Hey! anon who gave the Tatum Lyra theory here again.

I just feel it would be predicable if Tatum truly turned on Lyra out of hate. Say what you will about HBK if you don’t have a good opinion (I looove him) but he clearly knows how to craft great stories. I’m picturing that Tatum will do everything to become Lyra’s most hated enemy, do heinous things, ruin her career advancement… and it’ll be because she cares too much to see Lyra loss herself. Tatum realised half-way through it was the title that was making her little bird change, more angry, less compassionate etc.

I think it suits Tatum’s character to do this out of her twisted sense of love. We’ll have the promo before the big match at the next PPV, and Tatum will reveal it all.

Like you said, this would be Jay costing Jimmy the title done right.

hiii again!!

i also love shawn don’t worry. and agree with your opinion on him; i’m more inclined to believe he’d give us a banger than not. even if the reason was predictable, i trust him enough that the story will be good regardless. honestly i think he’s a better booker than papa h.

tatum’s character—from what i’ve interpreted—is presented as intuitive. i love the idea of her concluding that just like those before her, the championship was going to corrupt lyra and turn her into a monster. it’s like that one quote, “you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

and there’s evidence to support tatum’s motivations, like when she went “but that’s not really you, i know you.” could be paraphrasing but that’s essentially what she said. when she screamed “it doesn’t belong to you anymore,” tatum looked and sounded overjoyed.

but lyra losing the championship isn’t enough. because she’s gonna keep chasing after roxanne, which means she’s gonna keep spiraling. in tatum’s mind, if it continued, she would’ve seen lyra fall down the same route as roxanne did.

about jey v jimmy, tbh i think the whole story was done… eh. poorly? it wasn’t awful awful, but it didn’t help that after giving a bullshit reason for jimmy to turn on jey, their eventual match’s momentum was halted, since they waited until like, three weeks before to even start setting up the match. meanwhile lyra v tatum has been consistent in telling a great story and has a believable reason behind the betrayal.

on a side note.. who’s to say lyra’s not gonna double down? i think it’d be a fun turn of events if lyra just got more demented, to the point that tatum—who is presented as the villain—actually becomes the hero/anti-hero by the end of the story. i think there’d need to be a third party to make that happen. maybe roxanne, but there’s a handful of phenomenal heels on nxt. if i had to choose, i’d go with blair. not only is there that nxt uk connection, but blair was a fundamental part of roxanne’s own spiral. ik she’s got her thing with sol ruca rn but that doesn’t mean she can’t be in more than one story.

sorry for the thesis paper lmao i have too many thoughts

Gonna post some Halloween Havoc Predictions

Grayson Waller vs Apollo Crews- This is a tough one, On the one hand Main Roster Talent in NXT should be there to put over the NXT guys, but there are also rumors of Waller being in Bray Wyatt’s faction, and a Casket match would be a perfect way to handle the gimmick change. 

I think I’m gonna go with Waller

Mandy Rose vs Alba Fyre- Mandy’s Title Reign has lasted a long time, and Alba Fyre has the right level of star power to be a viable title holder. However, there are also rumors that Fyre is gonna show up as a member of Damage CTRL. 

I think I’m gonna go with Alba Fyre

North American Title Ladder Match- I think the most viable choices are Hayes and Wes Lee, and Hayes has more than earned either a call up or a top title run. 

I think I’m gonna go with Wes Lee

Roxanne Perez vs Cora Jade- I think this is the most straight forward match. Not a lot of utside factors to consider. 

I think I’m gonna go with Roxanne Perez

Julius Creed vs Damon Kemp- On the one hand I think it’s too early to split up the Creed brothers. On the other hand The Creeds could get a call up, and they’ll want to push Damon more in a singles capacity than the Creeds.

I think I’m gonna go with Julius Creed

Bron Breakker vs Ilja Dragunov vs JD McDonagh- Bron has more than earned a call up and a title shot vs Roman, while Ilja never got to fully enjoy his run with the NXT UK title. But if Bron does get called up, he’d likely have to wait for Royal Rumble to get a title match against Roman. Plus I’m not sure they’d dethrone both Mandy and Bron in one night

I think I’m gonna go for Bron Breakker

So...I guess I’m back?

With the possible deterioration of Twitter, and finding I don’t have enough time for the immediate future to write articles for websites such as Cultured Vultures and WrestleJoy, at least to the usual standard, it seemed the right time to return to what always felt the best website for me, Tumblr.

I’m probably going to mostly use this Tumblr for irregular posts on a variety of subjects, such as:

Football, predominantly Manchester United.

Films, probably mostly Marvel but any random thoughts or discussions I have in mind that seem otherwise inappropriate for Letterboxd (profile link).

Television.

Wrestling, AEW with sometimes thoughts on Impact Wrestling, NWA, WWE, NXT, New Japan, etc.

Don’t be surprised if you see a lot of ideas about spin-offs, future characters or stories, creative pieces, etc. For instance, I have a series of idea prompts I’d like to share, based on the challenge of “1 Director, Two Actors, Genre”, so if anybody has a suggestion, please submit it!

