Sanity's Nikki Cross kicked off this week's show, screaming as she is prone to do, before Alexander Wolfe and Killian Dain joined her in the ring. The unstable faction called out NXT tag team champions The Authors of Pain.Akam and Rezar answered but were attacked from behind by the returning Eric Young, who zip-tied Rezar to the guardrail.Akam suffered a beatdown at the hands of the group while his tag team partner dragged part of the rail to the ring, only to beaten and pummeled by Young and the rest of Sanity. Sanity stood tall, sending a message loudly and clearly to the champions.
After weeks of video packages, The Street Profits debuted Wednesday night, taking on The Metro Brothers.Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford drew a nice pop for their first appearance.Dawkins and Ford demonstrated their athleticism early in the short squash. The latter overcame a bit of offense by Chris and CJ and made the hot tag to Dawkins.The newcomers scored the win moments later, kicking off their NXT run in impressive and successful fashion.
Just under two weeks until the NXT Championship is up for grabs in Brooklyn at TakeOver, current titleholder Bobby Roode shared the squared circle with No. 1 contender Drew McIntyre.As cocky and arrogant as ever, Roode admitted entitlement and said he does not need a second chance, like his opponent. He reiterated that NXT is his and his alone.McIntyre responded, vowing to win the title as any good babyface in this scenario would.Roderick Strong's music played, and he implored general manager William Regal to give him a match with Roode, not for the title, but for the honor of his family.Roode agreed to give Strong a match, but he'd have to go through McIntyre first. Finally, it was decided that if Strong can beat McIntyre next week, he will get a shot at Roode after the pay-per-view, but the title match at TakeOver remains the same either way.
Last month, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch beat the ever-loving hell out of each other in a display of violence and toughness.Wednesday night, they met in a rematch Lorcan pulverized Burch's chest with a series of chops. The Brit responded with a nasty lariat that halted Lorcan in his tracks. The hits came harder and the pin attempts more dramatic as their physicality was maintained throughout.Late, Lorcan attempted a Boston Crab, but Burch countered into a pinning combination for the upset victory.
The rivalry between No Way Jose and Andrade "Cien" Almas had steadily built in the weeks ahead of this week's show. Wednesday night, they settled their differences in singles competition.Almas was frustrated early on a few occasions, rolling to the arena floor to consult Zelina Vega.At one point, after being outwrestled and outclassed throughout the bout, Almas let his hair down in a symbol of seriousness the way Jerry Lawler would drop the strap of his singlet.OK, maybe things weren't that serious, but Almas certainly became more focused.A nasty kick put Jose down, and the running knees probably should have finished him. Vega, though, demanded Almas put his fun-loving rival down for the count. The hammerlock DDT finished Jose.After the match, Vega announced that if Johnny Gargano was looking for an opponent in Brooklyn, he had found one.