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The September 2, 2015 episode of WWE's NXT returns to Full Sail University after a brief stint at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and tonight's broadcast features the beginning of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. We've got our full preview right here, so let's get down to business.
Interestingly, WWE has not published a bracket for the tournament, or even a full list of teams. In fact, we don't even know the four teams that will compete in the two matches tonight! But there are numerous teams out there in the revitalized tag team division in NXT, so let's look at some of them.
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy remain arguably the most popular team on the yellow brand, so they're pretty strong candidates to win the whole thing. These two just competed in an eight-man tag team match in Brooklyn last week, and the other six men in that match are also possible contenders for the tournament. Those names are The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley), Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder, and Chad Gable and Jason Jordan.
Other announced names for the tournament are Baron Corbin and Rhyno, along with former NXT Champion Neville and a partner to be named later. Lest we forget, Neville is a two-time NXT Tag Team Champion. And finally we have the current champions, The Vaudevillains, and Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy, all of whom could participate in the tournament.
So this should be a fun tournament regardless of how many teams are involved, and it should ultimately pay tribute to The American Dream while also creating and advancing feuds for the numerous tag teams. However it shakes out, it will all end at the next NXT Takeover live special on October 3.
Also last week, the NXT women competed in a Fatal Four Way match, which ended oddly when Emma got the pin amid some confusion. It looked like a botch based on how out of sorts everyone was, but regardless, the Aussie now looks to be the top contender for Bayley's NXT Women's Championship.
The challenge here will be crafting a proper story. Bayley just rolled past Emma on her redemption tour to the women's title, but now Emma is the one looking up at the belt. Yes, she won the Fatal Four Way, but Bayley just proved that she can dispatch Emma. So how will they make this compelling? NXT has proven time and again it is masterful at creating stories for its women, so let's see what they come up with here.
Finn Balor retained his NXT Championship against Kevin Owens at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, but he did not appear on last week's episode of NXT due to the way the show was filmed (the episode was actually the dark matches from Takeover that occurred before Balor and Owens fought). As we said last week, Balor now needs a new challenger, but who could that be?
With so many people tied up in the Dusty Rhodes tournament, there aren't too many viable contenders out there until Hideo Itami and Sami Zayn come back from their injuries. Owens looks to be squarely on the main roster now, and Balor has beaten him twice, so he's out of the picture. Tyler Breeze could be an option, as could Samoa Joe or even newcomer Apollo Crews. Let's see if anyone puts himself front and center tonight.
As always, check back with MStars after the show for a full recap of all the action. But for now, let us know your predictions and guesses for what will happen on tonight's episode of NXT in the comments section below.
