The biggest winners and losers from last night's NXT (September 12)
Still two months out from NXT TakeOver: War Games II, last night's edition of the yellow brand was a mostly ho-hum episode that didn't give us many hints of what could develop for Los Angeles on November 17th. Tommaso Ciampa finally appeared in person after his victory at TakeOver: Brooklyn, while the night was headlined by a top prospect in the women's division taking on its resident elder stateswoman. Kassius Ohno, meanwhile, looks like he has a new feud in store for him after being cleared in the Aleister Black investigation.
Who managed to look better after last night's episode?
Winners: Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch
Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch returned to action after being bitten by the injury bug a few months ago. Their match with the Undisputed Era in Chicago got them noticed in ways they hadn't been before and it was nice to see them back.
Their match was an academic squash, but it put them back on the NXT map. Fans are eager to see where they go from here. The match in Chicago was a breakout moment and now that they're both healthy, it's time for them to follow up. They got off to a nice start last night.
With a dearth of top tag teams in the yellow brand, there's definitely room for them to grow.
Winner: Tommaso Ciampa
Finally appearing at Full Sail for the first time since TakeOver: Brooklyn, Tommaso Ciampa exonerated himself in the Aleister Black investigation, not because he's concerned or is the type of person who could never attack the former NXT Champion, but because the attack wasn't done with a big enough spotlight.
Ciampa has become the consensus best heel in WWE if not the entire industry in 2018, but there was the lingering doubt that he couldn't deliver the same performance when not having Johnny Gargano to contrast off of.
As he now looks past "Johnny Wrestling," he's off to a great start in proving those doubters wrong. This was a dastardly speech and he appears to have an incoming mini-feud with fan favorite Otis Dozovic en route to finding his next real challenger.
He even has a new theme because he seemed to be aware that the audience loved him coming out to just their boos.