Several things were unpacked on this week’s NXT from TakeOver: Portland. The rivalry is still going strong between Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox. General Manager William Regal announced that the Street Fight wasn’t the end for these two former best friends. They will battle in a steel cage in two weeks.
The addition of Raquel Gonzalez at Kai’s side presents a new element. If they treat them as equals then this could go somewhere as a team, but more than likely Gonzalez will turn into the bodyguard. Gonzalez admits that her helping Kai on Sunday was a way to show her empathy as she knows what it likes to feel alone and left out.
The NXT Women’s Champion was not on the show this week which seemed weird as her WrestleMania opponent had so much to say on RAW. They did show a clip of her reaction after Charlotte Flair jumped her in Portland. The last piece of the puzzle to follow up with is Bianca Belair.
Belair interrupted the match between Chelsea Green and Kayden Carter to give a message to Flair. Essentially she states that she warned Flair to not stick her nose in NXT’s business. Since she did, now Belair wants a match with Flair. She states it doesn’t matter when or where, but she wants Flair.
Speaking of the match between Green and Carter, this was the only women’s match of the night. This is where NXT lacked this week. Only one women’s match was a let down. The roster has over 20 women plus at least a dozen more from the performance center that could be used on this show. There is no reason to only have one match.
Moving on to the match itself, it seemed very clunky. Personally, I don’t feel that Carter and Green have the same styles and mesh the best together. There was a move where Carter slipped on the ropes, but Green did take advantage of it to continue the momentum of the match. Carter has more of a
The rematch made sense but it feels like it was just to fix that Green lost her first match as a part of this “Robert Stone Brand” pairing. Creative must have realized that her losing that match didn’t make sense.
The idea isn’t bad for this “brand” but there is a lot of work that needs to be done to make it work or it will just flop. Besides Belair’s interruption, Stone would interject himself by knocking Carter off her feet. This allowed Green to capitalize and hit the Unprettier for the win.
Let’s discuss the Winners & Losers from this unflattering week.
WINNER: Chelsea Green
Although the “Robert Stone Brand” idea doesn’t seem to be taking off to a roaring start, at least Chelsea received some retribution. The “re-launch” was a success but we shouldn’t be getting a re-launch already.
There appears to be a disconnect with where this is going. Hopefully it either picks up soon or maybe we can just reunite VXT and have them in the tag team division where they should have been by now.
WINNER: Bianca Belair
She interrupted the match. She called out Charlotte Flair. She is still being utilized at the top. Winner.
LOSER: Kayden Carter
Kayden losing does nothing for her but to put over Chelsea which could have happened the first time. We could have been moved on from this by now. Kayden needs to have matches with someone like a Kacy Catanzaro where the two can really show out.
What did you think about this week’s NXT? Who were your Winners & Losers? Leave you thoughts in the comment section below.