In the aftermath of Keith Lee vacating the NXT North American Championship, NXT Superstar, Dexter Lumis was in contention of becoming the new champion, as he was one of the first entrants for the North American Championship Ladder Match at NXT TakeOver: XXX.
On the July 29th episode of WWE NXT, Dexter Lumis defeated both Finn Balor and Timothy Thatcher in a Triple Threat Match to advance to the North American Championship Ladder Match. However, it wasn't too long until disaster struck, as Lumis was ruled out of the Ladder Match due to an injury.
On WWE Digital, it was revealed that the former Samuel Shaw had suffered an osteochondral lesion to the ankle during his match against Balor and Thatcher. And while it was questioned whether the injury was legitimate or not, reports eventually confirmed that Dexter Lumis would not be competing on the August 22nd card.
According to Bryan Alvarez of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dexter Lumis apparently injured his ankle while pulling-off the flip over the top rope spot during the Triple Threat Match. The spot was highly talked of given the excellent agility shown by Lumis and also because WWE somewhat messed up the spot on TV, due to a poor camera angle.
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When could we expect Dexter Lumis to return?
As of now, it still remains to be seen how long Dexter Lumis will be sidelined for. Considered to be one of NXT's top Superstars right now, Lumis was definitely one of the favorites to walk out of NXT TakeOver: XXX as the newly crowned North American Champion.
However, with Lumis out of the match, the likes of Johnny Gargano, Finn Balor, and Ridge Holland will now get another opportunity to qualify. Another Triple Threat bout will provide the fourth competitor for the two singles match, which will be taking place.
The winners of these singles matches will eventually join the likes of Bronson Reed and Damian Priest, who have already secured their spot in the North American Championship Ladder Match at the upcoming NXT TakeOver event.