Tonight on NXT, we have arguably a Takeover worthy card, we have 3 title matches announced, a Johnny Gargano match, and as this is the first NXT Vs AEW head to head, I believe the black and gold brand will pull out all the stops to beat their counterparts. I’m going to predict all 4 matches that have currently been announced, and anything else that we might see on Wednesday night.
Johnny Gargano Vs Shane Thorne
In what is the only non-title match currently announced, Johnny Gargano is taking on former TM61 member Shane Throne. A few weeks back on NXT, Gargano was making an announcement regarding his future but was interrupted by Thorne, who told Johnny Wrestling to leave NXT, Gargano begins to leave the ring but then turned around and super kicked Thorne, before committing his future to NXT. I think this one is pretty easy to call, Gargano is going to be one of the biggest stars on the show over the next few months, he’s one of the most recognised names on the roster, so there’s no doubt that he’ll put away Thorne and move onto his next feud.
Winner – Johnny Gargano
The Street Profits Vs Undisputed Era (C) – NXT Tag Team Championship
On an NXT episode a few weeks ago O’Reily and Fish become two time Tag Team Champions after beating Ford and Dawkins, and I would be very surprised if they drop the titles back to the former champs. Ford and Dawkins have been appearing on Raw for the last few months, without actually competing in a match, however, with the draft taking place next week, I could see them being involved in that of some sorts. Undisputed Era will be featured heavily on NXT for the next few months at least, and O’Reilly and Fish are better champions than challengers.
Winners and still champions – Undisputed Era
Candice LeRae Vs Shayna Baszler (C) – NXT Women’s Championship
Candice LeRae is my favourite female wrestler in the world, and I am so glad she is getting her chance to shine, for too long she was just Johnny Gargano’s wife, and she is so much more than that, she is one of the best male or female wrestlers in the world. Shayna Baszler 2nd reign as NXT Women’s Champion has lasted for almost a year now and before that her first reign was for a few months, she has seen off Ember Moon, Nikki Cross, Mia Yim, Io Shirai, Dakota Kai and Kairi Sane.
Personally, I think it’s time for Shayna to drop the title and move to Smackdown, I have felt for a while now that the women’s championship matches on Takeovers have felt like the cooldown bouts, and just don’t have the same significance as a Bayley Vs Sasha. If NXT want a title change on their first head to head show, then the best choice will be the women’s championship and having a popular babyface in LeRae overcome the odds against Shayna.
Winner and new champion – Candice LeRae
Adam Cole (C) Vs Matt Riddle – NXT Championship Match
Matt Riddle won a street fight against Killian Dain, to earn the right to face Adam Cole on this week’s episode of NXT. This is on paper the biggest match that could have been done on this show with the current roster, and it’s obviously not going to disappoint, Riddle and Cole are two of the best wrestlers in the world, and this will be the first time they’ve met inside a ring. Riddle is one of the most legitimate superstars in WWE, and every match he’s in feels like a real fight, and he gets a great reaction every time he appears at Full Sail.
Adam Cole is my favourite superstar in NXT, he is just fantastic at whatever he does whether it be cutting promo’s, wrestling or his facial expressions for when he’s out managing his Undisputed Era stablemates. Undisputed Era completed Cole’s prophecy of being draped in gold a few weeks ago, so there’s no chance Cole drops the NXT Championship this early. However I don’t think Riddle loses clean either, so my guess is Tommaso Ciampa returns and interferes in the main event and takes out both Cole and Riddle, and the show closes with Ciampa holding up the title he never lost.
Winner and still champion – Adam Cole
What Else to Expect
Already announced for tonight’s show will be a segment featuring The Velveteen Dream, this will be the first time we’ve seen Dream since he lost the North American Championship to Roderick Strong. Dream will likely cut a promo wanting another shot against Strong, however, I think his promo ought to interrupted by Killian Dain. Dain is just coming off losing his feud against Riddle so he needs another rival, and going up against Dream will be ideal.
I think there’s a chance Roderick Strong could defend his title on this show, if the other 3 championships are all on the line, then an open challenge from the North American Champion would work. A match between Roddy against a main roster star-like Cesaro would be entertaining or even a debuting superstar accepts the challenge.
Over the last two episodes we’ve seen Kushida and WALTER enter into a feud, now although I doubt we’ll see them face off against each other, I could see a match being announced for possibly next week’s show, as a hook to pull the fans in.
Anyway, those are my predictions for this week’s Takeover style NXT, my final pick for who wins the first ratings war is going to be NXT, the card they have set up is phenomenal and even though AEW is debuting I could see fans sticking with the tried and tested and that’s NXT. NXT will get 850K whilst AEW gets 700K fans. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @callumowen98 and @sltdwrestling. Unfortunately as a Brit, I won’t be able to watch NXT until 1am on Friday morning but I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait
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