NXT TakeOver: New York

War Raiders vs Ricochet & Alesiter Black

Velveteen Dream vs Matt Riddle (North American Championship)

Walter vs Pete Dunne (NXT UK Championship)

Shayna Baszler vs Io Shirai vs Bianca Belair vs Kairi Sane (NXT Women's Championship)

Adam Cole vs Jhony Gargano (NXT Championship)

Match: Tops the Amaz-O-Meter

Sign of Respect: Breaks the Amaz-O-Meter on which to rank how amazing things can be

Ricochet and Aleister Black vs. The War Raiders

-War Raiders retain the NXT Tag Team Championships

- was a fantastic opening match, both teams absolutely delivered, wish they fought forever.

- Ricochet and Aleister Black's last match in NXT, was very heartfelt. We will miss them on NXT.

NXT TakeOver: NEW YORK Review (April 5th 2019, Brooklyn, NY, Barclays Centre)

NXT Tag Title Match: War Raiders (c) vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet  ****1/2

NXT North American Title Match: Velveteen Dream (c) vs. Matt Riddle  ****1/4

NXT UK Title Match: Pete Dunne (c) vs. WALTER  ****1/2+

NXT Womens Title Match: Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Io Shirai vs. Kairi Sane vs. Bianca BelAir  ***1/2

NXT World Title 2/3 Falls Decision Match: Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole  ****3/4

Photos.

This show was fantastic and by far the best of the weekend (the MSG show could have rivalled it had it not gone on forever, and if it had all the ROH nonsense removed). It had five matches, all of which were great. Some people are calling the main event one of the greatest matches of all time, and whilst it was phenomenal and had a white hot crowd, there were certain issues I had with it, namely the fact it didn’t really need to be 2/3 falls, all the kick-outs of stuff that probably shouldn’t be kicked out of, just to get those precious pops, not to mention all of the overbooking in the third act of the match. Regardless of this, it was tremendous stuff, with a compelling story, and a super hot crowd completely invested in every step. Cole won the first fall with The Last Shot, then Gargano evened the score via submission win with Gargano Escape. After locking Cole in the stretch again, the rest of Cole’s stable ran out and interefered, but in the end, Johnny Wrestling sent them packing, a millon things were kicked out of, and Gargano finally won the vacant title with Gargano Escape. The place went crazy for the win, which is very interesting seeing as Cole was the fan favourite going in, so through pure storytelling, Gargano rallied the fans into cheering him on by the end. And not just cheering him on, having a complete emotional investment in him winning. Which is a total masterstroke. Then to excentuate the emotion, a fresh-out-of-major-neck-surgery Tomasso Ciampa came out, and he, Gargano, and Candice LaRae all embraced to end the show. This was a great moment, even if in storyline it made no real sense.

The rest of the show was tremendous also. The War Raiders defeated Black and Ricochet in an exceptional doubles clash. This was your usual TakeOver Tag Title encounter, in that there is a bunch of hot tags, it breaks down into everyone getting their shit in, finishers be damned, and the crowd goes nuts. Hey, I’m not knocking it, its just what wrestling has become in 2019 in the western world. This one featured incredible action throughout, including Rowe and the massive Hanson matching their opponents highspots, and Ricochet showing his incredible strength too, in catching Hanson on a crossbody, and hitting a fall away slam. In the end, the champions hit Ricochet with Fall Out to retain in an excellent opener. Matt Riddle challenged North American champion Velveteen Dream in the next match. This too was excellent, though I’m not paticularly sold on Dream, if I’m being honest. He looks great, and has loads of charisma, but in the ring theres just something not quite “there” yet, I don’t know. Riddle, who dominated the whole match pretty much, hit Dream with the Kota Ibushi deadlift German off the ropes spot, Dream lands and nearly dies, then Riddle, who isn’t a flyer, goes up top and hits a twisting senton, and Dream kicked at two. The finish saw Dream retain when he turned the Bromission into a cradle. Riddle teased a heel turn here, but didn’t. I’d be all for that honestly.

Next up, Pete Dunne, who’s been champion since May of 2017, defended the UK Title against everyones favourite Austrian bruiser, WALTER. This was an exceptional, hard-hitting war, which was the second best of the night. WALTER’s offense is so believable, and Dunne too was tremendous here, even if I could have done without a random kick-out of a top rope sleeper suplex, which should have killed him. After eating numerous monsterous chops, the Bruiserweight hit his Bitter End finish for a great near fall. The Ring General rocked the champ with a big boot, hit a terrifying top rope powerbomb, then dethroned the unbeatable champion with a big splash. This was a tremndous bout. The womens match had a tough time following this, but still produced a great, all-action encounter, which saw Baszler retain via rear naked choke induced submission over BelAir. Then it was main event time, and as written above, it was fantastic from an atmosphere standpoint. All in all, one of the best WWE related shows I’ve ever seen, and I highly recommend you check it out if you haven’t.

NDT

War Raiders vs Black/Ricochet is gonna be fuckin’ RAD MAN.

GOOD SHIT EHRE WE GO

Last second Takeover:New York predictions:

Pete Dunne vs WALTER - Heart wants Pete. Brain thinks WALTER

Io Shirai vs Bianca Belair vs Kairi Sane vs Shayna Bazler - Heart wants anyone but Shayna. Brain thinks she's retaining

War Raiders vs Aleister Black and Ricochet - Heart wants Alei and Rico. Brain thinks War Raiders retain

Velveteen Dream vs Matt Riddle - Heart wants Dream to retain. Brain thinks Riddle

Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole - Listen, I have gone back and forth and back and forth since this was announced and I still can't tell you who I want to win let alone who's gonna win so??????

