Santos Escobar took to the NXT ring tonight to issue an open challenge for his NXT Cruiserweight Championship. In a stunning answer, Kushida not only responded to it, but he defeated Escobar to win the title.
Is this cool? Yes.
Is this illegal? Also yes.#WWENXT @EscobarWWE @KUSHIDA_0904 pic.twitter.com/FduXpubo5x— USA Network (@USANetwork) April 14, 2021
After Escobar defeated Jordan Devlin last week at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, he seemed extremely confident that he could retain the belt once again. Instead, Escobar was met with a superstar more than ready for the challenge in Kushida. Throughout the match, the challenger survived various near fall situations, including a nasty kick to the head late that nearly cost him the match.
IS THIS REAL LIFE?! ? ? ?
@KUSHIDA_0904 has defeated @EscobarWWE to become the NEW #Cruiserweight Champion in an #OpenChallenge. #AndNew #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/TMTfol8WtQ
— WWE (@WWE) April 14, 2021
Despite the various setbacks, Kushida managed to gain some crucial momentum late in the match by hitting Escobar with a vicious kick to the head. But just as it looked like Escobar would win, Kushida rolled the champion up for the shocking victory.
RELATED: WWE NXT Results (4/13/21)