Tonight’s show finds us at Full Sail, for the first episode from a taping (spoilers from which are here) which takes us all the way to TakeOver: War Games. Here's what to expect.
The Headliner(s)
Whereas we get used to the main roster rematching championship (and other) bouts a day or two after a pay-per-view (PPV), on the black-and-yellow brand, they take their sweet time. This week, Authors of Pain attempt to regain the tag team titles they lost to SAnitY in Brooklyn way back on Aug. 19.
Don't miss the #AuthorsOfPain challenge #SAnitY for the @WWENXT #TagTeamTitles TOMORROW NIGHT on #WWENXT at 8/7c on @WWENetwork! pic.twitter.com/kJCGJePll3
— WWE (@WWE) November 1, 2017
We don’t know why Paul Ellering kept his troops in hiding for months, but now that he’s unleashed them, it’s “dominating” against “diabolical” as these two heel-turned-tweener (I think?) squads battle. Who leaves with the belts? Will General Manager William Regal’s edicts keep it a two-on-two affair? How does this lead us to War Games?
That last question is a bit of a spoiler, but with WWE themselves promoting the match which will give Nov. 18’s TakeOver its subtitle as a three team, two ring contest, you don’t have to be a booker to guess who some/all of those teams will be. The immediate set-up for this contest came when Paul Ellering led Akam and Rezar to dismantle a trios match between Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe and Killian Dain and Undisputed ERA. Regal is banning Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly and whichever member of SAnitY isn’t in the match (and presumably Nikki Cross) from ringside to try and insure a clean and conclusive outcome, but...
The Title Scene
Another manager making big moves for her client is Zelina Vega. She’s been angling for her associate Andrade “Cien” Almas to get a shot at Drew McIntyre’s NXT championship for weeks. After a big win over Roderick Strong in last week’s main event, they announced they’d finally give Drew what he wants - an in-person ask from Cien. Regal went ahead and booked the match for Houston ahead of McIntyre’s requested man-to-man, but we’re still getting a contract signing/confrontation on this episode.
With a win in the 16 person battle royal, Nikki Cross finalized the field for TakeOver’s Fatal 4Way to determine the next Women’s champion. The Scottish Psycho joins Mae Young Classic (MYC) winner Kairi Sane, Ember Moon and Peyton Royce in what should be an explosive showdown in Houston. They managed to co-exist in the ring briefly last week, but don’t count on the peace holding all the way to Houston.
Other stuff to keep an eye on:
- Determined to not just be a bump on the road for Cien, Johnny Gargano continues to try to get his groove back. Gargano has some powerful and influential supporters in Regal and Shawn Michaels - will that help him when he faces Fabian Aichner?
- Their build has been one of the best things on the black-and-yellow brand for a while, and Velveteen Dream seems pretty close to getting Aleister Black to say his name.
- Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch’s team-up didn’t get off to a great start when they lost to Tino Sabatelli and Riddick Moss last week, but Danny is determined to try, try again.
- She may have come up short in the battle royal, but that didn’t stop Mercedes Martinez from firing some shots Ember’s way in a post-show interview. Here’s hoping that old Shimmer rivalry hits the Network as a pre-TakeOver warm-up for Moon.
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See you tonight for NXT, Cagesiders!