Monday Night Raw review 7/8/19

Week 2 of the “Heyman Era” had only a few of ol’ Paul E’s fingerprints on it. Was it as fresh as last week in the usually important Go Home Show? Here’s a little of The Good, The Bad, and the WTF: We Want The Smoke Edition.

The Good:

Cedric Alexander posing as Gary “the GOAT” Garbutt and Reigns’ tag partner. This entire angle was one big 3 hour eye roll of Shane McMahon nonsense but the payoff was a small glimpse of hope. We didn’t get a Lumbar Check but Cedric in a Main event segment on Raw is a potential sign that they may actually care about the guy and don’t want him lost in the shuffle.

The 24/7 title stuff. Maverick isn’t nearly as funny as Truth with the title but the inclusion of R Truth chasing him with someone on his back, calling him Hornswaggle, and Renee Michelle being on TV makes it all the more enjoyable. I think they missed an opportunity having Truth win the title from Maverick on their honeymoon but I’m sure the payoff is coming.

The Street Profits hyping Extreme Rules. These guys are hilarious. I’m glad they’re not an official call up yet since they are defending the titles against Oney and Lorcan this week but more of them on TV is a welcome addition to any show.

Ricochet vs The Club. This feud is going well. Ricochet doesn’t cut the best promo in the world but he’s improving. The gauntlet style match was a cheap way to fit in the same freakin Snickers commercial eight times in three hours but I guess that’s just the way it is for now. Gallows and Anderson looked strong but lost due to playing with the champ a bit too much. AJ looks like a legit threat to the US title, which he should. Still digging the heel turn. Now get the Good Brothers in the tag title picture.

Huskus is still lurking backstage. Don’t make me wait too much longer for this though, Bray. It’s already slipping away in my mind.

Paul Heyman cuts a solid promo reminding us that Lesnar is lurking with the boom box MITB briefcase at Extreme Rules. Or maybe he isn’t. Truth be told, this was important because I had started to forget about it. Not a good thing.

Cesaro continues to destroy No Way Jose. Maybe he hates dancing like the preacher dad from Footloose.

War Raiders try to hospitalize two local talents. Watching these guys destroy teams is fun but I’m ready for a real feud.

The Bad:

Rey Mysterio returns....and gets destroyed by Black Chris Masters. Lashley coming back angry and killing somebody makes total sense. That guy being Mysterio makes no sense. This is why they employ Mojo, Titus, and the rest of the roster that runs through the crowd chasing the 24/7 champion. Bad form here. Rey losing to put guys over is fine at this stage of his career but it shouldn’t be in squash matches.

Shane and McIntyre segments where they interview backstage employees to be Roman’s partner. The Shane Troll Tour is the most boring thing about the product these days. There’s no faction, no real power. He just talks, sweats, and waits for McIntyre to hit somebody with a Claymore. It’s redundant, lame, and isn’t even getting proper heat anymore. There is a way out of this though. You can read about it Wednesday when I bring back One Chance In Hell to Fantasy book Extreme Rules.

The Man and The Man’s Man vs Vega and Andrade in whatever the hell a mixed tag elimination match is. God forbid we just have a straightforward match with four talented people. First of all, elimination match rules counteract the point of mixed tag rules. If a woman is eliminated, as Vega was, Becky has no one to wrestle, because by mixed tag rules, she isn’t allowed to compete with Andrade. Anarchy. Eventually it got to a surprisingly underwhelming and short bout between Andrade and Seth that ended with a stomp. Evans and Bartender Corbin meet the “power couple” on the stage and Becky eats a Woman’s Right that looked much better in slow motion than real time. For a go home build segment, this was meh at best.

The WTF:

The Maria and Mike Kanellis cuckold train rolls on. This is unwatchable. It really is. It’s catamount to Vince putting Trish Stratus on a chain in the Attitude Era. Think about this big picture and it makes even less sense. Maria is actually pregnant so she can’t even perform. So what’s the point in her trying to get any heat? Mike is a pretty talented performer who is being buried on a level that would make EC3 cringe. These two segments were actually worse than the Shane interviewing the janitors to be partners for Roman. That’s how awful it was. Scrap this immediately. It’s not going anywhere good.

The Beat the Clock Challenge. I’d have to check the archives, but I’m pretty sure I’ve said this arguably the worst match gimmick in the modern era. The opponents look like crap because they can’t possibly win, usually get buried, and the matches are rushed. Meanwhile it’s all so Nikki Cross can pick the stipulation for Bayley’s title defense against not Nikki Cross on Sunday. Is Dana Brooke a heel? No? Why is she using heel tactics to extend this match with Forrest Cross? Sarah Logan’s feral wolf gimmick is terrible. Can I like anything about this segment? Where the hell is Alexa? She’s in action about as much as Lesnar lately. Ok. Yes. The stipulation being 2-1 handicap opens a couple of possibilities. 1) Cross outright takes the pin fall costing Bliss her title opportunity and that starts her overdue feud with Alexa. 2) Cross beats Bayley and has to hand Bliss the title. Forrest can’t sit well with this for long. 3) the return of Sasha Banks. But if it isn’t to turn heel, destroy Bayley, and give us the lady Gargano/Ciampa feud we’ve been clamoring two years for, I’m not interested.

6 man 2 out of 3 falls trash fire. Elias inexplicably leaves after the first fall (which was a glorious SHATTER MACHINE), leaving Dash and Dawson to lose the next two falls to a superkick/splash/awful Samoan drop fest from the USOs and a nearly forgotten Miz. I genuinely like everyone that was in this match. I hated almost every second of it. A complete misuse of all the talent involved. And we saw the Pete Zacharine Snickers commercial 11 more times.

