It's baaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!! It's been a LONG time since I've done some predictions and this is a great weekend to return on. Now, I missed NXT UK Takeover Blackpool (AWESOME event with a really fun main event) but I refuse to miss this major weekend. For the third year in a row, Takeover and the Royal Rumble will be on back to back nights. Like 2017, they will be held in different venues; Takeover at the Talking Stick Resort Arena and Royal Rumble taking place inside Chase Field, the stadium for the Arizona Diamondbacks, a first for WWE. Last year, I had the pleasure of attending the events live and it's an experience I'll never forget. So much better than when I went to the 2015 version. Anyway, as always, let's start with NXT first as they present Takeover Phoenix.
Five matches on tap for the show, featuring all four titles on the line; two rematches and two first time matches between the four of them and the third match between two hard hitting individuals. Let's discuss.
Matt Riddle will battle Kassius Ohno in their third match of their feud. Ohno is playing gatekeeper to Riddle for his NXT run, which has worked as many of the major NXT guys are currently busy. The first match was a flash KO for Riddle and the second was a hard hitting albeit short match. The third clash will be their best work together. There's really no reason for Ohno to win here if they're pushing Riddle as one of NXT's next top guys. Ohno does have to give Riddle the fight of his young NXT career to get him over in a big way. I'm going with Matt Riddle with the big win here. He should move onto to the NXT North American title picture afterwards.
MATCH OF THE YEAR ALERT 2019! After defeating the #1 contender for the NXT Championship, Aleister Black, inside a steel cage, Johnny Gargano looked to invade the planned singles NXT Title match between his arch rival Tommaso Ciampa and Black at Phoenix. Ciampa got inside Gargano's head and told him he should be in line for a NXT North American Championship match. It didn't take Gargano long to ask for just that and laid Ricochet out with a super kick on the first NXT episode from Full Sail in 2019. And that's where we're at; Johnny Freaking (Takeover) Gargano will face The One and Only Ricochet for the NXT North American Championship. This. Is. Going. To. Be. GOODT! Who was the best wrestler in WWE last year? If you said Seth Rollins or AJ Styles, I'd clap but the real answer is Johnny Five Star-gano. Who has been the best new talent in NXT? If you said Keith Lee or Matt Riddle, nice try, but the obvious answer is Ricochet. Putting these two together in one first time ever match up? The sparks are going to fly. These two will do everything in their power to make this the match you talk about most when the weekend is all said and done. The way they're making Ciampa added into this feud makes me believe that Ricochet VS Ciampa could be the plan for the main event of Takeover New York during Wrestlemania weekend. It would either be a champion VS champion match or more likely an ascension to the main event match for Ricochet. For that to come to fruition, Ricochet would have to lose here. As much as I love Ricochet, Gargano has not won at a Takeover since his major win at Takeover New Orleans. That was 9 months ago. Ricochet stole the show at New Orleans, stole the show again in Chicago, won the title and had the spot of the year in Brooklyn and stood tall at Wargames II. Needless to say, it's time for a Ricochet loss at a Takeover. Johnny Gargano, by hook or by crook, will walk out of Takeover Phoenix as the NEW NXT North American Champion. Will Ciampa help in some way? Maybe but #DIY will be singles champions together. Again, this will be a barn burner. Do NOT miss this!
Did you know The Undisputed Era were NXT Tag Team Champions for 363 days in 2018? Thanks to tape delays, it might have felt shorter than that but that's the facts. Even with the injury to Bobby Fish, UE was able to stay strong all year with the addition of Roderick Strong, who has flourished in his new role. Their title reign is in serious jeopardy as they prepare to do battle with Hanson and Rowe, The War Raiders. The War Raiders always looked like the team to beat UE. Although Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch surprised the world with their hard fought battle at Takeover Chicago II, once the War Raiders were signed, it was almost a guarantee that they would be tag champs one day. With Undisputed Era's time in NXT coming to nearly two years in August, it might be time for Cole and the boys to come up to the main roster and save the Raw tag division. NXT is short on tag teams though so maybe they'll hang around. Regardless, this may be the end of the road for UE's title reign. UE has been the team to beat for almost two years but I 'm going with new champs being crowned in Phoenix. I expect a rematch with a stipulation at Takeover New York.
