Hello its me TWB, and we have our first NXT Takeover of 2019, like most Takeover’s we have solid card to look at and why not waste any time let’s get going with our first match.
Undisputed Era Vs War Raiders – NXT Tag Team Championship
Undisputed Era have become a stalwart of NXT Takeover’s over the last 12-15 months, with numerous classics whether it be them facing Moustache Mountain or Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan they have been one of the best stables NXT has seen.
The War Raiders have had an intriguing start to their time in NXT, they’ve been booked as a dominant tag team but they’ve not had a career defining yet moment, even though they had a solid performance in the WarGames match neither Hanson or Rowe were involved in the finish.
Personally I think it’s time for Undisputed Era to drop the tag titles to a new team and potentially move up to the main roster, both the Raw and SD tag divisions are in serious need for change and that change will be Undisputed. Therefore that’s why I’m predicting that Hanson and Rowe will become your new NXT Tag Team Champions.
Brain Predicts: New NXT Tag Team Champions – War Raiders
Matt Riddle Vs Kassius Ohno
This match feels very odd to be on a Takeover card, Riddle has defeated Ohno twice already in the last few months once at NXT Takeover: WarGames then only a few weeks ago on an episode of NXT.
Personally I can’t see this match having a different winner to the last two bouts we had between the two, it makes no sense for Ohno who is basically the veteran of NXT who puts over new talent to win this match, Riddle wins in what should be a much more competitive matchup compared to their last Takeover outing.
Brain Predicts: Matt Riddle
Shayna Baszler Vs Bianca Belair – NXT Women’s Championship
I this is the toughest match to call on this Takeover card, in one corner you have Shayna Baszler with her fellow Horsewoman Marina Shafir and Jessaymn Duke backing her up against the Undefeated Bianca Belair.
Belair has potentially been the best booked women’s wrestler in NXT over the last year, she hasn’t been overexposed and every match she’s has had been solid. I think this match should see a DQ finish which is unusual in NXT, but neither women should be losing at this stage of the game, we’ve only had a few weeks of the feud and I think it could be something that continues until Takeover: New York.
So how about this, it looks like Belair is about to win, she hits the 450 off the top turnbuckle and Duke and Shafir pull her out of the ring to cause the DQ finish, Belair wins and keeps her undefeated streak going but she doesn’t leave with the Women’s title, you could then have them do a rematch in New York, where Belair can be a fully fledged babyface overcoming the heel Baszler and send her packing to the main roster.
Brain Predicts: Winner by DQ – Bianca Belair, (still NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler)
Ricochet Vs Johnny Gargano – NXT North American Championship
This is definitely the match I’m most looking forward to, in my opinion Gargano and Ricochet are two of the best wrestlers in the world and if given the right amount of time this could be an early contender for match of the year.
Johnny Gargano is my second favorite wrestler on NXT behind Adam Cole, his matches against Almas, Ciampa and Black on Takeover shows in 2018 were all memorable. His recent tweak in his character over the past few months has been incredible, how someone so beloved one year ago, is now one of the most despised wrestlers on the roster.
Ricochet is one of the best athletes NXT has ever had, he can do things in the ring or on top of a WarGames structure that seems inhuman, his run as North American Champion has been fun with good defenses against Tyler Breeze and Pete Dunne. However, I think he’ll be dropping the title to Gargano on Saturday night.
It’s crazy to think Gargano hasn’t won a singles title yet in NXT, he is by far one of the best in-ring wrestlers they have and I was shocked when he didn’t beat Almas at last year’s NXT Takeover in Philadelphia or beat his arch rival Tommasso Ciampa at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn 4.
I think Gargano wins in a match that’ll bring the house down, it’ll exceed my already high expectations and once again Johnny Gargano will be Johnny Takeover
Brain Predicts: New Champion – Johnny Gargano
Tommaso Ciampa Vs Aleister Black – NXT Championship
In the main event of NXT Takeover: Phoenix we’ll see the self proclaimed “Greatest Sports Entertainer” of all of time Tommaso Ciampa defends his title against Aleister Black. Ciampa has been one of the best heels in wrestling over the past 12 months. His feud with Gargano will live in the memory of every NXT fan, his match against Velveteen Dream at NXT Takeover: WarGames was insane and his run as NXT Champion has been enjoyable throughout.
Aleister Black will get his rematch against Ciampa after he lost the title all the way back in July, Black then missed a few months out of action after he was attacked in storyline by Johnny Gargano which was in fact covering for his legitimate injury he had sustained.
Personally I think it’s time for Black to join the main roster and even though Raw and Smackdown are pretty full at the moment especially with some NXT callups already, I think Black with his unique look, character and gimmick will find it fine to fit in on either the Red or Blue brand. As for Ciampa I think he’ll either feud with Ricochet, Adam Cole or potentially have a Champion Vs Champion feud with his former best friend and tag partner Johnny Gargano as Takeover: New York approaches.
Brain Predicts: Winner and still NXT Champion – Tommaso Ciampa
So there are my predictions for Saturday Night’s NXT Takeover, sound off in the comments giving your picks. Follow @SLTDWrestling on Twitter, like our page on Facebook and most importantly enjoy Royal Rumble weekend!
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