Graves interviews Becky and Seth backstage. I actively hate this “couples” push on tv. It’s awful. Becky’s personality is drowning Rollins’ character and the Universal Title feels like an afterthought. Lynch is even continuing to lose momentum. This is no bueno all around.

Had high hopes for a Heyman touched Go Home Show for Extreme Rules. I do think he is only partially involved due to the need to wrap up some of these stories, but this show fell way short of the high bar set last week. There were things to like but the bad stuff was pretty bad and made you forget the stuff you liked. Hogan comes out, delivers a paltry 1.75 Belt Whips to an unsuspecting Virgil who is just trying to eat his free breadsticks at the Olive Garden. Top Guy....OUT!

WWE NXT Takeover New York - Preview & Predictions

Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole – NXT World Championship 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match

And so it comes to this, the long and winding road to this main event with sadness along the way but lets focus on NXT’s biggest match of the weekend. And there’s no better place to start than going and watching the hype video the company have put together for it as its awesome!! Anytime they mix the in-ring work with the hype packages showing the guys working out in preparation give it all such a solid and real feel.

Bringing Adam Cole into this was a great choice, instead of hoping for certain reactions from the crowd insert Adam Cole and you know exactly what you’ll get, a solid heel vs a solid face. I see the other members of Undisputed Era appearing during the first fall and probably get thrown out after interfering, maybe have a ton of other NXT face’s come out to level the score and get them backstage.

Gargano deserves the chance, the opportunity and the crowning, to the NXT audience its inevitable from suffering at the hands of Tommaso Ciampa to his redemption to this point but lets all just forget the mixed reactions he was receiving due to the crowd not really wanting to boo him, forget it.

Personally, I don’t think its as straight forward as most feel, Gargano should win and then extend his NXT stay instead of getting the full-time call-up to Raw or Smackdown as those plans have just fell flat sadly. But, Adam Cole reigning over NXT with his group looking to take charge and win the other titles makes perfect sense too and sets them up for months with different guys challenging them.

I see Hunter wanting to go with the most emotional outcome for the crowd and that Johnny taking the win and the championship – GARGANO

Io Shirai vs Shayna Baszler (c) vs Bianca Belair vs Kairi Sane – NXT Women’s Championship Fatal Four-Way Match

This should be fun, interesting build to the match with Shayna having beat 2 out of the 3 opponents but does that mean anything in a fatal four way? Io has been pushed as the main threat with her being the only one not defeated by Shayna.

I could see any of the girls being the victor in this bout, but then other factors come into it such as will any of them be called upto the main roster next week as Shayna has been rumoured? Will they decide to have the women’s tag champs come to NXT to feud with the Sky Pirates, in which case they may not decide to put the belt on either of them at the moment. But honestly, I love all involved so whatever happens im up for, ill go with Belair taking the win, sets up them having Kairi vs Io for the number one contendership which will be sweet. And also if Shayna doesn’t get called up she’s set up for another title shot as Bianca couldn’t beat her one on one so that bout will have some already existing heat to it too – BELAIR

Pete Dunne (c) vs WALTER – WWE United Kingdom Championship Match

Will Dunnes over 680 day title reign come to an end tonight?

I think it has to happen, its going to feel really weird seeing it happen but this is the time for it to occur. Walter is the new big driving force of the NXT UK brand and will build and build on the work that Dunne has put together for everyone involved on this brand.

This should be a tough tough brawl with the crowd mega behind both guys, but, this bout NEEDED to be held infront of the UK audience. It’s a big shot on them that the biggest bout in NXT UK won’t be held for them instead its for a crowd overseas, I see them probably getting a rematch between the two at some point but that doesn’t help them in not seeing the match first.

The title change will occur, Walter will receive a great reaction to his crowning, Pete will then get a heartfelt response from them as well. Dunne SHOULD then appear on Smackdown during the upcoming draft for his big opportunity to continue, that’s why I say a rematch may happen at some point and most likely in the next few weeks before the draft happens – WALTER

War Raiders (c) vs Aleister Black & Ricochet – NXT Tag Team Championship Match

Another fun match expected here, no surprise this is NXT, but this one will be a straightforward match outcome. Black and Ricochet have already made the jump to the main roster being given the big focus, and are just ready now to be split on either show to kick start their singles careers on Raw or Smackdown.

One poor thing I will say about the brand is that the tag champions haven’t been too much of a focus since winning the titles, some of that is down to the Dusty Classic occurring, but at the same time they could have had some competitive matches in the mean-time but oh well.

Ricochet will bump like mad for the tag champions and it will be glorious. But again after the match we will see some emotional scenes as I see Black and Ricochet getting the goodbye treatment from the fans for leaving NXT – WAR RAIDERS

Velveteen Dream (c) vs Matt Riddle – NXT North American Championship Match

A great opportunity for Matt Riddle to ‘experience’ the Takeover stage for the second time and really receive the opportunity to let go and show what he can do for 10 minutes, and at the same time it allows Dream to develop his-self on the big stage.

I will say im not too sure how well these two will combine together in-ring I hope its great but not too sure, Riddle will still power through to something great though no worries there. In terms of the winner I see it being Dream but that will mean Riddle has to be beat which im not keen on just yet, I don’t think it will end in cheap fashion, so I guess Dream goes over clean – DREAM

 This should be another A class card from NXT Takeover, no chance Wrestlemania even gets close to the quality this show will produce this weekend.