I also want to suggest some possible Doctor Who spin-offs now that Russel T. Davies has returned, predictions for future films, I have a challenge I’d like to discuss in detail which is “What if the Halloween series was an Anthology like originally planned”, and there may be similar ideas, but who knows?!

For those who don’t know or don’t remember, my name is Sam Preston, I’m an Autistic LGBTQ+ Ally who supports Mental Health, huge big fan of media in general, based in the UK. Any questions, go for it.

Am I up to the fourth match of the NXT Worlds Collide premium event on Peacock from September 4, 2022?: Women’s NXT Championship match. I guess there isn’t a Women’s NXT UK Tag Team Championship so they opted to give Chance and Carter opponents from Scotland, Nikki A.S.H. and Duodrop. I guess it’s the same thing. No way they would have the visiting challengers from RAW win so a predictable and typical match. Fun fact: Katana Chance is Kacy Catanzaro of American Ninja Warrior fame, if you follow that sort of thing.

Airsoft Guns, Cheap & Best Replicas

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NXT UK Takeover: Cardiff Predictions

Ah NXT UK, an often overlooked part of the WWE Network. It took a while to hit its groove, but it’s now a pretty consistent good show. This is a pretty big show, but it seems like it is being overshadowed by All Out and Royal Quest. But I think that it’ll still be good, even great! Here my predictions for NXT UK Takeover: Cardiff. 

Noam Dar vs. Travis Banks: this was sorta a match to get two deserving stars on the show. The feud was short and sweet. Dar felt he was entitled to a match at takeover, while Banks was pissed that he takes for granted what Banks himself lost at Takeover Blackpool. Dar then taunted Banks about it, and Sid Scala booked the match. I think that Dar wins this, because he is kinda on a roll, and this isn’t the time to stop him. Should be a really good to great match, I’m definitely looking forward to it. 

Dave Mastiff vs. Joe Coffey in a Last Man Standing Match: Now this is a feud. Two big guys that just couldn’t settle their differences, so now they have to have a violent match where one man won’t be able to walk away on his own. I don’t really remember when this all started, but I know that Mastiff teamed with the Hunt against all of Gallus in a 6 man tag, with Gallus getting the win. Mastiff and Coffey then had a brutal match where they both really layed into each other, only for it to end in a double countout. The match was made Last Man Standing after that. I think Mastiff will win, because it seems like he is important enough to get the win here. He should win this, and then maybe get a match against Walter soon. This hoss fight will be violent and awesome, I’m think it’ll be quite fun.

Gallus vs. Grizzled Young Veterans vs. The South Wales Subculture for the NXT UK Tag Team Championships: Just to be clear who is in this match, it is Mark Coffey and Wolfgang vs. James Drake and Zack Gibson vs. Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews. This started with The Grizzled Young Vets complaining about having no real competition, and Gallus challenged them. However, after that, Andrews and Webster showed up and said that the only reason they aren’t being considered for this match was some unfortunate injuries. Andrews and Webster then had to beat each member of the Gallus team in singles matches to qualify, and they did. This is actually a match I’m looking forward to. I love Gibson, Drake, Webster and Andrews, and while I’m not a huge Gallus guy, I think they will have their place. I’m really into tag matches, and there is a lot of great talent here. I don’t think that the vets will lose though. The deck was stacked against them to give them something to complain about and for them to be given a genuine challenge. They will win here, but I could see the Subculture taking it from them later. I think this’ll be pretty good. 

Kay Lee Ray vs. Toni Storm for the NXT UK Women’s Championship: once again, started out with a simple #1 contendership situation. Kay Lee Ray won a Women’s battle royal for a championship match, and asked for it at Takeover. Later, they revealed the history between Storm and Ray, where they used to be friends, but Ray has been corrupted since coming to NXT UK. Meanwhile, Ray used this knowledge of Storm to absolutely murder her on the mic, going as far as saying that it was Storm’s is such an awful person that her dad left her as a kid. So Ray is living rent free in Storm’s head. This should be a great match. Storm is awesome, and Ray looks pretty good from what I’ve seen too. I think that Storm will retain, but Ray is probably the gal to take it from her. We just need some babyface wins here and there. 

