NXT

Io Shirai beat Toni Storm on Wednesday to retain the NXT Women's Championship.

Storm went on the offensive numerous times in this match, delivering a Hip Attack and a suplex off the top rope:

However, Shirai later delivered a moonsault off the top rope onto Storm, who stood on the floor below: 

Eventually, Shirai won after applying a crossface to Storm, who had just missed on a moonsault beforehand.

The pair have been at odds for several weeks dating back to the build toward a Triple Threat NXT Women's Championship match at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day in February that also involved Mercedes Martinez.

Martinez took the fall in that match, which led to Storm pushing for another title opportunity. The Lightning Down Under even accused Shirai of ducking her and suggested she was afraid to put the title on the line against her.

In subsequent weeks, Shirai and Storm attacked each other on multiple occasions, which only served to add fuel to the fire with regard to their rivalry.

The recent issues between the two made their match a must-see affair, but they also had some history together that goes further back and added even more intrigue to the encounter.

The first time Shirai and Storm faced each other was in the finals of the second Mae Young Classic in 2018. That match took place at the Evolution pay-per-view and still stands as a memorable and beloved bout. Shirai was arguably viewed as the favorite entering that match, but it was Storm who prevailed and launched herself to superstardom.

While The Joshi Judas rebounded and became a huge star in her own right, Storm entered Wednesday's episode of WWE NXT with a psychological advantage of sorts.

Shirai had never beaten Storm in a one-on-one singles match, and The Lightning Down Under aimed to prove she still had her rival's number.

Despite some of the factors working against Shirai, she managed to extend her nearly 280-day title reign, and Storm is still in search of her first NXT Women's Championship win.

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There are reportedly plans in place for NXT to introduce its own women's tag team championships.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton), the NXT women's tag team titles could be the big announcement NXT general manager William Regal was referring to this week.

On Wednesday's episode of NXT, WWE women's tag team champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler beat Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai in controversial fashion to retain the titles. Gonzalez and Kai earned the shot after winning the first Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

Following the match, Regal said that on the next episode of NXT he would make an announcement that "will change the landscape of NXT forever."

Given the amount of talent and depth in the NXT women's division, introducing women's tag team titles exclusive to the brand would make sense.

Currently, the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships can be defended on any brand, but it is fairly rare for them to turn up on NXT. Since NXT has such a strong commitment to women's wrestling, though, it would be able to support its own tag straps.

The women's tag team depth in NXT was on full display during the Dusty Cup.

Alongside winners Kai and Gonzalez, other quality teams included Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon, Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell, Toni Storm and Mercedes Martinez, and Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter.

Also, NXT is so stacked with high-quality female wrestlers that some of them don't receive as much television time as they deserve.

Perhaps introducing women's tag titles would create more opportunities for the likes of Santana Garrett, Marina Shafir, Vanessa Borne and others.

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WWE may be moving NXT off Wednesday nights, thus ending the show's weekly ratings battle with All Elite Wrestling Dynamite.

Citing a "very reliable source," the Mat Men Pro Wrestling Podcast reported NXT could be shifting to Tuesday night as early as April 13. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter addressed the report:

WWE first announced in August 2019 it was going to air NXT every Wednesday night for two hours on USA Network. Many believed the decision was made with AEW in mind since promotion had already staked out Wednesday night (Oct. 2) to debut its own weekly program.

Despite NXT having already built a following from its days on WWE Network, it has regularly finished lower in the cable ratings behind Dynamite. Not even the return of stars such as Charlotte Flair and Finn Balor could provide regular momentum to NXT.

In January, Meltzer (via Wrestling Inc's Jason Ounpraseuth) reported NXT's TV contract is due to run out in October, and putting the show on another night may be less a sign of defeat and more a case of getting squeezed out of the time slot.

NBC is planning to shutter NBCSN, with live events transitioning over to USA Network. Meltzer speculated NBC may want to open up a Wednesday night viewing window for NHL games since Wednesday Night Hockey has been an NBCSN staple.

NXT's most successful stable may be no more.

Undisputed Era came to Finn Balor's aid after Balor successfully defended the NXT Championship against Pete Dunne in the main event of NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day on Sunday.

Kyle O'Reilly showed respect toward the champion, reflecting the respect they share from their epic clashes at NXT TakeOver 31 and the New Year's Evil special. Adam Cole, however, delivered superkicks to both O'Reilly and Balor.

Undisputed Era has won everything there is to win in NXT. The downside to that is that jealously could rear its ugly head when all of the gold inevitably left the group. In this case, Cole might see O'Reilly as a hindrance in his desire to once again be the NXT champion.

It's not all that dissimilar from when Triple H excommunicated Randy Orton from Evolution one night after Orton won the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam 2004. With a world title around his waist, Orton became a rival rather than an ally for Triple H.

Cole may have viewed O'Reilly differently the moment O'Reilly started chasing Balor's belt.

