WWE NXT Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from April 29

The march to NXT's next Takeover special began Wednesday night as general manager William Regal officially announced Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens for the huge live event.

To celebrate his impending NXT Championship bout, Zayn battled Alex Riley in this week's marquee match. With both competitors being proven enemies of the dangerous Owens, it was only natural that he would make his presence felt by the end of the contest.

Elsewhere on the card, Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady battled tag team champions Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake in non-title action, while Dana Brooke looked to keep her winning ways intact as she battled fan-favorite Bayley in Divas action.

Relive the action from Wednesday's WWE Network broadcast with grades, analysis and highlights from this week's show.

Kevin Owens Promo

Credit: WWE.com

Kevin Owens kicked off this week's show with an in-ring promo.

He discussed Sami Zayn interrupting his celebration following the latest win over Alex Riley and then called his former friend to the ring. Instead, general manager William Regal interrupted. Not satisfied, the champion again ordered Zayn to the ring.

This time, the former titleholder entered the NXT Arena to a tremendous ovation. Regal stopped him before things could get physical between the rivals and then announced a match between the two at the next Takeover special.

After Owens refused to put the title on the line, Zayn convinced him to change his mind by suggesting that Owens still lives in his shadow.

Grade

A

Analysis

This was an extraordinary way to kick off this week's show and best of all, it was limited to less than 10 minutes of airtime. If only the main-roster shows could take a note and cut down the run time of their in-ring mic sessions.

It was refreshing to see someone rattle Owens the way that Zayn did here. To know it eats away at Owens, no matter what he does and who he beats, he still fails to have the popularity that Zayn does, proves that the psyche of the champion is not as strong as he would like everyone to believe.

Regal announcing the main event for Takeover gives the brand a few weeks to build to what should be a legitimate Match of the Year contender, if both stars are on the same page.

Non-Title Match: Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady vs. Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy

Credit: WWE.com

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady looked to earn themselves a tag-title opportunity as they faced champions Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy in non-title competition Wednesday night.

Amore found himself isolated from Big Cass for the majority of the bout, worked over by his opponents. A hot tag to Cassady, however, had the babyfaces rolling before a missed high cross-body block from Amore nearly brought the effort to a disappointing end.

A well-timed distraction from Carmella, though, allowed the top contenders to the tag titles to score a big pinfall win. 

Result

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady defeated Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake. 

Grade

C

Analysis

Big Cass and Enzo are hardly an act that is over because of their in-ring skills. Instead, they remain as popular as they do for their over-the-top personalities, which is a good thing for them because the match Wednesday night did nothing to inspire expectations of a great match when these two teams finally meet with the titles on the line.

Instead, the contest merely set the babyfaces up as the No. 1 contenders and seemed to slam the door on Carmella betraying the heroes and siding with the champions.

Bayley vs. Dana Brooke

Credit: WWE.com

In only her second appearance inside the squared circle, Dana Brooke squared off with the extremely popular Bayley, sans her missing ring gear, in Divas action.

Brooke showed aggression, going as far as to break out Wasteland, shades of the new King of the Ring Bad News Barrett. But Bayley mounted a ferocious comeback. Just as she appeared to be on her way to victory, her theme music played, and Emma appeared, complete with Bayley's outfit and ring entrance, providing a distraction.

Brooke pulled off the pinfall victory moments later, delivering a whiplash for the pin.

Result

Dana Brooke pinned Bayley.

Grade

B-

Analysis

The match itself was nothing special, mostly due to the fact that Dana Brooke is nowhere near good enough to keep up with Bayley at this point in her career. Still, she showed flashes of a competent worker, and breaking out a power move such as Wasteland was a nice touch.

In the end, her victory is meaningless because the entire segment was designed to get over the feud between Emma and Bayley, which should lead to some quality wrestling matches between the two in the coming weeks.

Hideo Itami vs. Adam Rose

Credit: WWE.com

As if Adam Rose did not stand a chance on most Mondays and Thursdays, he definitely did not as he stepped inside the squared circle with the surging Hideo Itami, who will battle Finn Balor and Tyler Breeze in a Triple Threat No. 1 Contender's match at Takeover.

Wednesday night, Itami brutalized Rose with his tremendous kicks before finishing him off with the Shotgun Kick for the win.

Result

Hideo Itami pinned Adam Rose.

Grade

D

Analysis

For the first few months of his stay in NXT, it felt as though Itami had been lost in the shuffle, with no real place to go as Zayn, Kevin Owens and Balor won the majority of the praise and adulation of fans.

Since the episode detailing Itami's WrestleMania weekend, though, it feels very much he has a renewed purpose in NXT, and this writer would not be surprised at all if he ends up the next No. 1 contender.

As for Wednesday's match, it was a glorified squash.

Becky Lynch vs. Sara Dawson

Credit: WWE.com

Sara Dawson, known to independent wrestling fans as "Crazy" Mary Dobson, made her NXT debut, taking on No. 1 contender Becky Lynch.

Though she was able to score an early rollup for two, it was all downhill from there as she was outclassed by her opponent.

Lynch wore Dawson down, applied a Fujiwara armbar and forced the submission at just over two minutes. 

Result

Becky Lynch defeated Sara Dawson.

Grade

D

Analysis

As a showcase for Lynch ahead of her title match with Sasha Banks, this was fine. Unfortunately, fans are already fully aware of how good the Irish-born competitor is and a squash victory over someone the audience is unfamiliar with does nothing to help her.

Like the Itami match before it, this was a squash match to no one's benefit.

Sami Zayn vs. Alex Riley

Sami Zayn found himself overpowered early in Wednesday's main event, trapped in headlock executed by former commentator and main-roster star Alex Riley.

He would fight back, however, and appear to be on his way to mounting a comeback. Riley, the seasoned veteran, cut him off with the TKO. A blind charge into the corner saw Riley miss and crash on the arena floor, leading to Zayn executing his trademark dive over the top rope.

Kevin Owens then made his presence felt, attacking Zayn and drawing the disqualification.

From there, he delivered a brutal powerbomb on Riley, sending him spine-first on the ring apron.

A remorseless Owens stood tall to end the show. 

Result

Sami Zayn defeated Alex Riley by DQ.

Grade

B-

Analysis

More a match than a segment, this week's main event effectively wrote Riley off television for a few weeks, while intensifying the story between Zayn and Owens.

It was strange to see someone like Riley, who had played such a key part in booking the brand a few months ago, be relegated to the role of afterthought but the real money is in Zayn vs. Owens, so it is hard to find fault with anything that went down here.

A strong segment to end the show but not nearly as good as the promo that preceded it earlier in the show.