Welcome to Ringside News’ coverage of WWE NXT. Please keep refreshing throughout the show for constant updates once it kicks off at 8:00 PM EST.

Hot off the heels of NXT TakeOver: In Your House, NXT rolls on with another episode from the black and gold brand. Only two matches have been announced for tonight’s card, but let’s look at them.

First up, following on from his victory over Damien Priest, Finn Balor looks to right the wrong weeks ago in a rematch against Cameron Grimes. Grimes was able to defeat Balor the last time these two met, but only due to the help of the Archer of Infamy. With Priest dispatched with that nasty bump to the steel steps, will Balor be able to overcome the Cave In this week?

From one winner at In Your House to another, the NXT Champion looks to clear away another thorn in his side when Adam Cole takes on Dexter Lumis in a non-title bout. Lumis has caused problems for the Undisputed Era for months, and after he dealt with Velveteen Dream this weekend, Cole could be looking to spend Lumis packing too.

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Also for tonight, while no official match has been announced for either superstar, this week’s promo for the show promoted matches for both Karrion Kross and the new NXT Women’s Champion, Io Shirai. How will each of these competitors capitalize on their momentum following huge wins at TakeOver?

All of this tonight as NXT rolls on with another packed episode, and we will begin coverage when NXT goes live at 8:00 PM EST!

Opening Segment

Recap of Sunday’s In Your House event.

Undisputed Era’s music hits and Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, and Bobby Fish all come down to the ring. Adam Cole gets on the mic and talks about how his reign as champion will continue. He says that no one thought that Velveteen Dream was going to beat him, and no one can beat him.

He goes on to talk about Dream can no longer challenge for the title now that he has lost, and it doesn’t matter who his next challenger is because no one can beat him. He says that he is tired of Lumis getting in the Era’s business. Bobby Fish says that Lumis is obsessed with them. Roderick seems particularly upset about being in a trunk.

Roderick Strong saw Lumis in the crowd, but when Cole and Fish turn around, he’s gone. It happens once more, and Cole and Fish still don’t see him. Cole hypes up his match with Dexter later tonight. Cole says that they will fight and Cole will send him back to the drawing board., and, “that’s undisputed.”

Cole, Fish, and Strong leave the ring and Strong is still pleading his case about seeing Dexter Lumis in the audience. Cole and Fish leave and Strong once again sees Lumis in the audience, and then we go to commercial.

Back from commercial and Fish and Cole are backstage trying to calm down Roderick Strong. Keith Lee and Mia Yim pass them by and Lee taunts the Era, but they retreat.

NXT North American Champion Keith Lee and Mia Yim vs. Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae

The two teams stare off at first, with Yim getting in Johnny’s face and Candice getting in Johnny’s face. Lee touches Candice and Gargano uses the distraction to try and attack him, but Yim and Lee get the advantage. They both go for hurricanranas, but Lee and Yim block them and hit each competitor with a lariat.

Candice and Mia are in the ring and they are starting the match. Yim slaps Candice around and whips her into the ropes, but Gargano is there to save her. Lee grabs both of them in place and Yim tries for a suicide dive, but Gargano and Candice dodge.

Yim dives into Lee, but Lee catches her and sets her down. They both take down Gargano and LeRae with strikes on the outside of the ring as we go to commercial.

Back from commercial and LeRae has Yim in a straight jacket hold. Yim escapes, but LeRae continues to strike away at her in the ring. Candice taunts Lee and runs at Yim. Yim dodges and Candice almost hits Gargano, but she stops herself. Yim hits LeRae will Sole Food and then gets to Lee to make the tag.

Lee and Gargano enter the ring, and Lee hits Gargano with double chops to Gargano’s chest, then tosses him around the ring. Johnny tags in Candice and Gargano and LeRae try to rake his eyes to drop Gargano. Gargano and LeRae work together to take Lee down, but Yim comes in and lights up LeRae with chops.