His actions will have massive ramifications, and fans will be eagerly awaiting Wednesday's show for some answers.

Finn Balor defeated Pete Dunne at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day on Sunday to retain the NXT Championship.

Not surprisingly, Dunne targeted Balor's hands throughout the match, and the champion's fingers were so mangled by the end he was unable to hold the belt to place it around his own waist.

Unfortunately for Dunne, Balor still had full use of his lethal feet. After removing the challenger's mouthpiece, he connected with a running dropkick and followed up with Coup de Grace. Wanting to leave nothing to chance, he connected with 1916 as well to keep Dunne down for the three count. 

The seeds were planted for a rivalry between Balor and Dunne in December when Balor returned from a broken jaw suffered during his successful title defense against Kyle O'Reilly at NXT TakeOver 31.

Balor was confronted by O'Reilly, Dunne, Damian Priest and Scarlett on behalf of Karrion Kross as all of them made it clear that they wanted a shot at the NXT Championship.

That led to a No. 1 contender's match between O'Reilly and Dunne, which O'Reilly won, setting up a rematch against Balor on the Jan. 6 New Year's Evil edition of NXT. Balor won the match and retained the title, which put Dunne next in line for an opportunity.

At the conclusion of a recent episode of NXT, the trio of Dunne, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch was about to attack Balor, but Undisputed Era came to his aid.

Balor was booked in a tag team match against Lorcan and Burch, and he chose O'Reilly as his opponent. Dunne attempted to interfere, but Balor and O'Reilly still managed to pull off the victory.

After Balor vs. Dunne was made official for NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day, they had an in-ring promo to hype up their impending match.

Edge, who won the 2021 men's Royal Rumble match, then arrived on the scene and told both Balor and Dunne he was intrigued by the NXT Championship and would consider facing the winner of their match at WrestleMania 37.

While Edge is far more likely to face Universal champion Roman Reigns or WWE champion Drew McIntyre on The Grandest Stage of Them All, his statement added even higher stakes to Sunday's bout.

Adding more to the intrigue was the fact that Balor and Dunne had never wrestled before Sunday, meaning it was a match many fans have wanted to see for a long time.

With Balor retaining over Dunne, the stage may be set for a Balor vs. Karrion Kross rivalry as Kross has spoken openly about his desire to regain the NXT title he was forced to relinquish due to injury.

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Io Shirai beat both Toni Storm and Mercedes Martinez in a Triple Threat match at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day on Sunday to retain the NXT Women's Championship.

Storm tried to put Martinez away with a flying headbutt from the top rope. As she was covering Martinez, though, Shirai came off the top with a moonsault to damage both Martinez and Storm before getting the pinfall on Martinez.

In general, the champion lived up to her reputation as one of the preeminent aerial threats in NXT.

Since retaining the NXT Women's title over Rhea Ripley in November and then competing in WarGames in December, Shirai has seemingly been public enemy No. 1 in NXT with multiple women attempting to take the title from her.

Storm was the first to truly step up and announce her intention to become NXT Women's champion, which led to a brawl between her and Shirai backstage.

Shortly thereafter, Martinez made a surprise return to NXT and brutally attacked The Joshi Judas, which was her way of throwing her hat into the ring, as well.

With Storm and Martinez sharing a common goal, they formed a bond of sorts and entered into the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic as a team. With a first-round matchup against Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter, Storm and Martinez were heavy favorites to advance.

Shirai threw things out of whack, however, by interfering in the match, which allowed Catanzaro and Martinez to pull off the upset.

On a subsequent episode of NXT, Shirai found herself in a brawl with Storm and Martinez, but things took an unexpected turn when Storm and Martinez got physical with each other, proving they weren't 100 percent on the same page.

That scuffle meant all three women entered TakeOver having issues with each other, although there was still some expectation that Storm and Martinez would work together at times to take out Shirai.

Because of that potential dynamic, Shirai's title reign was very much in jeopardy despite the fact that she was largely dominant in her 250 days as champion entering the pay-per-view.

Shirai was ultimately able to overcome the numbers game and retain the NXT Women's Championship, meaning she may now be on a collision course with Raquel Gonzalez.

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MSK defeated The Grizzled Young Veterans in the finals of the 2021 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic on Sunday at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day, meaning they have earned a future NXT Tag Team Championship match against Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch.

All four wrestlers used everything they had in their arsenal.

Both MSK and GYV fought their way through an entertaining and competitive tournament to reach the finals and vie for a title opportunity.

MSK, comprised of Nash Carter and Wes Lee, were surprise entrants in the tournament. Their NXT debut came on Jan. 13 when they beat Isaiah "Swerve" Scott and Jake Atlas in the first round of the Dusty Classic.

Carter and Lee previously went by the names Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier in Impact Wrestling, and along with Trey Miguel, they comprised the team known as The Rascalz.

