NXT Takeover New York Predictions
By Josh Roth
Walter vs. Pete Dunne (UK NXT Championship)
Pete Dunne has held the UK Championship for nearly 700 days…700 FREAKING DAYS! And normally that would annoy me, but he is amazing and unlike Brock has made that title strong and something very prestigious in its short time in existence. This all being said, it is time for the run to end. Walter is a beast and will continue to make that title special. Plus if we can get a British Strong Style vs. European Union (Please give Walter the help of Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel) then we could be in for a very special treat. Another reason Pete Dunne could drop the title is that you could make the argument that he is ready for the big leagues of the WWE. I kind of hope that doesn’t happen yet, just because I don’t want him to be misused and he has some stuff left to do in NXT/NXT UK.
Winner: Walter
Ricochet/Black vs. War Raiders (NXT Tag Team Championship)
Very excited about this match. Ricochet and Aleister Black have absolutely been killing it on Raw and Smackdown as a tag team which has really gotten me hyped for this matchup. The one downfall or critique I can come up with is that there hasn’t been much with the War Raiders and thought NXT failed a bit by not having some sort of interaction with Aleister/Ricochet with War Raiders after the back to back matches War Raiders had on Wednesday. Either way this will be a fun tag team contest, but with the looming call up for Ricochet/Black, I don’t see any way that War Raiders lose. However, if WWE decides to make NXT the third brand (PLEASE!!!) then maybe there is a shot.
Winner: War Raiders
Kairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair vs. Io Shari vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT Women’s Championship)
So I have gone back and forth on this match. I think this is a good opportunity for Shayna to drop the title and head up to main roster since she is ready. I don’t think Shayna will get pinned here, but I do expect some foul play from her crew. An interesting twist I could see happening is Bayley and Sasha getting involved and taking care of Duke and Shafir to neutralize the outside interference and maybe starting a potential 4 horsewomen feud. Ultimately I think any of the other three women have a good shot in this match. I am torn between Bianca Belair and Io Shari here. On one hand you could have Sane and Shari start a tag team and start to focus on the Womens Tag Titles and thus allowing the young rising star in Bianca Belair take over the top spot and start feuds with the likes of Candice LeRae, Mia Yim, Shari or Sane as a heel. On the other hand I am getting some Pete Dunn type bad ass vibes from Io Shari, who I think, outside my favorite Candice LeRae, is the best female wrestler in NXT. Should be an interesting match and one that deserves a lot of hype.
Winner: Io Shari (I think she pins her friend Kairi Sane here)
Matt Riddle vs. Velveteen Dream (North American Title)
This match is going to be an interesting one to watch. I think the winner of this match could potentially give us a hint of who will become the new NXT Champion. If Velveteen Dream drops this title to Matt Riddle then watch out for Johnny Gargano to walk out as the NXT Champion as I think we could witness a feud with that title between Dream and Gargano and honestly who wouldn’t want that to be the main feud after Takeover New York? I also think they will keep the momentum rolling with Matt Riddle and start some feuds with Adam Cole, Dijakovic, etc. Now those feuds could happen with Adam Cole winning the NXT Title, however I think we need a Gargano and Dream feud first. So with that said my prediction is…
Winner: Matt Riddle
Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole (NXT Championship- 2 out of 3 Falls)
Man what could have been. The untimely and depressing injury to Tomasso Ciampa, put a slight damper on to this match. We have been waiting for a year for the ultimate pay off for Johnny Gargano on the biggest stage vs his former tag team partner who turned on him. Ciampa was as good of a heel as you will see in the wrestling business and we will be left here wondering what could have been. Hopefully he can have a full recovery and maybe give the feud a proper finish on the main roster. With all this said, it is still going to be a fantastic match and I have this as the best match of the night because Johnny and Cole always deliver. Expect a lot of shenanigans with the Undisputed Era, but ultimately I am going to go with my heart on this and say Johnny Gargano will pull out the victory. Johnny has deserved this title for a while now and to not get the payoff would be heartbreaking. Maybe that is more of a reason to give it to Adam Cole and allow Johnny to work towards it Summer Slam weekend. However, I keep picturing this moment of Johnny defying the odds and finally winning the big title with Ciampa coming out as Johnny is heading up the ramp. Instead of an assault (that for sure won’t happen with a severe neck injury) they embrace on a hug. It would be a tear jerking moment and with the recent WWE PC video and how severe the injury there pretty much is no way to come back as a heel so why not embrace the babyface role.