I hope everyone enjoys the show and any surprise that may occur, also try not to take in too much wrestling this weekend. Its easy to over do it with how much content is available from EVERY company these next few days, but just think about it, in terms of content there’s tons of greatness around. Don’t feel obliged to have to watch it all, especially matches that haven’t been built well or have great wrestlers in them, show companies that you have the final say but watching the best of whats produced then make companies work harder to get us to watch everything they put on…….oh well I can hope

Bye for now

Andy

WrestleMania // G1 Supercard // NXT Takeover New York. All matches ranked by how hyped I am/how good they could be!

Pete Dunne (c) vs. Walter

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kofi Kingston

Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Seth Rollins

Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Dragon Lee vs. Bandido

Jay White (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada

Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair

Samoa Joe (c) vs. Rey Mysterio

Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Tony Nese

Jay Lethal (c) vs. Marty Scurll vs. Matt Taven

Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kota Ibushi

Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole

Will Ospreay (NEVER Openweight) vs. Jeff Cobb (ROH TV)

Velveteen Dream (c) vs. Matt Riddle

Honor Rumble

André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Bully Ray vs. Juice Robinson

Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) (IWGP) vs. Villain Enterprises (PCO and Brody King) (ROH) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Evil and Sanada) vs. The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe)

The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. Ricochet and Aleister Black vs. The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev

War Raiders (Hanson and Rowe) (c) vs. Aleister Black and Ricochet

Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Finn Bálor

Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Io Shirai vs. Bianca Belair vs. Kairi Sane

AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton

Rush vs. Dalton Castle

Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Kelly Klein

Shane McMahon vs. The Miz

Triple H vs. Batista

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

The Boss 'n' Hug Connection (Bayley and Sasha Banks) (c) vs. The Divas of Doom (Beth Phoenix and Natalya) vs. The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce) vs. Nia Jax and Tamina

WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal

Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin

Which matches are you looking forward to?

Which ones do you think are going to stink up New York?

It is the Wrestlemania weekend! That time of the year when we see wrestling everywhere. The first show is the NXT TakeOver: New York one.

Pre-Show

We got the final for the Million Dollars Challenge. The Golde Voice versus The Phenomenal, AJ Styles. It was the most faked video game match I’ve ever seen. AJ Styles didn’t do absolutely anything and was completely destroyed within minutes. Every contestant in the tournament would’ve been able to defeat him.

I know this was to give the million dollars to someone, but I expected AJ to actually play the game and pose a threat.

Main Show

NXT Tag Team Championships

The first match of the evening is for the NXT Tag Team Champions and we have the War Raiders defending against the team of Aleister Black and Ricochet.

Through a beautiful match, the War Raiders retained their belts. The best piece of the match, though, came at the end of it when the champions showed their respect towards the challengers.

Followed by the entire arena clapping on their feet, thanking them for their time in NXT now that they are going up for good.

North American Championship

This is a rivalry that goes beyond the WWE. Velveteen Dream has been constantly criticizing indie wrestlers and saying he is homegrown for the company. Now, he gets to face one of the indie superstars that were signed by the WWE when he faces Matt “The Bro” Riddle.

The match started with the entire arena cheering for both superstars, and being the showboats they both are, we got a competition. We start seeing a lot of control coming from the Bro. Velveteen was able to cause some damage; however, the entire match was Riddle’s.

In the end, when we thought Riddle had won via submission, Velveteen was able to roll and get the 3 count to retain. Did you notice how the main theme of this match was Velveteen screaming in pain? If you didn’t, you should click those images again.

Sportsmanship is also showcased here.

United Kingdom Championship

The monarch of NXT UK, the Bruiserweight, Pete Dunne is defending his title against The Ring General Walter. 685 days as the champion against a somewhat newcomer to NXT UK, yet a veteran in wrestling. Who wins?

It isn’t every day when you see Pete Dunne being dominated. Walter is the one able to do this. This is David vs Goliath, and for the first time in a while, Dunne is David. Pure power versus the most painful moves in the industry.

The match started to get balanced when the champ started applying all of his submission knowledge and started to inflict some damage on Walter’s fingers and head. He even hit the Bitter End and Walter was able to kick out.

Walter ended up with a superkick, followed by a super powerbomb and a top rope splash. He has defeated the champ to start a new era in NXT UK.

NXT Women’s Championship Fatal 4 Way

Shayna Baszler now defends the title against the best of the best. Io Shirai, Bianca Belair and Kairi Sane. We are certainly going to get a good match here. Multi-women matches in NXT have always been rather great, and with all the talent we have in here, we simply can’t blink.

This is sports entertainment when Io and Kairi start working together against Shayna and Bianca. Throughout the match, there’s so much action that the cameras can’t even follow it. There’s two women fighting in the ring, the others fighting at ringside. We can only go by what the announcers are saying.

We see the finishers for everyone. Io Shirai almost pins the champion, but Kairi had to intervene. Then, Io intervened when Kairi almost pinned the champion. Bianca hit her finisher on both, Io and Kairi at the same time. All of this to get Shayna’s submission on, and the champion retains.

Main Event: 2 out of 3 Falls for the NXT Championship

After Tommaso Ciampa had to relinquish his NXT Championship, there were only two superstars up to take that belt: Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole.

The crowd is going crazy about Adam Cole. We start the match with Gargano having the upper hand until Adam Cole starts countering. Soon enough, Adam Cole gets the first fall through a pin count. Quite fast, Gargano made Adam Cole tap out. Now it is time for the real match to start.

