WWE NXT Tournament Kicks Off, Group A & B Matches For Next Week, More For Next Wednesday's NXT

By Marc Middleton

The tournament to crown an Interim WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion began during tonight's NXT episode on the USA Network as Akira Tozawa defeated Isaiah "Swerve" Scott. This first match was for Group B, which you can see above.

The format will see Superstars from Group A and Group B compete against each other. The Superstar with the best record after the three matches will advance to the finals, featuring one Superstar from each group to crown an Interim Cruiserweight Champion. Ties will be broken by a head-to-head record. Group A features Kushida, Drake Maverick, Tony Nese, and Jake Atlas. Group B: Scott, Tozawa, the debuting El Hijo del Fantasma, and Jack Gallagher.

Next Wednesday's episode will see Group B action continue with Fantasma debut against Gallagher. Group A will also be in action with Atlas vs. Maverick, who was released by WWE today but allowed to compete in the tournament, and Nese vs. Kushida.

Next week's NXT episode will also feature Tegan Nox and Shotzi Blackheart vs. Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez. This week's NXT saw Nox defeat Gonzalez in singles action. Blackheart stopped Kai from interfering again towards the finish, setting up the tag team match for next week.

A match or segment between Finn Balor and The Velveteen Dream was also announced for next week. Tonight's show saw Dream taunt NXT Champion Adam Cole for not appearing after earlier promising to meet him for a face-to-face chat. Cole checked in with a message from his backyard, once again, but did not appear. Balor interrupted Dream and threatened him. Dream issued a challenge for next week and that was it, as seen below.

Below are related shots for next week's show:

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