WWE 'NXT' Preview 10/28/15: Storylines Advance to 'NXT Takeover: London'

WWE will present the October 28, 2015 episode of NXT tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern and will continue to advance storylines as we progress toward NXT Takeover: London on December 16. We've got a full preview for you, so let's get into it.

Apollo Crews won a Battle Royal two weeks ago to become the new No. 1 Contender to Finn Balor's NXT Championship. But since then, we haven't seen or heard from either man. Balor has been largely absent for the past several months outside of his matches in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, and Crews was not on the show last week after the biggest victory of his career.

Reports say Balor and Crews will face off for the title during the next batch of tapings, but it's never too early to start building toward the match and keep the momentum going. This is a face-to-face feud, so less is definitely more when it comes to having both men on screen at the same time. But we still need to see them interact before they step into the ring to fight for the title. The belt is an easy reason to throw two people into a match, but the story needs to have more teeth to it than that.

We don't need Balor and Crews to come to blows during a promo, nor do we need a contract signing that devolves into violence. We do need to see them talk to one another at some point and establish themselves as the deserving and worthy champion. Balor can point out how he is a fighting champion who is willing to defend his belt against any challenger, while Crews can say that he has been on a roll since he arrived in NXT, and his next stop is the NXT Championship. It's a simple formula, but it works.

The other champion who has been somewhat MIA in recent weeks is Bayley. The NXT Women's Champion has a new challenger in Alexa Bliss, and we saw them interact in one promo the night after NXT Takeover: Respect. This feud has plenty of opportunities for promos and physical altercations between the two women, so hopefully they take full advantage of that.

Have Alexa sneak attack the Hugster starting tonight and have Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy intervene every time Bayley tries to get revenge. That way, when they finally have their match, it will be all the more satisfying when Bayley kicks her teeth in during a title bout.

To continue the theme of absentee champions, we haven't seen The Vaudevillains in what feels like months, even though they did participate in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. This speaks to a larger issue about NXT, although it's a good problem to have. The one-hour episodes mean the focus and the storytelling has to remain tight and has no time to meander as it does on the main roster, but it also means the developing brand simply cannot service its full wealth of talent every week.

It's no wonder that no one has stepped up to challenge The Vaudevillains for the belt yet. We've spent time with the other members of the roster, so it will take a little time to rotate the rest of the wrestlers onto the screen.

As always, check back with MStars after the show for a full recap of all the action. For now, let us know your predictions for tonight's episode in the comments section below.