This week’s episode of WWE NXT will be headlined by a match for Drew McIntyre’s NXT Championship.
The WWE NXT product has been heating up lately, as the main events have featured the new “Undisputed Era” faction comprised of former Ring of Honor stars Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, and Bobby Fish. Just last week, the NXT faithful were treated to Cole’s in-ring debut, as he defeated Sanity’s Eric Young with both factions ringside. Just the week before, Fish and O’Reilly conquered the “Mustache Mountain”, which is the duo of Tyler Bate and Trent Seven. Basically, Triple H is teasing a huge “Factions War” in NXT, and I couldn’t be more excited.
I also couldn’t be more excited for the developments in the women’s division, as the vacated NXT Women’s Championship still feels like the most prestigious title in the company. That’s all thanks to the Raw-bound Asuka, whose undefeated run at the top did an incredible amount to solidify the title.
While we will have to wait to see how the title picture falls into place for the women, the men’s title picture is already clear. Current NXT Champion Drew McIntyre will defend his title tonight against the upstart Roderick Strong, who has done everything possible to get this opportunity. It is extremely unlikely for him to win, but we’ll see. If he does lose, the road to McIntyre’s next opponent will immediately become a top storyline, though it is already a critical part of the plot that is bubbling underneath the top surface layer.
WWE NXT’s Ruby Riot gets another win with Nikki Cross’s help. Credit: WWE.com on Twitter
Ruby Riot vs. Billie Kay and Peyton Royce
Result: Ruby Riot wins via pinfall after Nikki Cross joins
Rating: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars
The show opens with a tribute to Las Vegas and a brief nod from Mauro Ranallo to former Memphis-area announcer Lance Russell, who recently passed away.
It’s another handicap match for Ruby Riot, who was helped by Nikki Cross last time this happened. Will the Sanity member help Riot out again?
Kay starts the match off and immediately tries to go for the hair and taunts, but Riot hits her with a dropkick, forcing Royce to make the tag. Riot hits a scoop powerslam followed by a beautiful reverse senton splash for a two-count, but Kay tags in.
Riot is dominating the match against both “Iconic Duo” members early before Kay turns the momentum in her favor with a well-timed counter. Royce gets in and taunts the fact that Riot has nobody to tag in.
As Kay is beating Riot down after a double-team move from the Iconic Duo, Nikki Cross makes her entrance from the crowd. Riot gets out of a headlock and cautiously makes the tag to Cross, who immediately starts to go to work on Kay.
Riot tags back in and hits both Royce and Kay with a double missile dropkick before winning the match with a pele kick on Kay.
Aleister Black is the star of WWE NXT. Credit: WWE.com
Lars Speaks!
Lars Sullivan says that he is “unequivocally and categorically always in control” in a backstage interview, and he says that his opponents should be afraid of him. Before facing Danny Birch next week, Sullivan says that his advice to Birch is for his opponent to be in control of his fear.
Zelina On Rematch
Johnny Gargano lost at NXT TakeOver Brooklyn III to Andrade “Cien” Almas, and Almas’s manager Zelina Vega says that Almas won fair and square. She adds that Gargano is still thinking about his break-up with Tommaso Ciampa.
Lio Rush vs. Aleister Black
The young and talented Lio Rush is ready to make his NXT debut, and the new signing is ready for an extremely tough task against Aleister Black, who is one of the best wrestlers in the company.
However, during Black’s entrance, the Velveteen Dream ambushed Rush out of nowhere. He just jumped in to the ring to stomp on Rush and unmasked himself. He then hit the NXT newcomer with the “Purple Rainmaker” and beckoned Black to join him in the ring. But when Black jumped in, “The Dream” simply rolled away and left.
The Velveteen Dream taunted Black as he sat there and yelled “What’s my name? Say my name! Acknowledge me! I’m going to make you say my name!”
But Black, true to character, just sat there – motionless. As he left, “The Dream” stated, “I’m going to make you say my name.”
This feud is awesome, and we were saved Rush losing his debut match.
Kairi Sane made her WWE NXT debut against Aliyah. Credit: WWE.com on Twitter
Kairi Sane vs. Aliyah
Result: Kairi Sane wins via pinfall
Result: 2.5 out of 5.0 stars
Kairi Sane is here! And the Mae Young Classic winner is as over as ever and ready for her first match. Her WWE NXT debut featured huge cheers from the crowd, and we already know she will be in the Fatal Four-Way at NXT TakeOver Houston for the NXT Women’s Championship.
