Keith Lee Debuts For NXT
But if you’ve been watching this channel for a while, you will know that Oli and I are also big fans of Keith Lee and we often like to bask in his glory. He featured in two of my favourite matches of last year – against Tomohiro Ishii for Rev Pro’s Global Wars and vs. Donovan Dijak at PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles – and had a fantastic return match with Ishii at Rev Pro earlier this year. There were several rumours around WrestleMania time by Dave Meltzer that he was set to sign with WWE, and the Limitless one confirmed those by appearing in the crowd for NXT TakeOver: Chicago back in July. And now Lee has made his NXT debut on last night’s show – beating Marcel Barthel in a short match. Congrats Keith!
Tommaso Ciampa Being Tommaso Ciampa
Maybe now he’s on TV he can shut the mouth of current NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa. Arguably the best heel in the entire business today, Ciampa took several unfair shots at Aleister Black prior to their title match, where Ciampa captured the NXT Championship for the first time. And since then he’s been keeping that tweeting streak alive. “I have been the NXT World Champion for 13 days. During that time, I’ve successfully defended my title against Aleister Black, Velveteen Dream, and EC3. You are witnessing the greatest NXT Title reign in history. Don’t take my gift for granted. Enjoy every second of it.” and more recently, “Those fortunate enough to watch Ali during his prime did not realize they were watching The Greatest. Don’t make that same mistake. Once in a lifetime. The Greatest Sports Entertainer of All Time.” God he’s good. I really hope Black gets his revenge on him.
Sadly, it looks like that might not happen any time soon.
At the latest set of NXT TV tapings – the ones where Ciampa won the NXT Championship – angles were shot to set up the main event of NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV – which takes place a week from Saturday. Originally, it was going to be announced by William Regal that the main event of that show would be Black vs. Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano in a triple threat. However they aired an angle on WWE.com after last night’s NXT where Black was laid out unconscious by a mystery attacker.
According to several sources, this was shot to write Black out of their current storylines. It had been reported by Dave Meltzer last Sunday that Black suffered a groin injury after being crotched by Ciampa in a match they had in Las Vegas and had to have surgery. At the time Meltzer found it “hard to believe” that Black would be in the TakeOver match, and now Ryan Satin and PWInsider are also reporting that Black is indeed injured, with Pro Wrestling Sheet writing that he won’t be back in action until October.
But the question that now hangs over Brooklyn IV is: who will replace Aleister Black in the main event?
Matt Riddle To Replace Aleister Black?
Several places have recently noted that The King of the Bros Matt Riddle is set to debut for NXT at Brooklyn IV, with Mat Man Podcast first reporting that he’ll be sat in the crowd for the show. However Dave Meltzer – who first reported Black’s injury – has suggested there could be other plans in place in relation to the triple threat main event. “Somebody suggested, and I think this is a great idea, is to put [Matt] Riddle in. Gave Gargano v Ciampa v Riddle and have him win the Championship. Instant superstar. I think it’s a better debut than having him sit in the front row like Keith Lee and everyone else who debuts on that show.”
But as Meltzer argues, “They probably have plans with what they were going to do with Ciampa as champion, and they probably don’t want to get the belt of Ciampa so quick. Everything I’ve seen makes me feel they want to have Gargano beat Ciampa for the title, and putting it on Matt Riddle would ruin all these long term plans. And they probably don’t want to do that.”
