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What's the story?
The NXT Title match for the newly renamed NXT TakeOver: War Games in Houston has been set following a 'contract signing' at the 4th October 2017 NXT tapings. It will be Drew Mcintyre against the, rather surprising, Andrade "Cien" Almas.
In case you didn't know...
Andrade "Cien" Almas has been at NXT since 2015 but couldn't get near the NXT title in that time. Instead, he entered into mid-card feuds with the likes of No Way Jose and Roderick Strong.
However, the addition of Zelina Vega as a valet seems to have taken Almas to new heights as he's been on fire recently, picking up a win at NXT TakeOver Brooklyn III against the popular Johnny Gargano.
Drew Mcintyre, on the other hand, returned to the WWE after a lengthy hiatus and debuted straight into a feud with then NXT champion Bobby Roode and would quickly win the title. Since then, he's defended his title against Roode at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III but was subsequently attacked by Kyle O' Reilly, Bobby Fish and Adam Cole.
The heart of the matter
At the October 4th NXT tapings, Drew McIntyre was making his way to the ring for a contract signing but before he could get off the entrance ramp he was attacked by Andrade "Cien" Almas and Zelina Vega. Almas then signed the contract over McIntyre's fallen body to confirm that he would be the next in line to challenge for the NXT Title.
This is a bit of a surprise given that it appeared that these two men couldn't be further apart in terms of creative direction. Drew McIntyre was involved with Adam Cole and The Undisputed Era whilst Almas looked to be continuing his mid-card feud with Johnny Gargano.
That being said, Almas is on a hot streak with the aforementioned win over Gargano at the last Takeover as well as the main event win over Roderick Strong at the same October 4th tapings which left many arguing that the title shot was deserved.
What's Next?
In the taping of the next episode following the reveal that Almas would be the No. 1 contender, the newly appointed challenger confronted the WWE NXT champion in the ring. During this altercation, Zelina Vega attacks McIntyre allowing Almas to get one over on him.
It looks like NXT are building Zelina up to potentially be a decisive factor in this feud, as she's already allowed Andrade to pick up several high-profile wins thanks to her involvement in his matches.
That being said It looks like McIntyre's feud with Adam Cole is being put on the back burner so that he can appear in the War Games match. This feud will then probably pick up again after NXT TakeOver: War Games which is why I think the McIntyre-Almas feud will only be temporary.
Author's Take
Almas has come a long way, so it's good to see him finally get a big opportunity. However, it's difficult to get fully behind it because it just seems like a placeholder title match until WarGames is out of the way.
Still, this is a smart move from a booking perspective as it is too soon to take the belt off of McIntyre and what's the point of putting McIntyre against Adam Cole only to have Cole lose after all of the hype he has received?
NXT TakeOver: War Games is looking like a ridiculously good show especially with the War Games match, the NXT Women's title match and now we have this title match, so it's safe to say that I'm excited for a thrilling segment ahead.
