WWE NXT recap for October 16, 2019: Dream over?

On this week’s WWE NXT we saw the in-ring returns of Tommaso Ciampa and Tegan Nox, a bunch of great matches and one Dream over … for now.

This week’s edition of WWE NXT was definitely a step up from last week’s show. It seems like the brand took action after last week and we the fans reaped the benefits in response. The Wednesday Night War is ultimately a great thing for pro wrestling as a whole, and the quality of the product we are getting every Wednesday night is simply fantastic as a result.

But let’s not waste any more time. Here is the NXT recap for October 16, 2019.

Ciampa shows 2K how his entrance is supposed to look

WWE NXT kicks off tonight with the return of the former NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa and his first match in seven months, which sees him going one-on-one with Angel Garza. Surprisingly, Garza got more offense than we thought he would. Ciampa both gave him quite a bit in his return match and made him look good in the process.

The finish saw Ciampa hit the Widow’s Bell to pick up the victory. Afterward, the Undisputed Era made their way to the ring and Ciampa stood his ground with his camouflage crutch. Kyle O’Reilly went over to the commentator’s table and tossed Mauro Ranallo a USB drive, saying that they are going to want to see what’s on it.

The Era left after that leaving Ciampa alone in the ring and everyone wondering what’s on the USB drive. Next, we learn a little about what’s on deck for the night: We’ll hear from Finn Balor later in order to make his intentions in NXT more clear. We then see a shot of Keith Lee backstage preparing for his rubber match with Dominik Dijakovic. We already know it’s going to be fantastic.

What’s on the USB drive?

We didn’t have to wait for long to find out what was on the USB drive, with the reveal right after the commercial break (we can’t help but feel like they could have dragged that out a bit longer). It was footage of the Undisputed Era cutting a promo backstage with a laid-out Velveteen Dream, implying obviously that they took him out over what he did last week when he embarrassed Roderick Strong.

Cole stated that this was a warning to both Ciampa and Balor for what happens when you cross the Era. So obviously the Dream will be looking for revenge sooner rather than later. Doesn’t Dream already a title rematch next week? This seems like it was done as a way to delay the match for now.

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1184624665513185280

We then have a tag match, with Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch against Imperium. While the match was solid the crowd was kinda dead for a majority of it. They had their moments on hot tags and near-falls but It seems like the Full Sail crowd really doesn’t care about Imperium if WALTER isn’t present. That is clearly something NXT is going to have to work on going forward to get the entire group over and not just its leader.

The finish saw Imperium pick up the win with the European Bomb on Lorcan. It really was a fun match, but also just a shame that the crowd didn’t seem to be really into it throughout the majority it. All four men worked incredibly hard. Afterward, Imperium posed in the ring, sans WALTER.

Let NXT remind you of who Johnny Gargano is

We got a lot of video packages last week, none of them that great. But we got one this week featuring Johnny Gargano that was simply phenomenal. It ran down Gargano’s entire NXT run for the most part. If you didn’t know who Johnny Wrestling was prior to that, you most certainly do now — and you probably also care, too.

Afterward, they cut to a backstage interview with Gargano from earlier in the day conducted by Cathy Kelley. She asked him how he felt about Ciampa’s return to NXT and he said he wouldn’t know until he and Ciampa went face-to-face once again.

Who deserves the shot at Baszler?

We went to the women’s division next as Io Shirai went one-on-one with Kayden Carter. These two women had a strong opening sequence to their match that simply must be seen to truly appreciate. No recap could actually do it justice. These two showcased that they work really well together.

While this match wasn’t super long, it was a very good showing for Carter who hasn’t had many matches yet in the black and gold brand. But if this match is any indiction we have to believe we will see a lot more of her going forward.

The finish saw Shirai pick up the win with a moonsault from the top rope. For a short match, it was very entertaining. Both women came out looking good. Shirai as a heel is very over with the Full Sail crowd. She took a microphone after the match and said that Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair didn’t deserve a title shot against Shayna Baszler but she did. This brings out Ripley and the two go face-to-face in the ring with the crowd firmly backing Shirai.

Ripley took the microphone away from Shirai and says that since Belair ran her mouth last week, she’s going to put her in her place next week. She gave a warning to Shirai if she spoke her name again she’d shut her up too. Shirai gave her an evil smile as she backed off and talked trash as she left the ring as the crowd chanted for Ripley. This will obviously be a match that the Full Sail crowd will be extremely hot for when it happens within the next few weeks.

Some stakes for Lee and Dijakovic

Cathy Kelley interviewed William Regal, who states that due to Velveteen Dream’s injuries that he won’t be able to compete next week against Strong for the North American Championship. It seems like he is going to be out for quite a while from the way Regal spoke. Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez reports that the unknown injury is real, and the story here will allow him to recover.

Regal also said, however, that Strong would still defend his championship next week against the winner of this week’s match between Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic — and that the match would be happening next.

