Reviewing the NXT Women's Division's 1st Post-Release Showcase

Out of the 10 women who were released by WWE on November 4, six of them were from NXT. Franky Monet, Scarlett, Zayda Ramier, Jessi Kamea, Katrina Cortez, and former NXT Women's Champion and NXT Women's Tag Team Champion Ember Moon--all released that day. As the saying often goes, "The show must go on." SmackDown had their showcase one night later, then Raw, and now it was NXT's turn. Even with the massive hit to NXT's Women's Division, the female stars of the black and gold brand continued to dominate.

For the second straight week, the fiendish Toxic Attraction triumvirate kicked off NXT, but this time, there was no talking, just fighting. NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose and NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne faced off against Io Shirai, Kacy Catanzaro, and Kayden Carter in a six-woman bout that stemmed from the opening of last week's episode. As Mandy boasted about her and her cohorts' big wins at Halloween Havoc, Io came out and confronted Mandy, as Gigi and Jacy beat down Io's tag team partner, Zoey Stark. What started as a one-on-one confrontation changed when Gigi and Jacy got involved, but that led to Kacy and Kayden evening the odds.

On a side downer note, it was reported that Zoey Stark has a torn ACL, meaning that the attack was done to write her off the program. Nevertheless, the bout took place to kick off this week's NXT and after a series of counters, high flying moves, and distractions, it was Toxic Attraction who emerged victorious, with Gigi getting the winning three count on Kayden.

Toxic Attraction's celebration was interrupted by the appearance of former NXT UK Women's Champion Kay Lee Ray, and I still remember the promo she gave about two weeks ago. For weeks, Kay Lee Ray's biggest boast was that she was the longest reigning NXT UK Women's Champion in history, but she later vented that her boast, while carrying a lot of merit, hasn't resulted in anything. That quest, from the looks of it, began this week with this bout against Sarray. If I recall, this is Sarray's first appearance since she was attacked by Gigi and Jacy several weeks ago (the early stages of the Toxic Attraction formation), and this was a true dream match between a pair of phenoms. Much like the first bout, this was had a predictable ending: Kay Lee Ray winning, though I am intrigued to see where this goes.

As Toxic Attraction boasted that they would be champions for the rest of their lives, they were interrupted by the woman Mandy defeated to capture the title, Raquel Gonzalez, who told Mandy to "keep her title warm for her" before riding off in her motorcycle and heading into the ring. Raquel had only one objective: calling out Dakota Kai, who came out and voiced her pleasure over attacking her former ally and costing her the NXT Women's Championship at Halloween Havoc. In a surprise, Dakota's insane rant was abruptly interrupted by Cora Jade, who attacked Dakota as payback for the previous week, which saw Dakota defeat Cora and then attempt to finish her off. Raquel later approached Cora and stated that while she understood her desire to go after Dakota, the former NXT Women's Champion wants to be the first to take down Dakota.

After a brief interview segment featuring Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta, we see Elektra Lopez, in all her evil glory, sending a verbal message to Xyon Quinn before competing against Erica Yan. Following Elektra's victory, she called out Xyon, and once he appeared, the self-proclaimed "La Madrina" (Spanish for "The Godmother") made an offer for him to join Legado del Fantasma. Xyon, to Elektra's surprise, turned down the offer, which drew anger from the male members, who were taken down easily by Xyon. As for Elektra, her attempts to strike Xyon were stopped, as Xyon held Elektra in her arms in a quite a passionate and intriging moment. Yeah, this angle is a delicious one.

Overall Thoughts: As usual, Toxic Attraction showed out, as did Kay Lee Ray in her bout against Sarray. I was really looking to hear more from Dakota in her current crazed gimmick, but Cora's attack halted things. Even so, with the announcement of this year's WarGames (not the same without William Regal shouting it), it does look like we are definitely building up to the Women's WarGames match.

The highlight, of course, was Elektra Lopez. My thought when I saw her: "Franky's gone, but thank goodness I still get to see Elektra." I've loved watching Elektra ever since she went from an enhancement talent to a lethal villainess in one fell swoop, and from what I'm seeing in recent weeks, Legado del Fantasma is hers. It's hers, and I love it! Seeing an evil and ruthless woman in charge of a faction of men is the most epic occurrence in wrestling. The whole thing with Xyon makes it even more delicious, because one has to figure out how Elektra will respond. Will she be smitten with Xyon, even in spite of his refusal to join her faction? Or we'll we see a vengeful Elektra use all of her power and venom to do whatever it takes to take down Xyon for his refusal. Seriously, I have goosebumps, and I'm not talking about R.L. Stine's books.

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Also, check out my other two stories below:

Reviewing the SmackDown Women's Division's 1st Post-Release Showcase

Reviewing the Raw Women's Division's 1st Post-Release Showcase