After a long day of uncertainty within WWE due to the release of talent, we still had our weekly NXT show to view. Heading into the night the only thing that was for certain was that we would hear from at least Charlotte Flair. Flair defeated Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania and is now ready for all on-comers from the NXT division.
The promo video takes a trail down memory lane of some of Flair’s biggest accomplishments as she states that her winning the NXT Women’s Title will solidify her as the best of all time. She intends on proving her legacy by being the best in three different eras: the past, the present, and the future. The future being the best of all three brands, and that is the women of NXT.
She calls out several names as potential opponents. She states once Rhea Ripley picks herself back up she will be after her again. Io Shirai who is the number one contender is next. Then we have all the other women who want a shot at her including Candice LeRae and Mia Yim. She stresses that she has her eye on Yim as she wants to be generous and give her a shot. Once she is done with Yim then she expects the women to be lined up so she can take them down one by one.
Moving forward, there were two women’s matches for the night. The first was a rematch between Xia Li and Aliyah. It came out that Aliyah was responsible for the backstage attack on Li that took her out of the first shot at qualifying for the number one contender’s ladder match that took place a couple weeks ago. These two also have history as Li “broke” Aliyah’s nose previously.The match ended as expected, and Aliyah took a loss.
The next match was Tegan Nox facing Raquel Gonzalez. This would be the first time Gonzalez got in the ring since making her surprise debut at TakeOver: Portland in February. Gonzalez had a strong showing, dominating on offense through most. Dakota Kai was obviously at ringside for the match to help her partner (Gonzalez) if needed. Before Kai could really get involved, Shotzi Blackheart would make her way to ringside and prevent it from happening. Gonzalez attempted a choke slam on the ring apron to Blackheart, but Nox stopped it. This was enough of a distraction for Nox to steal the victory.
Next week we will see Nox and Blackheart vs. Gonzalez and Kai.
Lastly, Scarlett Bordeaux finally made her debut. Well, at least her boot did. At the end of NXT, Tommaso Ciampa was addressing his feud is finally over between Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae. It didn’t take long for a new opponent to come out of the literal shadows during this promo and attack Ciampa.
This attacker was Killer (Karrion) Kross. As he tossed Ciampa on the floor with the camera at floor level he would get into his face and say, “Tick Tock.” While this happened we saw in the forefront Bordeaux’s boot as she stood in the frame.
Let’s get into this week’s Winners & Losers:
WINNER: Charlotte Flair
I, like most people, tend to be pretty hard on Flair. Not because she isn’t talent, because she is. It is the over saturation. With that being said, that promo and video package was excellent and well done. Although in the back of my mind I know she is just going to run through the NXT women now, but I am excited for fresh matches.
WINNER: Scarlett Bordeaux
It may have just been a glimpse of her, but it was exciting. She is obviously being looked at as a big deal. The build up to this has been great and I am looking forward to seeing where they take this. I hope she does more than just valets/manages Kross, because she needs to get in that ring as well. Being pushed right into an storyline with someone such as Ciampa is huge.
LOSER: Aliyah
Poor Aliyah. My heart goes out for her. I really wish they would let her at least get ONE win.
Other Notes:
Raquel looked impressive to me. Why they had her lose is a little puzzling. How are you going to build someone up to be so strong and lose in her first match. Plus Nox has gone over on Kai before, so if they wanted to keep the underdog story going then she could have taken this loss as well. Interesting to see Shotzi get into the mix though.
What were your thoughts on this week’s NXT? Who were your Winners & Losers? As always, leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
