This week our regular NXT reviewer Steph isn’t feeling too well at the moment unfortunately, but don’t fret guys! It’s your RAW Reduxer Alex stepping into her spot this week to step into her wonderful shoes with this week’s NXT Redux! The road to Takeover: Brooklyn is being paved and it seems clear that one woman is ready for another shot at the gold – let’s find out what happened on this week’s NXT Redux!
Blazing her path to the top of the division is Ember Moon and this week she’s set to take on a tough challenger in former TNA Knockout, Lei’D Tapa.
Standing several inches taller, it’s clear to see that Moon’s game plan has to change to try and defeat her bigger and more powerful opponent. The start of the match sees Tapa taking most of the control due to her power advantage. The tide of the match changes when Ember manages to hit a suplex on the larger Tapa. Ember then aims for Tapa’s legs with several kicks to try and ground her. The end of the match comes when Moon can finally get Tapa down. She climbs to the top rope and the target is there for her to hit her Eclipse for the victory!
Post-match, Ember takes to the mic to officially lay down the challenge to NXT Women’s Champion Asuka. She tells her that she’s all the competition that she needs. Ember wants to face off with the Champion at Takeover: Brooklyn III and warns that she’s ready to defeat the undefeated… but is Asuka going to accept the challenge?
IT'S OFFICIAL: As per @RealKingRegal, @WWEEmberMoon will challenge @WWEAsuka for the #WWENXT #WomensTitle at #NXTTakeOver: Brooklyn III! pic.twitter.com/o7aJlRRVGE
— WWE (@WWE) July 27, 2017
NXT General Manager William Regal, later makes the match official – it’s going to be Ember Moon attempting to dethrone the dominant Champion Asuka at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III.
.@KillianDain & @TheWWEWolfe sent a message to the #AOP but it is @Rezar_WWE & @Akam_WWE who are left standing tall in the ring! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/eqTJcAk4GY
— WWE (@WWE) July 27, 2017
Elsewhere, Nikki Cross makes an appearance to distract a match between NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain and two local wrestlers. As the Champions make their way to the ring, Cross cuts them off… while her fellow SANitY members Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe make quick work of the local wrestlers. The Tag Champs try to make the save and throw SANitY out of the ring, but Cross does her best to save her boys from getting back into the ring. SANitY are clearly not finished with their plans for the Tag Team Champs just yet!
Earlier today, @WWENoWayJose received a WARNING of sorts from @AndradeCienWWE's mysterious friend! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/KKvOjg4Dgj
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 27, 2017
Finally, we’re treated to another small appearance from the former Thea Trinidad, Zelina Vega. She catches No Way Jose in the parking lot and lets him know that by getting involved with their post-match attack on Cezar Bononi, he’s now ‘lit a fire under Andrade Cien Almas, that he can’t dance around’.
Thoughts: The NXT women’s division is like a big juicy burger, with so much potential dripping from all sides, but something with the booking over the last couple of weeks has been so lazy. These writers are working with some of the freshest workers at the moment, but they just seem to be really lazy with their current booking. Takeover: Brooklyn is meant to be their second biggest event, but I kind of feel that this feud between Ember and Asuka has been overlooked a little bit – just like the first time around.
Asuka IS THE top woman of the company. She has a streak like no one else and has been sitting on top of the mountain for ages now. Sure Lei’D Tapa isn’t your conventional opponent and it was a nice sight to see her in a mainstream ring again, but a victory over her does little in the way of making Ember seem like a legitimate threat and the post-match segment still didn’t sell the potential of how big this feud should be.
We’ve done the whole streak VS streak with these two, there needs to be a new layer to this feud. Asuka should have been out there taunting Ember or she should have been out there with a more well-known talent, trying to make Ember lose. Or, if Asuka wasn’t available, then Ember should have done something drastic to get the win… as I mentioned, sure Ms. Tapa is tall, but she’s still not a character for the crowd or viewers at home to be invested in, for Moon to become a legitimate threat.
Either way, the battle lines were clearly drawn this week and this is definitely not a bad combination for the match we now have guaratneed. Sure, it would have been nice to see some other women involved, but if the booking of this feud picks up, then Ember Moon VS Asuka II could be the match that places both woman firmly on that map for that main roster promotion.
Did you enjoy the match this week? Are you a fan of Ember going for the title or would you prefer one of the other NXT women to remain in the title hunt? Sound off in the comments below!
