8 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE NXT (Jul 13)

Ups...

8. Kai Kicks Moon Out Of The Picture, Xia Li Emerges

With her partner now officially a member of the paper thin Friday Night SmackDown roster, Ember Moon found herself with a distinct lack of back-up as she collided with Dakota Kai last night.

For a solid portion of the pair's battle, though, it didn't appear as though either woman was in desperate need of a safety net. The Captain of Team Kick lived up to her moniker and then some, blasting the former NXT Women's Champion with a vicious array of punt, drop, and Scorpion kicks throughout the hard-hitting fight.

Moon, seemingly going out of her way to prove she's still got more than a few things to offer as a singles competitor on the brand, wasn't here to just lay down, however. Flipping out of armdrags, suplexing Kai out of her skin, and even dealing out a number of her own nasty boots to the face pointed to a star who looks to be closing in on her prime of yesteryear.

But there could be only one, and with current top champ Raquel Gonzalez acting as a distracting presence at ringside, Moon was left vulnerable to a GTK, a moment which secured Kai the victory.

Before she could celebrate a job well done, though, Big Mami Cool's apparent next challenger revealed herself as Xia Li stole Kai's thunder and made her title ambitions known to Gonzalez.

More tension teased between a brassed off Kai and dominant Gonzalez, Moon putting on an epic display in defeat, and a fresh new contender primed for their first shot at the big time? All sounds like a win to us.