5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE NXT: Roadblock (Results & Review - 5 Mar)

4. Kabuki Warriors Retain, Perez Stakes Claim

The Kabuki Warriors thwarted the challenge of Lyra Valkyria and Tatum Paxley Tuesday, retaining their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship. The outcome was obvious given that WWE had already shown a graphic on Raw the previous night with Asuka and Kairi Sane defending their titles against Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark on next week’s Raw.

That didn’t stop Lyra and Tatum from trying to unseat the champs. Valkyria in particular looked good against the accomplished veterans, giving her another strong showing against main roster superstars. The match itself was fine, though Kairi looked like she got rocked at some point and was sluggish on the back half of the contest.

An interesting tidbit that came out during the match was the reminder that Asuka has never lost in NXT, a span of more than 200 matches, including a lengthy reign as NXT Women’s Champion.

Face miscommunication – Lyra inadvertently hit Paxley with a spinkick – led to the challengers’ downfall. Whether that feeds into Tatum becoming jaded toward Lyra remains an open question.

Afterward, Roxanne Perez jumped Valkyria and targeted her arm, snapping it in the turnbuckle in a different kind of spot and pretty clearly turning full heel. That should make for a great one-on-one match at Stand and Deliver, which seems like the obvious direction here.