NXT preview (Nov. 27, 2019): Time to move on?

NXT returns tonight (Nov. 27) from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. It is the fallout from both TakeOver: WarGames and Survivor Series.

Advertised for tonight:

• Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish (c) vs. Keith Lee & Dominik Dijakovic for the NXT tag team titles
• Lio Rush (c) vs. Akira Tozawa for the NXT cruiserweight title
• Will Dakota Kai explain her actions?
• Is Tommaso Ciampa’s hunt for the NXT title back on?

As per usual, here are our five questions about NXT tonight:

1) How much longer with Shayna be with NXT?

Shayna Baszler has been the face of the NXT Women’s division for well over a year. She’s held the title since April 2018 (minute a two month period after losing it to Kairi Sane). And while she wasn’t victorious at WarGames, she picked up the deciding win for NXT in the main event of Survivor Series.

She’s at the top of her game, but how much longer does she have in NXT?

If it weren’t for the live 2-hour episodes, she’d probably be on the main roster already. But even with that, she may not be long for NXT.

The division is stacked. They’d be just fine without her. Rhea Ripley is primed to take the title from her and stand atop the division. And honestly, Raw and SmackDown need her more. Looking at the Survivor Series teams for the women last Sunday, the NXT team was solid top to bottom. But the Raw and SmackDown teams all had a couple weaker links at the bottom of the lineup.

Shayna isn’t going anywhere immediately. But she’ll lose her title to Rhea soon, if not at the next TakeOver in February, at the WrestleMania one in April. And after that, she’ll likely be headed to another brand.

2) Who’s first in line for Dakota Kai?

Dakota Kai turned on Team Rhea at WarGames on Saturday. She did so by brutalizing her best friend Tegan Nox, even going as far to target Tegan’s bad knee. Kai got the last spot on the team when Mia Yim was mysteriously attacked - likely by Dakota herself.

The Kiwi made a lot of enemies that night. So who’s her first feud?

The most personal feud is going to be against Nox. They weren’t only close friends but Dakota tried to re-injure the knee that cost Tegan a year of her career. That’s a blood feud right there.

Mia Yim likely wants a piece, given it was Kai who liked attacked her. And it was Rhea’s team who had to work a 4 on 2 handicap WarGames match so Rhea likely wants a measure of revenge as well.

If I had to guess, Mia Yim will get the match first, likely losing due to the injuries. Then they’ll move into the personal Tegan/Dakota feud. Rhea will likely be too focused with Shayna Baszler to really focus on Kai.

3) Is Keith Lee cutting the line?

Tommaso Ciampa is surely next in line to face Adam Cole for the NXT championship. It’s been brewing since Daddy Ciampa returned. Plus, since it was Tommaso who picked up the actual pin on Cole after that massive Air Siren from top of the cage, there’s no one else without a stronger claim.

But the bigger NXT star of the weekend may be Keith Lee. Lee has been on fire since the move to USA. While prior he was still trying to find his place within this promotion, he has shined the last couple months.

He had some big moments inside WarGames, but his bigger moment was being the second to last man standing in the triple threat men’s Survivor Series match. That’s where he went one on one with Roman Reigns for awhile before taking a spear in the loss.

While Ciampa is still the next in line for that men’s title, right behind him is the Limitless One.

4) What’s the plan with the North American title and the tag team titles?

So we pretty much can guess with certainty the programs for the top singles titles are going to be Adam Cole/Tommaso Ciampa and Shayna Baszler/Rhea Ripley.

So what about the other two?

Of course we know the plan for the tag team titles are tonight. The ERA are defending against Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic. While I don’t imagine there’s a change tonight, perhaps it’s a feud they extend. And maybe they should because the tag division is actually a bit slim right how. However, Breezango are hanging around and that’s a match up we should get at one point.

Roderick Strong, a winner at Survivor Series, is the North American champion. And WarGames didn’t give us a clear plan for him. If Velveteen Dream is coming back soon enough, they can go that route. He was promised a rematch for that title the night he was attacked. But otherwise, maybe one of the younger guys, like Isiah “Swerve” Scott, will step up.

5) Who’s next for Finn Bálor?

Finn Bálor won his return match against Matt Riddle at TakeOver. What’s next?

The plan was originally for Finn to face Johnny Gargano, but Gargano missed TakeOver with a neck injury. We don’t know how long that will keep him out for. If it’s not much longer, they’ll likely chill on Finn until they can start that feud back up.

Otherwise, they’ll need to find another victim for the Prince. Perhaps someone like Pete Dunne. A fan favorite who can have a great program with Bálor.

We’ll find out if we get any answers to these questions tonight at 8 PM ET on USA.