First Competitors Set For Iron Survivor Challenge At WWE NXT Deadline

Je'von Evans and Wes Lee secured the first spots at NXT Deadline in the men's Iron Survivor Challenge during "WWE NXT." The Survivor match will comprise five participants, each vying to outscore the other for an opportunity at the NXT Championship over 25 minutes. Qualifying matches for the bout began on Tuesday's show, with Lee against Cedric Alexander and Evans facing Lexis King. 

Lee's win was somewhat underhanded, exposing the turnbuckle and thus distracting the referee as Alexander delivered a Michinoku Driver – the referee turned and made a count of two, but it appeared his momentary distraction had cost him that elusive second. Lee would ultimately send Alexander into the exposed turnbuckle to secure the win and earn his first entrance into the Iron Survivor Challenge.

King and Evans had a match of back-and-forth, littered with near falls on both sides, eventually ending with a clean win for the latter. They then shared a moment of respect after the bell, working in direct contrast to the way Lee had qualified before. Evans is similar to Lee in that this will be his first Iron Survivor Challenge. Current NXT Champion Trick Williams won last year's match at Deadline, demonstrating the opportunity on the line.