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NXT is coming back tonight (February 13th) with the second episode of their last recording. Here is what is announced for tonight:
- Adam Cole against Ricochet
- Taynara Conti against Aliyah
- What does Kbadius Ohno have to say?
- Street profits are bouncing back
- Dominik Dijakovic vs. Shane Thorne
As usual, here are our five questions on NXT tonight:
1) Is the winner of Cole / Ricochet behind Ricochet in the running for this North American title?
It's a match for which you have to be excited. These two ended up at the Barclays Center for TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 in a battle for the North American Championship. It was quite the match and in the end, Ricochet beat Cole for the title.
Neither man is a champion at the moment, but the title is still at the bottom of tonight's fight. Last week, both were behind the scenes claiming that they should be the next for this title and organize this game.
Although, technically, this is not a match # 1 (or a match # 2 given Velveteen Dream is the # 1 candidate until his match against Johnny for the strap next week), the winner of this match strongly claims the secondary title.
On the gold side, fans should be thrilled. Their first match was great. Cole superkicking Ricochet in the middle of the Moonsault springboard was a time of the year. It's a match to match if you're on the fence.
2) Where is Kbadius Ohno now?
Ohno's position in the brand is interesting. This is not a guy we will see challenge for the title NXT. His role is more of a player coach. They warm him up when they want him to pbad someone as he just did with Riddle. (And of course, being Ohno, he did it very well.)
I would not have been shocked if he had just gone for a while, until they needed him to help introduce a new talent. So when I saw that it was advertised for a promo tonight, I was slightly surprised.
Do they have anyone else in mind who Kbadius can work with? Or is it a time when they will focus on him as a character rather than using him to advance someone? Ohno did not have many of his own moments in NXT and he is so good at what he does that he would probably be really good. We will see tonight what is the plan.
3) How do street profits respond to loss?
Street Profits began in 2019, claiming it would be their year. That they would take what the NXT tag division had and prove that they deserved the belts.
They then lost their first legitimate game against the Forgotten Sons in Phoenix.
Now what? Profits have been low before and have never really changed much in response. Their behavior is about the same despite a W or L. This may be why the team, despite its charisma, seems to be winding.
It is time for them to show that these losses make sense. They made a bold claim, were attacked from behind, and then beaten by the team that attacked them. It should be reconcentrated and it's something we need to see out of the duo tonight.
4) Who does Conti against Aliyah seek to present?
This women's match between two women rarely presented has a goal, which is likely to highlight one (or both) talent (s) because they will soon move on.
If I had to guess who, I would not hesitate to say Taynara Conti. She is still relatively new in the brand and signed after the Mae Young Clbadic in 2017. This is the time when a year and a half of PC training and house shows would result in the TV product.
For its part, Aliyah has been in the brand for a long time and signed in 2015. After four years of development, her televised games did not do much to show that she would climb the ladder. His role has recently been an occasional upgrade. That's not to say that they do not feel that she has finally found something that has worked and that she's going to show it tonight. But I will use judgment until I see her win a victory.
5) Is this the beginning of Shane Thorne: Single's Star?
All right, do not take a step ahead of ourselves. It is clear that they push Dominik Dijakovic by giving him squash matches and all the letters of his last name.
But this is the first time we've seen Thorne since his former TM61 / Mighty party, Nick Miller, left NXT. This left the Australian remaining in limbo.
While the end of the night is not in doubt, Thorne can fend for himself by organizing a strong performance against Dijakovic, which shows that it can be useful in the singles scene. Even if he does well, it is certainly possible that they will work on repackaging him for a few months before seeing him full time. But it's nice to see him on TV after the sudden end of his team.
We will see if we get answers to these questions tonight at 8 pm
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