5 Ups And 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (July 6)
American Alpha vs. The Revival: The Final Battle.
That this week's episode of NXT was good should come as no surprise. The show was built around an American Alpha versus The Revival two-out-of-three falls match for the NXT Tag Team Championships, largely seen as a blowoff for the feud between the two teams. As they've arguably been the most consistent performers on the brand in 2016, this was always going to be a good one.
The rest of the show delivered, as well, and it's little wonder why - NXT is very much in a state of flux with the upcoming main roster split, and several of the brand's stars will be gone in the next few weeks. As a result, NXT is trying to make the most out of some of those stars while they still can.
How did the company pull out all the stops with a huge tag team main event and only one week until Finn Balor versus Shinsuke Nakamura? Here are 5 ups and 2 downs from the July 6 episode of NXT.
Just a note - I've decided to change the format of this article so that the segments of the show are listed in the order they took place, regardless of whether they were ups or downs. Let me know what you think in the comments!
7. Up - The Path To Redemption
Two weeks ago, Bayley returned to action with a victory over Deonna Purrazzo. This week, she started her climb back amongst the division's best with a bout against Alexa Bliss - one with serious implications for the Women's Title scene.
The match turned out to be fantastic, drawing chants of "This is awesome!" from the Full Sail crowd. Bliss was dominant, showing the same sort of anger that she did against Carmella last week. While that lead to a victory against "The Staten Island Princess," this time, Bliss wasn't so lucky. Bayley knocked her off the top rope, then hit the Bayley-to-Belly for the pin.
Not only was this match exciting, but it felt important. Bliss has been on a role lately, and she does have a valid claim to a more prominent position in the division. Bayley, meanwhile, needs to beat some top-level talent in order to prove herself. This match may have ultimately halted Bliss's claim to a championship match, but it showed how exclusive an honor that is.