WWE NXT preview (Oct. 5, 2016): Need to know

It’s the third show from Sept. 15’s taping at Full Sail (spoilers from which are here), where NXT will continue building toward TakeOver: Toronto (unless they try to squeeze something in before November). Here's what to expect.

The Headliner

We haven’t seen a bracket yet (you can keep up with and get some great background on the team reveals with ReverendKain’s posts here, here, here, here and here), but we know the second annual Dusty Rhodes Classic Tag Team tournament kicks off tonight with a marquee match-up.

Tag champs The Revival face a couple of guys who just main evented against one another a few weeks back in Andrade “Cien” Almas & Cedric Alexander. The titles are not on the line in the battle for the boots, but Dash & Dawson will be looking to back up their repeated claims of being the best team in the world by winning the whole dang thing. And, with their frequent rivals Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano - along with just about every other up-and-coming pair on the brand - in the field, their next few feuds could be set up in the tourney.

Their opponents probably aren’t anyones favorites to win the Dusty, but they’re a couple of characters worth keeping an eye on. Their debuts on WWE television couldn’t have gone more differently. Alexander was embraced from the beginning and already has a couple of Raw appearances under his belt. Almas, the big star from Mexico, has been rejected as a babyface and is struggling to find his footing. With Cien heeling it up on the house show circuit, these two are as likely to end up beefing with each other as they are to win the tournament.

The Title Scene

He’s made a few house shows and worked a few impromptu tag main events, but General Manager William Regal still hasn’t heard from NXT champion Shinsuke Nakamura. And he really needs to find out what’s on Nak’s mind regarding a timetable for a comeback and his next challenger, because as he showed when he broke the debuting Ealy Twins last week, Samoa Joe isn’t joking around about hospitalizing the roster unless he gets either another match against Shinsuke, or has the belt handed to him.

No one is ready for Women’s titleholder Asuka. She said so. We definitely know Liv Morgan wasn’t ready.

Other stuff to keep an eye on:

- Last week’s show opened with the forging of a new team between Bobby Roode and Tye Dillinger. Was the Perfect Ten right to trust the Glorious One? Their Dusty Classic match probably isn’t tonight, but it’ll be interesting to see how these fan favorites bond.

- It’ll also be interesting to see how the Authors of Pain approach the tournament, although if Paul Ellering’s words from the last episode are any indication, we won’t be finding out - that’s on a need to know basis, and we don’t need to know.

- While there may not be a credible threat to the Empress of Tomorrow, Ember Moon and Mandy Rose looked good facing each other last week, and Peyton Royce & Billie Kay reunited to make fun of Liv, so there’s plenty of talent in the division.

- Hideo Itami & Austin Aries are both in the tag tournament, but they’ll probably still find ways to torment one another.

- Big Dan Matha debuts.

NOTE: Spoilers are out there for these pre-taped broadcasts (including here), but many Cagesiders don't partake. If you are going to post or discuss spoilers for this show before they happen, or results of future shows, please use the spoiler bar in your comment.

See you tonight for NXT, Cagesiders!