Carmelo Hayes Turns On Trick Williams, Ilja Dragunov Retains At NXT Vengeance Day

Carmelo Hayes stabbed Trick Williams in the back at NXT Vengeance Day, but not before Ilja Dragunov retained his title.

Despite the tension that had built up between them, Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams had formed a winning team in recent weeks. They made it to the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic at NXT Vengeance Day, where they faced Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin. Unfortunately for the fan-favorite duo, their successful run ended on Sunday, as Corbin and Breakker scored the win.

Williams had to quickly bounce back, as he faced NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov in a thrilling main event. They went back and forth all match long as Hayes watched on from ringside. Both men shed blood during the match, as Trick busted the champion’s rose and Ilja bloodied his opponent’s lip. The chaos continued to unfold, as Dragunov sent Hayes crashing into Williams and apparently hurt his knee. The referee was also knocked out of the ring at one point, so there was no one to count what may have been the decisive fall after Williams hit the Trick Knee.

In the closing moments, Williams countered an H-Bomb after he had already taken several. He and Dragunov charged each other. They crashed into each other, and Dragunov wound up on top of each other. The referee counted the win, so Dragunov retained the gold.

Hayes seemingly consoled Williams after the bell but proceeded to blindside his former friend. He then attacked Williams’ knee repeatedly with a chair and walked away as the show came to an end.

Catch up on our coverage of NXT Vengeance Day here.

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