5 things WWE NXT got right this week - #1 contender picks up a victory; Undisputed ERA member suffers a setback
WWE NXT had several big rivalries to build towards before TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. Roderick Strong was looking to focus on his individual performance on NXT following the break-up of the Undisputed ERA. KUSHIDA and Pete Dunne, on the other hand, managed to build towards a rivalry between themselves during the night.
Strong took on Cameron Grimes early in the night before the Battle Royal match at the end of the show. The Way’s Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell scored a victory over Gigi Dolin and Zayda Ramier. LeRae and Hartwell are looking to become the next NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Santos Escobar looked to send a message to Jordan Devlin before TakeOver, while several segments built towards the other championship matches for the event.
Let’s take a look at five things WWE got right on NXT this week.
#5 Roderick Strong suffered a setback on WWE NXT
Cameron Grimes decided to have some fun at Roderick Strong’s expense on WWE NXT. Grimes brought out the "Grimes the System" merch and a "Grimes the System" theme song to mock his opponent.
Strong wasn’t too happy with The Technical Savage’s doings and attacked him early. Strong was aggressive during the match, but Grimes kept finding some openings to get the better of his opponent.
A big running boot from Strong took down NXT's Thousand Dollar Man after he got a little cocky. Strong continued to stay on top of his opponent and hit a great backbreaker before taking Grimes out with a superplex off the top rope.
However, Grimes continued to stay in the match and brought out an Undisputed ERA armband to distract Strong. The distraction allowed The Technical Savage to hit the Cave In for the victory.
Strong was visibly hurt by the loss and this could lead to a character change for one of the best wrestlers in NXT. Grimes played his role perfectly during the match, and the victory helped him gain momentum for the Battle Royal later in the show.
It will be interesting to see whether Strong will interfere in the match between Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. But it’ll arguably be better if WWE allows him to head in a different direction and enter contention for the NXT North American Championship instead.