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What’s the story?
NXT started off with a bang this week as a former TNA World Heavyweight Champion made his return. After SAnitY called out The Authors of Pain in the opening segment, their missing leader Eric Young turned up to help them out.
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In case you didn’t know…
Eric Young's mother tragically passed away in June, which is the reason why he's been away from television. In his absence, Killian Dain, Nikki Cross, and Alexander Wolfe have turned their attention to the NXT Tag Team Champions.
Also read: Predicting the next 5 NXT Champions
Authors of Pain first won their titles against DIY on January's TakeOver: San Antonio show. They've held onto those for quite some time but have yet to face a team quite like SAnitY.
The heart of the matter
The first wrestler inside the ring for this week's episode was Nikki Cross. She shrilled for the Authors of Pain as Damo and Wolfe slowly emerged by her side. Paul Ellering joined his men while they made their way to the ring. Akam rushed towards Wolfe and Dain in a hurry. That turned out to be a bad miscalculation on his part.
Eric Young blindsided Rezar on the entrance ramp. He beat him up and twist-tied his arm to a metal barrier. Young then joined his stable inside the ring, who had Akam totally outmatched due to their numerical advantage.
Rezar even showed spirit as he dragged the heavy barrier with him into the ring. It was useless because SAnitY waited for him — ready to attack him as a unit as well.
What’s next?
This was a pretty big moment as the NXT Tag Team Title Match for TakeOver: Brooklyn III takes shape. The Brooklyn show, which airs on the WWE Network on August 19th, is treated as the biggest event of the NXT calendar year. This stage will give a slightly bigger spotlight to these two teams.
Author’s take
Authors of Pain are a couple of beefy guys that can slam anybody around while SAnitY is a group that is fearless and crazy enough to match the fight that their opponents will bring. Even with this odd heel vs. heel booking, I'm intrigued by what these teams might do when their big match happens in less than two weeks. Eric Young will lead his crew into battle and thanks to his brilliant strategy on this night, he looks like a man with a plan.
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