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Hey - we're back in Full Sail! It's the second episode from the January 27 taping (spoilers for which are here) which should take us all the way to TakeOver: Dallas. Here's what to expect from the show.
The Headliner
After winning the NXT tag team titles in Brooklyn last August as chivalrous heroes of the people (and, for some reason, buddies with Blue Pants), Aiden English & Simon Gotch's fortunes haven't always been rosey. Their championship run played second fiddle to the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, a tournament they were beaten in the second round of by Dash & Dawson, who would take their belts shortly after the tourney ended.
Without the straps, their losing streak continued. They've only recently gotten on the winning side of ledger when they stopped talking and started acting, well, sinister.
Tonight, they'll face the hottest tag team in WWE - and possibly all of wrestling. Chad Gable & Jason Jordan were fan favorites before they'd even wrestled together (and back when they were heels) by virtue of their odd couple charisma and in-ring acumen. It's been a while since they've lost, and with crowds supporting them more with each win, a tag title shot seems inevitable.
We'll see if the Vaudevillains can stop American Alpha from achieving thier destiny when they face off to determine the next #1 contenders.
The Title Scene
By virtue of a his victory over Sami Zayn last week in their show-long, two-out-of-three falls match, Samoa Joe has earned another shot at NXT champion Finn Bálor - this time in Dallas.
The Revival will enjoy their WWE Roadblock victory over Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady (who look likely to follow Sami to the main roster after yet another near miss at the tag titles) by watching tonight's main event to see who they'll face at the Apr. 1 TakeOver.
Women's champ Bayley is set to tag with her unofficial top rival Asuka against their shared nemeses Nia Jax & Eva Marie, but I'm honestly not sure if that's happening tonight or next week. Tom Phillips was hyping it for the Mar. 9 show when he was still pretending Sami & Joe wouldn't take up the whole hour. So it's happening, and it will further establish the Empress of Tomorrow as an intimidating foe who Bayles will stand up to even though she's scared because she's our hero, but it might not be until next week.
Other stuff to keep an eye on:
- Another tag team who's been making a lot of noise is Hype Bros. Mojo Rawley & Zack Ryder have an open issue with the 'Villains, who gave them their first televised loss not long ago.
- Austin Aries asked for and William Regal granted a match against Baron Corbin for TakeOver: Dallas. Aries spoke to WWE.com for the first time last week, so hopefully he'll speak to the NXT Universe soon, too.
- We're still waiting for developments from the "new" Apollo Crews, who said he would re-focus or re-tool or re-something after his loss to Bálor a few weeks back.
- Been a while since we've seen Johnny Gargano or Tommaso Ciampa...
NOTE: Spoilers are out there for these pre-taped broadcast (like 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.