WWE NXT Review - August 7, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT Tag Team Champions Street Profits and Undisputed Era Signed the Contract For Their Match at NXT TakeOver: Toronto II

The only other time these two teams interacted was when Undisputed Era teased going for the titles last month on NXT, so this segment was necessary to make viewers care about their upcoming encounter. It's rare we see Street Profits show off their serious side, so I loved that they did that here. They delivered some of their strongest mic work in recent memory, putting over Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish as one of NXT's best tag teams of all-time and how losing isn't an option for them at TakeOver: Toronto II. The crowd being as into this as they were helped as well.

Shane Thorne def. Joaquin Wilde

Thorne has been randomly popping up on NXT TV and in WWE.com exclusive videos throughout the NXT Breakout Tournament complaining about his lack of opportunities. Well, he was finally given a chance to shine here and I thought he made the most of it. Although Wilde is a good wrestler, his character has always annoyed me. He just comes off a lot better as a heel. Any any rate, this was a well-wrestled match and I hope Thorne's victory leads to him appearing on NXT TV more often.

Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain Went to a No Contest

I'm really looking forward to seeing what Dain will do now that he has returned to NXT, and based off what we've seen from him so far, it should be a fun run and I think Riddle is a great first foe for him (even though Riddle should go over in the end). I'm totally fine with the match not happening here and instead being saved for another day. I doubt we'll get it at TakeOver: Toronto II, but maybe during the TV tapings beforehand?

Overall Show

This followed the formula of most other go-home shows NXT produces for the TakeOver specials in that a majority of this hour consisted of video packages hyping up matches on the TakeOver card. The episode was obviously light on in-ring action (only really featuring one match), but it was all about selling viewers on Saturday's show, so in that respect, it was a success. All of those aforementioned video packages were excellent and are worth a watch (though you'll likely see them again on Saturday). Meanwhile, the contract signing was terrific, Thorne returned to TV in a meaningful way, and Riddle and Dain furthered their feud.