Tyler Bate vs. Walter for the WWE UK Championship: David vs. Goliath. This is like Hogan and Andre, except with two incredible in ring competitors beyond charisma. This all started during Pete Dunne and Walter’s rematch for the title. Dunne looked like he was going to win, when Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner ran in to Walter’s aid. The three then formed Imperium, and started to feud with British Strong Style: Bate, Dunne, and Trent Seven. They had a 6 man tag against each other, but Alexander Wolfe ran in to join Imperium and win them the match. Since then, Imperium has ruled NXT UK and decimated all three members of British Strong Style. Dunne basically disappeared for a few months, eventually resurfacing in NXT proper. Walter powerbombed Bate on the apron to put him out of action for a few weeks, and forced Seven to watch. Walter then destroyed Seven in a one on one match, powerbombing him until the ref stopped the match. Later on, Walter asked Sid Scala and Johnny Saint who would step up for a match at Takeover, when Bate returned like a knight in shining armor. Seven returned a bit later, so Bate has some support in the match. This is a phenomenal story, to the point where I’m totally marking out and rooting for Bate despite my love for Walter, and I’m excited to see the match. This is what I’m most looking forward to, and I think it’ll be great. However, I doubt that Walter loses this. I think that they are building it all up so that Walter can smash everyone’s hopes to the ground. That is what Imperium is, so they need to do it. It’ll be deflating, depressing, hopeless, and will get the exact reaction that they are looking for. 

I cannot believe Ilja did it. I MEAN I PREDICTED IT BUT IT FEELS WEIRD TO SEE A NEW NXT UK CHAMPION. CONGRATS ILJA

High School Never Ends (Candice LeRae x Reader)

It was kind of fucked up. You knew that Candice had gone into wrestling, but you hadn’t ever thought the two of you would cross paths. The time that you’d spent in the American Indies, she was in college and working at a theme park. Once she’d come onto the scene, you were already in Europe. You had a stint at NXT: UK and then they sent you back to America because apparently there was more of a demand for you there. And of course, the first thing they do is put you in a match against the girl who had made your high school life a living hell. 

“I don’t want to wrestle her,” you said to Regal and Triple H. 

“Well, we can’t help it. A lot of people want to see how you fare against her,” Regal said and you huffed. “Bury whatever hatchet the two of you had or suck it up because this match is happening.” 

You kept your mouth shut for the rest of the night and prepared for your match. It was the last one, per Johnny Gargano’s request that his wife main event. You thought it was sort of ridiculous, but you were lucky to have a main event spot debut. Maybe you’d get lucky and Candice wouldn’t remember you from high school, but the fact that you hadn’t seen her in the PC since you moved or backstage yet, you doubted you had gotten that lucky. 

“And making her NXT debut, the Riverside Riveter, Y/r/n!” The introduction was cool and you were glad that they incorporated your indies gimmick a bit. Candice was already waiting with Johnny and Indi in the ring. This wouldn’t be a fair fight, but you were set to get a win over her by any means necessary. That probably meant that Indi or Johnny would do something to get Candice a DQ. 

It was a bit weird wrestling her and you kept all your hits clean. There was no point in making it more difficult to work together. Your pre-match prediction about someone from the outside costing Candice the match was right. Indi had pulled you out of the ring and brutalized you with a foreign object, which was when the ref called it. Backstage, none of them spoke to you. 

That was how things were for awhile. You were put into a feud with Candice as you quickly climbed the ranks of the contender’s list for the NXT Women’s Championship. Candice didn’t talk to you outside of the ring though. Your past relationship was brought up, but not all of the facts were there. It had bothered you, but it had made the crowd sympathize with you. When the feud was all said and done, that was when Candice had finally come to try and talk things out with you. 

“Do you have a minute?” Candice asked you nervously. 

“This feels like deja vu,” you muttered under your breath. Candice stared at you expectantly and you just gave her a curt nod. “Make it quick.” 

“Were things really that bad in school?” Candice asked and you nodded. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” 

“Of course you didn’t know, everybody already loved you. They could demonize me though because obviously I was just trying to corrupt you or something,” you said calmly. It had taken you a long time to be able to talk about what had happened in high school without breaking down or having an outburst. “Here things were a bit different, but you still came out on top. Funny how that works, isn’t it? I guess high school doesn’t end.” 

“This doesn’t mean anything, but it was hard for me too. I didn’t like hearing people say that stuff about you, and I did try to stop it,” Candice told you. “They just stopped listening to me.” 

“It’s over and now I’m an adult. I’m glad you owned up to fucking up finally though,” you told her as you got up from where you’d been sitting. “I’ll see you around Candice I guess. Good luck against Io.” 

Finally the Wrestling in 2022 bingo card has been made. Lets see if I get any predictions right or wrong this year.

There was some other stuff I couldn’t really fit onto here so some honorable mentions:

Keith Lee goes All Elite

Christian Cage Face-Heel Turn

ROH (Ring of Honor) has a slow start due to hiatus.

Conversation regarding Unionization in wrestling becomes more serious.

Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker Rematch. It’s very close but Thunder Rosa Wins. Hayter-Baker Feud ensues.

WWE buys up... more contracts of Wrestlers...

Shotzi Blackheart or Rhea Ripley wins the Women’s Royal Rumble

Note that some of these predictions are not my own, some them come from the predictions made by the WrestleTalk Podcast. That episode is here.

Image Description is Below the Keep Reading tab! (because it can’t fit on the image link...)

[ID: A 25 panel Bingo card with the heading of "Wrestling in 2022", underneath in big bold black text is the word 'BINGO' with each letter sitting above a squared panel.

