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The June 17th episode of WWE NXT had a couple of big tag team matches lined up as Imperium was set to defend their NXT Tag Team Championships against Breezango, while the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley and Sasha Banks arrived on the brand to defend their titles against Tegan Nox and Shotzi Blackheart.
The action was topnotch during both matches as we saw the challengers put up a great fight while the Champions were introduced to a few more challenges after their matches.
Apart from these two big matches, the men of NXT had a big segment where the fate of the NXT Champion and NXT North American Champion was decided to possibly give fans the first combined NXT and North American Champion in the brand’s history.
Bronson Reed, Damian Priest, and Dakota Kai all got their spotlight during the night while Robert Stone seems to be done in his quest to find his next client.
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In this article, we will look a the 5 things WWE got right on NXT this week.
#5 Bronson Reed sets his sights on Karrion Kross
Bronson Reed got a chance to redeem himself this week after a string of televised losses that had dented his overall image on NXT. He took on Leon Ruff who has been all around WWE and has competed on RAW, SmackDown, and NXT as an enhancement talent.
The Thicc Boy of NXT made quick work of Ruff as he was put away after Reed hit a diving splash on the poor soul. After the match, Reed called out Karrion Kross for a match next week to teach him a lesson.
Kross had attacked Reed a few weeks back following his match to send a statement to Tommaso Ciampa before the two men competed at NXT TakeOver: In Your House.
Karrion Kross isn't here to play around on NXT
While we know how this match will be booked, it was good to see a big man from the brand not back down and call out the bigger star for a match to settle the score. No matter which way the result goes, it will help Reed develop as a character on screen and possibly head in the right direction where he comes across as fearless and threatening force.
As for Kross, time is ticking to his NXT Championship opportunity and he just needs to sacrifice a few more souls to make a big impression on the WWE Universe.
#4 Drake Maverick takes over as the babyface of NXT
After showing his real colors on NXT last week, Santos Escobar (fka El Hijo del Fantasma) arrived on the Black & Gold brand with Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde. The men did not wear any masks to hide their faces after showing their true colors when they beat down Drake Maverick last week.
The NXT Cruiserweight Champion spoke highly of himself in the middle of the ring and said that as a luchador, people could only see his mask. However, his father always told him to be a leader and that’s exactly what he plans to do on NXT.
This brought out Maverick who interrupted the new NXT Cruiserweight Champion and attacked all three men. However, Maverick could not stay on the offense for long as the numbers game got to him and he was punished for his arrival.
NXT has another new heel faction to build on
The heels put him trough the steel barricades and then Escobar delivered a Phantom Driver through the table to lay him out.
Maverick had to be taken away in an ambulance to show that the newly resigned Superstar had picked up a lot of damage during the segment.
This was done well to build Maverick further as an in-ring competitor and made him an instant star babyface against a very new but lethal heel. NXT will likely get a few matches between these two men, and we could see the babyface come out on top as the NXT Cruiserweight Champion.
#3 The NXT Tag Team Championship match between Imperium and Emporium
Imperium was set to defend their NXT Tag Team Championships against Breezango this week. Tyler Breeze and Fandango had informed the WWE Universe that they would switch to a much more serious gimmick, and therefore the two men came out as Marsupial and Fabio of Emporium. This was the two comedian’s attempt at taking a shot at Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner of Imperium.
The two heels did not take this lightly as they beat down Fandango and Breeze from the opening bell.
The heels were on top throughout the match and did not give the challengers any opportunity to get back in the contest.
The Indus Sher then arrived and stared at Breeze who was outside the ring before Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch came out to beat the two massive heels down. This allowed Fandango to take advantage and roll-up Barthel, only to realize that he wasn’t the legal man. This allowed Aicher to hit a DDT on the babyface to pick up the victory and retain their titles.
Imperium has several other NXT tag teams to keep an eye on
The match was good and gave Breezango a chance to shine on NXT. It also gave Imperium two more challengers by the end of the segment. Indus Sher hasn’t had the same build and it will be interesting to see how NXT handles them as they aren’t anywhere near Authors of Pain or The Viking Raiders yet.
The brand also hinted towards Dexter Lumis and the Velveteen Dream teaming up to challenge for the NXT Tag Team Championships, something I have been waiting for.
#2 The next two biggest NXT matches
Adam Cole was interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell who asked the NXT Champion about Karrion Kross and Scarlett’s threat. Cole was calm as always and did not seem afraid, but the NXT North American Champion Keith Lee made an appearance and told The Panama City Playboy that he’d be the one to dethrone Cole for the NXT Championship.
Cole then walked out to the middle to address the situation and his two big challengers. He expressed his desire to get a shot at the NXT North American Championship too as the greatest NXT Champion of all time.
Lee walked out to respond to Cole, followed by Johnny Gargano and Finn Balor. All four men made their case for shots at the two belts in the ring and made things a bit more complicated for the NXT creatives.
However, William Regal simplified the equation by announcing that Lee would take on Balor and Gargano next week in a Triple Threat Match for the NXT North American Championship, and the winner fo that match will face Cole in a Winner Takes All Match.
Will Karrion Kross simply sit back and watch what goes down in NXT?
This sounds like a great idea even though there is not much build-up behind it. All four men can easily carry two belts without the WWE Universe raising any objection.
However, Kross was completely kept out of the equation which could mean that the winner of the Winner Takes All Match (likely Cole) will defend both titles against Kross. Or will Keith Lee pay for his actions much before that?
#1 The women of NXT dominate once again
The women of WWE NXT had a huge chance this week as Tegan Nox and Shotzi Blackheart teamed up to compete against Bayley and Sasha Banks for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Nox and Blackheart were all fired up and were looking to bag their first championship belts in WWE. They took the fight to the Champions and Nox chokeslammed The Boss onto the SmackDown Women’s Champion on the outside.
The two teams then continued to fight on as Nox, Banks, and Blackheart impressed the most. It was good to see The Boss and The Role Model compete in the NXT ring again.
Banks locked Blackheart in the Bank Statement but the new Superstar turned it into the Cattle Mutilation.
The referee then tried to stop Nox from using a steel chair that was brought into the picture by Bayley, allowing The Role Model to help Banks reapply the Bank Statement to make Blackheart tap out.
Will the two heels meet a new challenge from the NXT Women's Champion?
After the match, the two heels celebrated their cheap victory before the NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai took both women down and cleared the house.
This was a good match that allowed Nox and Blackheart to come out as equals to the two top women of SmackDown and give them a tough fight. Banks and Bayley’s victory by cheating could allow the two NXT stars to get a shot at the titles once again down the line, while Shirai could come after Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Championship soon.
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