Yim hits a dragon suplex on LeRae, bridging into a pin, but Gargano breaks up the pin. Yim goes for a suplex, but LeRae blocks it. Yim hits a German suplex on both Gargano and LeRae, LeRae hits Sole Food on Yim, then hits a moonsault, pinning her for two.

Gargano tags in, and Gargano is trying to prevent him from getting in the ring. Gargano runs the ropes, but Yim low bridges Johnny, sending him out of the ring. Candice tries to take out Yim, but Yim puts Candice in the ropes. Gargano and Lee both re-enter the ring, and Lee hits a pounce on Gargano, sending him into LeRae and Yim.

Gargano hits One Final Beat on Lee, and Lee’s body weight lands on Candice. Lee picks up Candice to check on her and make sure she’s okay, and Johnny rolls up Lee, pinning him for three.

Winners: Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae

We get a recap of the match Finn Balor and Damian Priest from In Your House.

Damian Priest is interviewed backstage about his match with Finn Balor. Priest says that this match wasn’t about a win or a loss, just making his name bigger.

Cameron Grimes is then interviewed about his upcoming match with Finn. Grimes is very confident heading into his match with Finn, and he calls Priest a loser. Grimes says that he doesn’t even know why the match was booked. Priest shows up and seems unhappy with Grimes’s comments. Priest lays him out with a strike to the jaw.

Up next, the new NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai will be featured, right after this commercial break.

Back from commercial and we get a recap of the match where Io Shirai won the NXT Women’s Championship. Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka are shown celebrating and congratulating Io, along with all of the news articles celebrating her victory.

Indus Sher (w/Malcolm Bivens) vs. Mikey Delbrey and Mike Reed

As soon as the match starts, Saurav hits Delbrey with a boot and toss Reed off the apron. Rinku tags in and hits splashes in the corner onto Delbrey, then tags Saurav back in, who hit a tag team leg drop and power slam double team move on Delbrey, covering him for two.

Winners: Indus Sher

We are told during the match that Cameron Grimes does not think that he will be able to compete against Finn Balor tonight. A referee is speaking with William Regal about the upcoming match and the referee says that Grimes thinks that he has a broken jaw following the strike from Damian Priest. Regal says that he wants to speak with Grimes, so they go off to find him.

We are told that tonight we will hear from the newly crowned NXT Cruiserweight Champion El Hijo del Fantasma, but first, a commercial break.

Back from commercial and Cameron Grimes is backstage trying to talk to Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro and Grimes says that he is fine. The referee shows up with William Regal catching Grimes saying that he is fine and Regal orders him to compete against Regal.

Tom Phillips throws to a video package about Breezango. They go over all of their different costumes. They said that their Fashion Police gimmick was funny, but they go too caught up trying to make people laugh, but they are both good in the ring. They lost focus on Smackdown. In NXT, they feel the need to step up their game and leave the comedy at the ropes.

Next week, Breezango will take on Imperium for the NXT Tag Team Championships.

We get a recap of Tommaso Ciampa going against Karrion Kross at NXT TakeOver: In Your House. An exclusive interview from that night, we see that Ciampa stuck around the arena for hours after the show ended. Ciampa ignores all of the questions asked to him as he walks to his car and drives off.

Up next, Cameron Grimes will take on Finn Balor one on one, right after this commercial break.

Back from commercial, Rhea Ripley is talking about how she left everything in the ring. Robert Stone walks up and tries to recruit Rhea Ripley as a client for the Robert Stone Brand. Ripley seems unimpressed and uninterested. Ripley says that the chance of her joining the Robert Stone Brand is one in a million.

Stone laughs and says, “So what you’re saying is, there’s a chance.” Ripley gets Stone to walk with her a bit and she punches him hard in the gut, then dumps him into a trash can and walks away.

Cameron Grimes vs. Finn Balor

Finn chases Grimes into the corner and tries to create some separation between the two and the referee has to back Finn up. Finn locks in a hammerlock and pushes Grimes into the corner. Grimes hits Finn in the midsection and picks him up, hitting an uppercut on Finn.

