Time for another preview of NXT. They have some serious issues to overcome in this Wednesday Night War, but thankfully, show quality is not one of them. I expect another great night of action tonight. Let’s look into the three advertised matches!
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Angel Garza
After a long seven months, Ciampa is finally back in action for NXT! He should return with a bang here against an exciting talent. Angel’s a fantastic athlete and has the makings of a major heel. But tonight’s not his night, to be blunt. He’ll probably give Ciampa a good test on his way back, but Ciampa will return with a victory.
Pete Dunne vs. Damian Priest
Since making his debut under his new name earlier this year, Damian Priest has not suffered a loss on TV. He’s even defeated Keith Lee in the past. But Pete Dunne is a whole new challenge for the unique, gifted, dark demeanored athlete. This will be a very interesting big man/little man match.
It’s actually a little hard to say whether or not Priest’s undefeated streak will be maintained here. Beating Dunne would certainly put him on a different level in my view but this appears to only be the start of a longer angle. Dunne may well relieve him of his streak, only to be targeted again after the fact and beaten in a rematch down the road. In fact, I think that’s my prediction… Dunne over.
Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic
This is advertised as the rubber match. The two have squared off three times on NXT this year. Lee has won one, Dijakovic has won another, and they’ve also fought to a draw. Each time has been a wondrous clash, with two very large men doing things large men shouldn’t be able to do. It’s been a spectacle every time and they’ll no doubt be seeking to top their previous encounters here in the apparent finale.
Personally, I’d have saved the ending of this series for a TakeOver. And it’s not impossible we actually see a second draw to set up just such a thing. But ultimately, you can’t complain about getting big matches on free TV. And TakeOver: WarGames is still over a month away. With the switch to two hours, saving matches and having long-term builds is a little trickier.
Regardless, this should be an epic main event. And picking an actual winner in this is fairly difficult. But personally speaking, good as Dijakovic is, there’s no denying the star presence that Keith Lee has. He’s just such an obvious future world champion. Ideally he’d be in contention for the NXT title for much of next year, whilst Dijakovic has always had his eyes on the North American title.
So if pressed, I have to think that Keith Lee wins the blowoff. The two can then go on to pursue singles titles of their own, both stocks raised after this critically well-received rivalry is behind them.
All this and more on tonight’s NXT!
