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Ahead of Sunday’s Halloween Havoc PLE, NXT flexed its female muscles on Tuesday night. Not only did recent acquisitions Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer tag up for the first time, but an even newer signing, Zaria (formerly Delta), debuted at the end of the show.
The NXT women’s roster has long been more intriguing than the men’s side. One could envision Roxanne Perez, Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker, and many others as future stars on the main roster. The trio of newly-minted NXT talent listed above stacks the deck further in that direction. The variety of backgrounds and the different presentation afforded these women so far help them stand out amongst those currently getting television time (with scores of women in backstage segments only occasionally being identified with chyron, unhelpful to even the keen observers of the product).
Giulia’s time in Japan as one of the biggest names for the biggest women’s promotion in the land, Stardom, helps give her credibility straight away. Vaquer, born in Chile, has experience in Mexico with CMLL, bringing in theory a much different style than Giulia to WWE’s rings. Then there’s Zaria, like Rhea Ripley, a product of Australia, bigger in stature than Vaquer and Giulia to present a third unique in-ring approach.
Vaquer and Giulia team up again at Halloween Havoc to face Perez and Cora Jade. It’s an interesting creative decision to debut both women so close together, and then connect them in a tag team. Their tag feud is with the NXT Women’s Champion in Perez, so it’s not as if they’re being defined down. Rather, they’ve been presented as stars above and beyond others on the roster. Both have received explanatory video packages of who they are with bio and background info for the viewer.
Will Zaria fit in with the others as well? How will NXT creative divvy up the title opportunities afforded these three worthy competitors? Despite being presented as babyfaces, will one of them have to settle for facing Kelani Jordan and the NXT Women’s North American Title? Or will tag team partners explode at Halloween Havoc, leading to an eventual three-way (or four-way) involving Perez and the newcomers? This logjam atop the card was brought about by the decision to debut these women so close together; it’ll be interesting to see how the booking shakes out over the next few months.
RECOMMENDED NEXT: PARKS’S TAKE: Evaluating the list of possible opponents for John Cena when he returns to WWE for a retirement tour
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: NXT TV results (10/22): Moore’s review of Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane vs. Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson, Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer vs. Fatal Influence, Oba Femi vs. Luca Crusifino, Tatum Paxley vs. Jaida Parker
(You can always reach PWTorch editor Wade Keller at kellerwade@gmail.com.)
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