WWE NXT Review - October 18, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Ember Moon def. Ruby Riot and Sonya Deville in an NXT Women's Championship Qualifying Triple Threat Match

I enjoyed this a bit more than the Triple Threat match from last week, especially any interaction between Moon and Riot. They're two of the better wrestlers in NXT's women's division, so they worked well together whenever they faced off. Deville isn't there quite yet, but she had a solid showing here and was protected in defeat by not being pinned. Moon was the most logical choice of the three to advance given TakeOver: War Games will emanate from her home state of Texas and that could be where she finally wins the NXT Women's Championship.

Aleister Black def. Raul Mendoza

Black's TV matches have become one of my favorite parts of NXT because he never ceases to deliver. Meanwhile, Mendoza has been a blast to watch in his handful of appearances on NXT TV, so it was no surprise he and Black contested a fun match here. The outcome was never in question, of course, but Black's feud with The Velveteen Dream was furthered with Dream taunting Black from ringside throughout the bout.

Zelina Vega Interrupted NXT Champion Drew McIntyre's Interview

McIntyre has shined in the short promos he's had so far, but we had yet to really hear from him in a setting such as this until now. This was an awesome interview that explored McIntyre's release from the company three years ago and his road to returning to NXT before ultimately capturing the championship. Vega challenging McIntyre to defend the strap against Andrade "Cien" Almas is an obvious indicator that will be our title match at TakeOver next month.

Kassius Ohno def. Cezar Bononi

Ohno's latest match with Fabian Aichner was so damn good that the bar was raised pretty high for this contest, and unfortunately, it couldn't quite measure up. Don't get me wrong, it was fine for what it was, but there were some awkward spots and the crowd wasn't too lively for it. On the bright side, Ohno appears to finally be building momentum and will likely end up on the TakeOver card in some capacity.

SAnitY vs. The Undisputed Era Ended in a No contest

I saw this same match in person at the NXT Lowell live event I attended last month (which can you read my review of here) and nothing about it was terribly exciting, but thankfully, this was a vast improvement. The first half was well-wrestled before they picked up the pace in the second half and kept the crowd's attention. As SAnitY was closing in on the victory, The Authors of Pain made their grand return and laid out SAnitY, picking up where they left off after SAnitY beat them for the NXT Tag Team Championship in Brooklyn. Plus, neither trio had to take a loss here, so I liked that as well.

Overall Show

The build for TakeOver: War Games continued as it was all but confirmed it will be McIntyre vs. Almas for the NXT Championship, Moon qualified for the NXT Women's title match, and the Black vs. Dream storyline progressed. Plus, Ohno picked up a dominant win and The Authors of Pain resurfaced after a two month absence, so I'd certainly say this was a newsworthy episode in addition to being entertaining and worth watching.