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While WWE's main roster was going through radical changes over the past week, NXT was focused on building up with the resources they have invested in over the long term.
This week’s episode of NXT was as solid as any other, as the Black and Gold brand saw a healthy amount of story development, which could result in some memorable feuds down the line. With The Undisputed Era laying out one contender for their titles and sending a huge message to another contender, the company knew exactly what they wanted to do with one of their greatest factions.
Apart from that, we saw the former NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa return to in-ring action and the women of NXT trying their best to reach the top by calling out Shayna Baszler.
All this and more was on display during this week’s show. Join us as we take a look at the 5 things NXT got right this week.
#1 Built Killian Dain further after his loss to Matt Riddle
Killian Dain’s return to NXT has been a good one, as he has managed to get into a huge feud with Matt Riddle before moving on to other things.
Matt Riddle managed to overcome Dain, but the monstrous athlete did his damage and made an impact against one of the company's top Superstars.
Last week on NXT, Dain returned to attack Cameron Grimes and Boa, but only managed to get his hands on Boa. He manhandled the Superstar, which led to a match between the two men this week.
'The Beast of Belfast' was able to dominate and delivered a trio of Vader Bombs to the smaller athlete before locking in a modified camel clutch for the tapout. The entire match displayed Dain’s dominance,as he proved that he is a huge threat to the brand’s locker room.
The rebuilding phase for Dain is being executed efficiently by NXT, and his altercation with Pete Dunne clearly shows that the brand holds the Superstar in high regard.
#2 Rewarded Keith Lee & Dominik Dijakovic
If you missed NXT last month, you missed out on a great rivalry between two of WWE’s best heavyweights.
Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic have faced each other a few times now and have given the crowd some of the greatest mid-card non-title matches of the year. Both big men are capable of performing some amazing moves, a skill that sets them apart from the rest of the roster.
This week on NXT, the two men faced each other with a big prize waiting for them at the end of the match. The match was set by William Regal to crown the new number one contender for the North American Championship.
Both men fought extremely hard, and it would have been difficult to pick a winner among them judging by the effort they both contributed. This led to North American Champion Roderick Strong running down to the ring to attack both men and cause a no-contest.
The result will allow both men to compete for the titles, as Regal has now announced a Triple Threat Match for the Championship.
This is a great reward for both Superstars, who have given their 100% in the past few weeks. A Championship opportunity will only help them rise up the cards in the months to come.
#3 Gave Tomasso Ciampa the perfect return
The perfect way to build future stars is by allowing them to battle in big matches against bigger Superstars. That is exactly what NXT did for Angel Garza this week.
Garza battled against former NXT Champion Tomasso Ciampa, who gave his very best in his return match after a long recover from injury.
Garza surprised a number of fans by being a good match for the former NXT Champion, and even Ciampa seemed impressed at one point. However, the action allowed Ciampa to bring the best out of his cunning heel character, and he wasted little time in belittling his competition before putting him away for good.
This was the perfect match for Ciampa’s return that not only helped fans remember his wrestling abilities, but also refreshed his character.
The post-match segment involving The Undisputed Era will surely add more spice to the rivalry for the NXT Championship, and the message sent by the faction to the contenders for their titles was spot on.
The entire match and the segment that followed was a great touch by NXT to keep their top titles and champions a huge threat to the entire roster.
#4 Awarded Damien Priest a huge victory
It was impossible to defeat the extremely dominant former NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne when he had the title firmly held between his teeth, but Superstars have found a way to outsmart 'The Bruiserweight' whenever the opportunity arises.
The first chapter of the rivalry between Pete Dunne and Damien Priest played out this week, as 'The Bruiserweight' dominated and attacked 'The Archer of Infamy' with everything he had.
The match saw Dunne dominate for most of the bout, yet Priest kept finding something or the other to counter the attacks and delay the result of the match.
After some big moves and strikes, 'The Archer of Infamy' saw there was no real way to put down the former NXT UK Champion cleanly, and resorted to a low blow to weaken him before delivering The Reckoning for the win.
This was a sweet touch to get Priest across as a legitimate threat to the top of the roster without hurting Dunne’s image too much. Dunne was already involved in a heated exchange with Killian Dain before his match, and the entire segment saw him coming out strong even though Priest was victorious. This will certainly be the beginning of a long and interesting rivalry.
#5 Protected The Velveteen Dream
After Ciampa defeated Angel Garza, The Undisputed Era came out to circle the ring like sharks while the former NXT Champion stood in the middle of the ring.
UE’s Kyle O'Reilly gave a USB to commentator Mauro Ranallo to have it looked over by the production truck. The video that was shown on the big screen showed Undisputed Era laying out The Velveteen Dream backstage while Adam Cole made a clear statement that whoever tries to get in the group’s path will meet a similar fate.
Later on, William Regal revealed that Velveteen Dream would need some time to recover from the brutal attack, and therefore won’t be able to compete in his North American Championship match against Strong next week.
The move allows NXT to protect Dream while giving Strong a longer run. It also allows the company to build two more Superstars in the process.
The Dream is a star player who should not lose in his rematch for the title. Delaying his match or even canceling it completely could prove to be fruitful in the long run. We could see Dream return later on to prove to be a bigger threat to Strong, or even go after Cole’s Championship instead.
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