Kendal Grey Pulls Upset Win In Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge Match At NXT Deadline

WWE NXT Deadline was the final event of 2025 for the brand. The show took place at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas. The Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge match was quite a show, and an underdog won in the end.

The Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge with Sol Ruca, Jordynne Grace, Kelani Jordan, Lola Vice, and Kendal Grey competing for a future NXT Women’s Championship opportunity.

The WWE NXT Iron Survivor Challenge is a 25-minute match involving five wrestlers. Two start the match, one enters every five minutes, each fall earns a point, and anyone who loses a fall enters a 90-second penalty box. The wrestler with the highest score at the end earns a future championship match at New Year’s Evil.

John Cena selected the participants as part of his retirement tour, adding his own involvement to the lineup before his final match on December 13, 2025.

Grey and Kelani Jordan started out this match, and both of them wanted to close out an early fall. Neither of them got a pinfall until Grey got a pin on Jordan just before Jordynne Grace came out. So, Jordan had to go to the penalty box for a bit. Then Grey got a pinfall on Grace, which sent the former Knockouts Champion to the penalty box for 90 seconds.

Kelani Jordan was able to get a pin on Grey after Jordynne Grace was taken to the outside. Lola Vice came into the match next, and she picked up a pinfall on Grey in less than 30 seconds.

Jordynne Grace finally scored a pinfall on Kelani Jordan before Sol Ruca came into this match. The score was Lola Vice with a point, Kendal Grey at two, Jordynne Grace with one, and Kelani Jordan with one point.

Sol Ruca nailed a double Sol Snatcher, and she got a pinfall on Lola and Kelani at the same time, which gave Ruca two points. That tied her up with Kendal Grey. Then Sol Ruca took the fight to Jordynne Grace, and she nailed a big knee for a near fall. Ruca latched on a dragon sleeper and then Jordynne Grace got on a submission hold too. Lola Vice and Kelani Jordan got out of the penalty box at the same time after that, and the action kept going.

Kelani Jordan scored a pinfall on Jordynne Grace, and that made a three-way tie with two each. Then Jordynne Grace got a pinfall to create a four-way tie before Lola got a pinfall to create a situation where everyone had two pinfalls. This evened everything out to where they started. Ruca hit a Sol Snatcher off the ringsteps on the outside and that was insane, but she didn’t get a pinfall. Instead, Kelani Jordan jumped in, and then she was pulled off. Suddenly, Kendal Grey jumped off the top rope and nailed a move to get a pinfall with seconds to go. This cemented Grey as the new #1 contender, which is great for her, because she is also the current EVOLVE Women’s Champion.

What’s your take on how NXT booked the Iron Survivor Challenge match for the women? Do you think that this is a good sign of things to come for the division? Let us know what you think in the comments section!