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WWE NXT had a few major matches scheduled for this week. Zoey Stark had an impressive debut and was put up against the NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai in a non-title match.
Karrion Kross was looking to get his hands on Santos Escobar this week after NXT General Manager William Regal made sure that Escobar would show up for the match. Leon Ruff, on the other hand, couldn’t get his match against Tyler Rust started after he was ambushed by Isaiah "Swerve" Scott.
MSK suffered a setback just a week before their scheduled NXT Tag Team Championship match, while Xia Li tried to impress the NXT Universe once again. Kacy Catanzaro was on the receiving end of a brutal attack by the Chinese Superstar.
Johnny Gargano was also stuck with a non-title match against Dexter Lumis on this week’s episode of NXT.
That wasn’t all, as fans waited patiently for Adam Cole to arrive and reveal the intentions behind his actions. All this, and more, was on offer during this week’s NXT. Let’s take a look at five things WWE got right during this week’s episode.
#5 Dexter Lumis won The Way over on WWE NXT
NXT North American Champion Johhny Gargano and Dexter Lumis competed in a non-title match on WWE NXT this week. Lumis has been stalking The Way for some time now, and he even kidnapped Austin Theory on NXT a couple of weeks ago.
Lumis stared down Gargano early in the contest and took him down with ease to take control of the match. He delivered a flurry of punches to Johnny Wrestling to gain the upper hand.
Gargano took the fight outside the ring and got back into the match by slamming The Tortured Artist into the apron. Indi Hartwell started showing some interest in Gargano’s opponent, to the surprise of Candice LeRae.
Gargano feigned an injury to get the referee’s attention late in the match, and Theory tried to bash Lumis with a chair. Lumis sent Gargano into Theory and then delivered a side slam into the Silence to pick up the victory.
This was a good match for both Lumis and Gargano. Johnny Wrestling has been a good comic heel on NXT, while Lumis is certainly growing as a performer. Theory and Hartwell have shown their interest in Lumis, and that’s something that will help NXT build on a good story for the North American Championship.
#4 The Grizzled Young Veterans tried to work their way up on WWE NXT
The Grizzled Young Veterans are bitter about losing the WWE NXT Dusty Rhodes Classic once again. James Drake and Zack Gibson vented their frustration by attacking MSK backstage this week. The duo injured Wes Lee’s hand with a chair to take him out of competition for some time.
Drake and Gibson were proud of their actions and celebrated the fine imposed by NXT General Manager William Regal. GYV then took on the team of Killian Dain and Drake Maverick in a tag team match.
Dain and Maverick did well as a team and gave the experienced Drake and Gibson a fight to remember. However, Drake fell for the Ticket to Maybe to award GYV the victory.
MSK hasn’t been able to build towards their NXT Tag Team Championship match as well as many had hoped. They will likely return in a few weeks to get their promised title shot with a renewed storyline.
The angle will help GYV get over and possibly win the titles from Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan, before building towards a rivalry against MSK.
#3 Zoey Stark impressed against the WWE NXT Women’s Champion
Zoey Stark has impressed on WWE NXT with dominating performances recently, and she got a chance to show her skills against the reigning NXT Women’s Champion. Io Shirai came out for the non-title match in hopes of pushing the newcomer to the limits.
Stark overpowered her smaller opponent with ease and pushed her up against the ropes. The Genius of the Sky tried to come back into the match by countering Stark’s moves with reversals.
Both women put on quite a show as they came close to winning several times. At one point, it seemed like Shirai would eat the pinfall to award Stark a huge victory to get a major push.
But Shirai prevailed by sending Stark into the turnbuckles and then hitting a moonsault to pick up the victory. Both women showed mutual respect and shook hands, before Toni Storm came out to challenge Shirai for a title match.
The match was fast and fun and allowed Stark to put on a great show against a reigning champion. Shirai is arguably the best female wrestler in WWE and the NXT newcomer earned her respect.
Just like Pete Dunne kept Finn Balor busy for some time, it looks like Storm will keep Shirai busy on NXT. As for Stark, she could become a good replacement for Rhea Ripley on NXT.
#2 Karrion Kross got some competition on WWE NXT
Legado del Fantasma appeared for Santos Escobar’s match against Karrion Kross on WWE NXT this week. While Escobar had managed to wiggle his way out of the match last week, he was unable to do the same once again.
Karrion Kross took the fight to the NXT Cruiserweight Champion as soon as they arrived in the parking lot. Escobar took out Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza first and then targeted Escobar.
The two men fought their way into the Capitol Wrestling Center as Wilde and Mendoza tried to help their leader to gain back some control. Kross fought back and sent Wilde and Mendoza through the protective shields around the ring. He then delivered some big blows to Escobar, who tried to take the fight to the former NXT Champion.
Kross overcame the numbers game by delivering a Doomsday Saito to Escobar on the announce table. He then finished his opponent off with a forearm to the back of the head to pick up the victory.
While some NXT fans will argue that WWE should not have sacrificed the Cruiserweight Champion to Kross, it was something that was required to get the bigger star over. Kross has had several squash matches, and this was one of the matches where he could show what he’s truly made of.
#1 The end of an ERA on WWE NXT
Adam Cole came out to close another episode of WWE NXT. Cole wanted to talk about his actions, while the WWE Universe wanted to know why The Panama City Playboy decided to backstab Kyle O’Reilly.
Cole vowed to fix his mistake and wanted to apologize to O’Reilly and makeup again. Roderick Strong came out to confront Cole and seemed hesitant to trust him once again.
Finn Balor arrived and tried to get his hands on Cole. However, Strong tried to get in his way, and The Panama City Playboy got a chance to take him down with a Superkick for the third time in two weeks.
Strong took Cole down with a clothesline but regretted what he did soon after. Cole tricked him and tried to patch things up again, before delivering a low-blow and then Superkicking him.
The angle effectively ended The Undisputed ERA for good. NXT fans were hoping to see Strong stick with Cole, while Bobby Fish could have returned to side up with KOR. However, the creatives arguably did the right thing by breaking up the faction completely, and now fans can expect a few new interesting rivalries to pop up on NXT.
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