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Another episode of WWE NXT lit up Tuesday night this week. MSK was scheduled to team up with KUSHIDA to take on Legado del Fantasma in the biggest match of the night. Marcedes Martinez competed against Dakota Kai to show that she has the potential to challenge Raquel Gonzalez for the NXT Women’s title.
Austin Theory went up against Bronson Reed while Toni Storm took on newcomer Zayda Ramier. Killian Dain and Drake Maverick found themselves in a match against Imperium. This was a true test of the friendship between Dain and Maverick.
Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher confronted The Grizzled Young Veterans as both teams looked to get a shot at the NXT Tag Team titles.
Adam Cole laughed off his loss to Kyle O’Reilly and put the new NXT Champion on notice. Will the rivalry between Cole and O’Reilly continue for longer? And who will step up to Karrion Kross for the NXT title first?
Let’s take a look at the five things WWE got right on NXT this week.
#5 Zoey Stark cost Toni Storm her match on WWE NXT
Toni Storm and Zoey Stark had an incredible match on the preshow of WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. Storm came out this week and called out Stark before claiming that whatever happened on Tuesday night would be all for Stark.
Storm then took on Zayda Ramier in a one-on-one contest. This was Ramier’s first singles match on NXT. The former NXT UK Women’s Champion took the fight to Ramier with a boot to the face. A second one nearly turned the newcomer inside out.
Storm vented her frustration at Ramier as she tried to send a message to Stark. She stayed on the attack and kept punishing Ramier without trying to go for the pin to end her misery.
A hip attack gave her a chance to hit Storm Zero, but she decided to go for something grander instead. The former NXT UK Women’s Champion took Ramier to the top of the ropes to hit an avalanche Storm Zero. Just then, Stark appeared to try and stop Storm from hurting Ramier.
This gave Ramier the chance to fight back and hit Storm with a beautiful Shooting Star Press to pick up a huge victory. Unlike RAW and SmackDown, NXT is never shy about allowing newcomers to pick up massive surprise victories.
The win allows Ramier to come across as a major force on NXT. On the other hand, the entire angle will allow NXT creative to further build up the rivalry between Toni Storm and Zoey Stark.
#4 Mercedes Martinez finds herself in the WWE NXT Women’s Championship picture
Mercedes Martinez started performing on WWE NXT last year, and she’s already had some big matches on the brand. This week, Martinez went up against Dakota Kai to prove that she deserved a shot at Raquel Gonzalez’s NXT Women’s Championship.
Martinez started strong and dominated Kai early on in the match. Kai made a comeback by planting her with a DDT and a low boot into the corner. The Captain of Team Kick impressed with her performance once again and managed to get the better of Martinez on most occasions.
The Latina Sensation targeted Kai’s arm and delivered an over-the-shoulder falling arm breaker. Kai appeared to be in serious pain on the floor before Martinez came face to face with Raquel Gonzalez.
Martinez punched Gonzalez before rolling Kai back into the ring. This led to a brawl between Martinez and the NXT Women’s Champion. This led to a disqualification as Gonzalez continued to beat down her potential challenger to make a statement.
The match was good and allowed both Martinez and Kai to shine. The Captain of Team Kick was the star in this contest and showed why she’s at the top of NXT. Gonzalez got a chance to show off her power once again, and will likely compete in a couple of matches against Martinez to kick off her title reign.
#3 Bronson Reed got himself another shot at the WWE NXT North American Championship
Indi Hartwell was having a tough night on WWE NXT. Dexter Lumis apparently sent flowers to the NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions, and she wasn’t too happy about it.
However, she accompanied The Way out to the middle for Austin Theory’s match against Bronson Reed. Theory seemed a little too confident competing against The Colossal on NXT. Gargano tried to help Theory early in the contest as he looked to ensure that Reed did not get another NXT North American Championship opportunity against him.
Reed fought back and showed his incredible strength during the contest. He delivered a thunderous chokeslam to Theory and nearly picked up the victory. Theory fought back, and both men were laid out for some time.
Lumis arrived and tried to get close to Hartwell again. She seemed a little uncertain at first, but Lumis protected her from taking a hit from Theory. The chaos allowed Reed to hit the Tsunami for the victory.
The contest was fun and gave Reed a chance to show his incredible wrestling skills once again. Hartwell and Lumis’s story also took an interesting turn. The angle will allow NXT creative to build the storyline better.
#2 Killian Dain and Drake Maverick put on an impressive show against Imperium on WWE NXT
Drake Maverick was prepared to be betrayed on WWE NXT this week. Maverick and Killian Dain were set to compete against Imperium on NXT, and Maverick believed that Dain would turn on him. However, The Beast of Belfast reassured Maverick that no such thing would happen and that he would not join Imperium.
The match saw the two babyfaces try to go one-up over Imperium early on. However, every time Maverick got into the ring, Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner isolated him and kept the pressure on him.
Maverick nearly lost hope after being beaten down so much, but Dain ran in to protect his partner from losing the match. Barthel instructed Alexander Wolfe to hit Dain with a steel chair outside the ring. Wolfe hesitated and held back because of the history between the two NXT Superstars.
Imperium finally finished off Maverick with an elevated spinning uppercut to pick up the win. After the match, Dain showed a lot of concern for his little friend. This was a surprisingly good match that once again showed that Maverick is among the best underdogs in WWE today.
NXT did well to show the tension between Wolfe and Dain again without anything substantial happening. It looks like Imperium has moved on from Timothy Thatcher, but they could take control of The Beast of Belfast sooner rather than later.
#1 Legado del Fantasma took down MSKushida on WWE NXT
The RKBro took a backseat as MSKushida stepped up on WWE NXT for a match against Legado del Fantasma. Wes Lee and Nash Carter from MSK showed their respect to KUSHIDA and thanked him for helping them early in their NXT careers.
Meanwhile, Legado del Fantasma's Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza looked to make a statement on NXT before taking the titles away from MSK and KUSHIDA.
MSKushida took the fight to Legado del Fantasma and cleared the ring to stand tall. Escobar gave out fresh instructions to his group, and they managed to make an impact right away. Escobar powerbombed KUSHIDA through the announcers' table to take him out of the equation for some time.
Lee suffered a lot of damage as he was left alone in the ring before Carter tried to make the save. However, the duo couldn’t keep Legado del Fantasma away for too long. KUSHIDA was taken down by Escobar with a Phantom Driver.
Mendoza and Wilde hit a Russian leg sweep/running dropkick on Carter to pick up the victory. Legado del Fantasma stood tall with all the gold to make a statement on Tuesday night.
NXT did well to book Legado del Fantasma as the dominant faction in this contest. KUSHIDA will likely get into a rivalry with Escobar for the title, while Mendoza and Wilde will go after MSK.
This will likely allow NXT creative to come up with some great matches in the weeks to come.
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