The match goes on until Gargano is about to submit Cole again, at that point the Undisputed Era comes to their leader’s aid. We see the usual distracting the referee, attacking the face and getting the heel to pin the opponent. This time, though, Johnny Gargano kicked out. He went against all odds, attacking everyone until he got Adam Cole to tap out.

We have a new NXT Champion in Johnny Gargano now, and even Ciampa came out to congratulate his former teammate.

This is the perfect ending for a perfect night. Vince should certainly start taking Triple H’s ideas for the main roster, because NXT has consistently been bringing the highest quality matches and storylines.

#NXTTakeOver New York: The Real #Wrestlemania #WWE #NXT #NXTUK It is the Wrestlemania weekend! That time of the year when we see wrestling everywhere. The first show is the…

My NXT Takeover: New York Predictions

NXT Tag Team Titles : War Raiders (c) Vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet

WWE United Kingdom Title: Pete Dunne (c) Vs. WALTER 

NXT North American Title: Velveteen Dream (c) Vs. Matt Riddle

NXT Women's Title: Shayna Baszler (c) Vs. Io Shirai Vs. Kairi Sane Vs. Bianca Belair

NXT Title - 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match: Johnny Gargano Vs. Adam Cole 

Wrestlemania XXXV Predictions.

Yeah, yeah, they don’t use the Roman numerals anymore. They don’t even use regular numerals. Humor me, it’s out of habit. I actually watched most of NXT Takeover last night, mostly live. I’m still not entirely sold on Blackochet or Matt Riddle, but the War Raiders and Velveteen Dream are the tittyballs and so were both matches. I fell asleep during the UK Championship match and intended to finish the show this morning, but then the results were spoiled for me by Cageside Seats in article headlines. Weak sauce, gentlemen. The weakest of sauces. Oh well, I’ll finish the show eventually. Anyway, with a 42 match card, the pre-show is liable to start any minute now so I better get these predictions up before all the poor souls in New Jersey (I’m sorry, I meant “New York”) start freezing their asses off. Let’s get prognosticating, shall we? Fabulous Moolah Memorial Women’s Battle Royale Totally not promoting human trafficking since 2018. Who won last year, Naomi? It’ll be tough to live up to those standards. I’ll go with Lacey Evans as the winner, because I’m sure that makes sense as a payoff to her coming out, doing nothing, turning around and walking to the back in Crazy Uncle Vinny’s mind. It’d be nice to give Asuka something after her seemingly random dethroning, but Lacey seems more predictably random. Cruiserweight Championship: Tony Nese vs. Buddy Murphy (c.) 205 Dead Crowd. I watched the Cruiserweight match from the Rumble pre-show the other day, and Buddy Murphy seems like a pretty good wrestleperson. Let’s say he retains, because he’s marrying Alexa Bliss and the company still loves her even though she’ll probably never wrestle again. Andre Roussimoff Memorial Battle Royale (ARMBaR) Just look what it did for Mojo Rawley! How can they make up for having Braun Strowman win the tag titles with a ten year old last year? Have him feud with two schmucks from Saturday Night Live so WWE can end up on a legitimate sports program the next morning! So either he wins, or after he eliminates the aforementioned schmucks he eliminates himself and chases them to the back leaving it open for (randomly points at list of entrants with eyes closed) Curtis Axel to win. Side thought: I think next year they should bring back Nicholas and rehire Matt Striker, putting them against the Bar, the Usos and the New Day. Striker can tutor the kid on the road, and putting them over the entire division will really solidify Nicholas’ legacy as an undefeated two-time tag team champion. Raw Tag Team Championships: Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins vs. the Revival (c.) The Battle of the WWE Random Name Generator Recipients! ...good lord, they’re actually giving the Edgeheads a Mania match? For the titles? I know the belts don’t matter and that maybe a dozen people give a rat’s ass about both teams combined, but still - Ryder and Hawkins’ whole shtick is that they never win. That ALWAYS gets over. So obviously they have to win here to get their “Wrestlemania Moment,” in their “home state” of “New York.” Smackdown Tag Team Championships: Nakamusev vs. the Bar vs. Blackochet vs. the Usos (c.) Aren’t I so witty with my portmanteau tag team names? I’m glad Wikipedia exists to not only tell me all 107 matches, but to remind me that yes, the Usos are tag champs again. What with them losing in Brooklyn, I expect Black and Ricochet to win the titles to start off their big show (no, not that one) debut with a bang and to finally tie them to Smackdown instead of Raw. they’ll have better matches on that show anyway. Or the Usos retain because they’re related to the Rock, who cares. Shane McMahon vs. the Miz Because Super Shane needs to get his annual hyperventilating stunt show in. God bless the Miz, he may be the best company man since John Cena for doing whatever stupid shit they come up with for him. Case in point: this fucking match. Does anyone besides Shane or Vince give two shits about this? Logic says the Miz wins because he’s (somehow) the babyface, so I’ll say Shane wins and the Miz’s dad hugs him afterwards because even though his son main evented Wrestlemania and defeated John Cena (there he is again) and got married to a smokin’ hot model and had a kid, NOW he’s finally proud of him because he put up a valiant effort against the 50 year old son of the owner of the company. Women’s Tag Team Championships: the IIconics vs. Nia Jax and Tamina vs. Beth Phoenix and Natalya vs. the Boss n’ Hug Connection (c.) Who’s got the worse name, the Australians or the champions? I guess Trish and Lita said no, so they dusted Beth Phoenix off and pretend she’s important enough to justify her Hall of Fame induction. Nia and Tamina suck, Billie and Peyton don’t matter, Beth won’t be around the next day and I can’t see them changing the titles so soon after creating them. Bayley and Sasha retain. Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin John Cena Oh, shut up. You know it’s going to happen. Cena beats up Corbin on the way to the ring, spouts some jargon about hustling respect loyally, he drags Angle through three minutes of suck hoping he doesn’t accidentally kill him, somebody wins and they both go away. (Flips a coin) Cena wins, LOL. