WWE NXT Preview Dec. 9: Deadline Fallout, Oba Femi

Confirmed Match Card

NXT Women's North American Championship Open Challenge

• Blake Monroe (c) vs. TBA

Singles Match

• Kelani Jordan vs. Jordynne Grace

Debut Match

• Shiloh Hill vs. TBA (Hill's NXT TV debut)

Key Storylines to Watch

NXT Championship Situation

The men's division looks completely different now than it did 72 hours ago. Femi's back on top. D'Angelo's back in the mix. And Evans — who just earned his title shot at New Year's Evil on Jan. 6 — got laid out before he could even celebrate.

Here's what should happen tonight: Femi needs to address his match against WWE Champion Cody Rhodes at Saturday Night's Main Event. It's not officially on the rundown, but there's no way the new NXT Champion doesn't have something to say four days before facing Rhodes. Femi was in Kansas City for Raw on Monday — he's clearly being positioned for this moment.

The D'Angelo situation is trickier. Does he want Femi? Does he want Evans? Does he want both? We should get some clarity tonight.

Iron Survivor Fallout

Evans earned his shot at Femi, but D'Angelo's attack puts everything in question. Will Evans get his one-on-one match, or are we headed toward a triple threat at New Year's Evil? D'Angelo clearly wants back in the title picture after being away for months.

On the women's side, Grey's win sets up her challenge to Jacy Jayne's NXT Women's Championship. Grey was the surprise of the night at Deadline — she looked like she belonged in that spot. Now she gets the chance to prove Saturday wasn't a fluke.

Blake Monroe's Open Challenge

Monroe wants to pull a John Cena and issue an open challenge for the Women's North American Championship. NXT GM Ava granted the request, which means we're getting a mystery opponent tonight.

Monroe last defended against Sol Ruca at NXT Gold Rush, where Zaria threw in the towel on Ruca's behalf — a decision that's created all kinds of tension between those two. The question now is who answers the challenge. Lola Vice makes sense after coming up short at Deadline. Maybe one of the women who didn't make the Iron Survivor field?

Whoever it is, Monroe's at a disadvantage going in blind.

Returns and Debuts

Hank Walker and Tank Ledger are back from Japan, where they captured the GHC Tag Team Championships in Pro-Wrestling NOAH. The tag division could use them — it's been thin since DarkState took the titles from them.

Shiloh Hill makes his NXT TV debut tonight. We've seen the vignettes. Now we see if he can back them up in the ring.

Sol Ruca and Zaria

These two need to talk. A FaceTime call shown during Deadline had them agreeing to hash things out tonight. The tension's been building for weeks — Zaria threw in the towel for Ruca at Gold Rush, and things haven't been right between them since.

Ruca's got bigger things ahead. She faces Bayley at Saturday Night's Main Event — the same show where John Cena wrestles his final match against Gunther. That's a massive stage for Ruca. She can't afford distractions.

Kelani Jordan vs. Jordynne Grace

Jordan and Grace are settling what started at Deadline. They had words during the Women's Iron Survivor Challenge, and now they get to finish the conversation in the ring.

Grace has been chasing the NXT Women's Championship for months without success. She needs a win to get back in that conversation. Jordan's been positioned as a rising star, but she's got to prove she can hang with someone of Grace's caliber.

How to Watch

NXT airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET on The CW from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.