Tonight’s show finds us at Full Sail, for the final episode from a taping (spoilers from which are here) which started the build out from TakeOver: Brooklyn III in earnest. Here's what to expect.
The Headliner(s)
Seeing as the last episode officially introduced us to The Undisputed Era, when Adam Cole, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly defied General Manager William Regal’s edict to limit their violence to official matches by targeting Pete Dunne moments after he retained his UK championship, it’s safe to put that trio in this spot - and pretty much cover most of the titles here, too.
While the former reDRagon duo is headed toward a showdown with Tyler Bate and Trent Seven, thanks to Moustache Mountain coming to Wolfgang’s aid after he fell to Undisputed’s numbers game and Dunne put self-preservation over love of country, they’re also squarely on the radar of tag team champions SAnitY. Fish and O’Reilly beatdown Eric Young’s crew in Brooklyn and again in the Full Sail parking lot, and Alexander Wolfe, Killian Dain and Nikki Cross have already joined in EY in sending a warning to the newcomers. Is tonight the night they strike back?
Or, how about NXT titleholder Drew McIntyre? He has a match with Roderick Strong (who like the Bruiserweight opted to not get involved when Undisputed attacked) on the horizon, but the Scot hasn’t been seen since Cole put the boots to him on the first episode from this taping. He can’t be taking all this time to lick his wounds.
WWE is asking who can stop Cole, Fish and O’Reilly, but really, with all the enemies they’ve made in the past month, there’s a lot of people who can do it. But they may have to work together to make it happen.
The Title Scene
Which just leaves the vacant NXT Women’s championship. Who will face Mae Young Classic winner Kairi Sane in Houston for the right to follow Asuka? Regal isn’t saying, but Cross and her reluctant tag partner Ruby Riot have a pretty good case for being included in the match after they defeated The Iconic Duo of Peyton Royce and Billie Kay last Wednesday.
Other stuff to keep an eye on:
- We haven’t seen him since he defeated Hideo Itami in Brooklyn (and we haven’t seen Itami since Kassius Ohno won their No Disqualification bout a few weeks ago, but that’s another subject), but Aleister Black will be on this episode - and for the first time, he’s going to address the fans. What will the Satanic Superstar have to say?
- After seeing someone at TakeOver who needs “the Experience”, Velveteen Dream said he’d be speaking to that person soon. That should be a very interesting conversation...
- Despite a crisis of confidence, Johnny Gargano proved himself the better man in his match with Riddick Moss. Now, Moss’ partner Tino Sabatelli looks to show everyone he’s got what it takes to drive Johnny Wrestling from the singles division.
- Give him this... No Way Jose’s got guts. He watched Lars Sullivan take out three men with ease in a handicap match, and he still wants a one-on-one chance to avenge the beating he suffered at Barclays Center.
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See you tonight for NXT, Cagesiders!