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

The Undisputed Era's Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong may have escaped Brooklyn, New York, with their NXT Tag Team Championships intact after a stellar victory over Mustache Mountain's Trent Seven and Tyler Bate, but Adam Cole was not so lucky, dropping the NXT North American Championship.

O'Reilly and Cole battled United Kingdom champion Pete Dunne and North American champion Ricochet in an explosive main event match, continuing the ongoing Undisputed Era vs. everyone storyline that has encapsulated NXT since O'Reilly, Strong, Cole and Bobby Fish burst on to the scene a year ago.

Elsewhere on the card, EC3 sought a much-needed victory as he battled Raul Mendoza, Keith Lee was in action and Dakota Kai squared off with Aliyah in Wednesday night's opening contest.

William Regal Addresses Aleister Black's Attack

Credit: WWE.com

Johnny Gargano kicked off this week's show with an apology to the NXT faithful. After admitting he had made mistakes in recent months and was no longer deserving of the "Johnny Wrestling" chant they greeted him with, general manager William Regal interrupted him.

The authority figure of NXT asked the question no one had to that point: Did Gargano attack Aleister Black?

Gargano dared Regal to look him in the eyes, and when he did, he would know the answer.

Velveteen Dream, dismayed that he was not the talk of the wrestling world after defeating EC3 at TakeOver: Brooklyn 4, interrupted and said Wednesday night's show was not about Gargano.

The two nearly came to blows before Regal announced a match between them for next week.

Grade

A

Analysis

There was a lot to love about this segment.

First, it was a simple and effective way to get to Gargano vs. Dream next week. More importantly, though, it teased that maybe, just maybe, it was everyone's favorite underdog who laid out Black and cost him a shot to regain his title in Brooklyn.

The vague answer, an answer only a devious villain such as Regal could understand and appreciate, certainly leaves the door open for Gargano to be revealed as the assailant.

If that is the case and his feud with Tommaso Ciampa drove him to that sort of heinous act, it would be proof positive of one of the most epic character arcs WWE has ever scripted.

Dakota Kai vs. Aliyah

Dakota Kai returned to NXT TV Wednesday, battling Aliyah in singles competition.

Aliyah overcame an early onslaught by Kai, taking her to the mat and keeping the leader of Team Kick grounded as long as she could.

The Toronto native, though, was not able to overcome the size and striking ability of Kai.

The Kiwi fought her way back into the match with an array of kicks before finishing off Aliyah with the somersault backstabber for the win.

Result

Kai defeated Aliyah

Grade

C

Analysis

One issue NXT has had, really since the departure of Asuka, is a deep women's roster that has been underserved by the fact only a few of the women actually mean something.

Kai is so fun to watch, but a match like this is largely meaningless because Aliyah has been so poorly utilized that she's become the doormat of the division—at least on television—and that does her a major disservice considering how much she has grown as a performer since her debut on WWE Network's Breaking Ground.

It would be great if a match like this, though predictable, made the most of the talented individuals involved rather than further killing the credibility of one of them.

EC3 vs. Raul Mendoza

The scheduled match between EC3 and Raul Mendoza never got started, as Lars Sullivan made his return.

The big man walked onto the stage, called NXT "Lars' World" and proceeded to obliterate Mendoza, finishing with his Freak Accident finisher.

Grade

A

Analysis

The Freak is back, and that is a bad thing for the rest of the NXT roster.

Sullivan did not miss a beat here, delivering exactly what fans expect of him.

The question looking into the future is whether he can hang with the more experienced Superstars on the NXT roster. If he can do that, Sullivan will be a multi-time champion across all levels of competition in WWE.

Keith Lee in Action

Credit: WWE.com

Keith Lee made his second NXT appearance Wednesday, battling Luke Menzies.

Menzies delivered a gutsy performance, unafraid to take the fight to Lee. Unfortunately for him, the athletic big man cut him off at every turn, delivering a hurricanrana and obliterating him with a pounce.

Moments later, a big powerbomb finished the unknown Menzies and Lee had his second victory in NXT.

Result

Lee defeated Menzies

Grade

B

Analysis

A much better showing for Lee than his first match a few weeks back.

With that said, the guy is so talented that it feels like a waste to have him run the gauntlet of enhancement wrestlers. He is ready to make an impact right now and should be free to do so. Hopefully, that opportunity presents itself sooner than later.

Pete Dunne and Ricochet vs. The Undisputed Era

Ricochet and Dunne set the pace for the match, leaving Strong and Cole reeling heading into the commercial break.

After the break, Strong and Cole dominated the action, isolating Ricochet from his partner and beating him down. Ricochet ultimately capitalized on a momentary, split second of separation and made the tag to Dunne, who exploded into the match.

The babyfaces rolled late, but a bit of miscommunication saw Ricochet fly right into his tag team partner. With Ricochet subdued at ringside, Cole delivered his finisher to Dunne and scored the pinfall for the victory.

After the match, Undisputed Era beatdown Ricochet until War Raiders made the save and stared down the group down to close out the show.

Result

Undisputed Era defeated Ricochet and Dunne

Grade

A

Analysis

Another action-packed main event featuring four of the best wrestlers on the roster.

Ricochet and Dunne suddenly have heat after the botch, and War Raiders are set up to battle for the tag titles. Two stories forwarded and Cole gets a win after losing at TakeOver. That is the sign of a productive main event segment.