NXT OCTOBER 24TH 2018
Regal spoke with security backstage, telling them it was imperative that when Aleister Black arrived, he spoke with him first.
Undisputed Era came out for a promo. No Mauro for a few weeks, so Vic Joseph was filling in for him. Cole pointed out that Bobby Fish was back and Undisputed Era was back to 100%, so after what they did to War Raiders last week, if anyone else wanted to stand in their way, they wouldn’t be doing it for long. He said Undisputed Era was NXT, not the fans and they’d make people fear NXT. Cole said Ricochet beat Dunne in the triple threat match not him, because he couldn’t, before being interrupted by EC3 for some reason. He claimed Cole didn’t deserve a rematch at the North American Title. Cole rightly asked if he thought it was a good idea to be coming out and this lead to Cole calling for a referee so he could make an example to the locker room. It wasn’t explained why this was any of EC3’s business, last seen losing fairly decisively to Lars Sullivan, so I assume Cole saying Undisputed Era was NXT was supposed to be the catalyst for EC3 to get involved, but whatever.
Adam Cole vs. EC3
Bobby Fish was back, which meant Bobby Fish being incredibly animated and incredibly vocal at ringside was back. This got off to a pretty lively start and the crowd seemed into seeing it. After a period of dominance for Cole, things picked up again, with EC3 making a strong comeback. Undisputed Era would then try to get involved twice at the end. The first time saw Cole get turned inside out with a clothesline, the second seeing EC3 knock all three off the apron, avoid the knee to the back of the head and roll up Cole for the win.
Undisputed Era would of course attack EC3 after the match, dragging him up the ramp, where Cole landed the knee on the stage. When it seemed they were done, Fish would then grab a chair and hit EC3’s knee across the edge of the stage, which the rest of Undisputed Era seemed surprised, but entertained by.
Quick profile video on Mia Yim.
Outside the building, Nikki Cross did Nikki Cross things around the security, saying he was coming.
Mia Yim vs. Aliyah
Aliyah took far more of this match than you’d expect, although I guess that’s the NXT debut formula. Mia would come back to win with Eat Defeat.
Bianca was seen arguing with Regal, wanting her title shot. Regal said he’d take it under consideration, before Cathy interviewed Regal on the Aleister Black situation. He didn’t know the name Nikki had given Aleister, but Black would raise hell when he showed up. Undisputed Era interrupted and demanded he get his act together, which prompted Regal to book War Raiders against Cole and Fish next week.
Lacey Evans hype video.
Ciampa was seen backstage, pacing in the back of a production truck.
Hype video for Kairi against Shayna at Evolution.
Kassius Ohno vs. Justin Xavier
Story here was Ohno not being happy at the level of competition and trying to make an example out of Xavier as a result. Ohno’s the best at telling this kind of story and what was essentially a routine squash match was still a compelling watch as a result. Xavier got only a few, brief shots in, with Ohno calling out Regal for not giving him what he asked for, en route to putting Xavier away with the rolling elbow to the back of the head.
Post match, Nikki Cross came out and laughed at Ohno, telling Ohno that he was coming as well. The inference is that she meant Black, which obviously tipped off that Ohno wasn’t going to be the attacker, which was my initial guess. The fact Nikki was warning multiple people who she knows didn’t attack Black doesn’t really make any sense, unless she’s actually referring to someone else coming. Judging by the end of the show, maybe that’s not the case and it just doesn’t make any sense.
Short teaser video for Matt Riddle, followed by the announcement he’d make his debut next week.
Main event was Regal in the ring to announce who’d be challenging Ciampa for the NXT Title at Takeover. Ciampa joined him and told Regal in aggressive fashion to just make the announcement, at which point Velveteen Dream showed up, wanting Regal to say his name. Then Lars Sullivan interrupted and it began to turn into one of those segments, where a bunch of people show up and demand a title shot. Luckily it stopped at two, as Dream demanded Lars put some pants on when he spoke to him and Lars grabbed him by the throat. At that point, Nikki showed up doing her deal and the camera cut to Aleister taking out security on his way to the ring. He took out Lars with Black Mass before grabbing Regal and asking where he was. Black then got laid out with a superkick by Gargano, who said he was right there. And then the show ended. Once it was clear it wasn’t Ohno (which to be fair was becoming clear the moment the Riddle match began being teased), I don’t know who I expected the attacker to end up being, but this reveal left me very flat.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Cole versus EC3 and the pre and post match segments were the high point of the show. Ohno’s squash was fun too for what it was. Obviously the most important thing on the show was the reveal at the end and your mileage may vary. Black at least looked good taking people out, but maybe it’s fair to say this investigation got the conclusion it deserved.
NXT WEEK: Matt Riddle’s in-ring debut and Adam Cole and Bobby Fish against War Raiders.