Hello and welcome to SLTD Predicts NXT Takeover – In Your House Predictions, today we have The Wrestling Brain (@callumowen98) giving his picks for Sunday Night’s show, and we’re going to kick-off with the Xia Li and Mercedes Martinez match.
Xia Li Vs Mercedes Martinez
This one feels incredibly easy to predict, out of the two Xia Li is the one who is being given a push, and I expect a win over an established name like Martinez will further that push up the card.
This feud is based upon Li wanting to get revenge on Mercedes, following the loss she suffered to her at the Mae Young Classic (MYC) almost 4 years ago.
Martinez has had a weird time in WWE there were two MYC appearances, then she was away for a while, before signing with the company in 2020, we’d see her make a brief showing on Raw as a member of Retribution, however that was short-lived and she’d return to NXT to take on Io Shirai and Toni Storm in a Triple Threat Match for the then champion Shirai’s title at Takeover: Vengeance Day, but that was 4 months ago, so it leads me to believe that there are no concrete plans to make Mercedes a star on the Black and Gold brand.
As for Xia, I don’t know where she can go from here, it doesn’t feel her character right now would suit a Women’s Title run, however, it’s imperative that she remains on TV as it’s very easy to be off for a few weeks, and all of sudden either people have forgotten about you or there’s simply just no-one to feud with. I’m going to take Xia for the win, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a few more matches out of these two, purely for the reason of keeping them both around and having something to do.
Winner – Xia Li
Cameron Grimes Vs LA Knight
Ladder Match
Million Dollar Championship
I’ll say it now and I’ll probably say it again later, Cameron Grimes is one of the most entertaining characters right now on NXT, everything he’s done in the past few weeks that’s been linked with Ted Dibiase, has been perfect and it’s been nice to see segments take place outside of the ring and somewhere completely different.
On the other hand, I’ve not been convinced by LA Knight yet, I didn’t watch any of his work in TNA but I somewhat get the same vibe from him to what I got from EC3, and whilst I thought the character of the EC3 was good I’m not sure if it worked on NXT, so perhaps the former Eli Drake would be a better fit on Raw or Smackdown, but then that’ll lead to the obvious concern of will he be used to his full potential.
I think Grimes ought to win here, I feel he can get more out of the Million Dollar Title plus I feel it’s time for him to get that big moment, and assuming he’ll be a face, him doing skits revolving around the championship would be hilarious.
Winner and new Million Dollar Champion – Cameron Grimes
Bronson Reed (C) and MSK (C) Vs Legado Del Fantasma
Six Man Tag Team Match
North American and Tag Team Titles Winner Takes All
This is one that was only added on Tuesday night’s episode, but these 6 men have been feuding for the past few weeks since Bronson became North American Champion so it wasn’t a huge surprise to see it make Sunday’s card.
Mendoza and Wilde alongside Carter and Lee are two of the top tag teams within NXT right now and throw in Reed and Escobar into the mix and we’ve got ourselves a potential match of the night contender, and the added stakes of the faces titles being on the line will just add to the drama.
Bronson only became North American Champion a few weeks ago defeating Johnny Gargano in a Steel Cage Match so it seems very unlikely for him to drop the title almost straight away, and as for MSK it feels they’ve got much more left in the tank as Tag Team Champions, so I’m taking the champions to retain.
Winners and still North American and Tag Team Champions – Bronson Reed and MSK
Raquel Gonzalez (C) Vs Ember Moon
NXT Women’s Championship Match
This is another one that feels easy to call, however, I’m not going to complain about its predictability, as it’s going to be a great match.
I’ve always been an Ember Moon fan, the unique look, character and move-set were vital to her success during her original run in NXT, and those two matches against Asuka still stick out today as two of the best Women’s Title bouts to take place on Takeover, it was a huge disappointment to see her struggle on Raw and Smackdown although that does seem to be a recurring problem, now she’s back on the NXT brand it feels that she’s got an opportunity to once again prove why she’s one of the best female wrestlers in the company, and at the same time put over new stars.
