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Following the aftermath of an amazing NXT Takeover: Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center last Saturday, this week’s episode of WWE NXT was yet another astonishing episode as we saw the much-anticipated return of TM-61, along with the likes of Nikki Cross and Roderick Strong competing in singles action on the evening.
The show kicked off with a highlight reel of NXT Takeover: Philadelphia over the event’s theme song as we get into our first match of the evening.
#1 Nikki Cross vs Lacey Evans
Lacey gained the upper-hand on Nikki Cross early into this match, however, it did not take long for Nikki to fire back as she trapped Evans into the ring apron and hauled her off with an array of punches until the official decided to break them apart. Back in the ring, Nikki scaled up to the second rope but Evans quickly dragged her legs to take her down.
An anxious Lacey Evans then quickly hit a Thesz Press on Nikki and headed to the top rope for a Moonsault but came up short. Nikki then took advantage of the situation as she unleashed her wild side and connected the Swinging Neckbreaker on Lacey to get the win.
Result: Nikki Cross def Lacey Evans
Next up we got to see the highlights from this past weekend’s NXT Takeover: Philadelphia where the Undisputed Era retained their tag team titles, Ember Moon overcame the challenge of Shayna Baszler, and a quick recap of Aleister Black and Adam Cole’s brutal Extreme Rules match and Velveteen Dream’s impressive win over Kassius Ohno.
The highlights package was then followed up by the announcement of a rematch between Sanity and Undisputed Era for the NXT Tag Team Championships set to take place next week.
#2 TM-61 vs The Ealy Brothers
The second match of the evening saw the much-awaited return of TM-61, who came out to a huge reception from the Philadelphia crowd at the Wells Fargo Center. Nick Miller started the match in a very pacey with a series of chops, Moonsault, and fist drop combo offence. The Ealys were on the outside, as Miller lowered the top rope for this partner Shane Thorne who performed an outstanding dive on The Ealys.
The Ealy Brothers then pulled off the “twin magic” where one twin replaces the other, as the duo stars to dominate on Nick Miller and prevents him from making a tag, however, after hitting a big clothesline Miller hot tags Shane Thorne. TM-61 quickly deposit one Ealy to the outside, as Miller and Thorne hit the Thunder Valley to pick up the win on their return match.
Result: TM-61 def The Ealy Brothers
After picking up an impressive win, TM-61 was interviewed backstage by Christy St. Cloud, as we got to see the recap of the amazing NXT Title match between Andrade “Cien” Almas and Johnny Gargano followed by the return of Tommaso Ciampa.
Cathy Kelly then gives us a quick coverage of Andrade “Cien” Almas’ entry into this year’s Royal Rumble match, in which he lasted over 20 minutes and eliminated New Day member Kofi Kingston. Next up we took a closer look at NXT’s newest signing Ethan Carter III and Adam Cole’s entrance at the Royal Rumble match, as a match between Cole and Killian Dain is set for next week.
#3 Tyler Bate vs Roderick Strong
It was now time for the main event of the evening as former WWE UK Champion Tyler Bate battled Roderick Strong for the #1 Contendership Match for Pete Dunne’s UK Championship. The match kicked off with a collar elbow tie up as we got to see some beautiful mat-based wrestling between both men.
Bate gained the upper-hand as he connected with a dropkick and did his signature moustache twirl celebration. Bate got Strong in a fireman’s carry but Strong quickly escaped. "The Messiah of Backbreakers" then landed an underhook backbreaker, a tremendous show of power from Roddy. The two men then started exchanging knife edge chops at the centre of the ring as the pace of the match slowed down a bit.
After the first break of the match, Tyler Bate fought out of Strong’s control for a second as Roddy applied a bow and arrow submission with Bate wrapped around his back. The former UK Champion then slipped out and hit a headbutt to create some space in the process and used this time to recover as both men stumble up about the same time.
Tyler then connected with a boot to the face and set up Roderick in the corner for uppercuts and followed it up with a Bridging German Suplex for a cover of two. Bate hit a Running Shooting Star Press and took the match in a firm control. The former UK Champion then climbed to the top rope but got pulled off and is caught for a slam by Strong.
The crowd was absolutely hot for both men at the moment as Bate went for the Tyler Driver but wasn’t able to connect with the move due to the abuse to his back earlier in the match. During the closing stages of the bout, Roderick Strong went on an absolute rampage of sturdy moves as he hit a lumbar check of sorts to get the job done and become the new #1 contender for the WWE UK Championship.
Result: Roderick Strong def. Tyler Bate
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