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton Fighting because reasons! Um... let’s say AJ wins, because Orton is a made man and they wanna thank AJ for not leaving for All Elite Wrestling (what a terrible name). Christ, how many pointless matches could they trim to make this a show of reasonable length? Not everybody needs a Wrestlemania payday... do those even exist anymore with the Network? United States Championship: Rey Mysterio vs. Samoa Joe (c.) I’ve got nothing sarcastic to say about this match, I’m actually looking forward to it somewhat. Rey Mysterio can still go, and although people say Joe has lost a step since coming to WWE I’m actually a bigger fan of him now than ever. I think he’s benefited a lot from having to tone it down and only do two or three big spots in matches as opposed to a billion, although whether that’s due to the restrictions of the “WWE Style” or age/injuries is up for debate (I felt the same about Cesaro slowing it down going from Ring of Honor to WWE). Rey can survive a loss here and I think they wanna get as much out of Joe while they still can, so he retains. WWE Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. the New Daniel Bryan (c.) Remember when the “World” title wasn’t likely to be in the middle of the show? As much as I’d hate to see the Hempyweight Championship belt go (and no matter what it’ll eventually have to), I think the crowd would riot if Kofi didn’t win. So I reckon Kofi wins, then Big E. and Xavier turn on him right afterwards to piss the crowd off right after throwing them a bone. Y’know what? I think it would be interesting to see a riot at a wrestling show. Fans have threatened it with signs ever since Cena vs. Van Dam, but we’ve never actually seen one. It’d certainly be a “Wrestlemania Moment.” Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre Yay, Roman’s back! And he’s not in the main event again! Yet! I’m as glad as anyone that Reigns seems to have beaten leukemia, but the entire feud with Drew seems like something they threw together at the last minute because they didn’t expect him to come back so soon. I can never tell if they’re behind Drew or not, they seem to change their minds every other week. Roman wins, obviously, then probably goes right back into the Universal title picture. Triple H vs. Batista The epic final battle between Drax the Destroyer and whatever Triple H’s character was called in Blade 3. I’m interested in this match due to sheer sideshow curiosity. Big Dave hasn’t wrestled in however long, and last time Hunter wrestled he ripped a titty off his chest in the beginning of the match. I have enough faith that’ll it be something watchable at least, Triple H’s match with Angle and Rousey was good last year. Batista wins and rides off into the sunset, and Trips “retires” for about a year. Let’s give it a year and a half if we’re being generous. Universal Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar (c.) Prediction for number of German suplexes: 11. Now this one is a sticky wicket. On the one hand, it’d be nice to have the Rumble winner, y’know, win, and have someone with the belt who’ll be around every week. On the other hand, I’m sure Vince is already salivating over the thought of Roman conquering the unstoppable once every four months onslaught of Brock Lesnar. On the THIRD hand, they did make a t-shirt for Rollins that says “Beastslayer” which would be completely pointless to peddle at shows if he lost. I’ll go out on a limb and pick Lesnar, but whoever wins is getting Roman as a challenger  Intercontinental Championship: Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley (c.) Can we get this show over with already? I’m already bored just writing about it. The Demon wins back the title that he just lost for no reason a few weeks ago, Lio Rush probably gets beat up and the crowd continues to go mild for Bobby Lashley. Next. Women’s Championship, winner takes all: Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (c., Smackdown) vs. Ronda Rousey (c., Raw) Becky. Becky, Becky, Becky. Wait, I have to say something other than that about the match? The build for this has been all over the place. Becky taps to Asuka at the Rumble, then takes Lana’s spot to win the Rumble match itself. Becky’s suspended, but she’s on every show anyway. Then she’s not suspended, she and Ronda break the fourth wall on Twitter, Charlotte replaces Becky, then she wins the Smackdown belt from Asuka and it’s a triple threat, and my God I think I’ve gone cross eyed. Who wins will really depend on where they place this match on the card. I know they’ve said it’ll be the “main event,” and if it truly goes on last then they’d be insane not to give it to Becky. I’ve been trying to reasonably predict the order in which the matches will take place. BUT... we all know WWE has been saying double main event, triple main event, whatever for years. If it DOESN’T go on last, it’s probably gonna be Charlotte. She’s already beaten Trish’s record for number of Women’s title reigns, and lord knows WWE wants to make her seem like the best at everything due to her name. I’ll (perhaps foolishly) put all my chips on Becky, but won’t be surprised in the least if it’s Charlotte. Oh yeah, Ronda’s in the match too. How ‘bout that. *whew* So yeah, sixteen matches on what’s liable to be a seven hour show. I’m likely to watch it in spurts, because A) my TV is always at the risk of being hijacked by a six year old, and 2) I’m going to fall asleep if I try to watch it all in one shot. I won’t be drinking, because I’d rather fall asleep due to boredom rather than alcohol consumption this year. I almost don’t want the women’s match to go last, because the crowd will be fucking exhausted by then. Of the sixteen matches, I’m confident about half will be good. So there’s that. We’ll have a couple overblown entrances, some forced “Wrestlemania Moments,” the possibility for an entertaining car wreck or two, maybe an Undertaker appearance. This is the first year though where I’m sort of dreading the Grandest Stage of the Showcase of the Immortally Ultimate Thrill Ride in twenty years of fandom, and that’s pretty disheartening. That Takeover sure was something though, wasn’t it?

