Prior to the January 15th episode of NXT, the last time that Kacy Catanzaro wrestled was in July of 2019 and after many months away from the ring, she made her return to in-ring competition. It was reported by Squared Circle Sirens last Fall that Kacy was out of action with a back injury. Kacy returned to the ring in a Battle Royal to determine a challenger for the NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: Portland on February 16th. The match was won by Bianca Belair. Toni Storm is challenging Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Championship at WWE Worlds Collide on January 25th and the winner of that match is defending the title against Bianca Belair.
NXT’s programming kicked off with a tribute to Rocky Johnson who passed away on January 15th and they gave the Hall Of Famer a 10-bell salute.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCA_GhliLw4[/embedyt]
Zack Gibson and James Drake defeated Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA to advance in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne bested former NXT U.K. Tag Team Champions Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews to advance in the tournament as well. In the semi-finals of the Dusty Classic next week, Riddle and Dunne are taking on Imperium (Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel) and Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) are facing NXT Tag Team Champions Undisputed ERA (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish).
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott defeated Lio Rush and Tyler Breeze in a Triple-Threat match on the show to secure his spot in the NXT Cruiserweight Championship Fatal 4-Way match at Worlds Collide. The champion Angel Garza and “Swerve” will be joined by two NXT U.K. talents and those two talents will be determined next week. Jordan Devlin vs. Ligero, and Travis Banks vs. Brian Kendrick are set for next week’s NXT U.K. and the winners of those two matches will join the NXT Cruiserweight Title match at Worlds Collide.
Qualifying matches for #NXTUK's representatives in the NXT #Cruiserweight Title #Fatal4Way at #WorldsCollide have been revealed!
– @Jordan_Devlin1 vs. @Ligero1
– @Travis_BanksPW vs. @mrbriankendrickIt's all happening NEXT WEEK on @NXTUK!@SidScala @JohnnySaintWWE pic.twitter.com/l7VQd2xaQD
— NXT UK (@NXTUK) January 16, 2020
Next week’s NXT on the USA Network is being headlined by Keith Lee versus Roderick Strong for the NXT North American Championship. Lee earned that opportunity by besting Cameron Grimes, Damian Priest and Dominik Dijakovic in a four-way match.