First row from top left corner and across to the right corner, the panels read as follows:

"More WWE Releases...” This square is highlighted in green.

"WWE/Netflix Docu series becomes the next Tiger King. Scandals Resurge."

"Trailer for Bray Wyatt's movie drops. Breaks the Internet and the Wrestling World"

"Becky Lynch has a slow build self-rediscovery character arc."

"WWE Superstar goes off script on live TV. Like. Pipebomb Style. Also becomes a huge deal in the media".

Second row from top left corner and across to the right corner, the panels read as follows:

"Shane McMahon goes All Elite"

"Hangman Page successfully defends his title from all challengers"

"WWE 2K22 turns out to be a decent and fun game"

"Wardlow betrays MJF & turns Face"

"Wave 205 Live Shuts Down".

Third row from top left corner and across to the right corner, the panels read as follows:

"NXT UK Somehow still survives budget cuts"

"Triple H or Tony Khan buys ROH (ring of honor)"

"Vince steps down or kicks the bucket. Power Struggle w/ Nick Khan (no relation to Tony Khan), Triple H & McMahon Siblings"

"HBO & AEW collaborate to host AEW's Library on HBO MAX"

"Liv Morgan becomes RAW Women's Champion".

Fourth row from top left corner and across to the right corner, the panels read as follows:

"AEW Finally get a TV Deal in Australia"

"WWE Heavyweight Championship is won by a woman"

"Brock Lesnar Retirement run, puts over new talent"

"Impact and Game Changer Wrestling have a good year"

"AEW gets a shoutout on a popular show."

Fifth and final row from top left corner and across to the right corner, the panels read as follows:

"A Wrestler gets cast in a big movie or tv show (let's be honest it's probably Marvel or DC)"

"VICE greenlights Season 4 of Dark Side of the Ring"

"WWE Tries to start up a Cinematic Universe & Revives WWE Studios"

"Someone makes a big comeback or return. Can be literally anyone."

"WWE Starts its own Cryptocurrency...".

End of ID.]

Summerslam and Takeover Predictions

WWE Universal Championship Roman Reigns (c) vs. John Cena (Who will win?) I’m going with the Long Shot and say John Cena WWE Championship Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Goldberg (Who will win?) Bobby has to win. WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship Bianca Belair (c) vs. Sasha Banks (Who will win?) Bianca Belair WWE RAW Women’s Championship Nikki A.S.H. (c) vs. Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley (Who will win?) Nikki A.S.H. WWE US Championship Sheamus (c) vs. Damian Priest (Who will win?) Priest WWE RAW Tag Team Championship AJ Styles and Omos (c) vs. Randy Orton and Riddle (Who will win?) AJ/Omos WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Usos (c) vs. Rey and Dominik Mysterio (Who will win?) The Usos Drew McIntyre vs. Jinder Mahal Veer and Shanky banned from ringside. (Who will win?) Drew McIntyre Edge vs. Seth Rollins (Who will win?) Edge Alexa Bliss vs. Eva Marie (Who will win?) Alexa Bliss Confidence List (write the predictions in the order of most to least confidence that you're right put who you think will win on the list only) 1 -  Drew McIntyre 2 -  Edge 3 -  the Usos 4 -  AJ/Omos 5 -  Priest 6 -  Alexa Bliss 7 -  Nikki A.S.H. 8 -  Bobby Lashley 9 - John Cena 10 -  Bianca Belair Bonus Prediction (non match results/ outside of ring events you think will happen.) 1 - Miz and Morrison will make an Appearance 2 - The Usos will appear in Roman’s match 3 - No Cash in ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NXT Takeover 36 (will count only if SummerSlam ends in a tie) NXT Championship Karrion Kross (c) vs. Samoa Joe (Who will win?) Samoa Joe NXT Women’s Championship Raquel Gonzalez (c) vs. Dakota Kai (Who will win?) Raquel Gonzalez NXT UK Championship WALTER (c) vs. Ilja Dragunov (Who will win?) Walter Million Dollar Championship LA Knight (c) vs. Cameron Grimes If Grimes loses, WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase will be forced to work as Knight’s butler. (Who will win?) Cameron Grimes 2 out of 3 Falls Match Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly First Fall (Pinfall or Submission) Second Fall (Street Fight) Third Fall, if necessary (Steel Cage) (Who will win?) Kyle O’ Reilly Confidence List (write the predictions in the order of most to least confidence that you're right put who you think will win on the list only) 1 - Cameron Grimes 2 - Walter 3 - Samoa Joe 4 - Raquel Gonzalez 5 - Kyle O’ Reilly Bonus Prediction (non match results/ outside of ring events you think will happen.) 1 - It will go to the third fall. 2 - Ted Dibiase interferes 3 - Samoa Joe wins by submission.

