The road to NXT Takeover: Chicago has officially begun thanks to this week’s edition of the show. NXT premiered in Full Sail University this week and it officially confirmed three of the matches for the upcoming Takeover show. EC3 also returned to action while Dakota Kai was finally given the chance to stand up to Shayna Baszler and take her title. As far as which matches were confirmed for Takeover, one of them was decided right off the bat.
Aleister Black came down to the ring for a promo to open the show this week. The NXT Champion acknowledged that he is unclear who his next challenger will be, however, he remains confident since he has proven in the past that all he needs is just one shot to make his opponents fade to black.
Lars Sullivan suddenly came down to the ring and glanced down at Black. He claimed that NXT General Manager William Regal has named him as the next challenger for the NXT title. Sullivan said that Black has never faced anybody with his size, strength, or dominance, and he promised to win the title at NXT Takeover: Chicago. He charged after the champ with a chokeslam, but Black fought him off and attempted to hit the Black Mass kick. Lars caught his foot just in time, which caught Black completely off guard. Sullivan dished out the Freak Accident before posing with the NXT Championship and leaving the ring.
The War Raiders vs. Cody Vincent & George Hickson –
Obviously, these local enhancement talents did not fare too well against Hanson and Rowe in this match. George immediately went after Rowe in an attempt to get the advantage, but Rower struck him down. Hanson was promptly tagged in and both War Raiders laid out Hickson with a double clothesline.
Vincent tagged in only to get thrown around the ring by Hanson for a while. Rowe tagged back in and decided to hit Cody with some punches in the corner of the ring. Both men then took turns ramming themselves hard into an already lifeless Vincent in the corner. Once George got back in there, Hanson laid him out with a springboard back elbow. Rowe impressively lifted Cody up into the air while Hanson went up to the top of the corner ring post. With Cody being held up, Hanson gave him a top rope leg drop to score the win.
Winners: The War Raiders
A video package for the Dakota Kai vs. Shayna Baszler main event match for the women’s title aired. Kai said that she had been dreaming of this match since she was a child and she promised to finally put Shayna in her place.
Lacey Evans was interviewed backstage to address her huge win over Kairi Sane on NXT last week. With both women now having one win over each other, they will be having the rubber match on next week’s NXT. Evans said that she’s got a Woman’s Right for Sane that she plans on dishing out next week.
Fabian Aichner vs. EC3 –
EC3 returned to action here against the former Cruiserweight Classic competitor. Aichner went after EC3 early and got the chance to display some of his impressive power moves. In fact, Aichner was in control for a good portion of this match until EC3 was able to send him crashing outside of the ring.
He went after Aichner when Johnny Gargano suddenly emerged, causing the match to fall into the background momentarily. Gargano brought out a contract and informed the Full Sail crowd that it was official documents for a street fight between himself and Tommaso Ciampa at NXT Takeover: Chicago. Gargano then stormed off to the back and generously allowed the match to continue. Aichner and EC3 got back to work.
What EC3 did not realize was that Aichner had slid back into the ring. Fabian ran up to the top of a ring post and dove onto EC3 outside of the ring. This allowed Aichner to get a two count, but after that, EC3 was already back on his feet and gave him a fireman’s carry/neckbreaker combo win the match.
Winner: EC3
Up next was a video package highlighting the upbringing and background of Bianca Belair. NXT usually does a great job with these video packages, and this one was no exception. Bianca said that athleticism has always come naturally to her. She has always felt like she has a family reputation to maintain given that her grandfather was the first African American electrician in North Carolina. Belair said it was crucial for her to go to college, so she worked days and nights for years before she received an athletic scholarship to attend college.
Although Bianca excelled in school, she noted that she went back to living her normal life after her education concluded. However, she became focused on powerlifting before CrossFit changed her entire life. After WWE officials saw some of what she was capable of, she was invited to the Performance Center to take part in a tryout. Belair noted that she had no previous wrestling training and did not have a background in Japan like others on the roster. She started from ground zero, and according to her, she is still passing by everybody.
Belair said that she has no problem telling all the other women in NXT that she is the best and she will show them that she is the most powerful woman in the division. Belair promised to shine from now on in NXT. This Mae Young Classic competitor is definitely someone to look out for in the future.
Chris Dijak vs. Ricochet –
The standout from Ring of Honor formerly known as Donovan Dijak made his NXT television debut in this match against Ricochet. He charged after Ricochet with a boot, but he ducked and started dishing out punches to the much taller Dijak in the corner of the ring.
Ricochet kicked him outside of the ring before doing a dive onto him. Unfortunately for him Dijak was actually able to catch him and throw him back into the ring. Dijak was given a few different chances to shine in this match. He hit an impressive springboard elbow drop on Ricochet, but that was only able to get him a two count. After that, Dijak hit a moonsault (which is insane given his height), but Ricochet moved out of the way before he connected with the move.