Finn gets up quickly and takes down Grimes with a lariat. Grimes hits Finn with shoulder blocks in the corner, but Finn takes down Grimes with kicks and pins him for two. Finn transitions into a headlock. Grimes gets to his feet and pushes Finn into a corner.

Grimes hits a chop on Finn, but Finn returns with chops of his own, tossing Grimes corner to corner and hitting Grimes with chops in each one. Finn tries to kick Grimes, but Grimes catches the leg and tosses him down face-first, then shoving knees into Finn’s midsection. Grimes chops at Finn and sends him to the mat.

Grimes steps on Finn’s hand and then hits a sunset flip on Finn, but Finn rolls through and hits a basement dropkick on Grimes. Grimes rolls out of the ring but Balor gives chase, tossing him into the barricade multiple times. Finn rolls Grimes back in the ring and he bounces off of the ropes and lays out Finn with a lariat.

Grimes locks in a chin lock on Finn on the mat. Finn gets to his feet, but Grimes tosses Balor hard into the ring as we go to commercial break.

Back from commercial and Grimes takes Finn down with a knee to the midsection. Grimes taunts Finn, but Finn takes him down with a double foot stomp to Grimes’s chest. Finn hits Grimes with a slingblade and then hits Grimes with a dropkick into the corner.

Finn goes to the top and goes for a Coup de Grace, but Grimes rolls out of the way and rolls up Finn, covering him for two. Grimes hits Finn with a kick, knocking him silly, but Finn reverses and sets Grimes up for 1916. Grimes rolls Finn up, covering him for two again. Finn picks Grimes up and Grimes rolls Finn up again for another two count.

Grimes goes for a Cave In but Finn ducks and hits a reverse 1916, pinning him for two. Finn gets to the top rope again and hits the Coup de Grace this time. Then he picks up Grimes and nails him with 1916, pinning him for three.

Winner: Finn Balor

Finn stares down the camera and says that he has won a lot of titles, but has never won the North American Championship. He says, “Keith Lee, I’m coming for you,” and walks away.

After this commercial break, Dakota Kai will take on Kacy Catanzaro.

Kacy Catanzaro vs. Dakota Kai (w/Raquel Gonzalez)

Kai and Kacy trade shoves. Kai pushes her into the corner and Catazaro fights back, hitting a senton atomico on Kai. Kai tries to kick her on the apron, but Kacy hits a hurricanrana on Kai, then a summersault kick to Kai’s back, pinning her for two.

Kai hits a facewash on Catanzaro, then tosses her into the corner. Kai runs at her, but Catanzaro rolls up Kai for two. Kai runs at her again in the corner, but Catanzaro dodges and runs at Kai. Kai hits Catanzaro with a scorpion kick, then a GTK (Go to Kick), pinning her for three.

Winner: Dakota Kai

Kai stares down the camera and says, “I’m coming for that championship, you hear me?” Kai then runs at Catanzaro and stomps on her. Kayden Carter comes down and takes down Kai, but Raquel Gonzalez’s power is too much, and she slams Carter down face first.

After this commercial break, NXT Cruiserweight Champion El Hijo del Fantasma joins us.

Back from commercial, Timothy Thatcher is holding “Thatch as Thatch Can” wrestling school backstage, and he is speaking to his unseen students. He says that their training will begin next week.

NXT Cruiserweight Champion El Hijo del Fantasma comes out. Fantasma gets on the mic, but before he can get too far into his promo, Drake Maverick comes out. Maverick grabs a mic and walks down to the ring. He congratulates Fantasma on his win from last week.

He thanks Fantasma for the match from last week. He says that, while everyone was talking about him, they should have been talking about Fantasma and Fantasma deserves the championship. The crowd chants, “You deserve it,” and Maverick looks at him and says, “You do.”

Maverick says that he has had a lot on his head and has been wondering what would have happened if he had a clear head. Maverick says that he wanted to come out and look Fantasma in the eye and says, “I know that I can beat you.” Fantasma agrees to it, but before they can shake hands.

The two masked men come down and surround the ring. Maverick and Fantasma stand back to back, about to take on the masked men, but Fantasma turns on Maverick, showing that he was in league with the masked men the entire time. All three attack Maverick. The two men remove their masks, showing that they were the kidnapped Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde.