WWE SummerSlam 2021 and NXT Takeover 36 predictions

WWE Universal Championship

Roman Reigns (c) vs. John Cena

Winner: Roman Reigns

WWE Championship

Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Goldberg

Winner: Goldberg

WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship

Bianca Belair (c) vs. Sasha Banks

Winner: Bianca Belair

WWE RAW Women’s Championship

Nikki A.S.H. (c) vs. Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley

Winner: Charlotte

WWE US Championship

Sheamus (c) vs. Damian Priest

Winner: Damian Priest

WWE RAW Tag Team Championship

AJ Styles and Omos (c) vs. Randy Orton and Riddle

Winner: RKBrooooooooooooo

WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship

The Usos (c) vs. Rey and Dominik Mysterio

Winner: The Usos

Drew McIntyre vs. Jinder Mahal

Veer and Shanky banned from ringside.

Winner: Drew McIntyre

Edge vs. Seth Rollins

Winner: Edge

Alexa Bliss vs. Eva Marie

Winner: Alexa Bliss

Confidence List

(write the predictions in the order of most to least confidence that you're right put who you think will win on the list only)

1 -  Roman Reigns 

2 -  RKBrooooooooooooo 

3 -  Damian Priest 

4 -  Alexa Bliss 

5 -  Drew McIntyre 

6 -  The Usos 

7 -  Bianca Belair 

8 -  Goldberg 

9 -  Charlotte 

10 -  Edge =============================================================

NXT Takeover 36

NXT Championship

Karrion Kross (c) vs. Samoa Joe

Winner: Samoa Joe

NXT Women’s Championship

Raquel Gonzalez (c) vs. Dakota Kai

Winner: Raquel Gonzalez

NXT UK Championship

WALTER (c) vs. Ilja Dragunov

Winner: Ilja Dragunov

Million Dollar Championship

LA Knight (c) vs. Cameron Grimes

If Grimes loses, WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase will be forced to work as Knight’s butler.

Winner: LA Knight

2 out of 3 Falls Match

Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly

First Fall (Pinfall or Submission)

Second Fall (Street Fight)

Third Fall, if necessary (Steel Cage)

Winner: Kyle O’Reilly

Confidence List

(write the predictions in the order of most to least confidence that you're right put who you think will win on the list only)

1 -  Samoa Joe 

2 -  Kyle O’Reilly 

3 -  LA Knight 

4 -  Raquel Gonzalez 

5 -  Ilja Dragunov 

Bonus Prediction 

(non match results/ outside of ring events you think will happen.)

1 - Ted DiBiase cost Cameron Grimes the match

NXT Fake Rankings, 8/7/2021

Last night saw another wave of releases in WWE, which drew attention to a report that WWE is overhauling NXT with "a focus on younger talents." With that in mind, I'm going to list the ages of the current NXT roster (as best as I could determine), so we can try to get a sense of what "a focus on younger talents" means.

One other note: For this list, the final word on who is on the NXT roster is WWE's own website, which fails to reflect a lot of recent debuts and reported trades. (Top Dolla and Mandy Rose aren't listed as NXT performers, but Veer/Rinku still is.) Anyone who isn't listed on the official roster, but has wrestled on NXT or 205 Live in the past 30 days, will be noted in italics.

Men's singles division - heels

Kyle O'Reilly (34)

Dexter Lumis (37)

Cameron Grimes (27)

Kushida (38) (NXT cruiserweight champion)

Drake Maverick (38)

Men's singles division - heels

Karrion Kross (36) (NXT men's champion)

Adam Cole (32)

Johnny Gargano (33)

LA Knight (38) ("million dollar champion")

Santos Escobar (37)

Ridge Holland (33)

Roderick Strong (38)

Austin Theory (24)

Unranked: Andre Chase (32), Carmelo Hayes (27), Duke Hudson (32), Grayson Waller (31), Guru Raaj (26?), Ikemen Jiro (28), Joe Gacy (33), Josh Briggs (?), Odyssey Jones (27), Trey Baxter (24)

We can begin to see NXT's age issue right here. All of the top male wrestlers are over 30, except Grimes and Theory, who are both playing lackeys right now. A lot of these guys are over 35, which isn't old, but doesn't fit the narrative of NXT being the future. Guys like Lumis, Kushida, Maverick, Knight, Escobar, and Strong are not here because they're being groomed for the main roster. They're here because they'd be misfits on the main roster.

I am not saying the over-35 crowd on NXT is going to be released. (The 2021 releases have been remarkably difficult to predict.) But if the reports are true, and WWE wants to refocus NXT on youth, then I would expect an "up or out" mentality, where the older talent is moved to Raw or Smackdown to sink or swim.

Most of the twenty-somethings here are new to the roster, slotted into the Breakout Tournament or backfilling the 205 Live mainstays who got cut. And even then, it seems only one of those newcomers (Baxter) is under 25. Chances are he'll be 30 before he gets a real push on the main roster. WWE's process makes it very hard to promote someone like Jungle Boy, which has been a huge opening for AEW.

