Dusty Finish In NXT Women's Tag Team Championship Match
We have new champs!... Oh wait, nevermind.
We have new NXT Women's Tag Team Champions... oh wait, no we don't.
The NXT women's tag titles were up for grabs on Tuesday night when champs Kayden Carter & Katana Chance defended against Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark. The babyface-versus-babyface match featured a lot of back-and-forths, but confusion arose in what seemed to be the waning moments.
Carter made a blind tag that the referee missed, and Stark grabbed a rollup on Chance for the win and the titles. But moments into the celebration, another ref ran down, informed the other of the tag, and the match was restarted.
Yep, they booked a "Dusty Finish."
On the restart, Carter & Chance got the advantage and nailed their neckbreaker/450 splash combo on Lyons to retain the titles.
This match is CHAOS ?@Katana_WWE & @wwekayden are STILL your #WWENXT Women's Tag Team Champions! pic.twitter.com/PcRdqcaxWo
— WWE (@WWE) October 26, 2022
Booking a Dusty finish in 2022 is an interesting choice. When not overdone, it can be effective at firing up fans for a title change. But it can also backfire spectacularly as a form of bait-and-switch. Having another referee run out to correct an injustice creates a question about why this doesn't happen for other instances where a ref misses a blind tag or outside interference. And that's a pretty big blindspot when you think about it.
Carter & Chance's tag reign should reach three months next week, but Lyons & Stark will get a rematch, apparently.