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Tonight’s show looks to be back full-time at the last Full Sail Live taping (spoilers from which are here), after a few weeks that mixed in footage from Japan and Australia. Here's what to expect.
The Headliner(s)
With last week’s victory in Melbourne, NXT champion Shinsuke Nakamura has officially put his long feud with Samoa Joe in his rearview. That means it’s time for a new challenger (while Nak reportedly heals up).
In addition to showing us significant portions of Shinsuke’s steel cage win from Down Under, last week’s episode also ran through four qualifying bouts for the main event of tonight’s show - a Fatal 4Way to determine the #1 contender.
Bobby Roode, Roderick Strong, Andrade Almas and Tye Dillinger all emerged victorious from their matches and earned a chance to claim a title shot... presumably at Jan. 28’s TakeOver: San Antonio.
Almas has been on a roll since turning heel during the Dusty Classic, and a guy the powers-that-be would like to keep moving up the card. Roddy is still finding his footing in NXT, but is a gifted performer and someone you could see getting a title shot at any time.
Then there’s two of the most over guys on the brand’s singles scene in Roode & Dillinger. It was a loss to the Glorious One in Toronto which led to Tye almost resigning from NXT, until General Manager William Regal convinced him to stick around for this chance at the top prize. He survived Eric Young and SAnitY to get here. Can he get past another fellow Canadian in Roode, who’s undefeated one-on-one on television since joining WWE?
Should be fun finding out.
The Title Scene
Rumors say Asuka’s next victim challenger for the Women’s title will be one of the Australian best friends, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, but a tantalizing moment backstage from the episode that debuted on Dec. 7 sure has a lot of us hoping it’s Nikki Cross.
#DIY defend their tag championship against old rivals the Revival in a few weeks. If they win? They get to face Dusty winners Authors of Pain.
Other stuff to keep an eye on:
- Daria Berenato is looking to put a hurting on Kay for they way she and Royce left the Jersey martial artist out to dry back in Canada. She better watch out for DAT NUMBERS GAME.
- Big Damo’s been showing up and helping out EY’s group without officially joining SAnitY... will they consummate that unholy union tonight?
- Sure would be nice to see Hideo Itami sometime soon, even if only in a backstage interview.
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!