Men's tag team division - babyfaces

Top Dolla (31) & Ashante Adonis (31)

Timothy Thatcher (38) & Tommaso Ciampa (36)

Men's tag team division - heels

Pete Dunne (27) & Oney Lorcan (35)

Raul Mendoza (29) & Joaquin Wilde (34)

Fabian Aichner (31) & Marcel Barthel (31)

Grizzled Young Veterans - Zack Gibson (30) & James Drake (28)

Aichner and Barthel are still listed on WWE.com as NXT UK guys, even though they've wrestled exclusively in Florida for over a year.

This division is a bit lopsided due to the champions, Wes Lee and Nash Carter, being out of action lately. In the meantime, the main storylines have been Isaiah Scott & Dolla & Adonis vs. Santos Escobar & Mendoza & Wilde and Thatcher & Ciampa vs. Lorcan & Dunne & Ridge Holland. It doesn't even seem like anyone's even pursuing the tag title, so maybe it's just as well that the champions have been absent.

Going back to the age thing, Ciampa, Thatcher, and Lorcan are all in that range where WWE may be re-evaluating what they're doing here, or at least what they're doing in the minor league. I know Ciampa talked a lot about preferring to spend his career in NXT, but a lot has gone down since then, and that goal may not be plausible except as a player/coach.

Women's singles division - babyfaces

Raquel Gonzalez (30) (NXT women's champion)

Ember Moon (32)

Sarray (25)

Women's singles division - heels

Dakota Kai (33)

Xia Li (33)

Unranked: Aliyah (26), Gigi Dolin (24), Jacy Jayne (?)

Women's tag team division - babyfaces

Kayden Carter (33) & Kacy Catanzaro (31)

Women's tag team division - heels

Franky Monet (37) & Jessi Kamea (32)

For a long time it was rare to see women wrestlers make it in WWE past age 30, so it's been good to see the company move away from that with women like Franky Monet and Mercedes Martinez. Then again, Martinez just got cut yesterday. Ever since WWE brought back John Laurinitis (who infamously scouted female talent by perusing lingerie catalogs), there's been a lot of concern that the "divas revolution"/"women's revolution" is getting rolled back. And it's telling that the NXT women who've been getting dark match tryouts have tended to be under 30.

No TV matches in 30 days

Boa (26?)

Brian Kendrick (42)

Candice LeRae (35)

Indi Hartwell (24)

Io Shirai (31) (NXT tag team champion)

Isaiah Scott (30) (NXT North American champion)

Nash Carter (27) (NXT men's tag team champion)

Samoa Joe (42)

Saurav (37)

Wes Lee (26) (NXT men's tag team champion)

Zoey Stark (27) (NXT women's tag team champion)

For whatever reason major NXT acts like LeRae & Hartwell, Lee & Carter, Scott, and Shirai & Stark have not been in the ring lately. It could just be a timing issue. Although I think it's striking that almost all of NXT's champions have not wrestled at all in the past 30 days.

Samoa Joe, of course, has been brought back to build up a big grudge match with NXT's top champion, Karrion Kross. Given that Kross has been called up to Raw, where there is no interest in presenting him as an unstoppable badass, it's almost guaranteed that a 42-year-old is going to win the NXT title from a 36-year-old who already couldn't last two minutes with 43-year-old Jeff Hardy. So if NXT is going to refocus on younger talent, I think we can expect some drastic, monumental changes, going all the way to the top.

It's baffling to me that Kendrick and Saurav have survived the past 18 months of cuts. Not that I want them to be cut, of course. But they're both never used and getting up there in years, which is a bad combination in this company. I keep thinking Kendrick must have become an agent or a producer or something, but I've never seen anyone report that.

Inactive

Danny Burch (39) (right shoulder - separation)

Nobody ever reported that Burch needed surgery for his shoulder, so I'm optimistic that he'll be back before too long. Of course, nowadays even being injured isn't enough to protect people from getting released.

Man, what a TakeOver

Great matches as a standard, Kushida goin mental, Io vs Candice delivered and then some, plus (like I kinda thtmought might happen after the I Quit match in NXT UK) Toni Storm, and Ember Moon confirmed for Smash NXT

AND BEST OF ALL, NXT said "fuck predictability, UE will not be breaking up but will be in another feud, get into it"

And the "new" arena looks amazing

HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (2.12-2.18.20):

NEW MUSIC:

·         New Found Glory announced a co-headlining tour with Simple Plan, with support from Knuckle Puck. The tour kicks off at Jannus Live! in St. Petersburg, Florida, on May 29 and ends at Stubb’s in Austin, Texas, on June 28.

·         Four Year Strong unveiled the video for their new song “Learn to Love the Lie,” the third track from their upcoming fifth studio album, Brain Pain. The song comes soon after the announcement that they would be hitting the road with fellow band Silverstein this spring.

·         You Me at Six dropped a new single titled “Our House (The Mess We Made),” through which all of the proceeds will go toward Australian bushfire relief. The last new song we had from the British band was the single “What’s It Like” in August 2019.

