This is almost certainly going to be better than Wrestlemania.

Five matches, all with builds that range from okay to great, all for championships.

Here is the card:



NXT Tag Team Championships: The War Raiders (c) vs. Ricochet/Aleister Black

I'm not even sure why this match is happening. The challengers are basically permanent fixtures on the main roster at this point, and they have been booked as world beaters, defeating pretty much everyone. They even have a title match at Wrestlemania. Heavy Machinery or Sanity should be here challenging, but they were both called up for no reason at all.

Prediction: It would be incredibly stupid for Ricochet and Black to win the titles here. The NXT tag team division is absolutely barren right now. The champions need a signature win here. War Raiders retain.




NXT United Kingdom Championship: Pete Dunne (c) vs WALTER

A strange decision to add to the card, as this match has gotten zero buildup outside of the weekly NXT UK episodes. However, the UK matches have stolen the show at previous Takeovers, and this one might do the same. WALTER debuted at the end of the first ever NXT UK Takeover event and immediately signaled that he would be coming for Pete Dunne's championship soon. Since then they have found common enemies with various members of Gallus, but everything has been pointing to a championship match between the two. When it was announced a few weeks ago that NXT UK would have a match on this Takeover, Pete Dunne came out and simply said "Give me WALTER".

Prediction: Pete Dunne has held this championship for nearly 700 days. I wanted him to get to two full years, but I think this is where it ends. A Pete Dunne win would take a lot of the starch out of WALTER, and also leave the title with no real credible challengers. I suppose they could save the title switch for an event in the UK, but if they were going do that, why have this match in the first place? WALTER wins the championship.




NXT North American Championship: Velveteen Dream (c) vs. Matt Riddle

This feud basically started when Matt Riddle said he wanted "a closer look" at Dream's title. If he wins this match, he can get a close look any time he wants. Velveteen Dream has been his usual entertaining self in this short feud, even coming out on a wheeled couch during a Matt Riddle match.

Prediction: I'm having the hardest time predicting this match. Velveteen Dream is still a new champion and could really use this win to elevate himself (and the title). But occasionally NXT gets undefeated streaks on the brain, making Riddle winning a plausible outcome. That being said, it's clear that Riddle can absorb a loss much more than Velveteen Dream right now. I think (and hope) that is the direction they go. Velveteen Dream retains.




NXT Women’s Championship Fatal 4-Way: Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Io Shirai vs. Bianca Belair vs. Kairi Sane

Basically the only four women that matter in NXT right now battling for the championship. Both Sane and Belair have had their chances at recent Takeovers, but Baszler has come out on top. Baszler interrupted a #1 contender's match for this event, so as punishment, now has to defend against three women rather than one.

Prediction: Baszler has gotten a little stale at the top. I'm expecting Sharai and Sane to be feuding sooner rather than later, and this match could be the catalyst for it. Whether it's one stealing a victory from the other, or one interrupting a certain win leading to neither of them winning, I feel that will be the direction they go. Io Shirai wins the championship.




2/3 Falls Match for the vacant NXT Championship: Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano

The building blocks for this match were first placed on May 20, 2017, when Tommaso Ciampa turned heel on Johnny Gargano. The intent was clearly a blow-off match at Wrestlemania weekend 2019, but a neck injury has put Ciampa on the sidelines for up to a year. Adam Cole now has the opportunity to prevent Gargano from realizing his dream.

Prediction: They've been building to this moment for two full years. The fact that it's Adam Cole in this spot and not Tommaso Ciampa damages it quite a bit, but let's hope the in ring work can make people forget about that fact. Please let's not have too many finisher kickouts. Please? If Ciampa were the opponent, this would be an easy pick for Gargano to win. With Cole as the opponent, they could go in a different direction now, delaying Gargano's big win for a few months. But I don't think they will. Expect a celebration with most of the roster at the end. Gargano wins the championship.

I'll be watching, but it starts at 5pm in my time zone, so I'm gonna hit the replay later tonite.

Bummer, as posting along in a thread ups the entertainment factor of a show.

First match:


I realize the two can be reconciled, but I just thought it was funny. As a non-weekly watcher, thanks for the primer.

By "okay", I mean "not completely stupid", which I guess I've come to accept from wrestling these days.

That entrance was so badass that I don't even care that the champs came out first.

May pop to the shop for some drinks so I can stay up and watch this.

Literally no idea what's going on though, why is the belt vacant?

Alistair Blacks entrance gives me goosebumps every time. Such a great gimmick.

Tommaso Ciampa out for the year after neck surgery.

Mauro's pop culture references are less painful than a finisher kickout, but only barely.

Wow, that sucks. Was expecting big hype with him moving up.

Holy **** that fallaway slam.

So you don’t think Ricochet and Black have more chemistry than Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper?

Really wish they'd stay away from those heavily choreographed ballet sequences.

I assume I've missed a decent match here. Very first thing I caught was the springboard clothesline and damn that was good.

That Top rope drop kick save spot was really stupid. Black kicked the top war raider and the other one was still on top of Ricochet. He never kicked out.

This **** is incredible.

I can’t even tell if this is good or not. It’s just spot after spot after spot and Mauro Ranallo screaming at the top of his lungs

Loved every second of that.

This is how I feel about a lot of NXT matches. I get why others enjoy these, because they're incredible athletic displays, but I really can't see them as great matches.

I'm a little unclear on what exactly they "deserve"?

Probably the giant pay raise and accomplishment of a presumably life long dream?

Oh, I thought it was the likelihood of being booked into comedy acts and then obscurity like other recent NXT talent that has graduated.

Oh, the Dream is facing the illegitimate love child of RVD and Vince Russo.

I think that was less of a dumb spotfest than most Ricochet matches. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

That kickout was idiotic.

First real complaint about this event.