NXT preview (Nov. 6, 2019): Balancing Act

NXT returns to us tonight (Nov. 6) from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. They are building their way to TakeOver: WarGames in three weeks.

Advertised for tonight;

• Pete Dunne vs. Damian Priest
• What will be the fallout from the Raw and SmackDown takeovers?
• How will Tommaso Ciampa’s war continue?
• Will Rhea Ripley and Shayna Baszler add to their squads?

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

1) How will NXT balance its stories with its war?

NXT showed up on both SmackDown and Raw to challenge those rosters. They were a united front showing both rosters who’s boss. It was quite entertaining, but now they’ll have to balance a united roster with the stories about how they hate each other every Wednesday.

For example, in Triple H’s closing salvo on Friday, Shayna Baszler and Rhea Ripley were almost right next to each other. That’s just two days after they were part of a heated brawl so massive William Regal needed to call for a WarGames match to settle it. Tommaso Ciampa and Adam Cole, who stood with Triple H, hate each other as well, though they made sure to be on opposite sides of the ring and Ciampa didn’t take his eyes off Goldie the entire speech. (I’d expect no less from Tommaso Ciampa.)

Dominik Dijakovic was lobbying to fight Undisputed ERA last week but had no problem joining them in a gang beating on the OC this week.

Now the easy explanation is that when they go to war to defend the brand, they’ll set aside their personal issues. And they may not be able to do better than that. But it takes a bit away from a personal feud when they’re willing to fight together.

The invasions sound like an audible, with reports a full scale invasion was not the plan until talent got held up in Saudi Arabia. But they’ll have to try to sell us on the fact enemies still hate each other even though we see them working in concert on Monday and Friday.

2) Will there be retaliation this week?

It would make sense for guys and gals from Raw, SmackDown, or both to stop by Full Sail tonight to get a modicum of revenge. Though it would be a bit of overkill to run that angle three times in one week, still with three weeks to go until Survivor Series.

Plus, talent is traveling to Europe for shows starting on Thursday. So Wednesday would be better suited as a travel day. Could they work NXT and grab a flight to Europe? Sure, as long as Vince doesn’t get into a fight with Florida governor Ron DeSantis and their flights are delayed, but it’s doable.

Doable doesn’t mean it’s wise though. After the travel the last week, it would be wise to let the crew get to Europe and relax and save a retaliation angle until later.

3) Are we getting two WarGames matches?

We’re three weeks away from WarGames but only have one match - the above mentioned women’s WarGames bout.

That would certainly be enough when it comes to that specific style of match. But when NXT ended last week with Tommaso Ciampa telling the NXT championship that “Daddy’s going to war,” a men’s WarGames is a logical assumption. The Undisputed ERA are always in that match and given they’re a dominant faction, it would make sense.

Personally, I think two WarGames matches would be overkill. It’s not a gimmick match that I absolutely love, especially with the first 5 to 10 minutes being a predictable entry pattern of heels getting a person advantage. Plus doing it twice lessens the mystique of the match.

None-the-less, we’ll probably learn we are getting two WarGames matches sooner than later. Then we’ll have to wait and see how they book the card not to overkill the act. There are other matches we’ll need to learn of as well.

4) What other matches are getting added?

As mentioned above, TakeOver: WarGames only has one match. If they run two WarGames matches, they’ll likely have at least two other matches (given the length of these WarGames bouts), maybe three.

Finn Bálor vs. Johnny Gargano feels like a lock. The other probably will stem from Pete Dunne’s feud with both Damian Priest and Killian Dain. If they opt to slot another in, it’ll probably be a tag team bout, perhaps continue Breezango’s feud with the Forgotten Sons.

With not too long to go, we may learn more tonight.

5) Is Killian Dain’s interference inevitable?

Last week, Killian Dain attacked Tyler Bate, sending a message to Pete Dunne. Is tonight the night he takes it to the Bruiserweight himself?

Dunne is rematching against Damian Priest tonight, but it’s not likely we get a finish. Either Dunne would have to lose twice or they 50/50 book this. NXT doesn’t go that route often so a non-finish with Dain would make sense.

Then we’ll see if we get a triple threat match or if Tyler Bate will join his friend to fight against Priest and Dain, though there’s no indication those two would be willing to fight side by side.

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