Hi guys! Welcome to this week’s review of NXT. Last week, we were informed that Kairi Sane would be returning to NXT television to show off her newly acquired “treasure,” the NXT Women’s Championship. That promise was fulfilled as Kairi returned to in-ring action for the first time since her victory over Shayna Baszler at TakeOver: Brooklyn IV. Sane would go on to face the debuting Trish Adora in a non-title match.
While Kairi made her return tonight, she wasn’t the only competitor in the NXT Women’s division to re-emerge and make her presence felt.
The most valuable treasure in all the land! @KairiSaneWWE #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/ABC3yWP15J
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 6, 2018
InSane #DivingElbow by @KairiSaneWWE! ?? pic.twitter.com/eIV7uGdiiW
— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) September 6, 2018
As Kairi Sane entered the arena, a treasure chest was shown on the stage. The chest ended up containing the NXT Women’s Championship, which Sane grabbed and wore to the ring with pride. Her opposition tonight was Trish Adora, who had served in the military for eight years and trained under Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley.
The encounter between Kairi and Trish did not last long. Kairi was able to dominate the majority of the match with her signature offense. There was a moment where Adora was able to gain some momentum with a forearm strike. However, Sane quickly put that momentum to a halt with a powerful spinning back fist. After a running elbow in the corner and the InSane Elbow Drop, Kairi was able to pick up the victory.
A victory celebration is underway…
…but @QoSBaszler's music kind of kills the mood for @KairiSaneWWE. #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/Pj9J3K24YT
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 6, 2018
That escalated quickly! @QoSBaszler looks for retribution against @KairiSaneWWE, but the Pirate Princess is having NONE of it on #WWENXT! pic.twitter.com/nU048xqpCZ
— WWE (@WWE) September 6, 2018
Sane was not able to celebrate for too long though, as Shayna Baszler would make her entrance once the match was over. After knocking over the treasure chest, Baszler told Kairi to enjoy her pirate fantasy for as long as she could. Shayna went on to state that when she invokes her rematch clause, Sane’s fantasies will come to a halt. Baszler then entered the ring and said that for tonight, she wanted to see whether or not the pirate could swim.
Shayna and Kairi then started brawling in the center of the ring. Baszler hit Sane with a stiff clothesline. However, Kairi would not stay down. Sane came at Shayna with strikes of her own before hitting Baszler with a spinning back fist and an interceptor spear. Shayna rolled out of the ring and retreated up the ramp while Kairi stated that the NXT Women’s Championship was her treasure.
Thoughts: There wasn’t a whole lot to cover for tonight’s NXT. The match between Sane and Adora was fine for a squash match. I personally have never heard of Trish before tonight. But I love her look and her presence. Hopefully, this isn’t the last we see from Adora as her career progresses. This segment served as a way to set up the rematch between Kairi and Shayna. It wasn’t really memorable for me. But it served its purpose to get viewers thinking about the next time Sane and Baszler will meet for the NXT Women’s Championship
I wasn’t sure whether or not Baszler would be moving up to the main roster following her loss to Kairi at Brooklyn. But it appears that she’ll be sticking around NXT for the foreseeable future. I finally got caught up on TakeOver this morning and saw Kairi and Shayna’s match. I enjoyed the hell out of it. I thought those two did a really great job and told a good story. Kairi can put on enjoyable matches with Shayna. So I am all for the rematch, and hope that Shayna and Kairi’s next encounter tops what the two have already done in the past.
It was a little weird that there was only one segment to cover tonight. This happened a month ago when Candice LeRae and Shayna squared off. But aside from that, NXT has usually been pretty good with giving us more than one women’s segment. While I would love to see multiple women appear each week, I also understand that there’s only so much that can fit into one hour of television. Hopefully going forward, we’ll see competitors such as Lacey Evans and Candice LeRae resurface sooner rather than later.
One other thing: I hope you guys enjoy or get to enjoy the second Mae Young Classic tournament, which started tonight right after NXT ended. I haven’t followed who is competing this year as well as I did last year. But I know that there are a lot of great wrestlers who are participating. And anytime there’s a big spotlight on women’s wrestling, such as the second annual Mae Young Classic, it’s a really great thing for all of us fans. I’d be happy to hear who you guys enjoy watching as the tournament progresses.
What did you guys think of the match between Kairi and Trish? Are you looking forward to Sane and Baszler’s rematch? Who do you want to see reappear in the upcoming weeks? What did you think of the first episode of the Mae Young Classic? Let us know in the comments below!
