So first and foremost, I need to preface this post by giving you advance notice that there may be some NXT spoilers (real ones) coming up in a few paragraphs, so if you’re the type of person who likes to avoid NXT spoilers (as I was, before it became my job to read NXT spoilers), you might just want to close out this browser tab and check out something else. Might I recommend the Best and Worst of NWA Word Championship Wrestling?
Okay, here come the spoilers!
The most recent NXT tapings at Full Sail were held on Wednesday, and they appear to take weekly NXT television up through the end of the year. (This of course includes the episode of NXT that is apparently going to be broadcast on USA Network during WWE Week.) At those tapings (hey; spoiler warning), there were four qualifiers for a Fatal 4-Way, which then determined the No. 1 contender to the NXT Championship, and Andrade “Cien” Almas’ opponent at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia.
That’s all well and good, of course. NXT tends to better than your average promotion at determining No. 1 contenders. u But as much as WWE tends to spoil its own tapings when there is major news or title changes or debuts or whatever that they know are going to get out and make the rounds anyway, it looks like the company may begin attempting to obfuscate those spoilers … at least in part.
WWE released this video with William Regal to hype what’s coming up on the next weeks of NXT television — namely, the participants in those four qualifiers.
Now here’s where we get to the tricky part. (Here’s also where the REAL spoilers come in.) One of the four matches Regal lists as a qualifier is Kassius Ohno vs. Velveteen Dream. But that’s not the match that was taped in Full Sail; Ohno wrestled Johnny Gargano, who then went on to actually win the Fatal 4-Way.
It’s entirely possible that something has happened to Gargano, and that they will need to re-tape the Ohno qualifier and the 4-Way at the next set of tapings. But that’s almost certainly not what’s happening. What’s probably happening is that Dream vs. Ohno is in fact the scheduled match in storyline, but that something will happen backstage or in a vignette that will take Dream out of the running, and Gargano will enter as a replacement.
Regardless of what’s actually going on here (it’s definitely the second option I laid out up there), it absolutely builds intrigue and creates a disconnect between what people have read in the spoilers and what WWE is telling is is going to happen. It’s a really creative and very good tactic, and I know that I’m certainly intrigued by what they’ve got cooked up for us.
This is a great way to try to play with people’s heads (in a business sense) and cast some doubt about what people have read in the spoilers. It might just result in more people talking about and watching NXT than usual. Heck, we’re talking about it right now! Well played, WWE.
