Takeover Toronto is the first NXT show from Canada. It currently features 5 matches, 3 being title matches, one is the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Classic and the other is a grudge match between two Canadians. Let's get into it!
Tye Dillinger will face Bobby Roode in a match featuring two of Canada's favorite and most over stars. This is a big match for both men. Dillinger has been in this position before; facing a new NXT star om a Takeover. He faced Apollo Crews and Andrade Cien Almas in matches at Takeover before, losing both of course. For Roode, this is his first big feud in NXT and his first big match. He won in Brooklyn against Almas but that didn't have the build or feel compared to this match. Roode lives in Toronto as well so I expect his reaction to be insanely loud or dare I say, GLORIOUS!. Roode hasn't lost yet and wouldn't be hurt from a roll up win from Dillinger so I think that's the way to go. Give Dillinger a cheap victory, keep the feud going and keep Roode looking good.
In an anticipated rematch from Takeover Brooklyn II, The Revival will defend the NXT Tag Team Titles against DIY, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano in a 2/3 Falls match. Their Brooklyn match continued to raise the bar for the tag division, which in my opinion, has always been the weakest of the three major divisions. American Alpha and The Revival had a couple classic matches from Takeover Dallas and Takeover The End. The Revival is easily the best team in the entire WWE and can wrestle with the best of them. When a team gets so good, it's time to call them up on the main roster. While I think The Revival will have to wait until Mania season, I think this is the end of their run as tag team champions. Gargano and Ciampa have now signed contracts with WWE so it's way more likely they'll win the titles now. I like both guys and if they aren't going to be apart of the NXT Title picture, which I'm a bit shocked they aren't. then the tag titles are the next best thing, especially with all the teams they can face. TM-61, Sanity, The Authors of Pain, whatever random pairing they can find, etc. DIY as champions is just the right move here. I'm going with DIY to finally win the titles and the match going the full three falls. This is going to be a show stealer.
As we wait for the inevitable classic that will be Asuka VS Ember Moon, Asuka will make a quick random defense against the returning Mickie James. This was a big shocker but it's one the division needed. No offense to Liv Morgan, Aliyah, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, but as of right now, none of those girls against Asuka scream a Takeover match. That was my biggest fear of The Four Horsewomen leaving NXT. The huge void they left is impossible to fill so they had to get a former Women's Champion to help sell the event. Not a bad idea, especially since Mickie has been consistently working around the world. This will be a great match. Mickie was one of the few stars of the Divas division post Trish and Lita. This match though is all about putting Asuka over and if reports are to be believed, it's to put Asuka over as a heel to set up for the Ember Moon match, hopefully around Wrestlemania weekend. It was originally suppose to be Trish VS Asuka, which would have been very easy to get Asuka over as the heel, since the show is in Trish's hometown. Mickie might be a bit harder but I trust WWE has a plan. Asuka retains obviously in a war. Asuka VS Ember Moon is in sight.
The 2nd annual Dusty Rhodes Classic will come to an end when TM-61 will face The Authors of Pain to crown the winner of the tournament. Kudos for WWE for having the final two teams actually be real tag teams. You'll remember last year the finals were contested between Finn Balor and Samoa Joe VS Baron Corbin and Rhyno while The Revival and American Alpha lost in the semi finals? Anyway, this should be a good one. AOP can be pushed into having a good match as the semi final against DIY was surprisingly good. TM-61 will put on a great performance and make the monsters look human but I don't think it will be enough. I'm going with The Authors of Pain to win the Dusty Classic and win what I expect to be a future tag team title shot against DIY, probably Royal Rumble weekend.
The main event is rematch of the main event from Takeover Brooklyn II. Shinsuke Nakamura will make his 1st defense of the NXT Championship when he faces former champion Samoa Joe. Like many that has come before him, this has all the feel as Joe final feud before going to the main roster. It's almost Wrestlemania season and with the Royal Rumble being in front of the biggest audience since 1997, I expect the show to have its surprises, one being the debut of Samoa Joe on the main roster. Maybe...regardless, there's nothing left for Joe to do, unless he's going to feud with Austin Aries, Roderick Strong or Hideo Itami, all would be killer mid card feuds for the brand. It will be a great match and hard hitting like the last one and maybe even another jaw breaking moment, but I think it will be the beginning of the end for Joe. Nakamura will win and retain, maybe moving onto Itami or Roode next.
Takeover Toronto should be another great show for the brand. An epic rematch, an unexpected but welcome return and another expected tag team classic between The Revival and DIY make for a must see event. Let's move onto Survivor Series.
This is the first Survivor Series in Canada since 1997. We all remember what happened that night correct? 6 matches are on the FOUR hour show, two being inter-promotional title matches with huge implications, three are inter-promotional classic elimination style matches for bragging rights and one is the 'mega' main event 14 years in the making no one wanted but is happening to promote a video game that was released last month. Let's go!
Brian Kendrick has a huge responsibility on Sunday as he faces Smackdown's Kalisto for the Cruiserweight Title and the ENTIRE division so, if Kalisto can manage to win, not only does he win the title, he brings all the cruiserweights over to Smackdown. And isn't it funny that there is a NEW Cruiserweight show coming on Tuesdays at 10PM on the WWE Network? You know what else is on Tuesdays? SMACKDOWN. This is a no brainer people. Smackdown will use the Cruiserweights better than Raw ever did and their own show on the network will be amazing. It will be like the Cruiserweight Classic all over again! Maybe...Regardless, Kalisto wins and takes the title and division to Smackdown. Plus, they could use some of those guys on the show. I mean, Styles vs Alexander? Come on, that's a Ring of Honor fan's dream!
