It's another busy weekend for WWE as they will be hosting two major live events. Fresh off of Takeover Orlando last month, the NXT crew rushes to do another Takeover, this time in Chicago. Smackdown has their first solo PPV in three months with Backlash. Let's talk each. First, starting with Takeover Chicago.
There are five matches on the card, four title matches, featuring the first defense of the United Kingdom Championship on a Takeover event and the last remaining member of the NXT 5 getting a shot at the NXT Title. It should be a great event from top to bottom so let's talk!
Roderick Strong will face Eric Young in a match that's been brewing since Strong helped Tye in his battle with Sanity. Now that Tye is on the main roster, Young needed a new target. Strong and Young are still looking to get into the ever elusive main event picture and a win here could propel them closer to the picture. Strong was very close to beating Itami so it seems a shot at the title might be coming pretty soon. I'm going with Strong for the win here. Hopefully he'll have back up for when the rest of Sanity attacks.
The match I'm most looking forward to is the rematch from the finals of the United Kingdom Championship Tournament back in January. The UK Champion Tyler Bate will defend against Pete Dunne. Pete Dunne is the perfect heel for the whole UK title picture. He exudes everything you could want in a heel and will get people to hate him very easily. Bate winning the tournament was nice as he overcame the odds but it's now time for a strong heel to carry the upcoming brand as the weekly show is drawing near. This really should be a show stealer. I'm going with Pete Dunne to win here and avenge his loss from January. The rematch? Save it for the first episode of the UK show or Takeover Brooklyn III. Dunne wins the UK Title.
#DIY will get their rematch at the NXT Tag Titles when they challenge The Authors of Pain in the first ever NXT Tag Team Championship Ladder match. This will be a fun match, one that will feature the best spots of the show. Gargano and Ciampa will put on an amazing effort but the next feud for the titles is already in the works. The massive team of Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight, Heavy Machinery, have called their claim at the titles. HM are the only team size wise that could give them a run for their money. This would then allow Sanity to get in the title picture as well. AOP may be at a disadvantage in this match type but they will prevail. This will probably be the end of #DIY as I think it's time for them both to have singles runs. Authors of Pain retain the titles.
Asuka will look to continue her year plus title reign and undefeated streak going when she defends against Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot in a Triple Threat for the NXT Women's Title, the first of its kind. Ember Moon got injured and had to leave the match. This works out much better in her favor. Ember was never going to win here as I think Moon would have had the match won and Asuka would have stolen the victory, setting up for their inevitable clash at Takeover Brooklyn III, which would see Ember Moon finally overcome Asuka. Now, the plans have changed. Asuka will still win, convincingly, and once Ember is healthy, the match will be back on. With the rumors of WWE signing some major Japanese women talent, such as Kairi Hojo and Io Shirai, will WWE wait until they are available for Asuka to drop it? Time will tell. This will be a fun title match but the result will be the same, Asuka retaining.
The main event will see Bobby Roode defending his NXT Championship against Hideo Itami. Itami, apart of the NXT 5, (Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville, Finn Balor are the other stable mates.) is the only one of the 5 still in NXT and the only one who hasn't won the NXT Title. I truly believe had he not got injured in 2015, it would have been Itami who beat Owens at the live special in Japan and not Balor. Itami's injuries have hurt his momentum but it looks like he's all good now and he's ready for the championship. Everything in my being wants Itami to win but come on, we know it isn't happening. The person to beat Roode is going to be Drew McIntyre. Itami will one day win the belt but not just yet. Bobby Roode will retain after 20 minutes with his Glorious DDT. I can't wait to hear the Chicago crowd when Itami goes for a GTS.
Adam Cole has recently left ROH as well as Mike Bennett and Maria. Will either one be in the Chicago crowd for Takeover? Time will tell but I'll definitely be looking!
Backlash is....a different type of event, one filled with opportunity. There are a lot of different stars in roles not previously seen yet. 8 matches, one on the pre show while there are 3 major title clashes and an in ring debut for the most charismatic star in WWE.
The throwaway pre show match is between Tye Dillinger and Aiden English. Tye will win in a short affair. Another throwaway match will be Luke Harper VS Erick Rowan. I'm giving Harper the win here.