As impressive as it was to see Rowe lift Cody Vincent in the air earlier in the night, Ricochet was somehow able to deadlift Chris Dijak onto his shoulders and slam him down to the ring canvas! “The One and Only” then climbed up to the top of the ring post and hit the 630 for another victory.
Winner: Ricochet
He was not done there though. After the match, Ricochet grabbed a microphone and said that The Velveteen Dream not only loved the spotlight, but he also deserved to have it. Ricochet even acknowledged that The Velveteen Dream is one of the most entertaining superstars in the history of NXT. After saying that, he also noted that that same spotlight also exposed some of his flaws and that he is not as good as he thinks that he is.
This brought out The Velveteen Dream on the stage who said that the spotlight was on them last week when The Velveteen Dream turned on Ricochet during their handicap match against Lars Sullivan. He said that no matter what Ricochet did, The Dream could do it even better. Ricochet called The Velveteen Dream a coward in response. He dared Dream to get into the ring and face him right then and there, and although he did begin walking towards the ring, he stopped in the middle of the ramp and said that there was only one spotlight big enough for the two of them.
With that being said, The Velveteen Dream declared that he and Ricochet will face off at NXT Takeover: Chicago. Before he left, Dream reiterated that he could do what Ricochet does bigger and better. Ricochet reponded by diving out of the ring and landing directly in front of The Velveteen Dream! Ricochet once again challenged Dream to prove how tough he is right at the moment, but ol’ Velvey instead walked off and went to the back.
Dakota Kai vs. Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship –
This match has been building up for weeks and weeks with Baszler bullying Kai backstage every single chance that she gets. Kai’s dream is to win the NXT Women’s Championship but she is beyond petrified of the champion, especially given that Baszler faced Kai and broke her arm in her debut match in NXT. With only once chance to defeat the bully and win the title, Kai faced her fears and decided to valiantly fight against Shayna Baszler.
Dakota Kai was sadly not as prepared as she may have thought that she was for this match. Baszler mostly dominated the match with some strikes and kicks. She later tried to stomp out Kai’s arm much like she did when she made wrestled her first NXT match against Kai.
Baszler locked in an ankle lock while Kai screamed and cried out in pain. She tried desperately to get the ropes, but Shayna was able to pull her back. Even after the New Zealand star was able to get to the ropes, Baszler was relentless as she quickly locked the move back on.
Finally, after some grit and determination, Kai was able to fight out of the move. Although she was now left to hobble around the ring, there was a glimmer of hope that Kai could accomplish her dream and be crowned the new NXT Women’s Champion. She got some offense in when she starting punching the champion before administering a bicycle kick to the face. The crowd in Full Sail was now even starting to get behind the plucky challenger.
With Baszler resting in the corner of the ring, Kai gave her a vicious kick to the face before immediately dishing out another one right after that. With the champion seemingly weakened at last Kai attempted to hit her finisher, but that was when Baszler was able to launch Kai upwards and reverse the move into a Kirifuda Clutch. Now locked in the most devastating move in the NXT women’s division with nowhere else to go, Kai was left with no choice but to tap out.
Winner: Shayna Baszler
After the bell rung, Baszler decided to inflict more punishment and locked her in the submission maneuver once again. This brought out SAnitY’s Nikki Cross to make the save. Shayna seemed puzzled and unsure what to make of this at first. Baszler sat in the corner of the ring while she and Nikki had a staredown. Baszler crawled out of the ring not eager to start a fight with Cross as she made her way to the back for the evening.
On her way out, Nikki randomly charged after her and stole the title right off her shoulders. She ran back into the ring and challenged Shayna to come back to the ring and get it from her. She laid it across the canvas and sat in the corner. Shayna reached down to grab the title when Nikki once swooped it out of her grasp. Nikki Cross then challenged Baszler to a title match on the spot and also asked Kai to serve as referee. No bell ever rung, but Cross did hit a swinging neckbreaker on Shayna while Kai did count an actual legitimate 3-count. Believing that she had just won the title, Nikki celebrated in the Full Sail crowd with the NXT Women’s Championship before exiting through the stage.
This almost certainly means that an actual match between Cross and Baszler will be taking place at NXT Takeover: Chicago, but what is certain is that Ciampa vs. Gargano II, Ricochet vs. The Velveteen Dream, and Lars Sullivan vs. Aleister Black for the NXT Championship will be taking place during that show. The weekend of the Money in the Bank pay-per-view promises to deliver some fantastic action with matches such as those, and perhaps others that have yet to be announced. I’ll see you NXT time!