The rubber match was already important, but the No. 1 contendership for the North American Championship makes it even more important than before. The crowd was ready for this match early. Before the two men even touched you could feel the electricity from the crowd. Say what you want about Full Sail Live, but the audience there knows what they do and do not like and they don’t pull any punches when it comes to saying so.

We got a commercial in this match early but the picture-in-picture feature has returned and for a match this important that’s obviously a good thing. While the match started out more slowly than most of their other matches, by the end it was clear we got another war between these two competitors. It was an incredible match and neither man can do any wrong when they are in the ring together.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get a winner due to interference from Strong and the match was thrown out. Clearly Strong was getting out of trying to defend his title but his plan blew up in his face as Regal announced he would now defend the championship against both Lee and Dijakovic next week in a triple threat match.

The Bro in action

Matt Riddle is back on NXT for the first time since losing his NXT Championship match with Adam Cole. This week, he faced the big man, Bronson Reed in yet another really good match. It wasn’t a long one, but they made the most of their time allotted and both men looked sharp.

https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1184639528910254080

Riddle picked up the win with the Bro Derek and afterward the two shared a fist-pound as a sign of respect. There probably aren’t any plans for this but these two would make a pretty fun tag team if the stars aligned to make it happen sometime in the future.

We then got a short video package of Bianca Belair, but there really wasn’t a whole lot to it. We need more packages like the one we got for Gargano earlier and fewer throwaway ones like this. NXT knows how to make great video packages to make us care about their talents. They need to do it for everyone. They can’t pick and choose.

Tegan Nox makes her return to NXT

After several injuries and setbacks over the last couple of years Tegan Nox finally got to return to an NXT ring this week against Taynara Conti. This was another really good match, which seems to be a theme the night. Perhaps they took some of the criticism of last week’s show to heart.

Nox gave Conti quite a bit and both looked great here. Nox picked up the win with the Shiniest Wizard. After the match, Kelley came out to interview Nox at ringside. Dakota Kai also came out to hug Nox and before the interview could really get underway, Shayna Baszler and company arrive to be the bullies that they are.

Baszler asked Nox is she was going ask for a title shot now too — she did — and Baszler told her that she wasn’t worthy of one and said to get back to her when she actually did something “worth talking about.”

This fell a bit flat here. We already have Shirai, Belair and Ripley going after Baszler’s title. We don’t need Nox on top of that too. It’s kind of overkill at the moment. Let the feuds breathe, don’t pile on so much that it almost becomes confusing as to who is truly next in line to challenge the champion. Sometimes, less is more.

Killian Dain is in a mood

When NXT returned from another break, we got a short video of Finn Balor talking about his return to NXT and saying that next week his future becomes his past. It was implied that he would be in action next week but that wasn’t confirmed. We were hoping to see Balor at Full Sail this week, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Up next we had BOA going one-on-one with Killian Dain, with BOA looking for revenge after Dain’s attack on him last week. He started out strong but one Divide from Dain on the outside turned the tide of the match instantly.

From there this was pretty much a showcase for Dain. Since they were doing nothing with him on the main roster it’s not surprising to see NXT trying to rehab his character there instead. It’s a shame that Sanity couldn’t have lasted in NXT longer to the point where they would have never needed to move over to Raw or SmackDown. What might have been.

The finish saw Dain pick up the win with a trifecta of Vader Bombs followed by a weird submission that mixed a Camel Clutch with an abdominal stretch. That was certainly something.

We then got a video package highlighting Lio Rush and his match last week, where he became the NXT Cruiserweight Champion. It seemed to serve mostly as a reminder to everyone about the title change. We are truly happy for Rush to see him back in NXT and hopefully he as a great reign with the championship.

The Bruiserweight against the Archer of Infamy

We had an interesting moment before the main event started as Dain confronted Pete Dunne on the ramp. Dunne didn’t take too kindly of it and snapped the Beast of Belfast’s fingers. Dain then had to be pulled away by the officials as the Bruiserweight made his way to the ring. We can’t help but feel we know how this match is going to end now before it even begins, and that’s a shame.

Regardless, this match was a fantastic main event and capped off a really good rebound show for the NXT brand after the less-than-stellar episode last week. Dunne and Damian Priest worked together like they’ve been having matches for years. It was simply awesome from start to finish and we highly recommend checking this match out if you haven’t already.

Lucky for us, what occurred prior to the match beginning didn’t lead to or affect the finish. Instead, we had a low-blow from Priest behind the referee’s back followed by the Reckoning to pick up the win. It’s obviously the biggest win of Priest’s career and with him having to cheat to win, Dunne was protected in the process. Good stuff all around.

And with that our recap for the October 16 edition of WWE NXT has come to a close. The black and gold brand returned to form this week with a really good show from top to bottom. These are the kind of episodes we expect out of NXT every week. Hopefully, these will continue going forward.

What was your favorite part of NXT tonight? What match are you most looking forward to next week? Sound off in the comments section below!