The October 23, 2019 episode of WWE NXT aired live from the Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. Here are 5 takeaways from this week’s show:
Bianca Belair & Rhea Ripley Clash
Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley was a match that lived up to expectations.
Ripley went over in this contest after some outside interference as Io Shirai ran down to the ring to kick Ripley in the face. Candice LeRae would knock Shirai off the apron to allow this contest to continue.
On one end, you have Belair, who has been in the title scene before and has proven to be a top star in the NXT women’s division. On the flip side, we have Ripley, who has been a dominant champion under the NXT UK banner.
Now, with Ripley being in NXT, she seems to be someone who could easily become a title contender and perhaps a champion should they want to get the NXT Women’s Title off of Shayna Baszler, who has held the title for quite some time.
There seems to be a void in the storyline ladder of contenders in the women’s division right now. WWE hyped that the winner of this match could fill that void by becoming the next title challenger.
Either star would serve that role well.
Matt Riddle Ends Cameron Grimes’ Hot Streak
Matt Riddle vs. Cameron Grimes was a last-minute addition to the lineup for the show as WWE updated its preview article on their official website just a few hours before the show went live on the air.
Riddle beat Grimes in the best match that Grimes has had since signing with WWE. For those who want a back and forth all-out wrestling match, check this one out.
For quite some time now, WWE has been building up Grimes by having him work against jobbers in squash matches. In the build for this match, WWE hyped that Grimes was on a hot streak due to him squashing his opponents on NXT TV as of late.
Aside from his only loss in the finals of the NXT Breakout Tournament, WWE has been protecting Grimes with his matches and having him go over in all of them. It appears that won’t change.
With WWE having Grimes be in a competitive matchup against a guy in Riddle, it was a showcase match for him. He brought the offense in this contest. It showed the fans that he can be a real threat to the brand.
With Riddle no longer being in the NXT Title picture, he seems to be floating but it will be interesting to see where he goes moving forward.
Tegan Nox & Dakota Kai Become #1 ContendersÂ
Another case of WWE taking their time to announce matches for this show was in the limelight. For fans of women’s wrestling, this was a big match that had big stakes.
Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke vs. Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai took place that served as a new #1 contenders contest. As seen in the match, Kai and Nox won.
As a result, Kai and Nox have earned the right to call themselves new #1 contenders and be next in line to challenge The Kabuki Warriors for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles.
WWE also did a good job of bridging the gap of what to expect for next week’s show as the company has already announced that this title match will air next Wednesday night.
WWE allowing NXT talent to challenge for the titles is a nice touch as it will bring more prestige for the titles, which have been seen as an afterthought by the WWE creative team.
Roderick Strong Retains NXT North American TitleÂ
WWE NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong put his title on the line in one of the top matches on this episode. He defended it against Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic in a Triple Threat Match.
These guys were motivated to come out and put on a show, which is exactly what happened. Strong retained the title.
Up to this point, Lee and Dijakovic were named on the card but didn’t get to the spot on the card that they had wanted.
This was a showcase for both talents that featured Strong, who is a reliable talent who can put on good matches with anybody but also make his opponent or in this case opponents, shine bright. This was a great example of that.
While this was a great showing for Lee and Dijakovic, the direction still appears to be for Strong to feud with The Velveteen Dream, who was originally slated to challenge Strong for the title on this show.
That was scrapped once Dream suffered a legit injury that had to put this feud on the back burner for now.
Finn Balor Turns Heel
Finn Balor is now a heel. WWE turned him a bad guy on this episode.
Following the main event that saw Strong retain his North American Title, the rest of The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, and Kyle O’Reilly) walked down to the ring.
This eventually led to Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano walking down to the ring. This is when Balor’s music hits the ring.
Balor stood side by side with Gargano and Ciampa. Balor kicked Gargano in the head then a brawl broke out with Undisputed Era and Balor beating up Gargano and Ciampa. Undisputed Era stood tall in the ring while Balor stood over Gargano on the rampway. This closed the show.
This was not only a great heel turn but also a great way to end the show. It appears that Balor is joining The Undisputed Era but WWE left a cliffhanger by not having Balor completely side with the group.
This was a welcomed move for Balor as he’s fresh in NXT once again and with an already built-in feud with Cole and Ciampa, it appears that Gargano vs. Balor is up next.