Baron Corbin will clash with Sami Zayn. Corbin is steps away from becoming a major player in Smackdown's main event scene. He just has to buy his time with the lesser feuds until then. Corbin is currently my favorite to win the Money in the Bank briefcase in June. He's definitely the most deserving guy on Smackdown to win it. Him or Rusev. Anyway, Zayn will make Corbin look good but Zayn will do what he does best; lose. Corbin wins with the End of Days.
The team of Smackdown's Women's Champion Naomi, Becky Lynch and Charlotte will face Carmella, Natayla and Tamina in a Six Women's Tag match. Filler. I hate when the title isn't defended on PPV. The faces will win. While I like Naomi, it's only a matter of time before Charlotte wins the title. I'm seeing a Charlotte/Becky title match at SummerSlam to counter the Sasha/Bayley match.
The Usos will defend their Smackdown Tag Team Titles against Tyler Breeze and Fandango. Here's the first weird move. Breeze and Fandango have been mostly used as a jobber team and randomly, they get a shot. It's crazy. I love the pairing, have since they randomly formed last year but they aren't winning here. The Usos are keeping the titles warm for The New Day and they will run the division on Smackdown. New Day VS American Alpha should be their focus for the division for the summer. Again, I love Breezango but The Usos will be on their Day One Ish. Usos retain.
Randy Orton will defend his WWE Championship against.....Jinder Mahal. JINDER MAHAL! Raw jobber turned Smackdown's biggest heel! What has happened?!? Smackdown is really the land of opportunity with this decision. The only reason Mahal is in the picture is because of WWE's expansion to India and their desperate attempt to appeal to that crowd. Mahal has been doing his job very well and has been getting some very good foreigner heat but come on, he was just a jobber. Then again, he just beat AJ Styles....I'm all for a new champion and fresh faces but this may be too fast. And I think Rusev calling his shot for Money in the Bank would mean Orton/Rusev is the plan, which is something I would much more prefer. Rusev deserves the title shot more. I'm going with Orton to retain here in the obvious way; reversing Mahal's finisher into a RKO Outta Nowhere.
It's May already and there has been no real match that has caught my eye. There have been good or great matches but nothing that has kept me on the edge of my seat like a Ibushi/Alexander match. That may change Sunday when Smackdown's biggest new star, Shinsuke Nakamura, makes his main roster in ring debut against Dolph Ziggler. What better first opponent than Ziggler. Ziggler has been an absolute workhorse, putting on some amazing matches with just about everyone he's come in contact with. This is simply a showcase match, one to show why Nakamura is worth all the hype surrounding him. He had an amazing first impressing against Sami Zayn last year for his NXT debut, this match will be more of the same. Shinsuke Nakamura will be successful in his main roster debut and completely murder Ziggler with the Kinshasa. I can't wait to see him sell it.
The main event, in my eyes only, is the major United States Championship match between current champion Kevin Owens and his challenger AJ Styles. A mega main event no matter what title is on the line. AJ Styles has not defeated Owens yet in singles competition in WWE. They wrestled twice last year and Owens came out victorious both times. That's definitely something to keep your eye on. Owens is already in his 2nd reign as US Champion which he just won and would definitely make him more likely to win. Styles will also be floating around the main event picture so a loss here doesn't hurt him. It's only a matter of time before Nakamura and Styles get the opportunity to tear the roof off of any arena they are in. After what should be the 2nd best or best match of the night, I'm going with AJ Styles to get the win by DQ, letting Owens continue his reign as US Champ. Cheap victory but it's freaking Kevin Owens. That's what he does.
Now that Mania is over, we're back in the grove of PPVs more frequently. Backlash is Sunday, Extreme Rules, with the awesome main event of Reigns/Rollins/Joe/Balor/Wyatt, is two weeks later, then Money in the Bank two weeks after that then Great Balls of Fire is two weeks after that THEN Battleground is two weeks after that from my hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That's a lot of wrestling in three months. 5 different PPVs and probably only one Universal Title match! Hahaha, why did they do that to Raw?
I'm looking forward to the wrestling this weekend, especially Bate/Dunne, Nakamura/Ziggler and AJ/Owens!
