7 major questions ahead of tonight's NXT tapings - August 23
NXT returns to Full Sail University tonight for the first set of tapings on the heels of TakeOver: Brooklyn 4, an event which radically altered the landscape of WWE NXT. Tonight's tapings will get through the first few weeks of fallout from Saturday's super show, and begin to set the stage for NXT's next major event, NXT TakeOver: War Games II, in mid-November.
That's still three months away, so while we won't be getting any official matches tonight, the direction of the yellow brand for the next few months will start to become clearer. There are a number of questions tonight's tapings could begin answering. Here's what we should be on the lookout for.
#1 Who will step up to Tommaso Ciampa?
This is obviously the biggest question looming over the yellow brand. With Johnny Gargano now out of the picture for the foreseeable future, and Aleister Black still on the DL at the moment, the NXT Championship scene is wide open.
Who will be Tommaso Ciampa's next opponent? Who will stand up to feud with the Blackheart after he inevitably gloats tonight that he again beat Johnny Wrestling while handcuffed, and that this is indeed his NXT?
Will we see some title defenses in the books against jobbers beforehand? Will we see some kind of mini rivalry with a more legitimate threat to start his reign off? Will we see both? Will this perhaps be the catalyst that finally sends Johnny Gargano's friend, Kassius Ohno off the edge of the cliff he's been teetering on in recent weeks, forcing him to go full blown heel?
Either way, the Ciampa era begins in earnest tonight, and the champion is wasting no time in making sure that the NXT Universe knows it.