WWE NXT Review: Results, Analysis, and Grades for October 12

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:15 a.m. ET

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Shinsuke Nakamura on NXT – Source: WWE.com

Find out everything that happened on Wednesday’s episode of WWE NXT. The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic continues, plus the debut of SAnitY are scheduled.

Previously on WWE NXT, the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic got under way. A pair of first round matches took place, including in the main event. The Revival took on Cedric Alexander and Andrade “Cien” Almas. Unsurprisingly, the NXT Tag Team Champions emerged victorious over a brand new tag team.

After the match ended, Almas attacked Cedric, perhaps in an attempt to make a statement. The “happy-go-lucky” Cien Almas seems to be gone, replaced with a more vicious version. Will it translate to better success in the ring?

In other first round action, the Authors of Pain made short work of the Bollywood Boyz. At a combined weight of 303 pounds, Gurv and Harv Sihra came in at just about the size of just one of the Authors. The guidance of Paul Ellering is paying off for Akam and Rezar so far. Can they ride that wave to the tournament finals?

Also on last week’s episode, Samoa Joe continued his destructive tendencies while he awaits the NXT Championship – or a shot at Shinsuke Nakamura to get it back. This time, Joe prevented Dan Matha from making his heralded debut in NXT. A pre-match attack may have left Matha on the shelf for the time being. Meanwhile, Joe shows no signs of letting up until he gets what he wants. Will anything change this week?

Advertised this week is the continuation of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Bobby Roode and Tye Dillinger will be taking on the debuting SAnitY. Not much is known about SAnitY. Can Glorious Perfection ruin their debut?

Please read on for everything that happened on this week’s episode of WWE NXT.

Bobby Roode & Tye Dillinger vs. SAnitY (Sawyer Fulton & Alexander Wolfe, w/ Nikki Cross & Eric Young)

Result: SAnitY defeated Bobby Roode & Tye Dillinger via pinfall

Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars

I’ll be totally honest here, if the whole segment was just Roode and Dillinger playing off each other, it would be the segment of the year. If charisma was something you could overdose on, these two would be incredibly dangerous. But alas, there has to be a match here somewhere, so the pose off ends abruptly.

When SAnitY came down to the ring, it was a little weird, and you could hear that the live crowd didn’t know what to make of it. The masks helped prolong the surprise of who the group was for a little bit, but if you couldn’t tell that the non-wrestling male was Eric Young, you haven’t watched enough TNA.

But the wrestling duo was Sawyer Fulton and Alexander Wolfe, two guys with a ton of yet unrealized potential. In limited action here, they look like they may have put it all together. Having a seemingly solid gimmick with the weight of the NXT creative team behind it will do wonders.

Being paired up with Young – and apparently Nikki Cross – should help Fulton and Wolfe. Cross is still new to NXT, but a veteran presence like Young will give immediate credibility to SAnitY.

The saga of Dillinger and Roode continued backstage, as Roode spun a revisionist history tale worthy of a presidential campaign. I don’t know if he’s supposed to be delusional or crazy, but putting everything on Dillinger when literally the whole world saw the complete opposite is a bold strategy, Cotton. Not to mention he walked out of the match not two minutes prior! Let’s see where things go between these two Canadian grapplers.

Peyton Royce and Billie Kay Backstage

The entire segment was basically “Australian Mean Girls,” with Royce and Kay running down Liv Morgan. It was pretty great. More on this below, after the match.

Source: WWE.com

Billie Kay (w/ Peyton Royce) vs. Liv Morgan

Result: Billie Kay defeated Liv Morgan via pinfall

Rating: 1.9 out of 5 stars

My favorite part of Billie Kay matches lately is her unique offense. Her size and build make it possible for her to attack in a way many superstars can’t. I’m particularly intrigued by the torture rack that gets combined with a Cobra Clutch type lock. Maybe someone else has used that before, but I don’t recall seeing it anywhere.

My second favorite part of Billie Kay matches lately is the Peyton Royce connection. It may not necessarily be the most progressive storyline out there, but guess what? There are plenty of women out there who have bonded over a mutual disdain for someone else. If Royce and Kay have united over tearing down Liv Morgan, so be it.

