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As is tradition, the NXT episode after Takeover is a re-cap of Takeover as well as the pre-show matches. Takeover: New York was incredible with Velveteen Dream, Shayna Baszler, and War Raiders retaining their titles, while Walter and Johnny Gargano would win their title matches against Pete Dunne and Adam Cole respectively.
The first fight of the match saw Candace LaRae taking on Aliyah following their confrontation in the Full Sail parking lot in the go-home episode of NXT before Takeover. Candace has had good matches since signing in NXT but has been unable to string together meaningful results or any momentum. Aliyah had her tag team partner, Vanessa Bourne, outside the ring providing an occasional useful distraction. LaRae would win after hitting Aliyah with a Rude Awakening before hitting a Lionsault for the victory.
In amongst the re-cap of Takeover and the Preshow fights, this week's NXT episode also showed former NJPW star Kushida signing his WWE contract with Triple H and NXT General Manager William Regal. Kushida is a 6-time Junior Heavyweight Champion and 2-time Junior Heavyweight tag team champion in New Japan during his 6-year tenure with the promotion. It remains to be seen exactly where Kushida will fit in at NXT and who his first feuds will be against, however, hopefully, he can go on to have an impact at NXT similar to fellow countryman Shinsuke Nakamura or Kairi Sane and not like Hideo Itami.
The second match on the card saw Danny Burch face off against Jaxson Ryker. Burch was on the outside of the ring while his tag team partner, Oney Lorcan, would fall short against Ryker in the NXT episode leading into Takeover. Ryker was once again accompanied by his Forgot Sons stablemates Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler. Burch exploded in the match quickest, trying to get the jump on the bigger Ryker. It seemed like it was working at the start before Burch was caught by Ryker.
Burch almost got the win after catching Ryker in a small package but Ryker kicked out. Ryker would then hit Burch with his Chokeslam/Sit out Spinebuster combination that Mauro Ranallo called "the Widow Maker". After the bell, Ryker went to hit Burch with the Widow Maker again, but Lorcan came in for the save. The numbers game of the Forgotten Sons would win out with Blake, Cutler, and Ryker laying out Lorcan as well.
The main event of the episode saw the Street Profits taking on the team of "European Union" tag team of Fabien Aichner and Marcel Barthel. Both teams lost in their respective first-round matches of the Dusty Rhodes classic, with the Street Profits taken out by Mustache Mountain and the European Union taken out by eventual winners Aleister Black and Ricochet. This fight had the best atmosphere as it was the last fight before Takeover: New York's main show. The Street Profits would win the highly entertaining match after hitting Barthel with an Electric Chair and Block Buster combination.
#3 Jaxson Ryker
The Forgotten Son's Heavyweight enforcer, Jaxson Ryker, completed his clean sweep over the duo of Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan on this week's episode of NXT, having beaten Lorcan in a one on one match on the episode before Takeover. Together with Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler, the Forgotten Sons have received a significant push, leading the team to the Dusty Classic finals against Ricochet and Aleister Black.
Now with Ryker's significant singles victories over both Burch and Lorcan, it seems like the Dusty Classic run may not be the end of their push. While Burch started the quicker of the two and got more offense against the bigger Ryker than his tag team partner did, the result seemed inevitable as Burch struggled valiantly to get his bigger opponent to the ground. Ryker would eventually get the upper hand, hitting Burch with his finisher, now called "The Widor Maker" for the pinfall victory.
Ryker would attempt to hit Burch with his finisher again but was cut off by Burch's tag team partner Oney Lorcan. Ryker's stablemates Blake and Cutler would jump in the ring and the three of them would leave Orcan laid out as well. While Lorcan and Burch were grounded in the ring, Ryker along with Blake and Cutler celebrated another victory together on the ramp.
#2 The Street Profits
The Street Profits were disappointing in their first-round matchup in the Dusty Rhodes Classic this year, losing to the UK duo of Mustache Mountain. The pair of Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford seem to continuously be holding up NXT's tag team division, never seemingly able to push for a shot at the NXT title or any main event tag team spots. The duo featured in this episode's main event by virtue of the fact that they were the last fight on the Takeover pre-show.
However, the Street Profits stepped up their game with an entertaining bout against the team of Italian Fabien Aichner and Germany's Marcel Barthel. The match began with Barthel and Aichner isolating Street Profit's Montez Ford in the ring, but some of the moves seemed a step or two slower than the pace required and Ford almost lost his footing a few times.
The Street Profits would eventually win the match, picking up the pinfall victory after hitting a double team move of Electric Chair and Blockbuster combination on Marcel Barthel.
#1 Candace LeRae
LeRae has had an interesting run during her time at NXT, flipping between Johnny Gargano's wife and a singles wrestler in her own right. When given a shot on her own, she usually goes quite well but she has been caught up in her husbands own drama that stunted her run. Now that Gargano has won the NXT Championship it may mean that LeRae can get her own run in the ring.
In the pre-show, the talented LeRae faced off against Aliyah with her opponent's tag team partner Vanessa Bourne at ringside. While Aliyah's footwork was problematic, and that is usually enough to throw most wrestlers off. LeRae dealt with the issue well and got a great match out of the less experienced Aliyah.
While Candace isn't perfect in the ring, as shown when she almost botched the Lionsault as one of her feet missed the rope, she still recovered enough to land the move and pick up the pinfall victory. At the moment, LeRae has been hanging in the female mid-card, but with Baszler moving on from her feuds against Belair, Sane and Shirai soon a spot may open up for LeRae to challenge for the title again.
