Candice LeRae and Io Shirai proffered what your writer considered the best match of the night, going full throttle as expected in a no-f*cks-given battle between the brightest heel and babyface stars of NXT's loaded women's roster. The in-form LeRae's was excellent again in her relatively new heel persona, and the contest proved perfectly placed to get something strong from Champion and Challenger before the plot thickened late on.
They just escaped the finish being dropped in the "Down" ledger when everything got a little bit silly with a ref bump and Johnny Gargano attempting to steal his spot. This had all the makings of a main roster get-out before Io just kept kicking out and got the win.
In the post-match, both Toni Storm and Ember Moon formally returned to NXT and targeted Shirai. Pleasing on multiple counts, the prospect of Storm and Moon in action against each other let alone the titleholder only emphasises the incredible depth of division - and that's before the 'War Goddess' gets to the other 10 names from 12 she pitched to Triple H for her return.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
