6 Ups And 2 Downs For WWE NXT (Jan 13)

1. Undisputed Era Progress...But At What Cost?

Determined to re-establish their dominance over the NXT brand, Undisputed Era's Adam Cole and Roderick Strong found themselves taking on former NXT Tag Team Champions Breezango in their opening round of the Dusty Cup encounter. In order to keep their chance at Classic glory safe from a potential Dunne, Lorcan and Burch distraction, as eluded to earlier in the night, Kyle O'Reilly also made his way down to the ring to support his Undisputed brothers.

Fandango and Tyler Breeze were not to be overlooked, however, with the two top tier teams matching each other for much of the contest.

Eventually, a fired up Roderick Strong shifted the momentum in UE's favour with an electric hot tag which included his trademark rope-run forearms and planting Breeze belly first onto his partner. But an inverted backstabber from Breeze to Cole soon got things back on track for Breezango.

Then, with both teams flat on their backs after a particularly chaotic sequence, the Kings of NXT inevitably made their presence known, attacking O'Reilly on the outside. It looked like Finn Balor had suddenly done enough to stave off an obliterated jaw for his recent rival, but the numbers game soon caught up and O'Reilly's face was left smashed on the ground.

Not even the sight of his teammate being potentially put out of action for a spell could stop Cole from getting the job done, though, as the former NXT Champion caught Fandango with a superkick on his way down from the top rope for the win.

UE progress to the next round...but at what cost?