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NXT continues to steamroll along at a great pace, reminding every promotion out there why they have the goodwill from hardcore fans that they do. This week's episode, while not groundbreaking, was an entertaining hour of supremely fun television content.
Very little of note actually happened during the show, but I quite liked it because at no point did the show seem to drag. SmackDown, as fun as it was, did drag because of the extra hour.
So, in this article, I will identify and point out 5 points that I found worth remarking upon, for your reading benefit. Feel free to voice your thoughts in the comments section.
Is NXT still the best weekly show on television or do you believe that the brand has lost some of its steam right now?
#5 Big plans for Damian Priest?
It is absolutely impossible to predict just how far Damian Priest will go in WWE NXT. It is even more difficult to predict if his NXT success will translate into a dominant main roster run. But for now, Priest seems right at home running through enhancement talent, making a name for himself.
This week, he would take on Blanco Loco and display just how nimble and sure-footed he was for a big man, destroying his opponent with ease. Because of his vast vocabulary of moves, he comes across not merely as a giant, but as someone whose size is complemented by his vast knowledge of mixed martial arts.
Add to the fact that he's been given a cool entrance and what could be a borderline supernatural gimmick, one assumes that the sky is the limit for the 'Archer of Infamy'. WWE.com calls him the 'Mysterious Man of the New Millennium', which seems like an epic name!
#4 No longer is Keith Lee 'limitless'
It's been almost a year since Keith Lee first came to NXT. We saw a flashback sequence of him taking on big names from the brand such as Kassius Ohno as well as Lars Sullivan. Lee admitted during the course of the vignette that aired this week that he wasn't where he thought he'd be upon arriving at NXT.
And therefore he assured the world that 'limitless wasn't going to cut it anymore' and that he would be 'infinite' from hereon in, in the coming weeks. I'm very curious to see what the future holds for this talented individual and how far this new push gets him.
Lee is a big man who moves with the speed and agility of Killian Dain from SAnitY. I'd love to see him potentially mix it up with the likes of other big men like Damian Priest or even the returning Dain himself, somewhere down the line.
#3 The Velveteen Dream holds a press conference
The Velveteen Dream is the most unique character in sports entertainment with his trademark suave style and swagger that few in WWE can match. This week, he organized a press conference addressing members of the media who had questions for the man.
He shut the first question down about a future challenger. He would entertain the second about Roderick Strong believing that he was at The Velveteen Dream's level, but addressed the fact that Strong pinned him as a fluke.
We all remember Adam Cole's promise about The Undisputed ERA holding all of the gold that NXT has to offer in 2019. I am assuming that with this vision in their sight, Roderick Strong will indeed challenge The Velveteen Dream at a future date.
Whether or not Strong wins the match, we know that it's going to be a very entertaining affair indeed.
#2 Io Shirai's new persona revealed
Shortly after she lost the cage match to Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai would snap. She would take out her ire and her frustrations upon Candice LeRae, her very best friend. Okay, maybe her best friend from NXT because Kairi Sane is in the main roster at the moment.
In any case, Shirai has a gorgeous new look, new attitude, and also has new music to boot as well. It was strange to see her come to the ring, accompanied by a chorus of boos from the Full Sail crowd. But she reveled in her new heel persona, embraced the boos, and told the NXT Universe that she did not need any of them, going forward.
Speaking of Shayna Baszler, even she had a few choice words for Mia Yim in a special backstage segment. The women's division is absolutely on fire, right now in NXT.
#1 Apollo Crews from SmackDown Live returns to NXT
There's always a lot made of the fact that Apollo Crews was called up to the main roster a lot sooner than he should have. The fact of the matter is that he's not found any measure of success in the main roster when he should have been a big breakout star.
He reminded us last week in his match against Andrade why he is one of the best workers in the company. And yet, in a roster that is as stacked as SmackDown Live, Crews has just been unable to carve a niche for himself and shine bright.
He will go up against Kushida, a man who took on Drew Gulak from 205 Live recently in what was a very thrilling affair. It remains to be seen if Crews' aerial assault complements Kushida's submission style.
I'm sure Full Sail will love to see Crews return.