You could easily picture Raquel Gonzalez as a future Women’s Champion as soon as she pinned Io Shirai in last year’s WarGames match, and it would eventually happen at April’s Stand and Deliver show, where the aforementioned Io would drop her title to Raquel, and quite frankly right now I’m not sure who will be the one to de-thorne Gonzalez when the time comes, but I know for certain it’s not going to be Ember, Raquel has only held the title for 2 months and considering how strong she was booked leading up to winning the championship, there’s no chance she’s dropping it here.
In the upcoming months, I imagine we could see Ember feuding with Shotzi Blackheart which does mean one of them would have to turn heel, and as for Raquel we saw a bit of a face-to-face between her and Shirai on Tuesday night’s episode, so I anticipate we’ll get a rematch around Summerslam time, which I could see as a farewell to Io before she moves to Raw or Smackdown ahead of the rumoured draft towards the end of August.
Winner and still NXT Women’s Champion – Raquel Gonzalez
Karrion Kross (C) Vs Adam Cole Vs Johnny Gargano Vs Kyle O’Reilly Vs Pete Dunne
Fatal Five Way Match
NXT Championship
This is by far the match I’m most looking forward to and intrigued by, it’s pretty tight to call between all 5 of the competitors, and I’m sure it’ll be the main event to remember and somewhat an unusual main event in the grand scheme of things, I believe that the last multi-man NXT Title match on a Takeover was a Fatal 4 Way back in 2014 between Adrian Neville, Tyson Kidd, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze.
I’ve not made it a secret I’m not Kross’s biggest fan, I don’t feel his character suits NXT at all, and whilst it’s a difficult one to predict I do think Karrion losing would be the best result possible, plus in a 5 way he doesn’t need to be pinned or submitted therefore if he does lose his title he can still be protected.
As worrying as it could be, I think Adam Cole is ready for Raw or Smackdown, he’s been on NXT now for close to 4 years and whether it was with the Undisputed Era or not it feels like Cole has taken on the majority of the roster during his time on the show, and he doesn’t need another title reign.
Johnny Gargano is one of my favourites in the wrestling world right now, I’ve enjoyed his previous work as a face, but I’m getting to the point where I’m almost preferring him as a heel as the leader of The Way. When you think how long Gargano has been around on NXT, it’s mind-blowing to think that he only held the NXT Championship for around 2 months back in 2019, I wouldn’t be against him having another reign.
I think it’s only a matter of time before Kyle O’Reilly becomes NXT Champion, he’s come so close on two previous occasions, and it’s a usual tradition that a face suffers a few defeats before finally overcoming the odds, and on Sunday night the cards are heavily stacked against Kool Kyle, as he’s the only true babyface out of all 5 competitors.
I’m intrigued to see what Pete Dunne’s role is in this match, as I’m guessing he might be the one to take the fall, and that’s a pity but I don’t quite feel he’s on the same level as the other 4. Much like O’Reilly, Dunne has had an opportunity to become NXT Champion in the past few months, but he fell short to Finn Balor at Takeover: Vengeance Day. I can’t see Pete winning on Sunday, I do however see him going after Bronson Reed’s North American Title in the near future where he may stand a greater chance at winning that championship instead.
So I’ve successfully narrowed it down to Johnny Gargano and Kyle O’Reilly, and I have to go with old faithful Johnny Wrestling, I made the error of not picking him a few months back against Kushida and it’s a mistake I’m not going to make again. I think Gargano wins and becomes the new NXT Champion.
Winner and new NXT Champion – Johnny Gargano
So, that’s all for my NXT Takeover: In Your House Predictions, if you want more then check out the SLTD Wrestling Roundtable as more of the team give their thoughts and picks on Sunday night’s show, but until next time, stay safe, stay well and enjoy Takeover!
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