The October 2, 2019 episode of WWE NXT aired live from the Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University on the USA Network. Here are 5 takeaways from this week’s show:
Tommaso Ciampa Is Back
Former NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa is back after being on the sidelines with a neck injury.
He made his grand return following the main event that saw current NXT Champion Adam Cole get involved. After the match, Ciampa had a staredown with Cole to close the show.
Ciampa has made it known that when he does return, he’ll refuse to go to the main roster whether that’s RAW or SmackDown Live.
The reason for that is due to him making it known that he is focused on the NXT brand as he feels like that is his home.
As of this writing, WWE has yet to publicly announce that he’s been medically cleared, but obviously, he’s either been cleared or close to being so. Thus, this program should be next for both stars. Now, it’s just a matter of time when this match gets booked.
Street Profits Fail To Dethrone Undisputed Era
The Undisputed Era has held onto the NXT Tag Team Titles as they successfully retained the straps over The Street Profits. It turns out that this was actually the main event of the show.
Although the fans have seen these two teams work before, the addition of Wale doing the entrance song for The Street Profits got the fans pumped up to see this contest.
The finish saw the champs hitting the High Low on Ford back in the ring, and O’Reilly covers for the three count.
The ongoing feud between these two teams continued on this show. Back and forth matches have highlighted the tag team division that built up quite the feud amongst them.
Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins have been feuding with Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly for months now. After this contest, it appears to be the blowoff in this program.
The question of what’s next is interesting. The Street Profits have been on the main roster for a few months now and many fans have wondered why they haven’t been booked to wrestle. They were called up to the main roster by RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman.
It’s possible that they are gone from NXT after having nothing left to do in NXT. Time will tell whether that happens.
Shayna Baszler Remains NXT Women’s Champion
WWE NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler stepped into the ring as one of the most dominant stars in the history of not only the women’s division but of the brand.
Standing her way of continuing that reign was Candice LeRae. This contest started just past the second hour. Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke come out with Shayna, but they leave before the match started.
From the get-go, these two women were going at it and kicking it off with a bang. The crowd stayed with them throughout the contest.
This had a feel of a typical Baszler match as it starts hot then goes to a painful yet flowing pace of working over the limbs of her opponent. The finish saw Shayna scramble with LaRae on the mat and locks in the Kirifuda Clutch for the win.
Heading into this match, there was speculation as to whether Baszler would walk out as champion due to her long reign as the top female talent in NXT and the draft coming up.
That won’t be the case as Baszler is staying in NXT for now.
Johnny Gargano Went One-On-One with Shane Thorne
Johnny Gargano was back in action as he took on Shane Throne in a singles match that took place at the top of the second hour.
As expected, it was a back and forth grappling affair that showed a different light on the styles that both men can do inside of the squared circle. As the match went on, the action picked up and it was clear pretty early on that the crowd was behind Gargano.
Throne got a ton of offense in as well showcasing his abilities and getting heat from the fan-favorite star. Gargano picked up the hard-fought victory.
With such a stacked card, this contest went under the radar but did have a build-up to it, although not the main focus. It was set up back in early September when Gargano cut a promo in the ring.
This where he stated that he planned to stay with the brand instead of being moved to RAW or SmackDown Live. Thorne interrupted Gargano, which led to a brawl.
Prior to this contest, Gargano was last seen in action when he lost to NXT Champion Adam Cole at the WWE NXT TakeOver: Toronto II event in Toronto, Ontario at the Scotiabank Arena in a 2 of 3 Falls Rubber Match.
Finn Balor Returns To NXT
Former WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor is back in NXT. He made his return after Cole had beaten Riddle in the opening contest.
This appearance leaves a lot to speculate about. After the match, Balor walked down to the ring and told Cole that he’s back in NXT. Cole left the ring and Balor poised for the crowd.
While it’s possible, Balor could be making it known that he’s gunning for Cole’s title that he once held before. Yet, with a quick and simple statement that he’s back in NXT, one has to wonder what his future on the brand holds.
It was reported a few months ago that Balor had scheduled to take time off from WWE for a month or two in order to recharge his batteries.
Obviously, his return to the brand will no doubt give it a boost that the show could use as they need more main event talent as they have a lot of potential top stars but lack current ones.
It will be interesting to see if Balor works both NXT and the main roster as he is advertised for international WWE live events later this month.
Matt Riddle Fails To Capture The NXT Championship From Adam Cole
NXT Champion Adam Cole put his title on the line when he met Matt Riddle in the opener of this show.
This was a match that many fans had been looking forward to seeing since Riddle signed with the company, which decided to do a slow burn instead of booking it right away.
This game plan lived up to the expectations that fans had in their minds once this contest was announced last week.
Many thought it was odd for the company to have this contest open the show but they had a good reason for it. It went 20 minutes and was a back and forth affair from the start and end of the sound of the bell.
The finish of the contest saw Riddle go to the Fujiwara armbar, but on the left arm. They break and Cole nails a big elbow. Cole follows up with The Last Shot and covers for the pin to retain.
They hit all of their finishers but didn’t feel quite like a main event contest. With Cole retaining the title over Riddle clean, it appears that more is to come from these two stars down the line.
