NXT TakeOver: Chicago is only a few days away, but tonight’s card features Superstars that won’t be competing at the big event. Two recently returned Superstars (Drew McIntyre and Kassius Ohno) will be in action, and there is a match to help build the Women’s Division between Sonya Deville and Lacey Evans.
Drew McIntyre vs. Sean Maluta
Sean Maluta has appeared on NXT every now and then since his appearance in the Cruiserweight Classic last summer. Maluta has put on great performances every time he competes, but he rarely (if ever) picks up a victory. Unfortunately for him, he is taking on a new and improved Drew McIntyre. McIntyre came to NXT about a month ago when he defeated Oney Lorcan in a hard-hitting affair. A couple weeks later, the former Intercontinental Champion would then pick up a victory over Andrade “Cien” Almas.
Even though McIntyre’s right eye gets hurt during the match, it does not slow him down one bit. Maluta tries to keep control of the match, but McIntyre’s running kick gets him another win. Winner: Drew McIntyre
Last week, Drew McIntyre was confronted backstage by former NXT Tag Team Champion Wesley Blake, and McIntyre grabs a microphone and challenges Blake to a match for next week.
Video Packages
Since TakeOver: Chicago is only a few days away, tonight’s episode of NXT is filled with preview videos for Saturday’s big matches. The most notable one is for the United Kingdom Championship match between Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne, where both men state why they are going to win. Neither man can appear on weekly NXT television, so the build for this match has been scarce. They will also be featured on the United Kingdom Championship Special Event airing at 3 PM ET this Friday on the WWE Network.
Announcement
After Roderick Strong lost to Hideo Itami last week, SAnitY assaulted him when NXT went off the air. Strong demanded a match for TakeOver: Chicago and Eric Young (the leader of SAnitY) accepted his challenge.
Interview
NXT Women’s Champion Asuka is being interviewed on her way to Full Sail University regarding her title defense against Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross but she dismisses every question. There are slight hints of her being nervous for the fact that she can lose the title without being involved in the final decision.
Lacey Evans vs. Sonya Deville
While we save the NXT Women’s Championship match competitors for TakeOver, tonight focuses on building up the rest of the division. Sonya Deville, formerly known as Daria Berenato, has an MMA background that helped her start to make waves in NXT over the past year. Lacey Evans, formerly known as Macey Estrella, is a former United States Marine who has yet to pick up a televised victory in her short WWE career.
Evans seems to take control for most of the match, but Deville ends up putting her away with a kind of awkward Shining Wizard. Winner: Sonya Deville
Kassius Ohno vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas
It is odd that neither man in this match is competing at TakeOver: Chicago, but they are undoubtedly some of the top Superstars NXT has to offer. Andrade “Cien” Almas has been with the company for about a year and while he has found a lot of success, that has not been the case recently. It seems that Almas is focused more on his life outside of the ring, but perhaps he is just using it to get away from his constant losses.
Kassius Ohno returned to NXT after a three-year long absence with the hopes of capturing the NXT Championship. While he failed to do so against Bobby Roode several weeks ago, a win here can help him build momentum to another opportunity for the title against whoever walks out with the belt this Saturday.
Ohno manages to kick out of a tornado inverted DDT and he gets one last burst of adrenaline that helps him take advantage. Two rolling elbows in a row finally knock Almas flat on his back and Ohno covers him for the three count. Winner: Kassius Ohno
In-ring Segment
Instead of closing the show with the main event, NXT Champion Bobby Roode comes to the ring to cut a promo before he defends his title against Hideo Itami at TakeOver: Chicago. He mocks Itami’s injury history and says that the former KENTA is going to fail this Saturday.
Of course, Itami doesn’t like what Roode is saying and decides to make his way to the ring. William Regal and security officials try to stop him, but they fail. Itami hits the security officials with the Go to Sleep, and when he approaches the last one, Roode attacks him from behind. Itami immediately recover and lays out the champion one last time before they collide again.
