Phew! NXT pulled off another stellar show that highlighted the women extremely well. Regardless of what the naysayers say, being a women’s wrestling fan in 2019 is glorious and NXT does the best job at reminding us why. WarGames and Survivor Series are just days away and the women are going to dominate.
We were treated to two really good matches tonight which were fresh new encounters and an all-out brawl that was missing from RAW. The show started with “The Man,” Becky Lynch stepping back into an NXT ring for the first time in years.
She addressed the NXT crowd and her competitors for her upcoming Triple Threat match at Survivor Series. She took stabs at Bayley first stating that she may be a champ, but Lynch is “The Champ.” After this, she clearly was ready for a fight as she called out Shayna Baszler. Instead, Rhea Ripley answered Lynch’s demand.
There was only one thing that was wrong with their match – it ended in a No Contest. Baszler along with Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir attacked both Lynch and Ripley. Both Lynch and Ripley had to briefly team up as the saying goes: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
The second match was NXT UK Champion Kay Lee Ray taking on Dakota Kai. Another match that normally we wouldn’t see. It is refreshing to see new matchups. Ray would pick up the win from this match only to have an all-out brawl occur from an invading SmackDown and then RAW. This brawl is what was missing from RAW this week, but it may be better that it happened on NXT.
The stand-outs from the brawl was the face to face encounter between Io Shirai and Kairi Sane. Nikki Cross was another shining star of the segment as she dominated with a trash can lid in order to show that Team SmackDown is a contender.
Let’s get into the Winners & Losers of the week.
WINNER: Becky Lynch
Becky was a big winner of the night. She returned to NXT to a huge crowd reaction as she continues to excel on the mic. We still have SmackDown to get through prior to Survivor Series, but her taking out Shayna was a good look heading into the event this weekend. She had good chemistry in the ring with Rhea and seeing a new match was a breath of fresh air.
WINNERS: Io Shirai and Kairi Sane
Shirai and Sane’s meeting during the brawl was such an important moment. It had Sane seeing a different Shirai then she was used to. When Sane was still in NXT, she had Shirai as a friend, but as someone such as Candice LeRae has learned Shirai is now a totally different person. Although they have not announced the five women for the NXT Team if Shirai is picked I look forward to seeing her face to face against Sane.
LOSERS: Mary and Jessica
Marina and Jessamyn continue to get beat down week after week. Last week they were two of the many that were laid out by Bayley’s attack. This week Lynch and Ripley made sure to make short work of them after they caused their match to end in a no contest. If they aren’t on the NXT Team at Survivor Series then their involvement this whole time has been for nothing.
LOSER: Dakota Kai
I was happy to see a match between two people that normally wouldn’t interact with each other. With that being said, it may have been better if Kai wasn’t in this match. It was a lose/lose situation. It wouldn’t have made sense for Kay Lee Ray to lose the match as she is a champion and made such an impact last week to be included in WarGames.
Kai losing does nothing for her as well especially since she wasn’t selected for the WarGames match. If Kai does get picked for Team NXT at Survivor Series then at least that will excuse what has been happening.
What did you think of this week’s NXT? Who were your Winners & Losers? Are you ready for NXT TakeOver: WarGames and Survivor Series? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
