9 Ups And 1 Down For WWE NXT (May 18)

Ups...

9. Toni Battles Through The Storm To Earn Much Needed Win

Having not won a singles match since since December 2020, it's not hard to see why Toni Storm wasn't best pleased with her performance against Zoey Stark at TakeOver: Stand and Deliver, and her subsequent showing against Zayda Ramier a few weeks later.

Admittedly, that latter bout's result largely came about due to some interference from the NXT newcomer, so all signs pointed to a Storm/Stark rematch down the road; and that's precisely what we got this week.

Both women played their roles well here, with Stark summoning up just the right amount of explosive babyface fire on the back of the former NXT UK Women's Champion routinely stifling her opponent with some more vicious tendencies. This all led to a captivating closing stretch involving Stark nailing Storm with a flying clothesline, dropkick, Storm Zero reversal into a roll-up, and a wicked half-and-half suplex.

The 2018 Mae Young Classic winner was having none of it, though, halting her slump after a failed pin attempt post-successful-Storm Zero opened the door for a flipping brainbuster of sorts for the win.

Storm was in desperate need of a 'W' here, and Stark is in no way diminished in defeat. Franky Monet's abrupt appearance as the dust settled seemed to suggest she has her eyes firmly set on one of these two ladies once her World Premiere is in the books... or maybe she just enjoys stealing the spotlight...