5 Biggest Takeaways from this week’s NXT
Photo Credit: WWE
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NXT’s last night episode was a segment heavy show which was really good, not great. The in ring action was exactly what viewers have come to expect from the NXT talent. There was build for the Great American Bash as well as set up for next week’s show, which is good news since the last Takeover didn’t get much of that. Today I’ll talk about the 5 biggest takeaways from the show.
5. Hit Row getting more screen time.
Top Dolla and Ashante “Thee” Adonis make their in ring debut on NXT with a win against Ever-Rise. It wasn’t a squash match but it was close enough as it allowed the members of Hit Row to show some of their offense and look strong in doing so with Ever-Rise getting very little work in. These two should be getting a few more of these types of matches before challenging for the Tag Titles seeing as how the Tag Title situation is top heavy at the moment with two challengers.
Swerve Scott also seems to be eyeing the North American Title with another confrontation with Bronson backstage happened so we can expect that to be their main focus for now. And with the Bronson Reed call up rumors going around, throwing the title on Scott makes a lot of sense with all the praise he is currently getting along with the rest of Hit Row. They have a great vibe to them, the presentation is great as well. Hit Row should be and will be a main focal point of the show moving forward.
4. Women’s Championship/Tag Title teeter totter.
We have been seeing a pattern since the Women’s Tag Titles have become a part of the show. When the Women’s championship has a program, the Tag titles take a back seat. When the Tag Titles have a program, the Women’s Championship takes a back seat. Whereas they have the talent in NXT, they don’t seem to have the time to properly showcase them both at the same time which is a damn shame. However, they make the best with what they have and they do a good job at presenting a good program with whatever title is getting the focus at the moment. They threw Io and Zoey Stark together this week, after Zoey saved Io last week, and gave them a match against the Robert Stone Brand.
Either they are just making a new Tag Team to give Candice and Hartwell a fresh challenger, or there is something else brewing there. Next week, that new team will be in a 3 way against Raquel/Dakota and Ember/Shotzi with the winner getting a Tag Title shot. Nice to see them making a team earn their shot, which I fully expect Io and Zoey to do, instead of just handing it to them because it’s Io and she deserves it. Maybe they can break the cycle and we can get something in that match that leads to a Raquel title program for Great American Bash as well.
3. Karrion Kross’ next opponent.
Since his debut, it’s been believed that Karrion would be fast tracked to the main roster. He has the look, the intensity, the size and the overall package to fit right in on Raw or Smackdown. The injury sidelined those thoughts, but now that he’s champion again the rumors are swirling. With a dark match last week and a match on Main Event this week(along with Bronson Reed) it appears it’s only a matter of time. The big question, who does he drop the title to? He just soundly defeated the top 4 challengers. Does he lose the belt or does he just vacate it? Well, I think we will get the answer to that at the Great American Bash.
After a back and forth between Johnny Gargano and Pete Dunne, which lead to an impromptu Tag Team match with Johnny and Austin Theory getting the win, it looks like Johnny is gonna be the guy to challenge Kross next. Kross laid Johnny out with the forearm to the back of the head after the tag team match. Do they let Johnny beat Kross for the title even with that massive size differential? It’s an intriguing situation and if Johnny is unable to dethrone the champ I think we will see Kross simply relinquish the title as he moves on to “greener pastures” with NXT in his rear view.
2. Is The Way is turning face?
Speaking of Johnny Gargano, did we see a face turn during the tag team match? When he got the hot tag from Austin, Johnny just came and delivered an in ring performance with that ol’ Johnny Takeover energy that just screamed for the audience to cheer him. And as great as Johnny has been as a heel with The Way, I think deep down most of us miss ultra babyface Johnny. Not to mention that his partner in crime Austin Theory is impossible to hate, so the turn makes perfect sense.
It will be interesting to see how that dynamic works within The Way if Candice doesn’t make the turn as well because she is in a similar situation with her partner, Indi Hartwell, that is also impossible to hate at the moment. Let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want to see Johnny Takeover coming out to Rebel Heart at the Great American Bash to take on the big bad Karrion Kross for the NXT Championship? That’s a money match up where the story can just write itself within the match. Book it!
1. The Diamond Mine has arrived!
Between this and the recharging battery tease, we were guaranteed a Roderick Strong return. I was leaning more towards the battery so the reveal of him leading this new faction was a nice surprise. The story here is interesting. Roddy was lost when the Undisputed Era fell apart and he left with his head down as if he was directionless. Returning with a group as a leader has lots of possibilities. The most interesting part of his return and Diamond Mine’s debut is the targeting of the Cruserweight champion, Kushida. It appears as if they are really gonna try to push that title as a serious belt moving forward after Santos Escobar did such a great job at elevating it.
A great way to do that is not only putting it on someone like Roderick Strong but aligning it with a hot new faction. It would be no surprise to see Roddy dethrone Kushida with the help of his Diamond Mine members Tyler Rust, Hideki Suzuki and Malcom Bivens. Probably going to see that match at Great American Bash and it is all but guaranteed that it will be fantastic. What will Rust role be? What about Suzuki? Another tag team seems unlikely but would be the most logical thing. But in my opinion, the best thing to come out of this will be to have Malcom Bivens on tv each week. He is the definition of entertainment and I personally can’t wait to see what kind of creativity he brings to this stable.
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