Best and Worst of WWE NXT - Mandy Rose returns, Samoa Joe to become Champion?
NXT followed up from an eventful Great American Bash with another solid episode. Several big stories began across the card, as the black and gold brand continues to build from week to week.
The show was headlined by a big title match, with the post-match events setting up even more excitement. The NXT Breakout Tournament began, while the likes of HitRow, Pete Dunne, and Tommaso Ciampa all have programs to look forward to on the brand. The next few weeks should be great, following a fun episode.
Here are the main positives and negatives of this week's episode of WWE NXT.
#1 Best: Karrion Kross provokes Samoa Joe after retaining the NXT Championship
Karrion Kross retained his NXT Championship in a solid match against Johnny Gargano, but what happened afterward has the fans talking.
Samoa Joe was the special guest referee and prevented Kross from crossing the line multiple times. This clearly got to the NXT Champion, who took out his frustration on the brand's enforcer after beating Gargano. Kross locked Joe in the Kross Jacket, his version of the Coquina Clutch, and put him to sleep.
Now that he has been provoked, Samoa Joe is set to go on a rampage on NXT next week. This could lead to several possibilities, the biggest of which is a match between Kross and Joe at the next NXT TakeOver event. Could Joe become the first-ever three-time NXT Champion?
But we don't know if Joe is actually cleared to wrestle yet, so this simply may have been a way to strip Karrion Kross of the NXT Championship. Hopefully, that is not the case as it is about time Samoa Joe properly gets physical on the black and gold brand. He also had staredowns with Pete Dunne and Adam Cole on the show.
From the match to the conclusion, this week's NXT main event has left a lot of intrigue. There are several questions left to be answered.
What happens next between Karrion Kross and Samoa Joe? Will Joe get back in the ring? What about Johnny Gargano and The Way? Next week will be a big one for the black and gold brand.