In what will indeed be one of the longest matches on the show, Raw's top teams will face Smackdown's top teams in a 10 on 10 ELIMINATION match. That's team captains The New Day with four teams in Gallows and Anderson, Enzo and Cass, The Shining Stars and Sheamus and Cesaro, facing team captains Heath Slater and Rhyno with their fours teams in The Usos, American Alpha, The Hype Bros and Breezango. Smackdown should just win for having more tag teams with actual team names. Anyway, this should be very interesting and if it's the first one of the night, which it definitely should be, then it will set the tone for the rest of the matches. I'm really looking forward to seeing The New Day and American Alpha mix it up, specifically Big E and Jason Jordan. The New Day are the superior team in the WWE right now and I think that alone will propel them to victory over the Team Smackdown. I'm going with Kofi and Big E being the sole survivors as well. Kofi has done it before and that was against two former World Champions in CM Punk and Randy Orton. Team New Day, or sorry ,Team Raw wins.
Originally, it was going to be a fantastic clash between Dolph Ziggler and Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship and it would definitely been the match of the night but unfortunately, The Miz defeated Ziggler for the championship five days before the show on the 900th episode of Smackdown, making him a 6 TIME IC Champion, joining some elite company as him, Jeff Jarrett and Rob Van Dam are the only superstars to hold the title six times while Jericho is still at the top with 9 different reigns. Regardless, why ruin such an amazing dream match? Well, probably because the crowd was going to be behind Zayn so much. He resides from Canada after all remember? WWE realized that and decided to go with the traditional face VS heel match and it's hard to disclaim Miz as WWE's top heel right now. So this is how this is going down, although a Triple Threat would be the best option, I think WWE will hold onto that gem of a match. Ziggler will get involved in this match somehow, probably to cancel out the Maryse or Spirit Squad factor, which will lead to Zayn getting the victory and winning the title. Sami Zayn damn sure deserves a reign with the title. He's put on 3 of the best matches this year. He's an MVP for WWE and he needs the title so he can continue to elevate his game. Having Zayn win here will cause a problem between Miz and Ziggler, as both are contracted rematch clauses so WWE can either have Zayn defend against either Miz and Ziggler individually at TLC and Roadblock or the better option, defend it against the both of them in a Ladder match at TLC. Sami Zayn will win the Intercontinental Championship. Don't sleep on this match people. Miz has been putting on great matches as well.
The women will also take part in the brand warfare in a massive five on five elimination match as well. Team captain Charlotte along with Nia Jax, Alicia Fox, Bayley and Sasha Banks will face Team captain Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Naomi and Carmella with team coach Natalya at ring side. I personally want Smackdown to lose because they have Nikki as team captain over the actual Smackdown Women's Champion. It's offensive as EVERY other team as the champion of the division as their captain but Smackdown had the nerve to have a match to determine who would be the captain. Anyway, this is going to be GOOD! Sasha will get to mix it up with Alexa while real life friends Bayley and Carmella will get to wrestle one another. There's alot of good match ups here. The Raw team is just way to strong looking to lose here. I mean, they have three former women's champions on the team, four if you count the NXT women's title. Smackdown's team is a team of the future. Bliss, Naomi and Carmella will all be women's champion one day, Bliss probably sooner than you think. With Raw being such a stronger team, I believe they will win. I think some type of combination of the Four Horsewomen will survive. Nikki will be eliminated next to last but Becky will remain. I don't know if it will be one on one with Charlotte, Bayley or Sasha, but it will come down to some type of match up between them, maybe even 2 on 1. Team Raw will win.
The main event of the show will definitely be Brock Lesnar VS Goldberg, which would mean part timer Brock has main evented TWO of the four big events. Lesnar's other two one on one matches this year have been pretty boring. His No Holds Barred match with Ambrose was lackluster and his fight with Orton was not worthy of the main event position. Now, he's facing a 50 year old in his first match in 14 years?
Lesnar wins but I don't really care about the match. It could shock me but I just beg that Canada crucifies the match. Chant for Nakamura please!
The REAL main event, in my eyes only because Lesnar/Goldberg is Vince's wet dream, it will be the ultimate battle for brand supremacy as Team Raw's top five guys will face Team Smackdown's top five guys. It will feature WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens, his best friend and Raw MVP Chris Jericho, United States Champion Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman facing WWE World Champion AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and Smackdown Commissioner Shane McMahon. So you got Owens, Styles, Rollins, Ambrose, Reigns, Orton, Wyatt, Storwman, Jericho, Shane, YOU NAME IT!
Sorry about that. ANYWAY, WWE has held nothing back in this match, putting both World Champions in to beef it up. Shane's inclusion is still a mystery to me. Baron Corbin was a good fit for the team but there's still time for a late minute change. What if The Undertaker replaced Shane? He is back and after Braun ran through Shane on Raw, he could still have nagging injuries you know? This is going to have some great match ups. Styles/Rollins is the one I'm most excited for. It's another ROH dream match. Obviously a Wyatt/Strowman showdown will happen and Reigns/Ambrose will clash in another Survivor Series. You probably remember those two last year competing for their first World Title against each in the main event. This will be a long one. I already gave the nod to Raw for the other two elimination matches so I have no choice but to give Smackdown this one. I've been hearing rumors of them turning Styles face an if they want to go that route, they can start here. They could have Reigns, Rollins and Owens remaining and just have them beating up Styles but he finds a way to win and be the sole survivor. Or maybe not. If Smackdown does win, Styles will be the reason why, not Ambrose. I got Team Smackdown winning the massive main event with Styles being the sole survivor. Then, after he defeats Ambrose at TLC and either Orton or Taker will be waiting next, either being a huge Royal Rumble title defense.
TLC is next and it's two weeks after Survivor Series then Roadblock is up TWO weeks after TLC. We all get a nice little break afterwards as we build towards the Royal Rumble in January. Can't wait until the weekend!
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