This has been a long time coming! First ever two time NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler will defend her title against Bianca Belair. Belair has been on my radar since the inaugural Mae Young Classic. Her breakout performance against favorite and eventual winner Kairi Sane was easily the highlight of the tournament. Despite that, it has taken her a year and a half to finally get a shot at the NXT Women's Title. This is an interesting feud for NXT as both women are definitely portrayed as heels on television. Belair, based on social media posts, will be a a face going forward as she's been teaming with Kairi Sane at NXT house shows. Anyway, I like Belair a lot. She reminds me of Sasha Banks when she was peak heel Boss. The attitude, her mannerisms and the way she talks all remind me of that. I think she'll work well as a face when the time comes as even though currently a heel, Belair has been getting a lot of crowd support lately so maybe the full turn will be coming at Phoenix. The big question is definitely what role Shayna's friends Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke will play in the match. We've already seen them accompany her to the ring for the lead up to this match so will they be at ringside again? Kairi still has unfinished business with them as well but with Dakota Kai out with a torn ACL, will they just insert Belair into her position and have Io Shirai, Sane and Belair feud with the MMA Four Horsewomen? There's also other factors here as well, such as the Royal Rumble and the build to Wrestlemania. It's no secret that the two Four Horsewomen groups are going to feud soon. Charlotte has already faced Ronda Rousey, Rousey cost Becky Lynch her title and Rousey is facing Sasha Banks at the Rumble itself. It's about to boil over. And WWE are introducing the Women's Tag Titles next month? Come on. It might be time for Shayna to leave NXT behind and be with Ronda. Duke and Shafir can do both as they continue to learn and train. If Shayna's moving on, it's time for someone to step up, that being NXT's best female athlete in Bianca Belair. NXT will be fine without Shayna. They still have Sane, Shirai, Deonna Purrazzo, Rhea Ripley (she's performed at NXT house shows so I still count her), and Mia Yim, not to mention other NXT women who competed in the Mae Young Classic but haven't gotten a shot on TV yet, like Mae Young Classic 2018 standouts Lacey Lane and Kacy Catanzaro.
Getting back to the match, if Shafir and Duke get involved, I expect to see Sane and Shirai, especially since they just won together as a team on TV. This should be a interesting match though and let's see if Shayna can make Belair shine like Sane did. If they don't pull the trigger here on Belair, the only one I could see stopping Shayna would be Shirai. I'm going with the person I want to win and that's Belair. Bianca Belair will defeat Shayna Baszler to win the NXT Women's Championship and stay UN DE FEA TED in the process.
Tommaso Ciampa will defend the NXT Championship against the man he took the title from; Aleister Black. Black and Ciampa are coming off major victories from the previous Takeover event, with Black beating Gargano and Ciampa beating The Velveteen Dream. Both stars with major momentum, they will meet in this highly anticipated rematch. As with their first match, I'm expecting shenanigans. I've already gone on record as stating Johnny Gargano will become North American Champion and I'm now stating the Ciampa will retain, so yes, for a few months, #DIY will hold both male singles titles in NXT. Why do I think that? I really think Ciampa will somehow be linked to why Ricochet loses his title, which will set up the main event for Takeover New York; Tommaso Ciampa VS Ricochet. Black is most likely on his way out of NXT. He might stick around for the NXT tapings leading up to Takeover New York but expect Black to be apart of Raw or Smackdown after Wrestlemania. This will be a fantastic main event, one filled with many hard strikes, shenanigans and false finishes, but in the end, Tommaso Ciampa will retain the NXT Title. This will be a barn burner for sure.
Following Takeover Phoenix, WWE hosts the Royal Rumble in Chase Field. Currently 9 matches on the card, on par with the 2018 card, and this feels more like a Mania card than anything. Of the nine matches, we have two first time ever battles in the women's title matches, former Bullet Club leaders challenging for their respective brand's World Titles, the two Royal Rumble matches, the most random tag team title match in Rumble history and two title matches that will be on the pre show. Let's discuss!
Let's talk what's on the pre show. Buddy Murphy will defend his Cruiserweight Championship against former champs Akira Tozawa and Kalisto and my man Hideo Itami. Also, Rusev will defend his United States Title against former champion Shinsuke Nakamura. I would put the Smackdown Tag Title match here as well but I feel like Vince would never put Shane on the pre show. That being said, these two matches should be really good, especially that Cruiserweight match. Murphy's challengers aren't the guys I would have picked for such a big stage as the Rumble though. TJP and Cedric Alexander over Tozawa and Kalisto every day. I would have even liked Gran Metalik. Regardless, Murphy is RED hot right now. He's not losing that title just yet. I do hope that Murphy follows suits with Mustafa Ali and joins the blue brand later this year.Murphy retains. As far as the US Title goes, Rusev just won it and will not lose it in his first defense. Rusev retains and hopefully goes on to feud with Samoa Joe or Andrade. Maybe not Andrade if he has a fantastic night.
