WWE NXT Review - November 7, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Heavy Machinery def. The Forgotten Sons

I honestly forgot these two teams were a part of NXT's tag team division because the focus has largely been on Undisputed Era, War Raiders, The Street Profits and The Mighty as of late. Thus, it was cool to see them featured here and they had a pretty good match. I'm still not sold on Forgotten Sons as an act, but they had a solid showing before beating defeated. I often wonder where Heavy Machinery are ultimately headed because I honestly don't see them ever capturing the NXT Tag Team Championship.

Dakota Kai def. Taynara Conti

As I've noted in the past, Conti is a work in progress (especially in the ring), but at least she has a presence about her and looks like she could be a star eventually. Having her work against much more experienced competitors such as Kai will only help her cause and I thought she fared well for herself here. Kai is such an excellent babyface and I'm happy to see her back in the fold in NXT after a while away.

Lars Sullivan def. Velveten Dream

I don't know when Dream officially became a babyface, but I would assume he is one at this point based off how he was booked here and more importantly how the crowd reacted to him like he was a hero. He had to battle back against the dominant Sullivan and the audience was behind him every step of the way. He came close to defeating the beast on a few occasions, making the nearfalls that much more suspenseful. Tommaso Ciampa's interference was what cost Dream the win in the end, so the NXT title match at TakeOver: War Games II might turn into a Triple Threat after all. Despite Dream's loss, the crowd went nuts for him getting the better of Ciampa afterward.

Overall Show

I couldn't be more excited for TakeOver next Saturday and the tremendous build the brand has done heading into the event has a lot to do with that. Every edition of NXT TV has felt like must-see TV with what's been offered, and although this show lacked one truly memorable match, it was a very effective hour on the whole with the tag team and women's divisions being showcased, Dream maintaining momentum ahead of his NXT Championship opportunity, Johnny Gargano delivering a terrific pre-taped promo, the WarGames main event being hyped up, and two matches being announced for next week.