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The final episode of WWE NXT before the upcoming change promised to give fans exactly what they wanted. A couple of big tag team championship matches were scheduled for the show this week.
MSK defended their NXT Tag Team Championships against former champions Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. Meanwhile, Io Shirai and Zoey Stark defended their NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships against Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter.
Ember Moon answered Kay Lee Ray’s call for a match, and the two went head-to-head this week. Mei Ying also made a promising start to her in-ring career with a quick victory over her first opponent.
It was also announced that the first challenger for Samoa Joe’s NXT World Championship would be decided through a Fatal Four-Way Match next week.
Take a look at the five things WWE got right on NXT this week.
#5. Kay Lee Ray defeated Ember Moon after a good match
Kay Lee Ray and Ember Moon had a good technical exchange before Ray tried to cause early damage. The War Goddess had a fitting reply to everything Ray threw, and she nearly knocked her out with a spinning sidekick. Ray hit the floor hard, and Moon continued to stay on the attack with a suicide dive.
The former NXT Women’s Champion set up to hit the Eclipse, but Ray countered and caught her on the top rope. She sent Moon to the floor and hit her with a senton bomb moments later for a near fall.
Ray continued to keep the upper hand and, soon, hit Moon with the KLR Bomb to pick up the victory. The match was great and allowed both women to show their in-ring strengths.
Ray needed a good start to her NXT run, and she got just that with a victory over the former women’s champion. Backstage, The War Goddess said she knew what she needed to do to answer the loss. Hopefully, this will lead to a more aggressive Ember Moon.
#4. The Creed Brothers made an impressive debut
Diamond Mine struggled to make an impact on NXT with only Roderick Strong competing in the ring. All that changed this week, and Diamond Mine’s newest recruits made their debut.
The Creed Brothers had their first match on NXT against local competitors. Julius and Brutus hit their opponents with massive strikes and sent them out of the ring. A belly-to-belly suplex knocked the wind out of their opponent.
The brothers then hit a double-team fireman carry and sent their challengers out of the ring again. Julius and Brutus continued to dominate their opponents with big moves.
Julius ended their opponents’ misery with a rolling piledriver into a low-running lariat for the win. The match was quick but gave the two men enough time to show their full arsenal.
It was great to see The Creed Brothers perform on NXT and make a big impact. This will help Diamond Mine grow and gain momentum. Fans will have to wait until KUSHIDA returns and faces Strong for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship. Until then, NXT should continue to give The Creed Brothers good matches.
#3. Santos Escobar defeated Carmelo Hayes
Carmelo Hayes and Santos Escobar had a backstage interaction on NXT last week. That led to a match between the two cruiserweights on this week’s episode.
Escobar came out with Legado del Fantasma, and it already looked like the NXT Breakout Superstar was at a disadvantage. Hayes started well and pushed Escobar back with good strikes before the former NXT Cruiserweight Champion made a comeback.
Hayes proved to be a little too quick for Escobar, and he continued to keep the upper hand in the early part of the contest. Escobar took control and went for the Phantom Driver, but Hayes reversed it into a double-knee face breaker.
Later, Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde distracted the referee while Elektra Lopez surprised the NXT Universe by hitting Hayes with a bodyslam on the ramp.
Back in the ring, Escobar delivered the Phantom Driver on Hayes to pick up the win. The match was fast-paced and fun. It was the right call to allow Escobar to win the contest while protecting Hayes. It could lead to a Triple Threat Match between Escobar, Hayes, and Isaiah “Scott” Swerve in the weeks to come.
#2. Io Shirai and Zoey Stark retained their NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships
After weeks of NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Io Shirai and Zoey Stark bonding behind the scenes, the two showed differences in the ring. Shirai started the match and didn't feel like tagging Stark into the contest. She worked over Kayden Carter before Kacy Catazaro partnered with Carter to take Shirai out.
Stark tagged in and tried to gain momentum back for her team, but speared Shirai in the corner by mistake, leading to more differences between the two.
Carter and Catanzaro took advantage of the situation and hit Stark with a combo maneuver. Shirai had to run into the ring to save her partner from getting pinned.
Stark took out her opponent before Shirai hit a moonsault to pick up the win. After the match, Gigi Dolin, Jacy Jayne, and Mandy Rose beat down Carter, Catanzaro.
The match was good for both teams. Shirai and Stark are doing well together and NXT should give them more opponents and a long reign.
#1. MSK defeated Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch before their faction imploded
Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch were looking to win the NXT Tag Team Championships back in the week's main-event. Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland reminded the duo to badly hurt MSK and end the team for good.
Nash Carter and Wes Lee went on the attack early. Lorcan and Burch used their technical experience to ground the high-flyers for some time. They isolated Carter and punished him with a few strikes before locking him in an ankle lock. Meanwhile, Burch locked Lee in a crossface and both men were close to tapping out.
Lee rolled over and sent Lorcan into Burch to escape the submission holds. The NXT Tag Team Champions hit their finisher on Lorcan to pick up the win and retain the titles.
After the match, Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland entered the ring. Dunne ordered Holland to layout Burch and Lorcan, and the two made their mark to end the alliance on NXT.
The match allowed MSK to defend their titles against a good team. The brand will need to book some more big matches for Lee and Carter going forward.
Meanwhile, Holland and Dunne can look to enter the NXT Tag Team title picture next. The duo could end up becoming the next titleholders in NXT.
A WWE Hall of Famer called out AEW fans HERE
