Last week’s NXT was a quite pulsating affair with a major title match kicking off the show and a major return ending it. The show was built as a double main event and both matches featured new twists, making for exciting viewing in the coming weeks.
Women’s Division
Renowned independent wrestler Britt Baker stood awaiting the arrival of former NXT champion, Shayna Baszler, in the show’s second match. Baker initially made her WWE main roster TV debut in 2016 in an enhancement match for Nia Jax. This would be her first NXT TV appearance.
Baszler would make quick work of Baker, working over her left arm like she’s done with so many women before. Baszler would once again twist, step onto and then jump on her opponent’s left arm, causing the referee to intervene and stop the match. Baker was seen visibly howling in agony. The no.1 contender to the NXT women’s title wouldn’t stop there though as she hit one final knee strike on Britt Baker, laying her out in the middle of the ring.
Tag-Team Titles
Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly defended their tag titles in the opening segment of the show. No video promo was aired, the broadcast, after the show’s intro, started straight with the entrances for the War Raiders.
The challengers came out to a massive pop from the NXT faithful while Strong and O’Reilly came out with their typical charismatic entrances. Mauro Ranallo with a great introduction, saying “O’Reilly, the Ayatollah of the Air Guitar, the Messiah of the Backbreaker, Roderick Strong”.
Duelling “war raiders” and “undisputed” chants dominated the early goings of the match. Very decent match overall, but nothing on the level of recent TakeOver matches, including Lorcan and Burch’s title shot against the Era in Chicago. O’Reilly and Strong worked over the left leg of Rowe before Hanson got the hot tag. Hanson at one point did an unbelievable bronco buster on Strong.
Undisputed and Unpredictable
It seemed as if the end was near after Hanson hit a spinning springboard clothesline on Strong, but Adam Cole came out and stood in the middle of the ring in front of Hanson. The referee didn’t call for the bell as Cole hadn’t done anything yet that would cause a DQ. But an attempted punch from the leader of the Undisputed Era was blocked before Hanson cleaned his clock with a right of his own.
Cole’s intervention gave his stablemates just enough time to recover as O’Reilly locked Rowe in a kneebar on his injured knee while Strong attempted to keep Hanson at bay. However, Hanson would slap Strong down onto his partner to break up the predicament. O’Reilly would then run into the lift-up powerslam finishing manoeuvre of the War Raiders. Hanson would then take out Strong and Cole with a suicide dive out of the ring and now the title looked to be all but won for the War Raiders.
Rowe would lift O’Reilly up in a side slam position, Hanson would go up to the top turnbuckle and deliver a thunderous leg drop on Kyle O’Reilly. However, with Hanson on the pin and Rowe already celebrating beside him, out came Bobby Fish, the almost forgotten fourth member of the Undisputed Era with a steel chair in hand. Fish would smash first Rowe in the back with it and then Hanson with the chair repeatedly. .The Undisputed Era are back to full strength and anyone in their path better beware. An interesting turn of events leading up to NXT War Games in November.
This Week
William Regal was announced as having a major announcement next week regarding next month’s NXT TakeOver War Games.
Also, Mae Young Classic’s Mia Yim (a former IMPACT Knockout Champion as Jade) will be making her NXT television debut in a bout against Aliyah.
Main Event
Nikki Cross was shown backstage at the start of the show, ferociously writing ‘EST’ on pieces of paper while also shouting out the initials, clearly focused on Bianca BelAir. However, seconds later she transformed and went into a trance of sorts. Standing up, she starts saying “I know, I know” repeatedly. NXT GM William Regal was interviewed in his office and asked about Nikki Cross’ knowledge on the Aleister Black incident. Regal said he didn’t know whether Cross was lying or telling the truth because who knows what Nikki knows. Regal did however state that Aleister Black was returning soon and that he planned to have a conversation with Nikki Cross after her match with Bianca BelAir.
Cross vs BelAir was a highly-anticipated rematch, especially after their last match ended with Nikki throwing herself and the still undefeated Bianca off the stage. Nikki Cross was at her deranged best here, starting the match with a running crossbody on BelAir.
The two women had a very decent match for an NXT main event. Cross kicking out of the BelAir bomb induced a terrific facial expression from Bianca who could not believe that Nikki was still in it.
‘NXT’ chants would ring out in the Full Sail arena as NXT’s Twisted Sister would mount a comeback against the ‘EST’. Bianca would show some exceptional strength deep into the match, lifting Nikki up into the air and doing squats while holding Cross above head.
The ring and both competitors would be covered in glitter throughout the match in a throwback to Alexa Bliss’ NXT sparkles and glitter gimmick at the developmental brand. The glitter actually came from Bianca’s ring-attire which seemed to have been glazed in abundance with glitter for some reason.
Black Returns
The match would see its end after Cross would deliver a superplex to BelAir from the top rope. As Nikki looked to crawl over for the cover, the lights would go out in the Full Sail arena. Seconds later, the initial guitar-part of Aleister Black’s entrance music would play out for a moment before stopping. The lights would come back on and Aleister Black had returned. Sat in the ring in his typical cross-legged pose, he had replaced Bianca BelAir who had mysteriously disappeared from the ring. Nikki Cross was still on the ground, facing the entrance ramp and as she slowly turned back and saw Aleister Black sitting in the ring, a sick smile came across her face.
Nikki Cross would start rolling around the ring as the crowd chanted ‘Nikki’s got a secret’. However, one raised hand from Aleister Black would stop Nikki Cross from moving. She seemed to have been hypnotised by Black and his presence. Black beckoned to her with his finger to come closer. And then, in a very Lord Voldemort-esque whisper, Black spoke to her saying “tell me”. The fun and games were over. Nikki Cross eerily crawled closer and whispered something in Aleister’s ear only for him to hear. His face would contort and twist into an expression of ultimate rage. Nikki would slip out of the ring to avoid Black’s wrath. Black would stand up, visibly shaking with fury, as NXT went off the air.
An absolutely enthralling end to the episode. At the start of the broadcast, you could’ve bene forgiven for wondering why a high-stakes NXT tag-team title match was starting the show instead of maineventing ahead of a grudge match between Nikki Cross and Bianca BelAir. However, the climax to the Cross-BelAir match made perfect sense of everything. If you thought last week’s NXT was good, this one was one of the best of the year.
