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This week's NXT provided several fantastic segments and also finished on an exciting note. In one single show, NXT built up the storylines for next week's show and next month's War Games.
The show began with a high-profile encounter, as Rhea Ripley defeated Bianca Belair. Then Matt Riddle got the better of Cameron Grimes. More importantly, Tegan Fox and Dakota Kai became the top contenders for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships and will face Kairi Sane and Asuka next week on NXT.
Meanwhile, Roderick Strong retained his NXT North American Championship in an incredible Triple Threat Match, but the biggest segment of the night was Finn Balor changing character and turning heel. Balor shocked the wrestling world when he attacked Johnny Gargano and aided The Undisputed Era.
On that note, here are the three things WWE got right on this week's NXT.
#3 Rhea Ripley getting a huge win over Bianca Belair
There's no denying that Rhea Ripley is going to be a huge star in the future, but Triple H deserves a ton of credit for the way in which he is building her character.
The crowd was in for a surprise midway through the bout as Io Shirai intervened. She attacked Ripley and tried to hand Bianca Belair a cheap victory, but the former wasn't having any of it. Then, Shirai's former best friend, Candice LeRae, came out to even the odds.
Rhea then finished off Belair and got a huge win over 'The EST of NXT.' The Black and Gold brand is surely looking at Ripley as a potential candidate to face current NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler.
Baszler has had a brilliant run with NXT Women's Title, but many people can see Ripley pushed as a dominant Superstar who can become the new NXT Women's Champion in the very near future.
#2 Roderick Strong retaining the NXT North American Championship
The Undisputed Era is one of the best heel stables in all of sports entertainment. Since joining TUE, the reigning NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong has seen his stock grow stronger by the day.
It wasn't much of a surprise that Triple H decided to keep the title on Strong and book an incredible Triple Threat Match featuring Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic.
One of the brightest moments of the whole encounter was that Strong didn't require any help from his Undisputed Era brothers and won the match clean. In the upcoming weeks, it will be interesting to see who Strong feuds with for the NXT North American Title. It is important to note that Lee took the pin, so Dijakovic could be next in line for a NXT North American Championship opportunity.
Originally it was Velveteen Dream who was set to face Roderick Strong this week for the NXT North American Championship, but he wasn't medically cleared for this match after suffering an attack at the hands of The Undisputed Era.
Nevertheless, Triple H surely has something planned for Strong and we can't wait to see who he faces next.
#1 Finn Balor's heel turn
Let's talk about the ending to this week's NXT. After Strong retained the North American Championship, The Undisputed Era came out to celebrate.
As expected, Tommaso Ciampa came out with his deadly crutch, all set to beat the living hell out of Adam Cole. Then, Johnny Gargano joined Ciampa in the ring, giving the WWE Universe a DIY moment.
After that, Finn Balor came out to a huge pop, and apparently evened the numbers, but what followed was entirely unexpected. Balor turned on Gargano and hit him with a near perfect kick to the back of the head.
At this point, almost everybody in the arena was stunned, as this heel turn was a real shocker for anyone who has followed Balor's WWE journey. 'The Demon King' doesn't strike anyone as a heel, but this segment proved almost everyone wrong. Triple H picked the right moment to shock everyone in attendance at Full Sail University.
This ending will definitely cause viewers tune in to next week's NXT, as if we needed any more excuses to watch the Black and Gold brand tear it up each and every week. Triple H should be mightily pleased with this week's show and be looking forward toward building on this next Wednesday.
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