In a strange move, The Bar will defend their Smackdown Tag Team Titles against The Miz and Shane McMahon. You know, despite having The New Day, The Usos, Sanity and Gallows and Anderson on the show. It's strange to thing of Miz and McMahon being a thing. I really don't know where this is leading but I feel bad for The Bar, having to continue to face make shift tag teams each year (themselves being a make shift tag). Last year, it was Braun Strowman and Nicholas and now MizMahon (you can use that one WWE). The Bar is WWE's best experiment gone right and it shows as they've racked up five title reigns in the past 2 years. Miz deserves so much better than this and at one point, I picked him as a favorite to win the Rumble to face enemy Daniel Bryan for the title. It doesn't look like it's going to happen. I don't think WWE would put Miz and Shane together for nothing which would mean Shane and Miz would have to win the titles. If Miz does win the Smackdown Tag Team Titles with Shane, he'd be one title away from holding every male title (excluding the Crusierweight). He would just need the Universal Title. Miz would have held the old World Tag Team Title design, the amazing original WWE Tag Titles that was introduced in 2002, the ugly copper ones that was introduced in 2010 and the much better blue version in 2019. Miz and Shane win the titles.
The women's matches this year are the hardest to call. We all know the endgame is Ronda Rousey VS Charlotte Flair and/or Becky Lynch at Wrestlemania but just how do we get there? Currently, we have Ronda defending her title against Sasha Banks, Asuka defending her title against Becky Lynch and Charlotte is entered into the women's Royal Rumble.
Let's talk Sasha/Ronda first. This is the second battle between the Four Horsewomen groups and one I'm really looking forward to. It's been a very long time since Sasha has had a singles Raw Women's Title match and it comes at a time where her talents will definitely be used elsewhere, with the Women's Tag Titles coming next month. I don't think Sasha fits in with the singles title plans right now so despite her and Ronda potentially tearing it up come Royal Rumble, Sasha ain't beating Ronda. This will definitely be the most exciting match Ronda has competed in but it will end the same, a submission victory. Ronda will retain the championship in a hard fought war.
So if Ronda's beating Sasha, it makes things a little easier. For Becky to get to Mania, she'd have to win the Rumble. Funny thing is; neither Sasha or Becky are in the Rumble due to being in the title matches. That could obviously change but as of right now, she's not in it. I got a good scenario but I'll leave it for the Rumble match prediction. Anyway, Asuka VS Becky Lynch will be amazing. This is one of those NXT matches that has never happened until now and with it, Asuka would have faced all four members of WWE's Four Horsewomen in singles matches. To go with my scenario, Asuka would have to win here. This should be another fantastic women's title match on the show but Asuka has to get the win.
Ok, now let's get to the women's Royal Rumble match. Of the 30 entrants, 23 have been confirmed, which is basically the entire Raw and Smackdown women's roster excluding Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and the two champs, Rousey and Asuka. With the champs retaining, we can rule them out. I fully expect both Sasha and Becky to be in the match. That brings the total to 25.
Carmella won the #30 spot back at TLC so she's set. WWE did a great job last year with #1 Becky and #2 Sasha so it's going to be hard to top that this year. If I had to pick two women to start, it would be Ember Moon and Naomi. I've been craving for some type of interaction between these two highly athletic superstars, so them being the first two would be great. Charlotte gets to compete in her first Rumble and I think it would be cool if she entered at #3, since her father won from that number in 1992. With 5(or more) spots open, it's a given we're getting some surprises. WWE's Twitter account basically asked which NXT woman you'd like to see in the match. Kairi and Ember got the nod last year much to my delight. This year, Shayna Baszler is a must. I could see her making it to the Final Four. Bianca Belair is another good one. Ember was champion when she answered the call last year so it's possible. Rhea Ripley is a huge chick so if Nia is alone in the ring at any time, she could play a good foil to her. Toni Storm is one of my favorite female wrestlers going and I'd love to see her compete. Io Shirai, like Storm, competed at Evolution so an appearance in the match is possible as well. As for legends from the past, the only one I could see is Kaitlin making an appearance. With the massive amount of past stars last year, I don't think WWE is going to do a repeat this year. Last year it was about showcasing the entire women's division, past and present. This year should be about the women who are there. Anyway, I could see this going a few ways:
1. Becky doesn't enter the match, much to the chagrin of the crowd, and Charlotte wins.
2. Becky enters the match, either by getting a number or by taking Carmella's spot by force and wins.
3. Becky and Charlotte both win the match ala Royal Rumble 1994, both challenging Rousey at Wrestlemania 35.
This match is centered around how Becky and Charlotte, Smackdown stars, can challenge Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey. This is the only way. It may be a little obvious but just how we get there is going to be fun to see. Final four should look like Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler but it will come down to Charlotte and Becky as the winner. Charlotte will be the iron woman of the match, lasting the longest.
