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This week’s episode of NXT was a cracker once again as the show treated fans to some top quality content without getting involved in too many promos.
The story building was topnotch as fans got to see the new side of Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae on this week’s show. After last week’s performance with The Velveteen Dream, Dexter Lumis also returned to singles action to continue his dominating run on NXT.
The NXT Women’s Championship and NXT North American title were also on the line as the brand looked to give its Champions more competitors to feed on.
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Last but not least, the Gold & Black brand announced some huge matches for next week that are TakeOver level. Io Shirai will challenge Charlotte Flair for the NXT Women’s title, Velveteen Dream finally gets his shot at Adam Cole’s title, and Karrion Kross will make his much-anticipated debut.
In this article, we will look at the 5 things NXT got right during the final episode of April.
#5 Candice LeRae's new character
After helping Johnny Gargano win his final match against Tommaso Ciampa, fans were not sure how Candice LeRae would act once she gets back into the ring herself.
This week, she answered that question as she came out with a whole new look and attitude, consolidating her heel turn. Gargano put his wife over as she made her way to the ring for her scheduled match against Kacy Catanzaro.
Catanzaro was on the back foot and LeRae was much more focused in this fight but the former refused to give up. However, LeRae was too good for the babyface and continued to keep her opponent down with technical strikes.
The Wicked Stepsister was all it took for LeRae to bag the victory and she showed her villainous side by locking her fallen opponent in the Gargano Escape afterward as her husband looked on.
This was a great way for NXT to not only show Gargano’s turn well but also ensure that LeRae stays in the spotlight this time around. She is arguably one of the top five female wrestlers in the company, and a heel turn could end up benefitting her as she looks to climb the ladder with a new character.
#4 The Interim Cruiserweight Championship Tournament matches
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott was ready to compete in this week’s round of the Interim Cruiserweight Championship tournament after he lost his first match at the hands of Akira Tozawa a couple of weeks ago. He was up against the man who debuted on NXT last week and scored his first victory in the tournament against Jack Gallagher, El Hijo del Fantasma.
Swerve was much more intense in this week’s fight as he took out his frustration on the new Superstar. Fantasma tried to get back in the fight, but Swerve refused to stay down and continued the offense outside the ring.
After the match went back and forth for a bit, Swerve managed to catch Fantasma in a crucifix pin to pick up the victory. This was a surprise for the fans as they weren’t prepared to see Fantasma lose so soon in his NXT career.
The second Cruiserweight Tournament match saw Drake Maverick take on Tony Nese. Nese had the strength advantage and worked over the smaller Superstar, but Maverick wasn’t ready to give up without a fight.
After getting The Premier Athlete off his feet, Maverick went for a diving elbow, but Nese got his knees up just in time to halt Maverick. However, Maverick still didn’t give up and hit a 450 splash and a top-rope bulldog to pick up the victory.
This allowed Maverick to pick up his first win in the tournament after losing to Jake Atlas in the first match.
The results of this week’s tournament matches make things a lot more interesting for the cruiserweight division as everyone except Nese seems to be in the game and can make the final round.
Will Maverick manage to pull off the ultimate heist?
#3 Charlotte Flair’s first defense
After defeating Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 36, the new NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair was set to defend her title on NXT for the first time. Flair handpicked Mia Yim to be her first challenger, and The Head Baddie Incharge was all ready to grab the opportunity with both hands.
Yim showed a lot of resilience against Flair even though The Queen beat her down nonstop. Flair locked her in a high Boston crab to weaken her back and then delivered the big boot to put the Superstar down.
However, Yim continued to try her luck and even managed to roll-up The Queen a few times for close counts. The HBIC then tried to hit the Protect Ya Neck, but Flair managed to dodge it and locked in the Figure-Eight for a submission victory.
Yim showed a lot of heart in the fight and proved once again that she is future NXT Women’s Championship material.
After the match, Io Shirai challenged Flair to a match for the NXT Women’s Championship next week. This will be one of the biggest matches in NXT history as we all know how talented both these women are.
#2 Imperium's attack on the Tag Team Champions
The NXT Tag Team Champions were out on the ramp this week as Matt Riddle introduced “The Newly-Bros Show”. Riddle wanted to get close to his new partner Timothy Thatcher while Pete Dunne is away due to travel restrictions.
While the fun little segment was going on well, things turned ugly with the arrival of NXT UK’s Imperium. Imperium had been targetting Finn Balor for some weeks now, and now it seems like they have a new target.
Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner laid out Matt Riddle and then beat down Thatcher in the ring to send a crystal clear message to the NXT Tag Team Champions.
This was a great way to get a rivalry started between the two teams as Imperium has managed to impress the NXT Universe over the past six months. They had a good time in the Dusty Rhodes Classic and even defeated The Undisputed Era at Worlds Collide this year.
Riddle and Thatcher have a huge task ahead of them now as Imperium could end up defeating The Broserweights for the NXT Tag Titles in the absence of Dunne.
#1 The Limitless Defense
After last week’s attack on Keith Lee by Damian Priest with his nightstick, the babyface was all set to take on the heel in a battle for his NXT North American Championship.
While we never thought we’d see someone as big as Preist get thrown around much, Lee did so with a lot of ease to show that The Archer of Infamy had made a big mistake by challenging the Limitless One.
A Broken Arrow allowed Priest to make a big comeback and he continued to target the Champion with some impressive moves. However, a superplex by Lee on Preist leveled the field once again to make the match much more interesting.
The heel decided to use the nightstick once again to gain the upper hand, but Lee was ready for Priest this time around. The Limitless One hit not one but two huge Spirit Bombs to win the match and grandly retain his title.
This was a great match that offered fans a bit more than we’ve seen from matches involving Lee and Dominik Dijakovic. It seemed like The Archer of Infamy brought the best out of the Champion, and Lee retaining the title was the right choice at a point when the heels of NXT are gaining momentum.
