WWE NXT Title Match and 2021 BreakOut Tournament participants announced

The match will be contested for the NXT Championship where the reigning champion Karrion Kross will defend the title against Johnny Gargano. Regal’s enforcer, Samoa Joe was appointed to be the special referee for the match.

For the past couple of weeks, Kross and Gargano have been feuding following Kross’ successful title defense in a huge Fatal-5-Way Match at NXT TakeOver: In Your House 2021 also featuring Pete Dunne, Adam Cole, and Kyle O’Reilly.

Gargano, however, wasn’t defeated directly in the contest which Kross won via submisson and has hence been gunning for a singles opportunity at the belt.

NEXT WEEK: @WWEKarrionKross will defend his #NXTTitle against @JohnnyGargano… with special guest referee @SamoaJoe! 👀 #WWENXT #NXTGAB @RealKingRegal pic.twitter.com/CslNWBmq4X

— WWE (@WWE) July 7, 2021

This week’s NXT Great American Bash special saw Regal and Joe overseeing a face-off segment between Kross and Gargano. Regal mentioned that he can’t just let these two fight forever in backstage or parking lot areas.

So the title match was made official to settle things between the two. Joe was named the special guest referee as he was the one to stop those bygone fights along with his security team.

Next week on #WWENXT!
💪 @WWEKarrionKross (w/ @Lady_Scarlett13) vs. @JohnnyGargano for the #NXTTitle, special guest ref @SamoaJoe!
💪 The 2021 #NXTBreakout Tournament begins!#NXTGAB pic.twitter.com/aAdypIv4vW

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 7, 2021

Karrion Kross also mentioned during the segment that he thinks of three things when he wakes up every day in the morning – never lose the NXT Championship, to feature in the main event of WrestleMania, and one day become WWE Champion.

The leads us to mention that Kross has worked several RAW and SmackDown dark matches, as of late since WWE officials have wanted to get a better look at him.

Recent reports suggested that a main roster call-up in the near future is imminent for the current NXT Champion and it could happen during this year’s Draft. Kross’ manager cum real-life girlfriend Scarlett has also received tryouts in dark matches who is also expected to arrive on the main roster with him.

The 2021 #NXTBreakout Tournament begins NEXT WEEK as @ikemenjiro_wwe battles @sixftfiiiiive on #WWENXT LIVE at 8/7c on @USA_Network! pic.twitter.com/rIZumdXmyJ

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 7, 2021

In more news for next week’s WWE NXT, the eight competitors for the 2021 WWE NXT Breakout Tournament have been announced.

In a backstage segment during NXT Great American Bash 2021, backstage interviewer Alicia announced the tourney focusing on the following newcomers will be going down from the July 13 episode – Trey Baxter, Carmelo Hayes, Andre Chase, Josh Briggs, Ikemen Jiro, Joe Gacy, Odyssey Jones, Duke Hudson.

1 of these 8 competitors will BREAK OUT in the 2021 #NXTBreakout Tournament, beginning next Tuesday on #WWENXT at 8/7c on @USA_Network! https://t.co/ukQNm31ctn@TreyBaxterWWE @Carmelo_WWE @AndreChaseWWE #JoshBriggs@IkemenJiro_wwe @JoeGacy@oshow94 @sixftfiiiiive pic.twitter.com/6wGgkJUc5S

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 7, 2021

The tournament begins next Tuesday on NXT with the opening match lineup Ikemen Jiro vs. DUKE Hudson. During last Friday’s WWE 205 Live, Gacy defeated Desmond Troy to qualify for the tournament, while Chase defeated Guru Raaj to qualify. The other participants have qualified, weeks prior to that.

The inaugural and only NXT Breakout Tournament was held in 2019 where Jordan Myles aka ACH defeated Cameron Grimes in the final match to earn himself a championship opportunity of his choosing. Eventually, Myles was released from the WWE contract after dealing with a racism controversy.