Last week’s WWE NXT episode saw a bitter ending to the former NXT Women’s Champion Indi Hartwell’s title run. In the wake of her vacating the title, a new champion on the NXT brand is needed and the process of announcing the new title holder began during this week’s NXT.
An eight-woman tournament has begun during the show as WWE looks forward to crowning a new NXT Women’s Champion. Two of the favorite women to win the tournament have expectedly advanced to the women moved on to the semifinals.
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In the opening match of the WWE NXT May 9 episode, Tiffany Stratton took on former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion Gigi Dolin in the first quarterfinal matchup of the ongoing tournament. Dolin offered a resilient effort but in the end, Stratton pinned her after connecting with the Prettiest Moonsault Ever and moving on to the semi-finals.
Later on WWE NXT, Lyra Valkyria also got to move on to the next round and punch her ticket to the semifinals as she defeated Kiana James with a spinning back heel-kick. While Lyra has been on a roll since her entry to the NXT mainstay scene, her beef with Cora Jade still continues.
WWE NXT: More first-round matches from the title tournament set for next week
On the other hand, Stratton is the speculated favorite to emerge victorious in the tourney as she is often considered the successor of Mandy Rose who carried the NXT Women’s Division for more than a year during her reign as the third-longest WWE NXT Women’s Champion.
Speaking of Mandy Rose, the woman who defeated her for the women’s title, will be in action on next week’s WWE NXT. The other two opening-round matches set for the May 16 will see Roxanne Perez battling it out with Jacy Jayne while Cora Jade will take on Fallon Henley to determine the next two participants of the semi-final round.
Speaking of the next week, Noam Dar will host his talk-show Supernova Sessions with the guest Dragon Lee. As for the ongoing championship tournament, the final match will take place at the WWE NXT Battleground premium live event on Sunday, May 28. The main event match of the PLE will be Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Bron Breakker for the NXT Championship.