The “Pirate Princess” is ready for her match with Aliyah as a welcome to NXT. Sane has no problem with Aliyah early on, but Aliyah does pull one back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, some boots, and a rolling neck snap. She hits another backbreaker into a submission hold, but it’s all setting up a crowd-led comeback for Sane.
The charismatic Sane finishes off the match with her beautiful elbow-drop from the top rope after setting up for it. Aliyah got enough offense in to look good and make Sane’s win look better, but this match had only one result. And that elbow-drop only looks better the more I see it, and Sane always seems to set it up perfectly with moves to target the mid-section of her opponents.
It will be exciting to see what’s next for Sane in the coming weeks and months, specifically, will she win the NXT Women’s Championship in the Fatal Four-Way?
Roderick Strong comes so close against Drew McIntyre on WWE NXT. Credit: WWE on Twitter
NXT Championship Match
Roderick Strong vs. Drew McIntyre (c)
Result: Drew McIntyre wins via pinfall
Rating: 4.75 out of 5.0 stars
A fired-up Roderick Strong comes out to his underrated entrance song, and both Percy Watson and Nigel McGuinness hype up the arduous road he has traveled to get chances like this one.
McIntyre’s first title defense begins with McIntyre showcasing his strength advantage, so Strong starts to try and initiate grapples by using his quickness, which the commentary team immediately hypes up. McIntyre sends Strong crashing with a shoulder block before we’re sent to the commercial break, leaving us to wonder what Strong must do as the underdog.
Strong sends McIntyre to the ground with a lovely dropkick, getting every bit of it. But McIntyre hits an even stiffer kick, just getting a one-count before asserting himself with some chops in the corner. A belly-to-belly suplex then sends a reeling Strong out of the ring with little hope against the ruthless McIntyre, who hits another chop before dropping Strong right on the barricade.
More chops outside the ring follow, but Strong gets back in the ring. He then flies off the apron to hit McIntyre with a knee, but McIntyre counters with a blow to the barricade. The back-and-forth continues with Strong hitting a nasty backbreaker right onto the steel steps.
A woozy strong finds a way to get McIntyre back into the ring for a backbreaker/basement dropkick combo for a two-count.
McIntyre goes to the top rope, but he’s countered by another excellent dropkick. Strong gets visibly frustrated after McIntyre kicks out, and he goes for another quick cover after some low-impact strikes. He then kicks McIntyre in the head and gets some stomps in when the champ is on the ropes.
A snap vertical suplex swings the momentum back in McIntyre’s favor after Strong is unable to capitalize on some hard forearms. McIntyre kicks up and hits his Claymore on the counter.
They trade counters until McIntyre hits a pop-up spinebuster, but Strong kicks out of the powerful move. McIntyre plants Strong on the top rope and hits him with a chop. After countering with a sunset-flip attempt that McIntyre countered, Strong plants McIntyre up on the top ropes with an Enziguiri. He then nails McIntyre with a potentially momentum-changing superplex for a two-count.
McIntyre kicks out of the “Tiger Bomb”, and Strong gets rewarded with a sick-looking headbutt from McIntyre that leaves both wrestlers sprawled on the ground. He hits Strong with an Avalanche Celtic Cross from the top rope, but Strong gets his foot on the ropes in an intense spot.
Stomping in the corner, McIntyre is setting up for the Claymore, but he eats three high knees from Strong for his efforts. He then shocks everyone by going for the “Sick Kick”, but McIntyre kicked out in another amazing spot.
They move over the apron, where Strong continues with his knees. He then makes the fatal mistake of jumping at McIntyre, who catches him and powerbombs him into the steel post. McIntyre gets him with a “Future Shock DDT”, but he isn’t done yet. He then goes for the Claymore to seal the deal, successfully defending the title in his first defense.
This was an incredible match and maybe my favorite of Strong’s career in NXT. Strong gave it his all against McIntyre, who knew he would have to be equally game in order to hold off the challenger. There were so many nail-biting spots that were just brutal, and McIntyre made Strong look like a million bucks in a match that everyone knew he would win. Strong deserves plenty of respect for this performance, because he had the crowd guessing just a little bit at two distinct points in the match before the tables turned when his back landed on that ring post. Just a great story with excellent execution.
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The handshake between both of them after the match was a great moment that showed the sheer amount of respect between these two competitors.
The “Undisputed Era” then comes out, but Adam Cole patting Strong on his back. He then tells Strong that he belongs and deserves to be champion, as Cole is trying to sway Strong onto his side. This only adds to the drama surrounding McIntyre’s NXT Title reign.