The April 15, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from the Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.Â
The show was headlined by Matt Riddle and his new partner defending the NXT Tag Team Titles against The Undisputed Era.
WWE NXT Results (4/15)
- Finn Balor def. Fabian Aichner
- Xia Li def. Aliyah
- Akira Tozawa def. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott
- Tegan Nox def. Raquel Gonzalez
- Dexter Lumis def. Tehuti Miles
- NXT Tag Team Champions Matt Riddle & Timothy Thatcher def. The Undisputed Era
Here are the 6 takeaways from this week’s show:
Finn Balor Back In Action
Former WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor battled Imperium’s Fabian Aichner in a singles match on this show.
As expected, it was a stiff back and forth affair with Balor rightfully so going over.
This is the latest development in the build of Balor eventually challenging NXT UK Champion WALTER for the strap. Originally plans had called for this championship bout to take place at NXT TakeOver: Tampa earlier this month.
However, that wasn’t meant to be as the event got canceled due to the coronavirus. WALTER is stuck in the UK and won’t be able to make it to the United States for quite some time.
Thus, it appears that WWE will do a slow build to this match. The only problem is the unknown timetable as to when WALTER will be able to make it to the United States.
Matt Riddle Gets New Tag Team Partner
Matt Riddle and his new partner defended the NXT Tag Team Titles against The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong).
It turns out that Timothy Thatcher ended up serving as the new tag team partner for Matt Riddle to help him defend the NXT Tag Team Titles while Pete Dunne is on the sidelines.
WWE had NXT William Regal go on the Bump on Wednesday to announce the news. He also booked a title match that saw Riddle put up the titles to defend against The Undisputed Era.
This was a fun match and probably the best contest on the show from a work standpoint despite having no fans.
With The Undisputed Era dropping yet another loss to Riddle, it’s likely that WWE will be moving forward with a new program involving the NXT Tag Team Titles.
It will also be interesting to see where The Undisputed Era goes from here considering they’re not holding the straps anymore.
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Charlotte Flair Appearance
For the first time in years, Charlotte Flair made an appearance on NXT TV as the NXT Women’s Champion. She did so by doing a promo that was pre-taped instead of being live.
Flair talked about how it feels good to call her shot and beat Rhea Ripley to win the title. She praised Rhea for being the future but she won’t apologize for her greatness.
She thinks this title win will complete her legacy because she is going to do something that no one else has done, which is to dominate three different eras – the past, the present, and the future.
Flair brought up beating Natalya for the NXT Title before then dethroning Nikki Bella as the Divas Champion and beat Paige and Trish Stratus as well.
Flair stated that for the past five years, she has been the most dominant star in the women’s division. She bragged about beating Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Becky Lynch among others. She talked about snapping Asuka’s undefeated streak and leaving Ronda Rousey a broken woman.
Now, we’re in the present and how she’s heard how great the NXT women’s division is. Flair vowed to run through the NXT stars.
This was an excellent promo by Flair and we should hope to see more of this.
First Tournament Match
The Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament began when Akira Tozawa took on Isiah Scott in a singles match. This contest was part of the Group B section of the tournament.
WWE didn’t give them a ton of time but for what they were able to show off, it was fun. There were some near falls but in the end, Tozawa managed to pull off the win after hitting a backsplash off the top rope.
Some fans could argue that this was an upset win considering that Scott has been used more heavily on NXT television compared to Tozawa.
However, fans must remember that the Cruiserweight Title is more showcased on 205 Live despite the NXT tag in the name of the title.
The Velveteen Dream Gets Turned Down
The Velveteen Dream was waiting throughout the whole show for NXT Champion Adam Cole. However, the champ didn’t join him but rather made an appearance once again by his poolside.
This led to Dream getting on a podium where he cut a promo about how it was typical for Cole to no show, to leave him in the arena by himself. Dream said that Cole thinks he’s stupid. He said that Cole fancies himself as the leader of the Undisputed Era but all he sees him as is the last champion within the faction.
He praised Cole for being a dominant champion but he told him that Cole’s dream is over.
This led to Finn Balor coming out and telling him that he doesn’t know or like Dream. Balor said that the greatest NXT Champion is him and Dream needs to be careful because ignorant comments will get a date with the prince.
Great promos all around by the three men. With WWE holding off Cole defending the title against Dream, perhaps WWE is starting a feud with Balor and Dream for now. They have a match set for next week.
Killer Kross Sighting
After a few weeks of airing teasers for the impending debut of former Impact Wrestling star Killer Kross, he has made another sighting.
WWE had Tommaso Ciampa cut a backstage promo while sitting on a production box about how he’s done with Johnny Gargano and Candie LeRae following last week’s match.
This is when Ciampa was knocked over from behind and attacked. We saw a boot then Kross entered the frame over Ciampa, who was laid out. Kross said tick tock and the show then faded to black.
So there you have it. Kross is getting a big push by facing one of the biggest stars in NXT going forward.
