Tonight's episode of NXT (full results here) set up a title bout for the next premium live event (NXT No Mercy), clarified more about what is next for WWE Speed, and set up some matches for next week's show. Here's your rundown of what you need to know!
Oba Femi's next challenger for the NXT Championship was settled in a No. 1 contender's match between Josh Briggs and Ricky Saints. Both of them had told Femi at Heatwave that they would be coming for the title and had an in-ring promo segment at the start of tonight's episode, which led to NXT General Manager Ava booking them in their match. She also mentioned, for what it's worth, that nobody's heard from Je'Von Evans since his loss, which should be a story to track going forward.
Ultimately, Saints was the one victorious over Briggs, and had another in-ring promo afterward—this time, opposite The Ruler of NXT himself. After Saints and Femi argued over who will come out on top at No Mercy, they were attacked by DarkState. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger ran out to help Femi and Saints fight them off, which then led to an announcement later on that DarkState wants an eight-man tag team match against Femi, Saints, Walker and Ledger for next week.
Regarding WWE Speed, Ava announced that Candice LeRae will face TNA Wrestling's Xia Brookside next week in a first round tournament match. Lainey Reid will eventually face AAA's Faby Apache (likely on September 9th, but not confirmed), and the two winners of those matches will face each other in a No. 1 contender's match with the winner of that contest going on to face Sol Ruca for the WWE Women's Speed Championship at No Mercy.
The only other match announced for next week is Lash Legend against Jaida Parker, after the two had a backstage interaction tonight that involved Legend calling Parker soft for how she praised Lola Vice for beating her at Heatwave to become the No. 1 contender for Jacy Jayne's NXT Women's Championship (which will also take place at No Mercy).
To recap, this is the lineup currently advertised for next week's episode of NXT:
- WWE Speed Tournament First Round Match: Candice LeRae vs. TNA's Xia Brookside
- Lash Legend vs. Jaida Parker
- Eight-Man Tag Team Match: DarkState (Cutler James, Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin, and Saquon Shugars) vs. Oba Femi, Ricky Saints, Hank Walker, and Tank Ledger
And as far as the lineup for WWE NXT No Mercy, here is the current card:
- WWE Women’s Speed Championship Match: Sol Ruca (c) vs. TBD (Candice LeRae, Faby Apache, Lainey Reid, or Xia Brookside)
- NXT Women’s Championship Match: Jacy Jayne (c) vs. Lola Vice
- NXT Championship Match: Oba Femi (c) vs. Ricky Saints
Tell us your thoughts on these matches and drop your predictions below!