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After it was announced earlier in the night that Io Shirai's next challenger would be determined next week, it appears that Finn Balor's will also get to know who he will face in his first title defense. During NXT, GM William Regal announced that a "Gauntlet Eliminator" match would determine who would face the NXT Champion at the next TakeOver on October 4th.
A new match concept announced on NXT
With the next TakeOver quickly approaching, interesting matches are being booked to crown the No. 1 Contenders. While the Gauntlet match isn't necessarily a new concept, adding the tweaks that Regal announced certainly makes it intriguing.
Instead of a simple gauntlet match where two competitors square off and a new one joins once a performer is eliminated, this new concept adds another layer.
Regal announced that two men will start this match but that every four minutes, another competitor would join the action. Eliminations could only occur via pin-fall or submission.
We could feasibly have four or five people in the ring at one time. Among the performers showcased in the announcement were Cameron Grimes, Ridge Holland, Velveteen Dream, Bronson Reed and several others. Santos Escobar was also shown in the graphic and more stars may be a part as no set limit was given for number of wrestlers.
It should certainly be a unique night with two big matches to determine challengers for Io Shirai and Finn Balor. Since Tommaso Ciampa is facing Jake Atlas next week, he will probably be excluded from the match.
No mention was made of Johnny Gargano or Adam Cole either. Regardless, it will be interesting to see who emerges victorious in the first-ever Gauntlet Eliminator on NXT.