Fantasma removes his mask, saying he is Santos Escobar. He says that he is the NXT Cruiserweight Champion and no one can touch him. Mendoza and Wilde both dive onto Maverick and all three of them stand tall above Maverick.

Undisputed Era are backstage getting ready for Cole’s upcoming match. Lumis left a drawing in their room, and Roderick Strong is freaking out, saying that Lumis was there. Cole and Fish try to calm him down and they walk away. Strong sees Lumis peering in throw a window in the door and runs off. Up next, Dexter Lumis will take on Adam Cole in a non-title match, right after this commercial break.

Back from commercial and we are told that, in addition to the NXT Tag Team Championship match next week, Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox will take on a mystery team to determine the #1 contender for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles.

NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. Dexter Lumis (Non-Title Match)

Lumis pushes Cole in the corner and Cole shoves at Lumis, but Lumis is unphased. Lumis lays punches into Cole’s midsection, then takes him down with a back elbow.

Cole runs out of the ring and Lumis gives chase, but Cole gets back in the ring and stomps away at Lumis. Cole picks Lumis up, but Lumis tosses Cole and then punches him in the face. Cole goes for a pump kick, but Lumis blocked it and clocked Cole in the face. Cole and Lumis are on the apron, and Cole hits a pump kick, knocking Lumis onto the mat on the outside. Then, we go to commercial.

Back from commercial, Cole hits Lumis with a backstabber then covers him for two. Cole mounts him and punches way at his face. Cole taunts Lumis with slaps and calling him a freak and a weirdo. Cole hits a swinging neckbreaker on Lumis. Cole kicks away at Lumis, then hits another swinging neckbreaker.

Cole continues to taunt Lumis and strikes him with a forearm. Lumis blocks a strike and lays into him with right hands, a corner clothesline, and a bulldog. Lumis hits a slingshot suplex, covering Cole for two. Lumis picks up Cole in a fireman’s carry, but Cole escapes. Cole goes for a superkick, but Lumis catches him and hits a German suplex, covering Cole for two again.

Cole kicks Lumis’s legs and pulls down his kneepad, going for the Last Shot. Lumis stood up and looked for the Kata Gatame submission, but Cole escapes. Cole hits Lumis with a superkick, grounding him, then covering him for a very close two count.

Cole goes for the Last Shot but Lumis evades again and takes down Cole with a spinebuster. Cole baits Lumis and sends him out of the ring. Fish and Strong go around the ring looking for Lumis, but Lumis has disappeared and appeared outside on the other side of the ring. Lumis enters the ring and hits a spinebuster on Cole, pinning him for two.

Lumis goes to the top rope and goes for a senton, but Cole got his knees up. Cole goes for the top rope, but Lumis catches Cole’s attempt at a Panama Sunrise in a Kata Gatame. Cole tries to escape, but Lumis won’t let go. Bobby Fish tries to get in the ring, but the referee stops him. While the referee is distracted, Roderick Strong nails Lumis with a kick, forcing a break. Cole hits Lumis with a Last Shot, then pins him for three.

Winner: Adam Cole

Cole, Strong, and Fish celebrate. Strong and Fish walk way, but Cole stands over Lumis, taunting him. Lumis comes alive and locks in the Kata Gatame again on Cole. Cole is furiously tapping out and Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish run in and try to jump Lumis. Velveteen Dream comes down and makes the save.

Lumis and Dream brawl with Strong and Fish backstage. Cole stands in the ring and celebrates when the lights suddenly go out. Scarlett appears at the top of the ramp. She walks down and sets an hourglass on the apron, then walks away as Cole clutches his championship. Scarlett walks to the back and Cole stands in the ring, watching the hourglass as NXT goes off the air.

Steve Carrier

Steve is the Founder of RingsideNews. He has been writing about professional wrestling since 1996. He first got into website development at the time and has been focusing on bringing his readers the best professional wrestling news at it's highest quality.

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