Like usual, this week’s episode of NXT manages to pack in a lot of action into just 60 minutes of television time. Lars Sullivan competes for the second consecutive week to take on Oney Lorcan, Liv Morgan and Vanessa Borne try to climb the ladder of the women’s division, Heavy Machinery returns to action, Fabian Aichner from the Cruiserweight Classic debuts, and Adam Cole competes for the first time in WWE.
Announcement
NXT General Manager announces that starting in two weeks, there will be a series of matches to determine who competes in a Fatal Four Way at NXT TakeOver: Houston for the vacated NXT Women’s Championship. One of those competitors has already been announced: Kairi Sane, after winning the Mae Young Classic earlier this month.
Lars Sullivan vs. Oney Lorcan
Over the past few weeks, Lars Sullivan has been destroying NXT Superstars at will, with his most recent victim being No Way Jose. Oney Lorcan does not like that Sullivan thinks that he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. He looks to solve that by taking the fight to Sullivan himself.
Lorcan hits Sullivan as hard as possible, but that only barely slows Sullivan down. After taking several hard palm strikes, Sullivan counters with a lariat turning Lorcan inside out. Sullivan then finishes the match with the modified spinebuster, which still doesn’t have a name. Winner: Lars Sullivan
After the match, Lars Sullivan looks to further the assault on Lorcan when Danny Burch, Lorcan’s recent rival, comes to save the day by pulling Lorcan out of the ring.
Heavy Machinery vs. Irrelevant Tag Team
It has been a few weeks since we have seen Heavy Machinery in their quest to build back some momentum. Tucker Knight and Otis Dozovic took on The Authors of Pain for the NXT Tag Team Championships but failed to get the job done. They might have better chances now that The Authors of Pain are not holding the gold, but they have not been around for a while so their intentions are unknown.
To no surprise, Heavy Machinery dominates the entire match. Dozovic and Knight hit their opponents with the compactor, smashing both opponents at the same time. Winners: Heavy Machinery
Liv Morgan vs. Vanessa Borne
Now that the NXT Women’s Championship Fatal Four-Way Match has been announced, this match has dramatically increased in importance. Whoever wins this match could be placed in one of the qualifying matches to make it to TakeOver: Houston and a win is necessary with competition like Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, Ruby Riot, and Nikki Cross just to name a few. Liv Morgan has been an NXT mainstay for the past couple years, while Vanessa Borne made her mark by competing in the Mae Young Classic.
Morgan is on the offensive for most of the match and she picks up the win with her variation of the Codebreaker. Winner: Liv Morgan
Fabian Aichner vs. Kassius Ohno
While this is the first time that Fabian Aicher competes on NXT, but this is not his first appearance in front of the WWE Universe at Full Sail University. Aichner competed in the Cruiserweight Classic in the summer of 2016, but the Italy native only wrestled in the first round due to a loss to Gentleman Jack Gallagher. Aichner has bulked up since the tournament and now he fits right in with the heavyweights.
Aichner has an incredible debut full of power and athleticism, but he could not finish the job. After he misses a double springboard moonsault, Ohno turns the tide in his favor and gets the win with a 360-degree pump kick. Winner: Kassius Ohno
Adam Cole (w/Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Eric Young (w/Alexander Wolfe, Killian Dain, & Nikki Cross)
On top of this match being a clash between two former world champions (outside of WWE – Cole with Ring of Honor and Eric Young with TNA), this also marks Adam Cole’s in-ring debut for NXT and WWE in general. Cole, along with Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly, made himself known by showing up at TakeOver: Brooklyn III and attacking NXT Champion Drew McIntyre. The ex-Ring of Honor trio has also targeted SAnitY recently and now the leaders of both groups collide.
O’Reilly and Fish try to get involved and while they fight Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe at ringside, Young dives onto all of them from the top turnbuckle. This gives Cole time to recover and he finishes off Young with a standing Shining Wizard to pick up the victory in his debut. Winner: Adam Cole
