Wrestle Review: Takeover/Mania predictions Submitted by Andy Sullivan on 04/05/2019 at 06:21 PM
Five major matches make up NXT Takeover and they're all championship matches. This is truly going to be a fantastic night! Let's take a look at the card.
NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream defending against The OB(Original Bro) Matt Riddle should kick off the night in a hot fashion. The rivalry started after Dream beat Johnny Gargano for the title. I'd say they're doing the lower-tier NXT title right-Gargano is in the main event tonight for the vacant NXT Championship. Who wins this? I don't think Dream is going to be a Gargano-losing the title in his first defense. Dream retains.
Aleister Black and Ricochet have an opportunity to emerge from WrestleMania weekend with something no other team has had the chance to do: win the NXT and SD tag team championships. Kevin Owens came to Raw as NXT champion but no one since then has pulled double-brand championships. I think Black and Ricochet-Blackochet, if you will-take the first step tonight when they win the NXT tag titles.
Pete Dunne defending the United Kingdom championship against WALTER will be more than physical. If you thought Triple H/Batista might be the most physical match of the weekend, you might want to think again. I predict Dunne retains but good Lord, this will be a WAR!
Shayna Baszler/Lo Shirai/Bianca Belair/Kairi Sane for the NXT women's championship will be as crazy as that 5-man match this past week to see who faces Gargano. These multi-person matches are impossible to predict. It's obviously going to be a car crash. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a new champion. I know how dominant Shayna has been. I also have a feeling that she's main-roster bound very soon. As in, Sunday or Monday night soon. Let's just say I think we'll see a SANE champion....
Johnny Gargano was supposed to challenge Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT Championship. Injury and surgery forced Ciampa to relinquish the championship. William Regal announced Gargano would compete for the vacant championship-the first time the NXT title has been vacated-against the winner of a fatal five-way. Adam Cole emerged the victor and now we have a 2 out of 3 falls match between Gargano and Cole for the NXT Championship. This will be a beauty!
The problem Johnny will run into is the numbers game. You know Undisputed Era is getting involved in this. Somehow, some way, even after a hard-fought battle, Adam Cole will emerge as the new NXT Champion. Now, onto Sunday!
The Revival will defend the Raw tag titles against Hawkins and Ryder. This one surprised me. It was a pleasant surprise. I'd love for Zack and Curt to win those titles. What a weekend it would be for Zack: get engaged, finally get another WrestleMania match and win it! My sentimental favorite are original Edge-heads, Ryder and Hawkins.
Buddy Murphy and Tony Neese for the cruiserweight title is on the kickoff show. I pick Buddy. The women's battle royal and Andre battle royal were two that I figured would be on the kickoff show. The site says they're on the show. If Braun doesn't win the Andre battle royal, I don't know what they're doing with him. I'm afraid Mandy Rose somehow wins that women's battle royal,
The fatal fourway Smackdown tag title match, announced pretty much at the last minute, is supposed to be punishment for the Uso's forfeiting the match with New Day that got Kofi in the WWE Championship match. I say they lose the titles to Black and Ricochet.
Kurt Angle's farewell match being against Baron Corbin, disappointment aside, should be, I hate to say Kurt's last match will be bathroom break fodder. If it were a regular match against Corbin, that'd be the case. Since it's his "retirement" match, fans will stick around to see Angle win one last time. Of course it won't be his last match. Retirement matches are rarely a superstar's last match. How many retirement matches did Flair have?
Bobby Lashley defending the IC championship against The Demon Fin Balor better be Fin's WrestleMania moment. Will it be? I think so. This match won't be without Lio Rush interference, though.
Samoa Joe defends the United States Championship at WrestleMania. But will it be against Rey Mysterio? He was recently Injured but said he'd make the match. I think this is a perfect spot for a return. Rey won't be able to go, I don't think. The arena will go quiet and the announcers will give the "who will it be"? Out comes Bray Wyatt! Probably not. It's more likely that out comes John Cena. Remember back when Joe won the title and he threw some shade at Cena? Don't think there isn't going to be something to come of it.
AJ Styles vs Randy Orton could be a good one. Any Styles match is worth the price of admission. Also, I love watching those RKO's when an opponent is coming off the tope rope. I pick Randy for that factor alone.
Banks and Bayley are surely losing the tag titles in that fatal fourway, right? Nia and Tamina are my pick. Then again, who wants to see them win? My sentimental pick is Natalya and Beth Pheonix. If the Iiconics were to win.....well that's surely not happening. Heart says Nattie and Beth. Head says Nia and Tamina.
Drew McIntyre has been on fire. Roman Reigns' main event WrestleMania streak has been broken. Drew beat Seth and Dean(in his farewell WWE match). I say Drew shocks some people and beats Roman clean. I know Roman is supposedly Vince's golden boy who doesn't get beaten cleanly. That changes Sunday.
Shane and Miz in a falls count anywhere match will be wild! Traditionally, Shane puts on epic WrestleMania matches but loses. Same goes for Miz. Someone has to win this, right? Yes, and it should be the Miz. What would be the point of Shane winning? He'll probably win, though because Vince. Shane will change it to a handicap match mid-match or something.
Triple H will beat Batista in a wild no holds barred match. Batista is in the process of doing a movie with Ken Jeong. That might not make a difference here. But I believe Triple H wins. This is a payday for Dave.
I honestly thought Seth Rollins had a shot. I thought Vince would actually give fans what we want and have Seth end our long national nightmare. Then, Seth got the jump on Brock a little bit on Raw. Usually when that happens to Brock the week before a show, he retains the title. Then I read last night that Lesnar signed a new contract, likely meaning he will retain Sunday. We're going to need that to NOT be the last match of the night. Unless, that is, Vince wants us leaving angry.
Kofi Kingston finally gets his one-on-one match for the WWE Championship. Right? I mean, he was supposed to have it last month. Obviously that got scrubbed so he could get the WrestleMania spotlight he so richly deserves. I'm sure New Day will likely be barred from ringside. I swear, if they have Big E turn on and cost Kofi the title, most all the WWE Universe will be more than angry. I expect E to turn but I hope it's during the championship celebration Monday. Let Kofi have his moment! He's earned it. I honestly believe we'll see Kofi raising the WWE Championship. I really think there's a much better shot of that happening than Seth beating Brock.
Ronda, Becky and Charlotte in a triple threat for both Raw AND Smackdown wome's championships should be a fantastic match! This is, as we all know, the first time in history that a women's match will headline WrestleMania. This is more than deserved. I know these women will tear it up and I can't wait to see it! This should be Becky's night. I wouldn't be shocked, however, to see Steph screw Becky out of that title. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Shayna and her crew hit the main roster. My friend Chris said surely WWE wouldn't mess up something as historic as the first women's main event at Mania. I would hope they would save any potential run-in and debut on Monday. I do think we eventually see Becky vs Stephanie for the women's championship. On this night, however, surely Becky gets the big payoff.
This weekend should be epic. NXT tonight, hall of fame tomorrow night, WrestleMania Sunday. I never want to complain about a legend getting their due in the hall of fame. I do think it's interesting that there's no entrant into the celebrity wing this year. The acceptance speeches should be awesome! Imagine DX's speech. That alone is one I'm looking forward to. Brutus being inducted by his friend Hulk Hogan should be great as well. Just like every year you have the "why aren't they in"? Or "he got in? You're kidding"! But the Hall of Fame is always a pretty fun night full of some good stories. At least that's how I look at it.
Everyone sit back and enjoy the biggest weekend in wrestling. We'll sure be talking about a lot of things between now and Monday!
