What’s the story?
There were several big announcements on NXT television tonight. One of those was that the winner of the Bobby Roode vs. Kassius Ohno NXT Championship match on next week’s episode of NXT may not have the title for long. Whoever is the champion after next week will have to defend the championship against Shinsuke Nakamura at Takeover: Orlando.
In case you didn’t know...
Kassius Ohno recently returned to NXT after a nearly three and a half year absence. His first appearance at Full Sail University saw him come out to save No Way Jose from a beat down at the hands of NXT Champion, Bobby Roode after their match.
Bobby Roode won the NXT Championship from Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT Takeover: San Antonio. Nakamura hurt his knee towards the end of the match and Roode capitalized, hitting two Glorious DDTs in order to capture the title.
The heart of the matter
It was announced tonight that the Roode vs. Ohno match on next week’s episode of NXT television basically serves as a qualifier as far as Takeover: Orlando is concerned. NXT General Manager William Regal announced that the winner of the NXT Championship match next week would be the man who would defend the title against Shinsuke Nakamura at Takeover: Orlando.
Nakamura has not received his championship rematch since losing the title to Roode, and he will get his opportunity at Takeover: Orlando. Nakamura returned to in-ring action this week to test out his previously injured knee in a victorious effort over former WWE Cruiserweight Champion, T.J. Perkins.
What’s next?
Bobby Roode will defend the NXT Championship against Kassius Ohno next week on NXT television. Whoever is the champion after that match will go on to face Shinsuke Nakamura at Takeover: Orlando.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Personally, we would have just rather had a triple threat NXT Championship match for Takeover: Orlando. It wouldn’t necessarily negatively impact the match or the title, as we can only imagine what kind of match that Roode, Nakamura, and Ohno could put on as a group. It would even allow Bobby Roode to garner more heat if he were to retain the championship after Ohno or Nakamura hit their finisher before Roode dumped them out of the ring and stole the victory.
We can’t say we’re terribly disappointed, however. We’ve already seen the type of match that Roode and Nakamura are capable of having, and a second match between the two could only improve over their first effort, as it would allow for callbacks to spots from the first match.
As far as Ohno is concerned, we would be positively salivating if he were victorious next week. The kind of match that he could have with Shinsuke Nakamura could very well be the King of Strong Style’s best match since his NXT debut against Sami Zayn.
Regardless of the outcome of the match, we are very much looking forward to next week’s episode of NXT.
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