In the match, Kay continues to look dominant, and is quickly becoming the top heel in the NXT Women’s division. Teaming up with Royce makes her even more unstoppable. Yeah, the timing on Royce tripping up Morgan was a little off, but so be it.

Morgan looks better and better each week, but she didn’t do much tonight outside of a modified STO. She’s falling into that “Bayley in NXT” role where she is so outclassed early on, but continues to improve. Hopefully, for her sake, she gets even part of the same fan support to help her build confidence and grow even further.

TM61 (Shane Thorne & Nick Miller) vs. Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss

Result: TM61 defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss via pinfall

Rating: 2.3 out of 5 stars

I am all in on Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss. They may not be all there in the ring yet, but they have the character aspect of pro wrestling down pat. Sabbatelli especially is a perfect jerkwad jock, and he practically owned the match. He’s got crowd interaction down already, which is amazing for this stage of his career.

Sabby and Moss actually had really good chemistry, too. The pre-match vignette that explained their pairing was a good touch, too. Character motivations are a beautiful thing, and thankfully, NXT gets that more often than not.

TM61 continues to frustrate me to no end. Miller and Thorne were one of the top tag teams in the world before joining NXT, but they’ve been the very definition of middle ground since their arrival. Every time it looks like they’re about to make a run in the tag division, they either lose a heartbreaker or look less than stellar in victory. They’re the New York Mets of NXT, down to the blue and orange ring gear.

Tonight, Thorne spent the vast majority of the match as the face in peril. It made Sabbatelli and Moss look like a million bucks, but it does TM61 no favors. They’re heading into a second round match against either Heavy Machinery (aka two big jobbers) or Team Aries (so at least one main event talent, depending on who Aries chose as his partner). Really, how strong do they look limping into that match?

Source: WWE.com

Wesley Blake vs. Buddy Murphy

Result: No contest due to interference by Samoa Joe

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

THE DUBSTEP POWERS EXPLODE.

Yes, former NXT Tag Team Champions Blake and Murphy have crumbled into rivals since Alexa Bliss left them high and dry. And this may not have been the best match of the night, it was my absolute favorite match – right up until the finish.

The story in this match was that both guys think they were the real star of their tag team. They desperately want to prove themselves as such, so they pull out all stops. Buddy Murphy hit a tope con giro, for crying out loud!

But because they spent so much time together, and were tag champs for so long, they literally know everything the other is going to do. Each sequence was done twice, with both guys playing both roles. It was a thing of beauty, if you ask me.

But everything good must come to an end, right? After Murphy broke out a crazy dive to the outside (!), Samoa Joe did what he’s been doing for weeks. Out he comes to wreak havoc on NXT, and a great match between former partners gets cut short. I really hope these two get a proper match down the road, because it was on its way to being phenomenal.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…

Shinsuke Nakamura Confronts Samoa Joe

After weeks of Joe running roughshod over the entire NXT roster, he finally gets his wish. He’s begged for Regal to either give him Nakamura or the championship, and out to answer his challenge this week is the champ himself.

Announced as being out for six to twelve weeks after Joe assaulted him, Nakamura returned and was pure Nakamura. The guy missed several weeks with a serious injury, and he’s out at the end here no-selling it like he always does. Kidding aside, it’s great to see Nakamura back in some way.

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And the confrontation itself was pretty much exactly what it needed to be. The neck brace bait and switch was a nice touch. And the way Nakamura went after Joe so viciously, I feel like there’s a lawsuit coming for violating his HIPAA rights.

Anyway, the two fight for a while. Interestingly, Joe is taking the Austin Aries-approved coward’s way out by trying to leave the fight. I guess when you’re the one dishing out sneak attacks, it’s okay, but once you’re in a one on one fight it’s too fair. Then he gets caught alone in the ring, and BOOM, KINSHASAAAAAAAAAA and down he goes.

The best part of NXT pull apart brawls is looking to see who out of the “security guards” has the most potential as a future superstar. (I see you up there, Mada.) It’s almost like Nakamura had to work his way up from the newbies to the more seasoned newbies as he beat down every guard.

It’s already been announced via social media where this is heading, but in the spirit of “spoiler free” reviews, I’ll refrain from mentioning it here until the announcement happens on NXT proper. Needless to say, though, it’s going to be a doozy.

That’s all for this week’s episode of WWE NXT, what are your thoughts?

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