Top 3 performers of NXT (October 31st, 2018)

Nikki Cross started the episode, not a surprise considering how central she was to the Aleister Black attack storyline. However, she wasn't here to further storylines as she lined up against former Mae Young Classic participant, Mercedes Martinez. Martinez got a great reception from the Full Sail crowd.However, the commentary team mainly focussed on the Aleister Black feud throughout the match, which took away from the bout between Cross and Martinez. The match wasn't Cross' smoothest fight, but she won after hitting Martinez with the Purge.Candace LaRae came out to berate Nikki after the bell. LaRae ditched her usual colors to don a full black ensemble, to match Johnny Gargano's new heel persona. She was joined by Aleister Black, who was looking for Gargano after the events of last week.This was followed up by the first tag team match of the night, a rematch between the Mighty and the Street Profits. As much as this was a match we have seen countless times, the chemistry between the two teams allows them to mix it up and be clean in the ring.All four competitors are fantastic in the ring and the crowd really got behind the bout. The Street Profits are better connected with the audience, with silences usually coming when The Mighty were in control of the fight. The Street Profits won after a Springboard Frog Splash on Shane Thorne for the win.William Regal was backstage and in a quick announcement, Regal booked Tommaso Ciampa against Velveteen Dream for the NXT title at Takeover: War Games as well as Black v Gargano. Somehow Lars Sullivan was able to find out about Regal's announcement and vowed to take back his spot in the title match. Sullivan was awarded a match against the Dream for next week's episode.Finally, several months after appearing at Takeover: Chicago, Matt Riddle was ready to make his NXT TV debut. His opponent was Luke Menzies, who had the misfortune of previously facing Keith Lee. Riddle came down to the ring fist bumping the audience, dressed in a cap, jacket, and slides. Unsurprisingly, the crowd was completely behind the debuting Matt Riddle. Riddle was able to transition from a Monkey flip to an Arm Bar with incredible speed and won by submission, after locking in a modified abdominal stretch.The second tag team match of the night saw Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan, they faced Raul Mendoza and Humberto Carrillo. Burch and Lorcan would pick up a victory after hitting a high angle implant DDT, despite being on the receiving end of most of the offense, with some confusion as both Lorcan and Burch went for the cover.Before their scheduled encounter with War Raiders, the Undisputed Era was backstage cutting a promo before getting jumped by the aforementioned Raiders. The brawl spilled to the outside as the Era used garbage cans and lids, before Ricochet looked to come and even the numbers slightly. This took the fight into the arena itself as they battled through the crowd towards the ring.The Undisputed Era was able to regain control with their slight numbers advantage as well as by using steel chairs. However, the numbers were finally evened out when Pete Dunne hit the ring, using a steel chair to clean house. Once again, William Regal intervened and booked the War Games match between the Undisputed Era and the mishmash team of the War Raiders, Ricochet and Pete Dunne.#3 Humberto Carrillo and Raul MendozaDespite losing the match, Humberto Carrillo and Raul Mendoza not only got in more of the offense but also looked the more impressive of the two teams using their style of fast-paced Lucha Libre offense against the two strong strikers.Carrillo and Mendoza have wrestled together before also in a losing effort to the Forgotten Sons. Considering the talents of the other teams in the division, it's hopeful that the two stay together as not only is their offence entertaining, but also different from any of the other tag teams in the division.It's unlikely for them to receive a push in the division though, considering that it's already quite stacked with the already well known War Raiders and Undisputed Era at the top of the card, while the crowd favorites Heavy Machinery and Street Profits occupy the mid-card with Australian tag team The Mighty.While they are probably not in line for a push anytime soon, hopefully they don't end up in the same position as the last team that lost to Burch and Lorcan.

Top 3 performers of NXT (October 31st, 2018)

#2 Matt Riddle