·         Hayley Williams of Paramore dropped a raw footage lyric video for “Simmer,” her first single off her upcoming solo release Petals for Armor. The singer originally released the song in early January with a darker official music video.

·         Asking Alexandria unleashed a brand new song titled “They Don’t Want What We Want (And They Don’t Care).” The band first teased the song on February 11 on their Twitter account.

·         Falling in Reverse released a special song and video titled “The Drug in Me is Reimagined,” keeping the same lyrics as the original song for which it’s named. The band is currently on tour with the bands Escape the Fate and The Word Alive.

·         Billie Eilish released a new song “No Time to Die,” which will be used as the theme for the new James Bond movie. Rumors of her participation on the film’s soundtrack began as early as January.

·         During the NME Awards, YUNGBLUD revealed the release date of his upcoming album. He also said there would be a new song coming “Imminently” before discussing his love for Robert Smith of The Cure.

·         Justin Bieber and Post Malone released a new track titled “Forever” off the former artist’s latest album Changes, which also features rapper Clever. In January, TMZ said that sources close to Bieber reported that Post Malone and Travis Scott collaborated on the album.

·         SWMRS and FIDLAR teamed up for a cover of The 1975‘s track “People” off of their upcoming record Notes on a Conditional Form. The cover also comes along with a visualizer video with many black and white photographs of the bands.

·         Set It Off released a new song, “One Single Second,” after previously revealing the songs “So Predictable” and “Catch Me If You Can.” The band is currently finishing up their headlining dates with Capstan.

·         Halsey‘s new single “You Should Be Sad” received a remix from EDM producer Tiesto. The remix provides an upbeat electropop feel to the song’s country-inspired twang for the perfect combo.

·         All Time Low declared their first album in three years, titled Wake Up Sunshine, which is due for release on April 3. The album announcement comes after several teasers that began last month.

·         Ozzy Osbourne revealed the tracklist for his upcoming album Ordinary Man, which features a new collaboration between him and Post Malone. This follows the pair’s first collab, “Take What You Want,” also featuring Travis Scott.

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

·         My Chemical Romance announced another show at the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, scheduled for June 16. The Eden Sessions made the announcement on February 12 via their Instagram account, ahead of the band’s official announcement.

·         In This Moment frontwoman Maria Brink recently covered Billie Eilish and Radiohead during her solo set on the ShipRocked cruise. The festival took place from February 1 to 6 and included sets from Asking Alexandria, Ice Nine Kills, Beartooth and more.

·         The lineup for the Chain Fest Festival was announced, featuring bands such as Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday, Circa Survive, Saves the Day, Anberlin, Glassjaw, Cartel and Acceptance. The event will take place at the FivePoint Amphitheater in Irvine, California.

·         Matty Healy of The 1975 declared the band will no longer be playing festivals where the lineup doesn’t have equal gender representation. Out of the 90 acts that were revealed for this year’s Reading & Leeds Festival, only 20 of them feature women.

·         The Pretty Reckless announced they will embark on a headlining tour this spring, which will be their first tour in almost three years. It was also confirmed that their new album, Death by Rock and Roll, is now finished.

·         Poppy performed a medley of her songs at WWE‘s “NXT TakeOver: Portland” event yesterday. She played the tracks “Fill the Crown” and “Anything Like Me” while sporting an avant-garde outfit.

OTHER NEWS:

·        Jeffree Star released his highly-anticipated “Blood Lust” palette last week, which consists of 18 new shades. The packaging features a velvet exterior along with a never-before-seen jewelry clasp opening.

·         In what may be an attempt to help Birds of Prey’s less-than-impressive opening weekend numbers, Warner Bros. changed the name of the film to Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. The film brought in $33 million in revenue in the U.S - lower than the anticipated $50 million.

·         Cartel’s Facebook page updated its cover and profile photo to a new blue logo, sending fans into a frenzy and sparking reunion rumors. The logo also appeared on a new Instagram account, which was just launched recently.

·         The lawsuit between late rapper Juice WRLD estate and the band Yellowcard has been put on hold, due to no one being appointed as the executor or the late rapper's estate. Therefore, the case cannot continue until then.

·         A super Twenty One Pilots fan launched a project to create a Blurryface musical. However, just short of two weeks after its announcement, the fan in question received a cease and desist order for the project.

·         Neck Deep revealed that they added a new member: longtime collaborator and big brother of frontman Ben Barlow, Seb Barlow. They also announced that they launched an official app, as well as invited fans to an event titled “Sonderland.”

·         Machine Gun Kelly launched a new merchandise line for his 2019 album Hotel Diablo for Valentine’s Day, which included a vibrator appropriately titled the “Lil’ Devil.” The vibrator comes in a sophisticated red packaging that reads “Let’s get wild.”

·         In a new interview with Entercom, Hayley Williams revealed that she anticipated that there will be more Paramore shows in the future. “And there will be more Paramore shows. Yes. Confirmed,” she stated.

