The NXT Grapevine, February 2017

Fresh off NXT TakeOver: San Antonio which saw the crowning of a new NXT Champion and new NXT Tag Team Champions, NXT heads back to Full Sail University for another round of tapings! With the next NXT TakeOver; Orlando a long way away, we've got a couple of months to see how NXT continues to build up its stars.

As usual, we'll put a SPOILER WARNING here. The matches below have yet to be aired, so do not read them if you want to be spoiled. Do also note that things may be filmed out of order every now and then, so expect some changes and cuts when these matches hit the WWE Network.

***START OF SPOILERS***

Airing February 8:

• SAnitY (Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe) def. The Bollywood Boyz (Harv and Gurv Sihra). Dain worked the entire match without ever tagging Wolfe in. After the match, Eric Young and Nikki Cross called out Tye Dillinger and Asuka, respectively.
• Liv Morgan def. Billie Kay.
• Backstage, Tye Dillinger cut a promo on SAnitY. He was then attacked by the group, but No Way Jose and Roderick Strong made the save.
• The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) def. Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight. Afterwards, they called out The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) to a NXT Tag Team Championship match at the next TakeOver. The Authors come out and the Revival jumped them before running away.
• New NXT Champion Bobby Roode cut a promo.
• SAnitY (Young, Dain and Wolfe) def. Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong and No Way Jose.

Thoughts: It looks like Dillinger's battle with SAnitY isn't over yet, and this time he's got some backup to even the score. The Revival inserting themselves back into the tag team championship hunt makes things intriguing, and it would be a nice change of pace to have three teams all fighting each other for the belt. We know these guys can go at it in a straight tag match, so let's see how they fare when one more team is added into the mix.


Airing February 15:

• NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain def. local enhancement talent in a non-title match.
• Billie Kay and Peyton Royce def. Liv Morgan and Ember Moon.
• #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) came out and challenged the Authors of Pain to a rematch for the NXT Tag Team Championship. The Revival then attacked #DIY.
• WWE United Kingdom Championship Match: Tyler Bate (c) def. Trent Seven to retain the championship.

Thoughts: The big surprise here is the UK Championship match between Seven and Bate. The United Kingdom guys look set to be in NXT while the UK-centric show is still being set up, which is sure to mix things up. We'll get some fresh faces and good matches, though this does mean there's less time to go around for everyone. It also remains to be seen whether they treat this like the Cruiserweight division as existing in its own bubble—there's so much potential for this guys to cross with the NXT roster, so let's hope this isn't the case.


Airing February 22: 

• Peyton Royce def. Ember Moon and Billie Kay to earn a shot at the NXT Women's Championship.
• Pete Dunne def. Mark Andrews.
• Bobby Roode def. No Way Jose in a non-title match. Afterwards, Kassius Ohno came out to confront Roode, and the two brawled with Ohno getting the upper hand.

Thoughts: Now that's interesting! The common guess for the Women's Division is an upcoming Asuka-Ember Moon feud, though it looks like Royce (and Kay) aren't quite done with their chase yet. Dunne-Andrews is another UK match, and these two have a ton of chemistry (and history!) between them. This sounds like the best match out of these tapings, so keep an eye on that when it airs.


Airing March 1:

• Patrick Clark def. Sean Maluta.
• NXT Women's Championship Match: Asuka (c) def. Peyton Royce to retain the championship. Royce and Billie Kay then attacked Asuka, but Ember Moon made the save.
• NXT Tag Team Championship Match: #DIY def. the Authors of Pain via DQ when The Revival ran in and attacked #DIY. They then laid out one of the Authors with a Shatter Machine.

Thoughts: That was a quick transition in the Women's Division, but it's nice to finally see Ember Moon interacting with the champion and her contenders. Time will tell if this marks her ascent into the main picture. The Revival just attacking the other tag teams looks like we're indeed headed for a three-way match with the Authors of Pain and #DIY,

Oh, and keen eyes may have spotted that certain names were not present in this set of tapings. In particular, there doesn't seem to be anything for former NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, nor for Andrade "Cien" Almas. Notable musician/heat magnet Elias Samson is also absent. We'll have to look at the next set of tapings to see just what's in store for these guys.

***END OF SPOILERS***

What do you think of the upcoming episodes of NXT? Let us know in the comments section below!

February 02, 2017