Winner: Johnny Gargano
Walter vs. Pete Dunne (UK NXT Championship)
Pete Dunne has held the UK Championship for nearly 700 days…700 FREAKING DAYS! And normally that would annoy me, but he is amazing and unlike Brock has made that title strong and something very prestigious in its short time in existence. This all being said, it is time for the run to end. Walter is a beast and will continue to make that title special. Plus if we can get a British Strong Style vs. European Union (Please give Walter the help of Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel) then we could be in for a very special treat. Another reason Pete Dunne could drop the title is that you could make the argument that he is ready for the big leagues of the WWE. I kind of hope that doesn’t happen yet, just because I don’t want him to be misused and he has some stuff left to do in NXT/NXT UK.
Winner: Walter
Ricochet/Black vs. War Raiders (NXT Tag Team Championship)
Very excited about this match. Ricochet and Aleister Black have absolutely been killing it on Raw and Smackdown as a tag team which has really gotten me hyped for this matchup. The one downfall or critique I can come up with is that there hasn’t been much with the War Raiders and thought NXT failed a bit by not having some sort of interaction with Aleister/Ricochet with War Raiders after the back to back matches War Raiders had on Wednesday. Either way this will be a fun tag team contest, but with the looming call up for Ricochet/Black, I don’t see any way that War Raiders lose. However, if WWE decides to make NXT the third brand (PLEASE!!!) then maybe there is a shot.
Winner: War Raiders
Kairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair vs. Io Shari vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT Women’s Championship)
So I have gone back and forth on this match. I think this is a good opportunity for Shayna to drop the title and head up to main roster since she is ready. I don’t think Shayna will get pinned here, but I do expect some foul play from her crew. An interesting twist I could see happening is Bayley and Sasha getting involved and taking care of Duke and Shafir to neutralize the outside interference and maybe starting a potential 4 horsewomen feud. Ultimately I think any of the other three women have a good shot in this match. I am torn between Bianca Belair and Io Shari here. On one hand you could have Sane and Shari start a tag team and start to focus on the Womens Tag Titles and thus allowing the young rising star in Bianca Belair take over the top spot and start feuds with the likes of Candice LeRae, Mia Yim, Shari or Sane as a heel. On the other hand I am getting some Pete Dunn type bad ass vibes from Io Shari, who I think, outside my favorite Candice LeRae, is the best female wrestler in NXT. Should be an interesting match and one that deserves a lot of hype.
Winner: Io Shari (I think she pins her friend Kairi Sane here)
Matt Riddle vs. Velveteen Dream (North American Title)
This match is going to be an interesting one to watch. I think the winner of this match could potentially give us a hint of who will become the new NXT Champion. If Velveteen Dream drops this title to Matt Riddle then watch out for Johnny Gargano to walk out as the NXT Champion as I think we could witness a feud with that title between Dream and Gargano and honestly who wouldn’t want that to be the main feud after Takeover New York? I also think they will keep the momentum rolling with Matt Riddle and start some feuds with Adam Cole, Dijakovic, etc. Now those feuds could happen with Adam Cole winning the NXT Title, however I think we need a Gargano and Dream feud first. So with that said my prediction is…
Winner: Matt Riddle
Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole (NXT Championship- 2 out of 3 Falls)
Man what could have been. The untimely and depressing injury to Tomasso Ciampa, put a slight damper on to this match. We have been waiting for a year for the ultimate pay off for Johnny Gargano on the biggest stage vs his former tag team partner who turned on him. Ciampa was as good of a heel as you will see in the wrestling business and we will be left here wondering what could have been. Hopefully he can have a full recovery and maybe give the feud a proper finish on the main roster. With all this said, it is still going to be a fantastic match and I have this as the best match of the night because Johnny and Cole always deliver. Expect a lot of shenanigans with the Undisputed Era, but ultimately I am going to go with my heart on this and say Johnny Gargano will pull out the victory. Johnny has deserved this title for a while now and to not get the payoff would be heartbreaking. Maybe that is more of a reason to give it to Adam Cole and allow Johnny to work towards it Summer Slam weekend. However, I keep picturing this moment of Johnny defying the odds and finally winning the big title with Ciampa coming out as Johnny is heading up the ramp. Instead of an assault (that for sure won’t happen with a severe neck injury) they embrace on a hug. It would be a tear jerking moment and with the recent WWE PC video and how severe the injury there pretty much is no way to come back as a heel so why not embrace the babyface role.
Winner: Johnny Gargano