·         Real Friends and its lead singer Dan Lambton announced that they have parted ways, with posts from both parties uploaded on Valentine’s Day to their respective social media outlets. Both Lambton and the band said that the split was mutual.

·         Pierce the Veil is supporting the Australian wildfire relief with a new shirt dedicated to the animals affected by the fires. The shirt is a long-sleeve taken from one of their Australian tour laminates, used on their last tour of the country.

___

Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley,” only at @sagehaleyofficial!

NXT Takeover: New York Predictions

Takeover: New York is shaping up to be the biggest takeover that we have ever had. All of the belts are being defended, including the WWE UK Championship, and all the matches feel like a huge deal. There was a definite snag when Tommaso Ciampa got injured, but the show still seems like it is going to be great. Here are my predictions NXT Takeover: New York.

First up is the War Raiders against Ricochet and Aleister Black for the NXT Tag Team Championships. Simple story here, as Ricochet and Black began to team on the main roster, while still competing in NXT. Because of their success as a tag team on Raw and Smackdown, they entered the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic together, defeating Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel, the reformed #DIY, and the Forgotten Sons to win the tournament. That gave them a championship match for the show, against the War Raiders. So, this seems like a pretty easy one to book, because Ricochet and Black are already on the main roster, so they shouldn’t win a title in NXT right now. Plus, they have a match on the main roster for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships at Wrestlemania, so they don’t need the NXT belts. So War Raiders will retain in what should be a fun match.

Next is Pete Dunne vs. WALTER for the WWE UK Championship. WALTER confronted Dunne on his first night in the company at Takeover Blackpool, beating down Joe Coffey in the process. He gathered up some wins in the coming weeks, before teaming with Dunne in a match against the Coffey Brothers. The two won, but there was a serious tension there. Dunne then requested to fight WALTER for the championship at Takeover New York, and the match was made. WALTER is definitely coming away with the win here. Dunne has held the title for so long, they need someone massive, both in size and popularity, to beat him for the belt. Short of the main roster, WALTER is the only one who fits that bill. It should be a great match, with a really historic finish given the length of Dunne’s title reign. This is the match that I am most looking forward to. 

Into the women’s division, there is a fatal 4-way between the champion Shayna Baszler, Kairi Sane, Io Sharai and Bianca Belair. After Belair lost to Baszler at Takeover Phoenix due to the interference from Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke, Belair teamed with Sane and Sharai in a 6-woman tag match. The faces won the match when Sharai pinned Baszler, causing tension between Sharai and Belair. The two had a number 1 contenders match, but Baszler interfered, beating both of them down as well as Sane. As a consequence of her actions, Baszler was put into a fatal 4-way against all of those women. This is a tough one to predict, but I think that Belair is going to take this away. Baszler has terrorized the locker room for a few months now, and while I don’t think that it is time for her to be called up just yet, I think we need a babyface champion. Io Sharai could also win, but I am picking Belair because of the Sky Pirates’ affiliation with the women’s tag division, belts that they definitely need to hold in the future. So, Belair is probably going to get the win here, but there are so many moving parts that I can’t say that 100%

For the NXT North American Championship, Velveteen Dream takes on Matt Riddle. This is a simple feud, where Riddle continued to express his want for a title match, with Dream refusing each time. Dream finally accepted his challenge after a series of wins, but became startled when mindgames did not work on Riddle. This is another tough one, but I am going to go with Dream retaining, because Riddle hasn’t been in the company all that long, and Dream really should be getting some wins on Takeovers. He has a pretty bad record at the event, so he deserves this win. Plus, Riddle is more of a main event guy. His first belt should be the NXT Championship, after he takes out a big heel.

And finally, in the main event, Johnny Gargano takes on Adam Cole in a two out of three falls match. The match was originally going to be Gargano against Ciampa (reportedly in a title vs. career, or career vs. career match) but Ciampa had to go in for neck surgery, meaning that the feud will be put on hold for a while. Adam Cole qualified for the match by beating Velveteen Dream, Matt Riddle, Ricochet and Aleister Black in a fatal 5-way. This is a simple bullying storyline, with Cole telling Gargano that he isn’t good enough and never will be. Plus, the Undisputed Era will probably be at ringside, further stacking the deck. But that doesn’t matter, Johnny is the ultimate underdog, and this is his time. He has spent some time meandering away from his feud with Ciampa, and this was almost the perfect time for the story to come to an end. But, life got in the way, so we have this. Johnny should still win, and maybe him against Ciampa in a ladder match later down the line. Johnny deserves this win, and I cannot wait to mark out for it!

So, those are my predictions for the show tomorrow. Every match looks really great, but I am probably most excited for the WWE UK Championship match, because WALTER is awesome and it will be a historic moment to see Dunne unseated, plus a great match. However, I always love watching Matt Riddle, and the vacant NXT Championship does offer some intrigue in the main event. This could easily be the best Takeover show ever (although most of them have that potential) and I can’t wait for tomorrow!