the process.

Oh no that wasn’t good…

But @_trickwilliams is fighting through the pain! #VengeanceDay pic.twitter.com/L3saR0bCf9

— WWE (@WWE) February 5, 2024

Williams kept fighting, and he traded H-Bombs with Dragunov. He refused to stay down, even as Dragunov hit him with a super H-Bomb. The referee was accidentally knocked down, so there was initially no official to count the pin when Williams hit the Trick Knee. A second referee came to the ring, and Williams and Dragunov kept going back and forth. In the end, the two stars collided in mid-air, but Williams took the worst of it, and Dragunov pinned him for the win.

After the bell, Carmelo Hayes turned on Trick Williams and brutally attacked his knee with a chair. He then blamed the fans for making him do it as he left.

NOOOOOOOOOO!

WHAT DID YOU JUST DO @Carmelo_WWE?!?!#VengeanceDay pic.twitter.com/IzdRiCMvKj

— WWE (@WWE) February 5, 2024

Click here to catch up on our coverage of WWE NXT Vengeance Day. For a full review, check out the post-show podcast on our YouTube channel.