Grading This Week's Episode of NXT

This week's episode of NXT took place on Wednesday, September 19, 2018, at 8 PM on the WWE Network. This week, Deonna Purrazzo & Dakota Kai faced Lacey Evans & Aliyah in the night's opening match, Jaxson Stryker of the Forgotten Sons made his NXT television debut, and Ricochet faced Pete Dunne in a Title-For-Title matchup where both the UK Championship and the NXT North American Championship were on the line.

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Aliyah & Lacey Evans vs Dakota Kai & Deonna Purrazzo

4 of the future stars of the NXT women's division were showcased on NXT.

Result: Aliyah & Lacey Evans defeated Dakota Kai & Deonna Purrazzo via pinfall with the Woman's Right.

Grade: B

Analysis: It is nice to see all 4 women get some television time (particularly Lacey Evans who hasn't had a match in a while). Deonna Purrazzo was not showcased that well as the heels dominated against her throughout the entire match.

However, she is new to NXT and will get plenty of opportunities to thrive in the future. Aliyah has never looked this good on NXT and her newfound aggression was excellently spotlighted in this match.

Dakota Kai was hot at the end and while it was a shame to see her take the fall, she will certainly not be harmed by this loss. It is nice that Lacey Evans got the win because she has defeated Kairi Sane before so she can certainly be in line for a future NXT Women's Title match.

Jaxson Stryker's in-ring debut

The Forgotten Sons continued their dominance on NXT.

Result: Jaxson Stryker defeated Humberto Carrillo via pinfall with the Slingshot Powerbomb.

Grade: B+

Analysis: This match worked a lot better than the debut of the other 2 members of the Forgotten Sons a couple of weeks ago. Jaxson Stryker was dominant, ruthless, and dangerous.

Jaxson Stryker has a lot of potential and seems to be the leader of the Forgotten Sons. It will be interesting to see Stryker as the singles star of the group but if he keeps performing like he did last Wednesday, he will thrive.

Title-for-Title Match: United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne vs NXT North American Champion Ricochet

This was a match of the year candidate.

Result: The Undisputed Era attacked both men causing the match to end in a no contest. The War Raiders then came out to confront the Undisputed Era before the Undisputed Era ran away.

Grade: A+

Analysis: What a match!!! This was an excellent match that proved that NXT is WWE's most consistent brand in the ring. Neither superstar kept control for long in this match and it seemed like either superstar could get the win at any time.

While the match started slowly at first, the pace quickly picked up. Ricochet proved that he truly is the one and only by hitting insane high flying and power moves. Pete Dunne showed off his technical wrestling ability by viciously going after the fingers and legs of Ricochet.

The match also ended in the best possible way. Because Ricochet & Pete Dunne are from different brands, it would be really hard for one of them to hold and defend both championships. Therefore, a no contest allows both superstars to look like warriors before the scavenger-like team of Undisputed Era attacked them.

They got a lot of heat for ruining this excellent dream match and it also sets the stage for NXT Takeover: War Games 2 where we will probably see Undisputed Era, Ricochet & The War Raiders, & British Strong Style face off in a War Games Match. Hopefully, we will be able to see Ricochet & Pete Dunne face off in the future.