WWE NXT will return with the prestigious Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournaments. Going by the announcement, the 2022 edition of the tournament has been renewed for both the male and female superstars. The tourney will be exclusive to the NXT roster, only like always.
The second annual WWE NXT Women’s Dusty Classic will begin in February, while the seventh NXT Men’s Dusty Classic will begin two weeks from now that is on the January 18 NXT 2.0 episode. More announcements regarding the upcoming tourneys will be made in the coming weeks.
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As noted, no official names have been announced for these two tournaments. Going by the recent happenings from WWE NXT 2.0 episodes, the following men’s tag teams could be participating: Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs, The Creed Brothers, MSK’s Wes Lee and Nash Kartner, Jacket Time’s Kushida and Ikemon Jiro, Legado del Fantasma faction, Harland and Joe Gacy, and The Grizzled Young Veterans and more.
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As for the potential women’s tag teams, Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro, Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta, Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon, and Erica Yan and Fallon Henley could be the participants as we wait for the confirmations.
As per the early traditions, the winners of the tournaments from the male and female version will respectively earn future title shots from WWE NXT Tag Team Champions Imperium’s Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel and NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Toxic Attraction – Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne.
The inaugural Men’s WWE NXT Dusty Classic was held in the year 2015 with Samoa Joe and Finn Balor winning as a tag team. The Authors of Pain – Akam, and Rezar won in 2016 while Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly won in 2018.
Then, Aleister Black (aka Malakai Black of AEW) and Ricochet won in 2019, Pete Dunne and current RAW Tag Team Champion Riddle won in 2020 while MSK won in 2021. The inaugural Women’s NXT Dusty Classic was held in 2021 where Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai clinched the win and went on to become future champs.
Promos for the 2022 WWE NXT Dusty Classic tournaments were shown during this week’s NXT New Year’s Evil special which was the first time the news of the tourney getting held was also noted.
