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The last episode of NXT before NXT Takeover: Portland set many things straight with regards to what the fans can expect at the pay-per-view. The show started with Roderick Strong defeating Bronson Reed before the returning Velveteen Dream made things personal with The Messiah of the Backbreaker.
Then, we saw The BroserWeights struggling to find a means of transportation for their trip to Portland, while Dakota Kai took on Candice LeRae in singles action. Kai defeated LeRae before she being attacked by Tegan Nox.
Furthermore, Lio Rush pipped Angel Garza in a one-on-one match and became the No.1 contender for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship; the match for the same will take place next week.
Adam Cole and Tommaso Ciampa ended the show, with both of them trading some words before their showdown this Sunday. Here, we are going to take a look at the three things that could have been differently on this week's show-
#3 Dakota Kai's win against Candice LeRae and subsequent attack by Tegan Nox
Dakota Kai, before her match against Tegan Nox this Sunday, faced Candice LeRae on this week's NXT and the Captain of Team Kick won the match. But LeRae wasn't too happy with the way Kai won, which prompted her to go after her opponent after the match, but Kai was ready for it.
Then, as expected, out came Tegan Nox to aid LeRae. Both Kai and Nox traded blows before several people had to pull them apart. This confrontation between Nox and Kai before their showdown could have been executed differently.
One way would have been to let Kai destroy Nox, which would have developed some sympathy for the face before NXT Takeover: Portland. Also, if that would have happened, Nox would have been established as the underdog, which is something she is quite familiar with.
#2 No Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic on the show
The NXT North American Champion Keith Lee's first title defense will be against Dominik Dijakovic at NXT Takeover: Portland this Sunday, so one can understand why it was surprising not to see either one of them on the show this week.
Instead, we saw Mark Henry hype up their battle, which seemed to be all right too. But one would have loved to see these two at least trade some words before their clash, as there hasn't been much build-up for this feud yet.
This is a match we have seen many times on the Black and Gold brand, so Triple H could and should have done more to hype up this title match.
#1 Johnny Gargano's match against Cameron Grimes
Johnny Gargano, the heart of NXT is all set to face Finn Balor at NXT Takeover: Portland this Sunday, in a match that is much awaited. But before he did that, Gargano faced Cameron Grimes in singles action on this week's NXT and quite expectedly, Johnny Wrestling won the match.
This, by many means, felt like a filler match as it did nothing to build towards the big showdown between Gargano and Balor. Even a stare contest between the two would have done the job, but that didn't happen and it left a sour taste in the end.
A promo battle or even a contract signing would have been good to see but instead, much to everybody's disappointment, Balor wasn't even on the show.
