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What's the story?
This week's episode of WWE NXT had huge moments, with Johnny Gargano in a Career vs Title Match, where if he lost he would have to leave NXT and William Regal's major announcement. Regal announced the return of a tournament, with the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament set to be held in the coming weeks.
He went on to announce the stakes which were on the line for the Tag Team Tournament. According to his announcement, the winners of the Tournament, are set to get a major boost in their pursuit of the NXT Tag Team Titles.
In case you didn't know...
The Dusty Rhodes Classic Tag Team Tournament is set to make a return to NXT. It was first introduced in 2015, following the death of the wrestling legend, Dusty Rhodes, and was named to honour him. The 16 Team Single Elimination Tournament first culminated at NXT Takeover: Respect, with Finn Balor and Samoa Joe as the winners. The second time it took place was the following year in 2016, when The Authors of Pain won the Final after defeating TM-61, at NXT Takeover: Toronto.
The Tournament did not take place in 2017 but has made a return to NXT in 2018, with General Manager William Regal making the announcement.
The heart of the matter
The 2018 Dusty Rhodes Classic Tag Team Tournament has some added stakes which the previous ones did not. William Regal announced that the winner of the Tournament is not only going to be awarded the Tournament Trophy like previous years. Additionally, the winning team will also be the recipients of an NXT Tag Team Title Match at Takeover: New Orleans, during Wrestlemania Weekend.
Regal announced that the Tournament would start in two weeks, which means the March 7th Broadcast of NXT will see the start of the 2018 Tournament.
You can watch the announcement here:
This adds extra pressure on the teams to make sure that they win the tournament.
What's next?
The Tournament is set to begin on the March 7th episode of NXT, and the winner will receive a Title Match at Takeover: New Orleans, at Wrestlemania weekend.
Author's take
The Dusty Rhodes Classic Tag Team Tournament is prestigious in of itself, but now with the added stakes of the winner receiving a Title Shot, teams will see it as a must-win for them.
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