WWE NXT Review - October 17, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

War Raiders def. NXT Tag Team Champions Undisputed Era by Disqualification

Every member of Undisputed Era delivers more than the mailman. I mean, their matches are always among the best bouts on any NXT show they're in action on, and this was every bit as great as I thought it would be. What's cool is that I'm sure they could do even better on a bigger stage down the road, but I enjoyed this for what it was. I was fine with the non-finish because it kept War Raiders undefeated, ensured the belts remained with Undisputed Era, and reintroduced Bobby Fish after a long layoff. This was a total success all around.

Shayna Baszler def. Britt Baker by Referee Stoppage

For those who aren't aware, Baker is the real-life girlfriend of Adam Cole, so it was funny that her match immediately followed his segment. I wonder if her performance at All In had anything to do with her getting booked in NXT? Either way, this wasn't meant to be anything more than a squash for Baszler, who took pleasure in injuring Baker en route to her rematch with NXT Women's Champion Kairi Sane at WWE Evolution.

Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch def. Tian Bing and Rocky

I believe Bing and Rocky are among WWE's first ever Chinese recruits at the Performance Center, so they're obviously more of long-term projects than anything. They were fine here, but this was all about Lorcan and Burch hitting their signature spots, picking up another victory and getting back on track. It looks like they're trying to earn themselves another shot at the NXT Tag Team Championship, but Undisputed Era are still in possession of the titles and thus I don't think they need to renew that rivalry any time soon.

Nikki Cross vs. Bianca Belair Ended in a No Contest

I'm still amazed that Belair has improved so much in such a short period of time in NXT. She has really come into her around as the complete package and I appreciate that she is competing in more and more high-profile matches as she continues to prove herself. She and Cross worked a chaotic style that played nicely into the story they have been telling recently and it was a good match on the whole. Not only was Aleister Black's return newsworthy and made for an awesome moment at the end of the show, it keeps the Cross vs. Belair feud alive because the bout never received a definitive conclusion.

Overall Show

The build to WarGames 2 is already in full force and I'm looking forward to NXT General Manager William Regal's announcement regarding the NXT Championship match at the event on next week's show. As for this episode, it featured a little bit of everything between an entertaining tag team title match, the women getting spotlighted in the main event slot, Black resurfacing after a two-month absence, and Baszler, Lorcan and Burch building momentum in back-to-back squashes. In other words, you can never go wrong with NXT.