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          Aleister Black and Kassius Ohno thrill in main event to close out jam-packed edition of NXT

          Aleister Black and Kassius Ohno, two foes quite familiar with one another from their time outside of WWE and NXT, clashed in an epic battle to wrap up an incredibly entertaining edition of NXT. Provided by WWE (@WWENetwork)
          • Matt Willis, ESPN Staff WriterJun 22, 2017, 05:53 PM
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              Matt Willis has been a studio researcher at ESPN since 2006, working on "NASCAR Now" and "SportsCenter," among other shows. He graduated from Ithaca College in 2006 with a degree in journalism. While there, he worked on ICTV, on shows such as "Ya Think You Know Sports?" and "Sports Final." He also was a member of the IC Comedy Club and figures about half of the jokes he makes in his column are actually funny.

          Sometimes a show like Monday Night Raw struggles to get everything it wants done in a three-plus hour window, and the same goes for SmackDown and its two-hour time frame. So with only an hour of programming to work with on a weekly basis, it would be easy for NXT to focus only on top storylines or bounce around a lot, neglecting all but the top talent.

          But this week's show proved that sometimes, less can be more. Not only were the next few weeks set up and hyped properly with future title matches on the way, but there was also a concerted effort to grow new stars and enhance the next wave of title contenders.

          Being able to think ahead to the future -- after Roderick Strong challenges Bobby Roode and Nikki Cross tries to end Asuka's undefeated streak with a groundbreaking Last Woman Standing match -- gives them more foresight than what goes into most weeks of Raw or SmackDown.

          Case in point: this week's main event. Aleister Black, a relatively new face to NXT who has yet to face more than a couple of real challenges, squared off against veteran Kassius Ohno. Ohno has been flirting with a rivalry opposite Hideo Itami, although a prematch conversation between the two seemed to temporarily cool the tensions, but that doesn't mean he can't have other matches that tell stories in the meantime.

          It's hardly a surprise to those who have been following along, but Black picked up a big win. Although the result wasn't really in doubt (it seemed like a weird place for Black to pick up his first NXT loss), the match itself was every bit the hard-hitting affair you could hope for from these two -- and it did a lot to further both participants.

          Ohno may have lost, but having both him and Itami spiral while each falls into a longer and longer losing streak could lead to a properly explosive blow-up between the two. Since Ohno's return, he's had a number of good matches, and with less of an importance being put on what's traditionally considered a "good body" over providing great matches and storylines (Samoa Joe and Bray Wyatt's success help prove that), I hope that Ohno's work pays off with a main roster run, even as he gets into his late 30s.

          Black's early matches haven't seen him taking much of a beating, but in this match, he proved his mettle. We're still in the process of figuring out who Black is, and this match helped to fill in some of the gaps. A lot of what we've learned about Black so far has been via the announcing team. This week's "awesome Black bio line" was how Black is "a lost soul who finds himself by abusing and destroying, punishing other men."

          Nigel McGuinness has some background with Black, alluding to how much Black has changed on his way to NXT. It leaves some mystery to his character, and the slow reveal keeps fans wanting, which is one of the keys to building characters and stories in wrestling.

          Women Given Time to Shine

          While Monday Night Raw struggles to book its women, and SmackDown gets weighed down in controversy, NXT managed to do the seemingly impossible by featuring three separate ongoing women's storylines.

          - After revisiting their brawl last week, Asuka will her title one-on-one against Nikki Cross in a "Last Woman Standing" match set for next week.

          - Ember Moon returned from injury, overcame interference from Billie Kay, and pinned Peyton Royce.

          - But most notably, after her renaming, Sonya Deville gave us something completely different and eye-catching with her win over Rachel Evers. We'd previously seen glimpses of Deville in other matches, working an MMA fighter-turner-wrestler real-life gimmick. But her background in mixed martial arts stood out in the match.

          Although Asuka already brings a bit of strong style to the NXT women's division, Deville is unique in her presentation, dressed to be in an octagon instead of a ring. It didn't take long to get excited over a potential Asuka-Deville match, even though Asuka conceivably has her next two opponents lined up in Cross and Moon.

          SAnitY Picks Up a Much-Needed Win

          While the women's division has a lot of steam, the tag-team division cupboard seems quite bare when you get beyond the Authors of Pain and Heavy Machinery, both of whom were absent this week. But an effort was made to address that, as the SAnitY duo of Eric Young and Alexander Wolfe defeated the Ealy Brothers.

          Although the announcing team called the tag division "crowded," I'm not sure who remains after #DIY's breakup and The Revival's promotion to Monday Night Raw. But when you consider that many similar feelings lingered after the departure of the Four Horsewoman, Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss moved to the main roster, the women's division has, after a down period, regrown another generation of talent.

          Young and Wolfe, without Cross or Killian Dain ringside, picked up the victory. However, it feels odd with Young, the leader of the faction, in the tag team, while Dain is given the singles push. And while we're learning about who Black is, we're still left to wonder what SAnitY's purpose is, beyond perhaps sewing occasional chaos -- rebels who appear to be rebelling against nothing in particular.

          On tap for the next two weeks

          As mentioned above, next week we get Asuka and Cross match, but some backstage antics that were teased on social media prior to Wednesday's broadcast helped set up a major showdown in two weeks. As part of NXT's 400th episode, Strong accepted Roode's "anytime, anywhere" challenge for an NXT championship match.

          This week's bests

          Match of the night: Black defeated Ohno. It's hard to describe just how intensely physical this match was, and it's worth going out of your way to watch it.

          Move of the night: Take your pick from the Black-Ohno match. The double nominees are Black's high kick followed immediately by Ohno's pump kick to the face. A blink-and-you-missed-it move was Black landing a double stomp as Ohno attempted to slide under Black.

          Moment of the night: Deville telling Evers, "You messed up!" when Evers had the audacity to put up a fight. Deville followed by taking off her glove and hitting repeated shots to the midsection, and soon after, locking in a double wrist lock for a submission win.