#19: Ilja Dragunov vs. Trick Williams, NXT Vengeance Day (2/4/2024).
This is for Ilja's NXT Championship.
The story coming into this is that Ilja won the trilogy over Carmelo Hayes, so now it was time for Melo's friend and partner, Trick Williams, to step up and take his chance in the spotlight. That, along with how this match played out, reminded me so much of the initial match between Finn Balor and Kyle O'Reilly from NXT TakeOver 31.
Just like with Melo, Ilja explodes at the bell with high offense. Trick pops off a beautiful dropkick early on. Ilja hits a nasty lariat that connects too perfectly with Trick's nose. Ilja is bleeding from his nose, and Trick seems to be bleeding from his lip. It's red already! Ilja connects with the machine gun chops, ala Kenta Kobashi, to Trick in the corner.
This match is super physical immediately, and though I expect that with an Ilja match, this caught me by surprise in the best way. Ilja hits a German Suplex, and he holds tight to the waist. Then, he repeats it. Trick breaks the hold, and he looks like a bloody superhero rising from the ashes. I loved that visual. On the outside, Ilja connects with a German Suplex to Trick on the floor.
Next, he hits a nasty Death Valley Driver right on the apron. Trick reenters the ring, and Ilja hits him with a shotgun dropkick from the top rope. Hard knees to the chest by Ilja, and then Trick just slaps the absolute shit out of him. They exchange forearms, and Ilja catches a kick from Trick and hits a powerbomb. Trick kicks Ilja right in the face. Two more kicks are followed by a flapjack.
Big boot from Ilja, a punch from Trick, a kick by Ilja and a launching clothesline from Trick! That sequence was awesome. Trick strikes Ilja so damn hard, he goes right over the top rope. Trick hits a beautiful Urinage from the apron to the floor that looks like it kills Ilja. Carmelo Hayes, who's seconding Trick, taunts Ilja, and the champion pushes Melo into Trick, accidentally chop blocking his leg in the process.
Back in the ring, Trick hits a neckbreaker. Then, he hits his own H Bomb to Ilja. The champion counters with a powerbomb and the proper H Bomb. He hits another H Bomb off the top rope, and Trick kicks out. Trick hits a big boot flush in the face, and Ilja kicks out of that. Trick accidentally knocks the referee down, which also knocks Melo off the apron.
Ilja connects with a running knee to Trick, followed by another H Bomb. Trick blocks a top rope H Bomb with his knees. Both men are now standing in opposite corners, and they rush each other. Ilja connects first with the Torpedo Moscow and gets the win. Once again, I went into this with absolutely no context, and no expectations. This shattered all of that, and if this isn't in the conversation for one of the best matches of 2024, I'd be shocked. I enjoyed this the most out of all the matches I watched this week. It was hard hitting, surprisingly bloody, and had a hot closing stretch. Ilja never misses, but I think this was a true coming out party for Trick.