Dragon Lee wasn't supposed to wrestle at NXT Deadline.

A developmental standout who was elevated to the SmackDown roster after impressive call-up matches against Dominik Mysterio, Cedric Alexander, and Axios, Dragon only landed the match because another Lee, Wess Lee, had to forfeit his title shot due to a back injury that required surgery left him unable to compete.

Still, it's not always about how you get to the part but how you perform at the show, and after taking losses to the NXT North American Champion on two separate occasions in singles action in 2023, all he needed was a chance to see if he could be the new face of the continent comprising of Canada, Mexico, and the United States all wrapped into one.

Taking the ring in the opening contest of Deadline, Lee was disrespected early and often by his “Dirty” foe, but that didn't stop him from committing to the match and everything it represented, with the stakes only elevated by having the lucha legend himself, WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio, calling the match alongside Vic Joeseph and the ever-quotable Booker T. While the match was far from perfect, as Mysterio busted Lee's lip/mouth open on an early botch compounded by a scary DDT spot on the ring apron, things heated up in a major way as the match progressed, with the duo legitimately going back and forth into the finish, which saw the champion miss a 619 attempt before being finished off with a Standing Sliced Bread for the 1-2-3.

Why didn't Judgment Day show up to save Mysterio? It's impossible to know, but ultimately, “Dirty” Dom could have really used them, as his second reign with the North American Championship has come to an end.