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The company has done a great job at pushing NXT, and the Black and Gold brand has some great rivalries brewing.
This week, the brand gave fans some excellent segments that will help build up to major Championship matches and build some great future stars for NXT and WWE.
Baszler announced a match for her NXT Women’s Championship which will take place on December 18, while NXT Champion Adam Cole will also meet his match on the same date after a massive triple-threat match next week.
Apart from that, this week’s episode saw the return of Kushida and Mia Yim which will boost NXT’s current roster.
In this article, we will look at the 5 things NXT got right this week.
#5 Kushida’s return
Kushida finally made his return to NXT after suffering a loss to the NXT United Kingdom Champion, WALTER.
Kushida was set to take on Raul Mendoza during the night, but Cameron Grimes planted him on the ramp. This led to Grimes taking Mendoza’s spot in the match to make a huge statement.
Instead, The Japanese Superstar took control of Grimes throughout most of the match and made him regret taking Mendoza’s spot.
He wore him down with technical offense and then rolled up for the victory. This was a good way for Kushida to return and start rebuilding his reputation on NXT.
Even though his loss to WALTER wasn’t a squash, his time away would require him to get back on track before aiming high once again.
The Japanese Superstar is one of NXT's most talented performers, and having him square off against Grimes instead of Mendoza was the right call in this booking. Grimes has managed to build a reputation for himself pretty quickly, and he could help Kushida get over.
#4 Xia Li’s moment to shine
Since Shayna Baszler has become the NXT Women’s Champion, we’ve only seen a few women being able to keep her down in a fight for long.
While Kairi Sane has been one of the most successful women against Baszler, Xia Li stepped up this week to face NXT’s best after last week’s ambush.
Baszler’s overconfidence allowed The Chinese Superstar to shock her a little and after a long time, we saw Baszler fazed. After a bit of resistance, Baszler locked Li in the Kirifuda Clutch for a tap out.
This was a great piece of booking as we knew that Baszler wouldn’t be losing her title, but she did not simply squash the young Superstar.
Li’s moment in the spotlight will allow her to build further and get in contention for the title again which could result in her big moment in NXT.
The Queen of Spades usually gives her opponent some time to shine before taking them down, and she that perfectly during the clash against Li. Baszler will move on to bigger challenges, while Li will get an opportunity to work on her WWE career.
#3 A big victory for Killian Dain
Killian Dain was scheduled to take on Damian Priest this week, but The Archer of Infamacy’s injury kept him off this week’s show. Priest’s ribs were injured during the triple-threat match involving Daine and Pete Dunne to crown the #1 contender for the NXT Championship for Survivor Series.
Dain challenged anyone in the back to come out and face him, The Bruiserweight’s music hit as he accepted the challenge.
Even though Dunne was still sore from his match against Adam Cole at Survivor Series, he tried to do whatever he could to keep Dain down for a major chunk of the match.
However, The Beast of Belfast refused to stay down for long and took advantage of Dunne’s bad knee, planting the former NXT UK Champion from the second rope to pick up a huge victory.
This was a huge victory for Dain, who has been involved in mixed bookings recently and needed a victory to break out and shine.
Dunne’s injury protects his reputation while pushing Dain forward, and it will be interesting to see whether NXT will continue to pair Dain with Dunne and Priest or allow him to go after the North American Champion.
#2 Rhea Ripley’s biggest opportunity
After Dakota Kai admitted backstage that she was the one who attacked Mia Yim before the big match at TakeOver: WarGames, we knew Rhea Ripley wouldn’t hold back.
However, Yim returned this week and attacked Kai, repeatedly throwing The Captain of Team Kick into the barricade.
Ripley enjoyed the beardown until Shayna Baszler came out with Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir to beatdown Ripley.
Even though the No.1 contender tried her best to not stay down, The Queen of Spades trapped her in the Kirifuda Clutch and knocked her out.
Even though the beatdown was too much for Ripley, she received the good news that she would get a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship on December 18th.
This will be a stellar match, and we know Ripley is currently the only woman who can take down Baszler and take her title away.
By having the three heels beat down Ripley, the brand showed that even Baszler sees her as a real threat and needs to weaken her before the big match.
Will Ripley score the Championship on December 18, or will she have to wait further to take control of the brand’s women’s division?
#1 The Limitless One's rise
Keith Lee has bulldozed his way to the top thanks to the build-up of Survivor Series. His face-off against Braun Strowman received an epic pop and we now know how the company will try to build him.
This week, after Adam Cole called out Finn Balor and blamed Lee for injuring Bobby Fish, The Limitless One came out to threaten all the members of the Undisputed Era.
Lee was able to brave an attack from all three men from the villainous faction, and later it was announced that Lee would partner with Tommaso Ciampa and Dominik Dijakovic to take on Undisputed Era.
During their match in the main event, Finn Balor interfered to deliver 1916 to Ciampa and looked to attack Adam Cole but Lee laid him out.
This led to William Regal announcing a major triple-threat match for next week involving Ciampa, Balor, and Lee. The winner of the match was to receive an NXT Championship match the following week.
This is by far the biggest match of the Limitless One’s career, and it’s impressive to see how much he has risen in recent weeks.
While he was involved in mixed bookings earlier, it seems as though the creatives have got their heads together to get him back on track. This seems like the perfect way to book the massive Superstar who can really gain some experience by battling Ciampa and Balor.
