For weeks now, there have been qualifying matches to decide who would be in a six woman ladder match. The winner will go on to be the first test of the new NXT Women’s Champion, Charlotte Flair. Candice LeRae, Io Shirai, Mia Yim, Dakota Kai, Tegan Nox & Chelsea Green make up the field of a match that would have surely made the NXT Takeover Tampa crowd lose their minds. Instead, this match was done in an empty Full Sail Univeristy as the second match of NXT Takeover USA, with the first being the NXT North American Championship match from last week. Who would successfully climb the ladder to become the number one contender?
No Cautious Start In Sight
Action started quick, with everyone pairing off for some early brawling, trying to halve the field. Dakota Kai would be he one standing, and she would get her friend Raquel Gonzalez to bring the ladder to the ring, but Mia Yim & Candice LeRae would take her and the ladder down with a low dropkick. Kai would soon find herself surrounded by the faces in the match, with Tegan Nox breating down her neck. Should be ping ponged with strikes before being sent in the corner, where more punishment would be delivered. Io Shirai would break this up, with a springboard dropkick.
Ladders and tables would start to enter the match, with Io getting a ladder into the ring, and Chelsea Green setting a table up on the outside. Io and Candice would brawl, until a double bulldog to the ladder from Chelsea Green would take them out as the first commerical break came.
When things came back, Green had grabbed a chair put would be tripped onto it by Yim. On the inside, the bitter rivalery of Nox & Kai would be revived as they would trade heavy shots, with Nox taking her out with a chokeslam. A tug of war over a ladder between Nox & Green would leave Green fallen and Nox setting the ladder up. Kai would stop her with her own climb, but Kai would be stopped by Candice. A momentary pause from Kai and LeRae would cost them their chance, as Green and Kai would attack from behind and start their climb, only to be stopped by Shirai and Yim. With all six ladies back in the ring, and dangerous setups in play, the chaos would begin.
The Chaos Begins
Another ladder would be set up adjacent to the first, as a mad scramble began. Mia Yim would be the one left standing, but Green came back with a steel chair to the back to stop the climb. Green would throw the chair at Yim and attempt to kick it into her face, but instead got her leg trapped in a ladder and got the chair to her knee. Yim tried to follow up but Io cut her off, and catapulted her into the ladder. Raquel would get involved and try to remove Io as she climbed the ladder, pushing it down but Io would adapt and hit a springboard crossbody to the outside.
Gonzalez would enter herself into the match to help Kai with the win, clearing the ring of anyone not her friend. With Kai hurt, she would put her on her shoulders and try to climb the ladder. This gave a headstart to Kai as Yim would attack Gonzalez, but LeRae would stop Kai’s climb. Mia Yim would get set up to powerbomb Gonzalez through the table setup outside, and Tegan Nox would help this come into fruition with a chokeslam grab. Yim went down with Gonzalez, while Nox was standing on the second rope, allowing Kai to hit a kick sending Nox through a ladder set up on the outside. While all this played out, LeRae started her climb, and got close before Kai realized this. LeRae would use the briefcase to knock Kai silly, and Shirai would take her off the ladder, before taking out LeRae as well.
The Final Act
With everyone taken out, Robert Stone would encourage his client to climb the ladder despite her hurt leg, so Green crawled towards victory. Realizing this is hopeless, he would climb the ladder and help her. She got dangerously close, before LeRae & Shirai would recover and push the ladder down, taking Green out for good.
With heavy damage already done, and most of the field out, there were only a few players left in this match. Green and Nox were out, Kai and Yim have been hurt, and Shirai and LeRae would brawl on top of the ladder. Both would be fingertips away, but Shirai used her fingertips to rake the eyes, and shove LeRae off the ladder and grabbed the briefcase, earning her a shot at Charlotte Flair.
Io Shirai Is WWE NXT Women’s Title #1 Contender
After not even being planned to be in this qualifying matches, Shirai would be the one who would leave as the one who will face Charlotte Flair. This was her dream match in WWE, and it should be an absolute classic. Will Io bring the NXT Women’s Title back to the NXT roster? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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