There was a great deal of excitement among WWE fans when Carter and Lee signed with the promotion, and it didn't take them long to make an impact and show off their high-octane brand of in-ring action.

In addition to Scott and Atlas, MSK beat the team of Killian Dain and Drake Maverick, as well as Legado del Fantasma, to earn a spot in the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

While MSK are new to the scene in NXT, The Grizzled Young Veterans are no strangers to the Dusty Cup as Zack Gibson and James Drake reached the finals last year before falling to Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne, also known as The BroserWeights.

GYV are former NXT UK Tag Team champions, and they were gaining a ton of headway in NXT's tag team division last year before the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in them going back to the United Kingdom for several months.

Gibson and Drake have been excellent since returning in December and entered Sunday's finals on a five-match winning streak.

That included victories over Ever-Rise, Kushida and Leon Ruff and the team of Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher in the Dusty Classic tournament.

Something had to give at TakeOver with both MSK and GYV on top of their game, and it was MSK who prevailed and secured the No. 1 contendership for the NXT Tag Team Championships just about one month into their tenure with the black-and-yellow brand.

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Johnny Gargano beat Kushida at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day on Sunday to retain the North American Championship.

Kushida focused on Gargano's left arm throughout the match, and the strategy nearly paid off after he locked in a cross armbreaker.

Kushida was looking to apply the Hoverboard Lock, but Gargano countered by yanking up and sending Kushida neck-first into the top rope. From there, Gargano hit One Final Beat for the victory.

The issues between the two men date back to December when Johnny Wrestling teamed with Austin Theory to beat Kushida and Leon Ruff in a match.

Gargano and Kushida would face each other in two more tag team matches in January, though, with the Japanese emerging victorious on both occasions.

First, Kushida teamed with Shotzi Blackheart in a victory over Gargano and Candice LeRae. Then, he and Ruff beat Gargano and Theory in the first round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Notably, Kushida pinned the North American champ to win the contest.

After that loss, it became clear Gargano was wary of the submission specialist and wanted to avoid having to put his title on the line against him at any cost.

However, he poked the bear when he and Theory attacked Kushida and Ruff after The Grizzled Young Veterans beat them in the quarterfinals of the Dusty Cup.

With Gargano having lost to Kushida twice in tag team matches and escalating things through his own actions, NXT general manager William Regal announced that he would have to defend the North American title against Kushida at Vengeance Day.

Gargano was livid when he was informed of the match during an interview and said he would talk to Regal to ensure the match wouldn't happen. When the GM wouldn't budge, Gargano tried to fake an injury, but Regal revealed that Gargano had been cleared by the medical team and would have to face Kushida at TakeOver.

Sunday's match was perhaps the biggest of Kushida's NXT career thus far, while Gargano is known by many as "Johnny TakeOver" because of his penchant for showing out on the big stage.

Ultimately, that experience edge helped Gargano escape with his North American title reign intact, but it stands to reason that Kushida could remain in the hunt moving forward.

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Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai defeated Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon on Sunday at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day to win the first-ever women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

Gonzalez tossed Moon onto the entrance ramp and then threw her to the floor. That allowed Gonzalez and Kai to focus their attention on Blackheart.

Gonzalez hit a one-armed powerbomb on Blackheart and made the pin. Kai jumped onto her back to ensure Blackheart was unable to kick out.

By virtue of their victory, Gonzalez and Kai earned the right to challenge for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships in the future.

While the Dusty Cup has been a fixture in NXT in recent years, this year marked the first time the women's division got to have a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic of its own. When the bracket was first announced, Gonzalez and Kai undoubtedly stood out as the odds-on favorites.

Gonzalez and Kai have been working together for an entire year, giving them far more experience as a team than any other duo in the tournament. Also, Gonzalez has developed into the most singularly dominant performer in the NXT women's division.

Her run of dominance truly began at NXT TakeOver: WarGames in December when she pinned Io Shirai to win the match for her team.

After that, Gonzalez beat Moon in a singles bout and also defeated Rhea Ripley in a Last Woman Standing match, which was likely Ripley's final match in NXT for the foreseeable future.

With Gonzalez firing on all cylinders, she and Kai had little issue making it to the finals of the Dusty Cup, as they beat the teams of Aliyah and Jessi Kamea and Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter to get there.

Blackheart and Moon are more of a recent alliance, but they did have some experience going into battle together before the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

Both Blackheart and Moon were part of the team that lost to Gonzalez's squad at NXT TakeOver: WarGames a couple of months ago.

Like Gonzalez and Kai, Blackheart and Moon made their way to the Dusty Cup finals without much resistance, beating Marina Shafir and Zoey Stark in the first round and then getting past Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell in the semifinals.

Sunday's match featured four of the best women's wrestlers NXT has to offer, and it made the entire women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic a worthwhile endeavor.

While each performer showed out, only one team could lift the cup, and it was Gonzalez and Kai who accomplished the feat and earned a future title shot.

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