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RAW and SmackDown are busy building towards the WWE Royal Rumble, but NXT has its full focus on building its own rivalries on the brand. This week’s show did not have any Superstar from the brand declare their entry into the Royal Rumble match for Sunday. Instead, the Superstars of the brand continued to work towards Championship matches and the Dusty Rhodes Classic Cup.
The NXT Cruiserweight Championship match between Santos Escobar and Curt Stallion was called off after Stallion was attacked by someone backstage. It looked like Legado del Fantasma had attacked the Superstar, and Escobar found a message for himself under his title belt later on.
Io Shirai appeared on the show and built towards her next rivalry, while NXT Champion Finn Balor teamed up with Kyle O’Reilly to compete against the NXT Tag Team Champions.
The rivalry between Johnny Gargano and KUSHIDA got more intense, and Bronson Reed managed to send another message to the rest of the NXT roster.
Since this week’s NXT was loaded with some great content, let’s look at the five things WWE got right during the show.
#5 Grizzled Young Veterans take another step forward on WWE NXT; KUSHIDA and Johnny Gargano prepare for their date
The Undisputed ERA, and the team of Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher, seem like the most lethal teams in this year’s WWE NXT Dusty Rhodes Classic Tournament. However, The Grizzled Young Veterans have a lot of experience and are looking to win the tournament this year after ending up as the runner-ups last year.
The GYV competed against Leon Ruff and KUSHIDA on this week’s NXT. KUSHIDA was focused early in the match and used his superior submission skills to keep The GYV members down for some time. However, the Japanese Superstar could not control the match on his own throughout its entirety.
After Ruff got the tag, he almost picked up the victory for his team with a Senton Bomb. However, James Drake saved Zack Gibson at the right time and the two men took the fight to Ruff. The former NXT North American Champion soon fell prey to the Ticket to Mayhem that ended the babyfaces’ hopes of winning the Dusty Rhodes Cup.
After the match, Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory appeared to beat down KUSHIDA and Ruff. Gargano targeted KUSHIDA, while Theory worked on Ruff until Dexter Lumis appeared to scare both men away.
The match was good and allowed KUSHIDA to shine ahead of his rivalry against the NXT North American Champion. The Grizzled Young Veterans were good, and it seems like Lumis will also be getting in The Way’s path in the weeks to come.
#4 MSK impress once again on WWE NXT
MSK made an impressive debut on WWE NXT and they looked to continue the momentum into this week’s show. MSK was scheduled to compete against the team of Drake Maverick and Killian Dain on NXT.
The newcomers used quick tags early to keep the pressure on Maverick and isolate him. Dain got impatient and came into the ring to use Maverick as a weapon on their opponents. However, MSK continued to impress the fans with some interesting moves and remained in the match even when Dain tried to take them out.
Maverick caught Wes Lee with a pin, but the Superstar managed to kick out just in time. Nash Carter came into the ring and the two men hit their finisher to pick up the victory and advance in the NXT Dusty Rhodes Classic.
MSK seems to be a fun and energetic inclusion to NXT’s already strong tag team division, and it looks like they will climb the ladder very soon. Dain and Maverick have an interesting partnership, and it has helped both men remain prominent on the Black and Gold brand.
Will MSK go all the way in their first WWE tournament?
#3 The WWE NXT Women’s Championship scene finally begins to take off
WWE NXT has teased several new rivalries for the WWE NXT Women’s Champion over the past few months. Returning Superstars such as Ember Moon, Toni Storm, Mercedes Martinez, and the dominant Raquel Gonzalez all have their eyes on Io Shirai’s NXT title.
This week on NXT, the company tried to build the Women’s Championship scene more and looked to set a date for Shirai’s next title defense. Storm came out to the middle to talk about how Shirai had prevented her from making history several times. She vowed to take the NXT Women’s Championship from The Genius of the Sky sooner than later.
This brought out Shirai who told Storm that she was ready to face her anywhere and any time. Mercedes Martinez attacked Shirai and took her out before the two heels got in each other’s faces.
Shirai recovered to dropkick Martinez into Storm, but the former NXT UK Women’s Champion recovered to take down Shirai and stand tall to close out the segment.
The segment was good and allowed the top women of NXT to make their next rivalry even bigger. Fans will likely get a Triple Threat match for the NXT Women’s Championship at an upcoming TakeOver event, and it could end up being Shirai’s final match as the Champion before she moves to some other brand.
#2 Bronson Reed and Isaiah "Swerve" Scott put on a show on WWE NXT
Isaiah "Swerve" Scott has had a major change in character over the past few weeks on WWE NXT. The Superstar who could be termed a babyface before has become a major heel in the mid-card in NXT.
Scott and Bronson Reed had a rivalry brewing, and they took to the ring on this week’s NXT. Scott tried to work on Reed’s right shoulder early on and looked to wear the massive Superstar down early. The Colossal One soon found an opening to fight back and took his smaller opponent down with some big blows.
Reed swatted Scott away with ease as he tried to deliver a big move. However, Scott soon hit the big 450 Splash on Reed but could not put him away. A slap from the heel woke up the monster who took him down with a big clothesline and then delivered The Tsunami for the victory.
The match was good and allowed both men to shine. Scott seems to be the perfect opponent for The Colossal One, and the two have good chemistry in the ring together. Hopefully, NXT will continue their rivalry in the weeks to come.
#1 Finn Balor and Kyle O’Reilly take down the WWE NXT Tag Team Champions
Finn Balor and Kyle O’Reilly teamed up for the first time on WWE NXT, as Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch arrived for their match against the duo. Pete Dunne was seen backstage with the NXT Tag Team Champions, and it seemed as though he’d play a part in the match later in the night.
KOR was battling through a jaw injury, but Lorcan and Burch decided to take advantage of his condition. Balor came in to take the heels down and worked on both men to take control of the match. However, KOR suffered each time he was tagged in and The Prince seemed to get more and more frustrated each time.
The heels did a great job working together and even got the better of The Prince for some time. After the two teams had a good match, O’Reilly managed to trap Burch in a leg submission to make him tap out.
After the match, Dunne arrived and teamed up with Burch and Lorcan to hurt the NXT Champion. He prepared to snap The Prince's fingers before The Undisputed ERA’s Roderick Strong and Adam Cole arrived.
Dunne snapped Balor’s fingers before bailing to make a statement. The Undisputed ERA stood tall with the NXT Champion until Balor walked away to close the show.
This was a great way to end the night as it seems like Balor may become a part of Undisputed ERA down the line. Will Cole and Balor co-lead the biggest faction in WWE? The thought of the aforementioned possibility seems really exciting.
Teddy Long snaps when Swerve Strickland's race is brought up HERE
