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NXT was set for a huge match between Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher this week as Hall of Famer Kurt Angle was called in for Special Guest Referee duties.
That wasn’t all as the NXT Champion Adam Cole appeared during a chat with the General Manager William Regal during the night, while the NXT Women’s Champion took on Rhea Ripley and Io Shirai with a surprise tag team partner.
The rivalry between two of NXT’s premier couples got even more intense as Keith Lee and Mia Yim had a few things to say about Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae to make matters more interesting.
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A surprise victory during the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship tournament shook up the Black and Gold brand, and it will be interesting to see whether the underdog emerges as the new NXT Cruiserweight Champion or not.
With so much happening in NXT, this week’s show was as good as ever and entertained the fans a lot.
In this article, we will look at the five things WWE got right on the Black and Gold brand this week.
#5 The NXT Champion bargains with the General Manager
The Undisputed Era has continued to prove themselves as the topmost faction in the history of NXT, and perhaps the entire WWE, time and time again.
This week, NXT Champion Adam Cole chatted via video call with NXT’s General Manager, Willian Regal. Cole spoke about many things with the General Manager and asked for an NXT Tag Team Championship shot for Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish as he believed they only lost due to the surprise arrival of Timothy Thatcher.
Regal then went on to inform the NXT Champion that he would put his title on the line against The Velveteen Dream once again, this time at NXT TakeOver: In Your House. Cole wasn’t happy with the decision as Regal further revealed that the two were going to fight in a special location, and if Dream lost, he wouldn’t get another shot at the NXT Championship.
This was a great way to have the NXT Champion appear on the show and also for NXT to show how much power and authority the NXT General Manager has as compared to the other brands. Regal is excellent at everything he does, but there is nothing he does better than cut promos in the perfect way.
The stipulations of the match suggest that this could end up being Dream’s crowning moment, while fans could also get another match between The Undisputed Era and Imperium at NXT TakeOver: In Your House.
#4 The couples of NXT prepare for a rivalry
After Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano revealed a new side to them last month and got into an interesting storyline with Mia Yim and Keith Lee soon after, the couple was out on NXT this week.
Gargano and LeRae introduced the Gargano Invivtaional to the WWE Universe where newcomers would get a chance to compete against the best in NXT. He claimed that he wanted to give the new guys a chance to get a good start.
Adrian Alanis was his first victim and Gargano made him tap out to the Garga-No-Escape soon after the match began.
Lee and Yim were shown on the screen after the match eating dinner. The couple made fun of Gargano and LeRae, calling them out for their self-absorbed attitude. Tegan Nox was also shown to take the side of the babyfaces.
Later on in the night, LeRae confronted Nox during a match between Shotzi Blackheart and Raquel Gonzalez. The distraction allowed Gonzalez to pick up an unclean win.
This will likely give us a massive rivalry that could begin as early as TakeOver: In Your House and stretch on for the next couple of months.
#3 Drake Maverick’s miraculous performance
The Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship took an interesting turn as a Triple Threat match was set to determine who’d move onto the finals of the tournament. KUSHIDA was the favorite in the match as he took on Drake Maverick and Jake Atlas.
All three men did well in the round matches to reach this far, and Maverick was the only man in the fight without a WWE contract.
While KUSHIDA performed well and had the upper hand for most of the match, he could not get through. He caught Atlas in the Sakuraba Lock, but Maverick slipped into the ring and put an arm over Atlas to pin him and take the surprise victory just when he was tapping out. This came as a major surprise to the NXT Universe.
Drake Maverick has taken NXT by storm
After the match, El Hijo del Fantasma came out to shake hands with the man he will face in the final of the tournament.
While we’d call this booking silly on any given day, the current circumstances Maverick is battling under is what makes this a great story. Maverick met KUSHIDA backstage and promised to give him the first shot at the title if he ends up winning it.
Will NXT allow Maverick to pull off the ultimate heist?
#2 The women of NXT shine again
Rhea Ripley and Io Shirai were set to team up on NXT to take on Charlotte Flair and a partner of her choosing. Chelsea Green was revealed to be her tag team partner as the Robert Stone brand got a major push from the pairing.
Green did not seem comfortable fighting against the two superior athletes, as Ripley and Shirai constantly dominated her early on.
However, The Queen of NXT backed her up and got their side back into the match. After the action was traded to and fro, The Joshi Judas prepared for a springboard dropkick on Flair. Green pushed Flair out of the way and took the hit for the team.
This allowed the NXT Women’s Champion to roll Shirai up with her feet on the ropes for the victory.
Did Chelsea Green get an unexpected push on NXT?
This was a good match that allowed the three top women in WWE to compete against one another in a great clash. It also allowed the relatively new Green to get a major push and gave her a chance to prove herself to The Queen.
It will be interesting to see where the Robert Stone brand heads from hereon, especially considering the events that transpired once NXT went off the air.
#1 The NXT Pit Fight
After differences emerged between Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher on NXT a couple of weeks ago, the two men decided to settle the matter in the ring the same night. However, Riddle was able to pull off a victory over Thatcher but the newcomer dished out more punishment than one expected on The Original Bro.
This led to the two former Newly-Bros locking horns once again, this time in a steel cage. Special Guest Referee Kurt Angle was on duty and the only way for either competitor to win was through submission or knockout.
Riddle took the rules seriously and knocked out two of Thatcher’s teeth soon after the match started leading to a temporary pause.
The match continued and the two men threw everything they had at each other. Riddle even pulled out some high-flying moves to hurt Thatcher as much as he could, but the newcomer continued to vent his anger out on NXT’s Bro.
Riddle managed to knock Thatcher down on the second level and hit the Floating Bro but could not put his opponent away. Thatcher managed to hook in with the rear-naked choke, causing Riddle to pass out and pick up a clean victory.
Does NXT have a new cage-fighter?
This was a great match that could end up being one of the ‘NXT Match of the Year’ candidates. Riddle and Thatcher threw everything they had at each other, ensuring it looked as real as possible.
The stipulation worked really well for the two hard-hitting men, and we could see this become a signature match type for Thatcher’s big matches. NXT did well to ensure Angle did not physically get involved or helped either party gain an advantage. The clean finish could help Thatcher become a real force in NXT and allow Riddle to move to another brand.
