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WWE turned its attention to the tag teams of WWE NXT as The Dusty Rhodes Classic kicked off this week. With several top tag teams participating in the tournament, fans could not contain their excitement and wanted to watch the Superstars perform their heart out.
Along with that, WWE NXT made some big announcements for the women’s Dusty Rhodes Classic too, during the show. Several teams were announced for the women’s side of the tournament.
Three matches for the Dusty Rhodes Tournament were held on Wednesday night with one new team debuting on WWE NXT. Apart from that, Johnny Gargano competed against Dexter Lumis and managed to roll-up the Superstar to pick up the victory. However, KUSHIDA appeared after the match and made his intentions very clear.
Xia Li managed to impress the WWE NXT Universe once again with a dominant performance. Candice LeRae and Shotzi Blackheart competed in arguably the best match of the night. It was also announced that Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher will meet in the Fight Pit next week.
Keeping in mind all the action from Wednesday night, let’s take a look at 5 things WWE NXT got right this week.
#5 Candice LeRae and Shotzi Blackheart take their rivalry to the next level on WWE NXT
WWE NXT blessed the fans with a match between Candice LeRae and Shotzi Blackheart early in the night. The two tough female competitors came out right after the show kicked off.
Both women have a lot of history, and WWE NXT decided to capitalize on that to give fans a big match on the show. The Superstars kept the pace up early in the match before Blackheart managed to ground LeRae and lock her in a submission.
Indi Hartwell was at ringside to cheer LeRae on and also provide her with assistance to take advantage. She managed to do just that to allow The Poison Pixie to take control late in the match, and both women traded some big blows but were unable to pick up the victory.
Another distraction from Hartwell allowed LeRae to emerge victorious and remain on top of the women’s division. This was a fun match to kick Wednesday night off. Both these women have a lot of history, and the match will allow WWE NXT to build towards the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Classic.
#4 The Grizzled Young Veterans begin their journey in the WWE NXT Dusty Rhodes Classic once again
The Grizzled Young Veterans were one of the favorites to win the WWE NXT Dusty Rhodes Classic last year. However, the team of [Matt] Riddle and Pete Dunne ended up picking up the victory over them to win the tournament.
While Ever-Rise has been impressive over the past few months, they did not have as much momentum coming into the tournament. Zack Gibson started for his team and kept the pressure on by tagging in James Drake to keep Ever-Rise on the backfoot.
The GYV impressed once again with their skills, and their teamwork gave the fans something enjoyable to watch. After the action was back and forth for some time, both teams started using some double-team moves, following which Gibson and Drake hit their finisher to pick up the victory.
Ever-Rise is a good team but the duo needs some build to get in contention for the top titles in WWE NXT. The GYV, on the other hand, are much more refined and are in a better position on the NXT roster. The victory will allow them to push ahead in their quest to win the Dusty Rhodes Classic.
#3 MSK makes a big debut on WWE NXT
Who is MSK? The fans were left with the question just before the start of the WWE NXT Dusty Rhodes Classic after WWE teased their arrival on social media. Jake Atlas and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott took to the ring to take on the debuting team.
The new team was revealed to be Nash Carter & Wes Lee. The two debutants entered the ring to fight two of the best cruiserweights in all of WWE, and the match kicked off with some fast-paced action.
While Scott and Atlas managed to counter virtually everything Carter and Lee had to throw at them, the newcomers still had a few tricks up their sleeves. Atlas showed some signs of a heel turn and a brawl broke out at ringside between all four men.
After things were back in control, Lee went on a rampage and MSK finished the job with a spectacular double-team neckbreaker to pick up a big win in their first bout.
The match was good and allowed MSK to make a big impact upon their debut. Atlas and Swerve are two of the best men in WWE NXT, and it was good to watch the newcomers take them down after a hard-fought contest.
#2 The Undisputed ERA put down Breezango on WWE NXT
The Undisputed ERA is impressive, and that is undisputed. However, Breezango has also proven to be excellent on WWE NXT in recent months.
The two former NXT Tag Team Champions met in the final match of the night for another bout of the Dusty Rhodes Classic. Roderick Strong and Adam Cole represented The Undisputed ERA while Kyle O’Reilly walked out to accompany his teammates.
Tyler Breeze and Cole came to a stalemate following which they shook hands as a show of respect. This further cemented the fact that The Undisputed ERA have indeed turned face.
Breezango managed to work on Cole for some time before the former WWE NXT Champion tagged in Strong. The Messiah of the Backbreaker managed to gain the upper hand for his team and continued to keep Breezango on the backfoot.
Towards the end of the match, Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan, and Danny Burch came out to attack KOR at ringside and distract The UE. However, Cole recovered and hit a Superkick to Breeze to pick up the victory.
Breezango is one of the finest tag teams in WWE and deserved to move ahead in the Dusty Rhodes Classic. However, the competition cannot go on without The Undisputed ERA, and both teams did well to keep the quality of the match pretty high.
#1 The Undisputed ERA and The Prince show an unlikely connection on WWE NXT
Finn Balor came out to the middle to talk about his match against Kyle O’Reilly from last week. The Prince proudly carried the WWE NXT Championship over his shoulder following his hard-fought victory.
Balor addressed the WWE NXT Universe and spoke highly of himself before Pete Dunne, joined by NXT Tag Team Champions Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, interrupted him. Dunne told Balor that he was next in line for a title opportunity before attacking The Prince.
O’Reilly ran out to provide backup to Balor, followed by fellow Undisputed ERA members Adam Cole and Roderick Strong.
Later in the night, Dunne and the NXT Tag Team Champions appeared to attack KOR while he was at ringside watching his teammates take on Breezango. Balor made the save this time and ensured that the heels could not break O’Reilly’s jaw.
While Dunne and the Champions managed to take down The Prince too, it allowed the fans to see a new side to O’Reilly and Balor’s rivalry. With the two men showing mutual respect for one another, this could end up being a great storyline for Dunne in the weeks to come.
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