Quick TakeOver Thoughts:

The tag team opening was hot. Not taking anything away from the War Raiders but i’m sad UE lost because that means no more Kyle guitar. I hope that Vince was watching and taking notes on how to book a tag team match and division because that match between Undisputed Era and War Raiders is EVERYTHING that a tag team match should be, unlike the trash division we got on RAW. 

Nothing to note about Matt Riddle vs Kassius Ohno. I didn’t really think nothing much of it as there wasn’t anything special about it.

Johnny vs Ricochet deserves 5 stars but also ALL THE STARS. I don’t give a shit about Meltzer or his stupid star ratings he gives matches but if he doesn’t give them 5 stars then he truly is wildin’.

Bianca vs Shayna was good. I was rooting so damn hard for Bianca to win the title but I just knew that Shayna would retain. Also Sam Roberts? He can go fuck himself for what he said about Bianca on the kickoff show. She more than proved that she was ready to be on a TakeOver. Not only that but also put up a good fight against Shayna despite losing. 

Ciampa and Black was awesome, especially the last 5-10 minutes.

HEEL DIY AT LAST???? WHEWWWWWW but I honestly don’t see them lasting long together which I’ll get into another post.

Watch WWE NXT TakeOver: Phoenix 2019 1/26/19

TItel: The Biggest TV Shows To Watch In 2019 Leave BlankEvery January, the Royal Rumble stands out as one of WWE's biggest and more important events of the year. It's the beginning of the road to Wrestlemania and helps to set the tone for how the rest of the year will play out. The annual spectacle has some serious competition this year, though, thanks to NXT. Each time the developmental brand airs one of its TakeOver events on the WWE Networ, it has the chance of surpassing the main roster's product in terms of excitement and quality--and the next event, TakeOver Phoenix, is no different.This is the third time NXT has presented a TakeOver the night before the Royal Rumble, and with all of the brand's championship titles on the line, it has the makings of a historic event. Among the high-profile matches on the card is Tommaso Ciampa defending the NXT Championship against Aleister Black, and Bianca Belair attempting to best reigning NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler.

DATE: January 26, 2018

CITY: TALKING STICK RESORT ARENA

VENUE:PHOENIX, AZ Watch Aleister Black vs. Tommaso Ciampa - NXT TakeOver Live Streaming

Also in action are Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong of the Undisputed Era, defending their NXT Tag Team Championships against the War Raiders, as well as Johnny Gargano fighting Ricochet for the NXT North American Championship. Interestingly, there are some major names missing from the TakeOver card, including Velveteen Dream and Undisputed Era leader Adam Cole. While that might be a hint at their involvement in the Royal Rumble, it's entirely possible they'll make some sort of impact during TakeOver. NXT TakeOver Phoenix airs live on the WWE Network on Saturday, January 26 at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT. A kickoff show will begin one hour prior. Make sure to check out the full card for the event below, as well as our predictions for    WWE's NXT TakeOver Phoenix: Match Card, Date, And How To Watch The 2019 Event

//Alright, so because I’m too lazy to tweet these, and also I can’t just pick one because everyone on the brand is great. Who I think should win the NXT Year End Awards are the following: (going under a read more)

Female Competitor of the Year: 

Nikki Cross, Shayna Baszler, Kairi Sane, Ember Moon, and Bianca Belair

it’s a toss-up between Bianca Belair, Kairi Sane, & Shayna Baszler... but all of the women up for the vote were amazing. Albeit some caveats; Ember had a great start on NXT, but her main roster run the rest of the year was lackluster. However, I’m gonna have to say... 

The Pirate Princess, herself, Kairi Sane

Male Competitor of the Year: 

Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Ricochet, Aleister Black, Velveteen Dream, Andrade “Cien” Almas, Adam Cole, and Pete Dunne

All of the men in this category were amazing. Albeit some caveats, like with Ember, Andrade had a great start on NXT, but the main roster run for him has been lackluster. However, my being is leading me to say: 

The Greatest Sports Entertainer of All Time... Tommaso Ciampa

Overall Competitor of the Year: 

Tommaso Ciampa, Nikki Cross, Johnny Gargano, Ricochet, Shayna Baszler, Aleister Black, Kairi Sane, Velveteen Dream, Andrade “Cien” Almas, Ember Moon, Adam Cole, Pete Dunne, and Bianca Belair

JOHNNY WRESTLING... JOHNNY TAKEOVER... JOHNNY BADASS... JOHNNY GARGANO; whatever name you want to call the man. But his 2018 was phenomenal all year, and his character arc of going from the most beloved babyfaces on the NXT brand to embracing his darker side was the single greatest character arc from any WWE and NXT superstar.

NXT Tag Team of the Year: 

Undisputed ERA, War Raiders, Street Profits, Heavy Machinery, Lorcan/Burch, and Moustache Mountain

Undisputed ERA

NXT TakeOver of the Year: 

Takeover: Philly, Takeover: New Orleans, Takeover: Chicago 2, Takeover: Brooklyn 4, and Takeover: War Games

TakeOver: Brooklyn 4

NXT Match of the Year: 