This is always a fun and surreal sentence to type; Daniel Bryan will defend the WWE Championship against AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble. Can you believe that AJ Styles has been in WWE for three years now? Can you also believe AJ Styles will be competing in his fourth straight WWE Title match at the Royal Rumble? That's a record. Anyway, this two will tear the roof (no roof, it's a baseball stadium) off of the Chase Field. They have not disappointed yet and it won't happen here. Styles is showing a new aggression, one that has been brought up by Vince McMahon himself. This is another Smackdown storyline that I don't know where it's headed and I love that unpredictably back in WWE. It would be a real crime to turn Bryan heel and give him such a short reign with the title but Bryan being champion might not work with one of the names I have in mind to win the Royal Rumble. Regardless, I don't think it time for Styles to win the title back just yet and I think Styles might be finally heading to Raw after Wrestlemania. After a grueling and amazing technical contest, Daniel Bryan will submit AJ Styles to retain the WWE Championship. This will probably be the best match on the show and 2nd best of the weekend.
WWE did a great thing and changed what was going to be the low point of the night of Brock Lesnar going over Braun Strowman for the third time to a first time ever match. Lesnar will now defend his Universal Championship against the newly pushed Finn Balor. I just want to say this first; Balor ain't winning. This is a roadblock in the way to set up the Lesnar/Seth Rollins match at Wrestlemania 35. While the winner is predictable, I'm looking forward to the match. It's no secret that Lesnar has put on his best matches with guys of a smaller frame. CM Punk, AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan have gotten the best matches out of The Beast. Balor will be no different. It will be interesting to see if they unleash Demon Balor here, to give the allusion that Balor can actually beat Lesnar in a match that was made two weeks before the event. Hey, anything is possible in WWE but come on. Lesnar not walking into Wrestlemania as champion? That doesn't sound likely at all. Balor will give The Beast a fight but Brock Lesnar will retain the Universal Championship.
The men's Royal Rumble is up for grabs this year. Of the 30 entrants, we only have 20 confirmed. There are a lot of stars haven't announced their entry yet, such as either brand's tag team champions, Bray Wyatt, Tyler Breeze, Aiden English, Big Show, The Usos, Sainty, Gallows and Anderson, Rusev, Nakamura, etc. Now, we know that obviously all those guys won't be in as WWE will definitely want to use a few spots for either NXT stars or legends but I'm going to go with 6 of the stars I mentioned getting a spot, leaving 6 for other stars. Of the 6, they could use EC3 and Lars Sullivan. I don't know what legends are around to be used so I can't even fathom a guess. NXT starts though, let's guess away! The Velveteen Dream has to be at the top of the list. Major fan favorite and it would be interesting to see if he got to interact with John Cena, if Cena's 'ankle injury' won't prevent him from competing. Ricochet would be another one for a quick appearance to flip and jump around. Either member of #DIY would be nice to see as well.
R-Truth won the #30 spot back at TLC but we all know he's not coming out at that number. It's unfortunate that All Elite Wrestling has basically crushed any hope of it being Kenny Omega. Not to mention his contract is up on the 31st anyway. I don't know if WWE has any other major contract signings we don't know about but the number has to be for someone you won't see coming. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Roman Reigns got it. Hear me out on this one. Don't you think it's weird that they haven't given any update on his condition, despite him being one of their biggest stars? I know they usually don't give updates for injuries but this is a special situation don't you think? Updates on a life threatening disease are warranted. It would be something wouldn't it? It's a pipe dream I realize that but would make for an amazing comeback story.
I originally did a post on who needed the Rumble victory the most and I narrowed it down to Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre and The Miz. With Miz losing all momentum from his Daniel Bryan feud, I have replaced him with Andrade. Rollins/Lesnar is the most likely Universal Title match at Wrestlemania so Rollins winning the Rumble is a way to get there. Plus he would join Edge, Randy Orton, John Cena, Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus and Edge as the only stars who've won both the Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank. McIntrye has what Vince wants out of a star. He's massive, has the look and can actually go in the ring. An ascension match on the biggest stage of them all against Brock Lesnar would be fitting. Andrade is a dark horse pick that has come out of nowhere, following a few pinfall victories over Rey Mysterio. Momentum is the most important thing going into the Rumble and out of everyone else in the match, Andrade has it the most. Will it translate to a win? We'll see. The Final Four will be Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Andrade and John Cena, again, if his injury isn't too bad. If it is, I'll go with Randy Orton. Andrade will most likely be the iron man of this match, lasting the longest.
If I have to pick just one person, it would be Seth Rollins. The little shots to Lesnar on TV for the past two months have not gone unnoticed and will definitely lead Rollins back to the main event picture. They could always just go with Andrade and have Rollins win an Elimination Chamber match ala Reigns last year. McIntyre has looked strong in each of his defeats, usually losing to luck or outside interference so there's a chance he'll win as well. This is really up for grabs but if I HAD to pick just one, it would be Seth Rollins.
This is going to be a big weekend for sure. The Road to Wrestlemania is become a little clearer following these events. I'm shaking with anticipation. Come back for my reaction post, probably late Monday night after Raw!
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