WWE NXT Review - February 7, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT Tag Team Champions Undisputed Era vs. SAnitY Went to a No Contest

Chaos ensured between the two tandems before the bout could even begin, leading to NXT General Manager William Regal announcing that the factions would meet in a six-man tornado tag team match instead in the main event. This was a hot open to the show that the crowd was electric for. I suppose this means SAnitY are still owed a rematch for the NXT Tag Team Championship, which they could get at TakeOver: New Orleans.

Heavy Machinery def. Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss

Well, that apparent breakup of Sabbatelli and Moss came out of nowhere. They won their last encounter against Heavy Machinery a few weeks back, and now they're teasing tension following one loss? Officials must be keen on pushing Sabbatelli on his own in the very near future, because otherwise I don't know why they would have done that. Here's hoping Sabbatelli remains a heel, though, because that's the role that suits him best (he already has great heat with the fans). By the way, the match itself was fairly decent, but nothing too memorable.

NXT Champion Andrade "Cien" Almas and Zelina Vega Interrupted Johnny Gargano

Gargano spoke about earning the fans' respect with his performance at TakeOver: Philadelphia, but before he could address Tommaso Ciampa, Almas and Vega emerged to inform him that he doesn't deserve another shot at the strap. Of course, that brought out Candice LeRae, who helped even the odds. The two will meet again on an upcoming episode of NXT for the title, though this time, Gargano will have to leave the brand if he loses. The stakes are high, and considering how incredible their last matchup was, I'm extremely excited for that rematch.

Bianca Belair def. Jessix Hill

As I've said in the past, Belair impressed me quite a bit with her showings in the Mae Young Classic late last year. She's been a work in progress ever since, but she has plenty of potential. This was definitely a dominant performance from her, but the only downside to this being so short was that it didn't give her much time to showcase her skills. Nevertheless, look for her to be a real player in the NXT women's division going forward.

SAnitY def. Undisputed Era in a Six-MAn Tornado Tag team Match

These factions have been waging war for months, so it isn't surprising that they've built up quite the chemistry together by this point. Considering there were no disqualifications in this match, it allowed them to incorporate some weapons and go all out, so it was a very fun main event where all six stars shined. I usually wouldn't be a fan of Undisputed Era eating a clean loss, but I assume this sets up SAnitY as the next challengers to the NXT Tag Team Championship (and as mentioned earlier, they still have their contractual rematch for the belts).

Overall Show

While this wasn't the strongest edition of NXT TV on the whole in recent memory, several storylines were progressed and a handful of big matchups were set up for the next few weeks, including Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong for the WWE United Kingdom Championship and Ember Moon vs. Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women's Championship. I don't when we're getting Gargano vs. Almas IV, but that's something to be pumped for as well. Certainly seek out Gargano's confrontation with Almas and the above-average main event, but the rest can be skipped over.