NXT Vengeance Day is right around the corner, and WWE revealed a major match for the card during tonight’s episode of NXT. Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes were flying high after an earlier win, but Williams was about to get even better news. Ilja Dragunov was not medically cleared to face Williams in their previously scheduled NXT Championship match, but tonight Dragunov revealed that he is officially back and ready to go. Not only is he back in action, but he is giving Williams his Title match, and revealed that he will face Williams for the NXT Championship at NXT Vengeance Day.
Dragunov came into the locker room and told Williams that it was unfortunate that he couldn’t compete and the medical team would not clear him, but he is now medically cleared to be back in the ring. He then told Williams that he deserved to have their Title match on a big stage, and that stage is going to be at Vengeance Day.
.@UNBESIEGBAR_ZAR is back!!!
It will be Dragunov vs @_trickwilliams for the #NXTChampionship at #VengeanceDay, but what does this mean for Trick and @Carmelo_WWE in the #DustyClassic???#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/nxjdItR5in
— WWE (@WWE) January 17, 2024
Williams won that shot at Dragunov’s NXT Championship after winning the Iron Survivor Challenge match at NXT Deadline. Despite that match not happening due to Dragunov’s not being medically cleared, Williams hasn’t lost any momentum, and as clearly shown during tonight’s appearance, still has the support of the NXT crowd in his corner.
Williams previously spoke to Williams about the crowd’s reaction to him when he first started appearing in NXT and when he first heard the Whoop that Trick chants ring out, which have become a staple of his entrance ever since. At first, he wasn’t sure if the crowd was cheering him on or taunting him, but since then the chants have become a calling card for Williams when he hits the ring.
“The funny thing is people started chanting whoop that trick, this is during the 2.0 time, and I remember the first time I heard it and Melo kind of looked at me and he was like, ‘they for us or they against us?’ I’m like, ‘I think they for us, dog’. We just kind of roll with it,” Williams said. “Slowly but surely the chants just kept being louder and louder and louder and louder over time. Whenever I had a moment, whoop that trick, whoop that trick.”
“And then once the theme changed and once I came out to face Dragunov and the theme changed, it was so crazy because the whole crowd was in unison, almost like, man, we don’t have any plants. They was right there,” Williams said. “It’s like everybody knew, oh, this is the moment we’re going to bring it in the right way. And the new theme played and they was right there, whoop that trick. Oh, this is tough right here. This is tough.”
Are you excited for Williams vs Dragunov at Vengeance Day? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!