The rise of Dexter Lumis – 3 hits and 2 misses from NXT 29 July 2020

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WWE NXT had some major surprise on this week’s show, especially with Dexter Lumis chasing gold

This could be the week that transformed Dexter Lumis from being a character that is intriguing to someone who can become an NXT champion.

Dexter Lumis got the win over Roderick Strong
Dexter Lumis continued to haunt the Undisputed Era at The Great American Bash (WWE)

Lumis is an enigma in WWE and doesn’t speak a lot, but his actions count. He was in a triple threat match for a chance to win the NXT North American title, and didn’t disappoint.

However, there were some other hits and misses from NXT with one character again getting the short end of the stick.

Misses

1) Lost Grimes

Cameron Grimes was one of the best stars on TNA before coming to NXT and getting lost in the crowd. WWE don’t know what to do with him and this Technical Savage routine isn’t working.

Why would he decide to jump Keith Lee for no real reason at all? Lee demolished Grimes and this segment served no real purpose.

Keith Lee easily demolished Cameron Grimes
Keith Lee demolishes Cameron Grimes (WWE)

Grimes is a solid wrestler but WWE can’t seem to set a story for him. He was battling Damian Priest one week, Finn Balor another and now tried to get a jump on Lee, who wanted to face Karrion Kross, just stick with something.

2) Kross’ warning

Speaking of Kross, Scarlett Bordeaux came out to speak with Lee before Kross challenged the NXT Champion for the title.

Karrion Kross challenged Keith Lee for an NXT title shot
Karrion Kross speaks to Keith Lee on NXT (WWE)

This is all well and good but why would Kross hide behind a screen and not jump the champion? If he had done that instead of Grimes, it would have sent a message.

Kross vs Lee should be great, but they need to make Kross look more dangerous. He was perfect while destroying Dijakovic last week, so why not keep him as the monster?

Hits

1) Tag team madness

NXT opened with a weird tag team of Dakota Kai and Candice LeRae teaming up to Tegan Nox and Io Shirai.

This was a little weird as Nox and Shirai had battled for the title a while back. However, the match delivered with all four women doing an excellent job.

Io Shirai and Tegan Nox worked well as a pair
Io Shirai and Tegan Nox got the win on NXT (WWE)

Normally, such random tag teams don’t always work out but this was an excellent bout and also set up a nice battle between Kai and Rhea Ripley for some other NXT episode.

2) UE sending a message

The Undisputed Era were on a losing streak of sorts. Dexter Lumis had gotten into the head of a couple of stars. Adam Cole lost his title while they held no gold at all anymore. They needed to get things back into action after Roderick Strong lost to Johnny Gargano earlier in the evening.

The Undisputed Era attacks Imperium
The Undisputed Era attacks Imperium (WWE)

The quartet attacked Imperium after their tag team clash and sent out a message, NXT is theirs. Imperium vs The Era should be an intriguing battle but the Era needed to do something about their problems and this was a big message coming out after a long time.

3) Dexter dreaming

Lumis, as mentioned, showed off his championship calibre by defeating Balor and Timothy Thatcher in a triple threat match. He now reaches the ladder match for the North American title, and it was interesting that WWE gave him the push over Balor.

Dexter Lumis wins
Dexter Lumis defeated Shane Thorne (WWE)

Lumis is one of the most interesting characters on NXT and this could be a sign that he is ready to do a lot more.

A title around Lumis’ belt would be great to go along with his mysterious character, but will we hear him speak more?

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