WarGames – WarGames Match (TakeOver: WarGames) GarganoAlmas – Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas (NXT Championship Match, TakeOver: Philadelphia) NXTTags – Moustache Mountain vs. Undisputed ERA (NXT Tag Team Championship Match, NXT TV, July 11, 2018) GarganoCiampa – Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (Unsanctioned Match, TakeOver: New Orleans) NATitle – NXT North American Championship Ladder Match (TakeOver: New Orleans) SaneBaszler – Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT Women’s Championship Match, TakeOver: Brooklyn IV) RicochetDream – Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream (TakeOver: Chicago) CiampaBlack – Aleister Black vs. Tommaso Ciampa (NXT Championship Match, NXT TV, July 25) DunneGibson – Pete Dunne vs. Zack Gibson (WWE U.K. Championship Match, NXT TV, Aug. 22) ColeBlack – Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole (Extreme Rules Match, TakeOver: Philadelphia) DunneOReilly – Pete Dunne vs. Kyle O’Reilly (WWE U.K. Championship Match, NXT TV, June 13) ERABurchLorcan – Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan vs. Undisputed ERA (TakeOver: Chicago) CrossBelair – Nikki Cross vs. Bianca Belair (NXT TV, Sept. 12) ChampvsChamp – Ricochet vs. Pete Dunne (NXT North American Champion vs. WWE U.K. Champion Match, NXT TV, Sept. 19) NATitleTripleThreat – Ricochet vs. Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole (NXT North American Championship Triple Threat Match, NXT TV, Oct. 10)

It’s a toss-up for me between Moustache Mountain vs. Undisputed ERA and the Ciampa vs. Black and Sane vs. Baszler

NXT Rivalry of the Year: 

Gargano/Ciampa, Sane/Baszler, Black/Gargano/Ciampa/NikkiCross (even though this is a subset of the Gargano/Ciampa feud), Gargano/Almas, Undisputed ERA/Moustache Mountain, Ember Moon/Shayna Baszler, and Ricochet/Velveteen Dream

Gargano and Ciampa, but also the Sane and Baszler rivalry was a good one as well.

Breakout Star of the Year:

Bianca “UN-DE-FEA-TED” Belair, Lacey Evans, Rhea Ripley, Dakota Kai, Lars Sullivan, Ricochet, War Raiders, and EC3

It’s a toss-up between Bianca and Ricochet. 

Future Star of NXT: 

Matt Riddle, Keith Lee, Mia Yim, The Forgotten Sons, Dominik Dijakovic, Io Shirai, Candice LeRae, Jessamyn Duke & Marina Shafir, and Kona Reeves

Matt Riddle, Mia Yim, or Io Shirai

NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV Predictions

NXT is currently a great place to be a heel right now, and I predict it's probably gonna stay that way for the most part. Not really that exciting of a card for me.

Singles Match - Velveteen Dream vs. EC3 Prediction: Velveteen Dream

Velveteen Dream is in a weird place. Ever since the feud with Aleister Black, which was really good, I feel like he's just been sort of floating near the top but never able to break through. I think EC3 is a fun character, and I think they can pull this off that he looks good in defeat. I want Velveteen Dream to get some real title opportunities.

UK Championship - Pete Dunne [C] vs. Zack Gibson Prediction: Pete Dunne

I don't know who Zack Gibson is.

NA Championship - Adam Cole [C] vs. Ricochet Prediction: Adam Cole

Tag Team Championship - Undisputed Era [C] vs. Moustache Mountain Prediction: Undisputed Era

I'm going to be honest, I think Undisputed Era as a unit is super boring. It's just a bunch of bland nobodies hanging out together, trying to make their names famous. I want to see them lose the gold, but honestly I don't know where they go from there. Adam Cole could probably do fine solo, but I feel like the rest of them would be dead on arrival on Raw or Smackdown.

That being said, I think they should lose all the belts simultaneously, but I don't think Ricochet + Moustache Mountain is the combo to do it. However, Velveteen Dream + War Raiders...

Women's Championship - Shayna Baszler [C] vs. Kairi Sane Prediction: Kairi Sane

I think she can do it. It has to be Kairi.

Men's Championship - Tommaso Ciampa [C] vs. some idiot Prediction: Tommaso Ciampa

Johnny Gargano is an entitled, selfish, hotshot loser who thinks everything is about him. But what has he really even done to deserve any title shot he's been given?

He showed up after NXT TakeOver: Chicago all doe-eyed, claiming to be Mr. Wrestling, and he beat Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli, two people who everyone beats. But then at Brooklyn III, he lost to Andrade 'Cien' Almas. And after that? He lost to Almas again. He didn't even make it on the main card for WarGames, although he was gifted a title shot against Pete Dunne, which he lost. And yet, he was rewarded again, with an opportunity to compete in the #1 contender's tournament. He had a sour victory over Ohno, and then took advantage of an interference to win an NXT title shot against Almas at Philadelphia. Spoilers: He lost. But still, he demanded more opportunities. He didn't just lose a match this time; no, he lost his job. But it was still all about him. He was gifted the main event of New Orleans, despite not even working for NXT. One victory later, he thinks he deserves a title shot. And when the poor thing doesn't get what he wants, he goes on a rampage, putting his family, his career, his life at risk. He lost at Chicago II, he cost Aleister Black the title, but yet still thinks he deserves a title shot.

Here are the facts: • Johnny Gargano is entitled, being gifted opportunities over other superstars who honestly deserve it more. • Johnny Gargano is selfish, making the title reigns of Almas, Black, and Ciampa all about his little fairy tale. • Johnny Gargano is a hotshot, thinking he's better than everyone else and the definition of wrestling. • But above all else, Johnny Gargano is a loser.

Tommaso Ciampa was always right. He never gave up on the NXT Universe like they gave up on him. In fact, he made them his theme song.

For Ciampa, this is his moment, not anyone else's. He shouldn't have to be a bit player in anyone else's fantasy.

Oh, and bonus prediction: Of course it was Gargano who attacked Aleister Black in the parking lot.