Final Picks for Iron Survivor Challenge Matches and Full WWE NXT Deadline Card

Rounding out the year for WWE pay-per-views is the inaugural NXT Deadline, which is set for Saturday.

The card will feature two Iron Survivor Challenge matches to determine the No. 1 contenders for the top titles in NXT, as well as Bron Breakker defending his belt against Apollo Crews and more.

Will the show end 2022 with a bang? Who will walk out of each match victorious?

Let's break down the card and make some predictions.

It says a lot for WWE to put this singles match on the PPV instead of the already-established Creed Brothers vs. Indus Sher feud or another championship contest.

This could have been a television feud to play out over December as fallout from Isla Dawn costing Alba Fyre the Last Woman Standing match a few weeks back, particularly as there isn't anything to spice it up.

There are no gimmicks and it's not a No. 1 contender's match. The creative team has simply avoided the Iron Survivor Challenge and is going for a grudge feud for the sake of it.

With that in mind, the result doesn't matter really.

If Fyre wins, it will be a result of WWE wanting her to win back some of the momentum she lost by unsuccessfully challenging Mandy Rose previously.

If Dawn wins, it will be because she's the newcomer who is in more need of scoring some victories to establish her place on the card.

As Fyre shouldn't be in the title hunt any time soon, she can stand to take the loss more.

Prediction: Dawn wins.

When The New Day surprisingly pop up in NXT, there's no need for a big build to a title match. They're arguably the best tag team in WWE history and always in contention for gold.

There are three appealing reasons why Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods may win the titles, too, rather than just to give Pretty Deadly a notable tandem to face.

First and foremost, having The New Day on NXT could bump the ratings. They're a popular act from the main roster who can draw in more casual viewers on Saturday night.

Secondly, as newcomers to the brand, any opponents they have will be fresh matches, while Kit Wilson and Elton Prince have already faced teams like Malik Blade and Edris Enofé, Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs, and The Creed Brothers.

Lastly, The Usos just overtook The New Day's record for the longest tag team title reign. If Kingston and Woods won the NXT titles, they'd match The Revival as the only team to win the NXT, Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships.

Don't count them out, but don't hold your breath, either.

It is far more likely WWE just wanted to do something fun and give Pretty Deadly a new team to face. If they beat The New Day, they'll get a bigger boost to their credibility.

Prediction: Pretty Deadly retain.

Roxanne Perez is going into the women's Iron Survivor Challenge match as the smallest competitor but the easy favorite to win.

If this was a shoot fight, Zoey Stark would have the advantage. But she, Cora Jade and Kiana James are all heels.

Since the winner of this will face Mandy Rose, a villain vs. villain dynamic isn't likely to happen.

Indi Hartwell is the only one who could possibly win other than Perez, but she's been heading toward a heel turn for months. Losing this will probably be what puts her over the edge.

Unless WWE specifically plans to give Hartwell this victory just to stall and come back around to Perez a few weeks later, the sole babyface has this won.

Prediction: Perez wins.

Unlike how the women's match leans toward the sole babyface winning, the men's Iron Survivor Challenge has the opposite situation going on.

Axiom is the only face and stands virtually no chance at winning.

Not only are both Bron Breakker and Apollo Crews more properly set up to fight a heel, Axiom just doesn't pose the same threat. No one would buy into him becoming the next champion.

That also rules out Joe Gacy and JD McDonagh. They've both had numerous attempts to win the title and come up short. Running back those programs again would feel superfluous.

It's all down to Grayson Waller and Carmelo Hayes. Whoever wins will probably fight for the title at the next NXT PPV, which is likely to be Vengeance Day in early February, while the other stands a good chance of becoming No. 1 contender when Stand & Deliver goes down on WrestleMania 39 weekend in April.

This is the hardest match to predict on the card. But since Waller could be making his way to the main roster soon after a try-out on Main Event, the edge goes to him.

Prediction: Waller wins.

There's always a chance Apollo Crews was put on NXT as the guy to eventually dethrone Bron Breakker.

Crews is a former intercontinental and United States champion with all the skills necessary to take the titleholder out and become the new head of the brand.

However, the investment in Breakker has been too substantial for him to just drop the belt to another main roster guy who stepped down to the developmental show to become a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

Breakker already temporarily lost it to Dolph Ziggler. Rehashing that, rather than putting the belt on someone home grown from NXT, would send a message that the names in the Iron Survivor Challenge aren't good enough.

Plus, had Crews been the one WWE had in mind for the next champion, why wait so long to book this match? He has cooled down compared to the buzz of his initial return to NXT. WWE should have struck while the iron was hot.

Prediction: Breakker wins.

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, Spotify and everywhere you find podcasts. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.