It's finally time for the 3rd biggest weekend of WWE's year; Takeover and SummerSlam weekend! This will be the first time in five years that Takeover and SummerSlam will be in a city other than Brooklyn. WWE heads North to Toronto for four days of action. Takeover Toronto (II) will feature 5 matches while SummerSlam is currently slated for 10 matches but we all know that will change! Let's start with Takeover first!
Takeover Toronto (II) features 5 matches, with the four NXT Titles on the line. The Undisputed Era look fulfill their prophecy as all four members are in title matches. The results of all five matches will likely react with each other. I'll get into it during the post but let's get it started!
The Streets Profits won the NXT Tag Team Titles at Takeover XXV in their first ever Takeover event. Their reign may be a short one as they will face Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish of the Undisputed Era for their newly won titles. This may be the start of a big night for UE. I don't think NXT would have proclaimed that UE would be draped in gold and then not have that come to fruition. Of course, it could be a red herring but I guess we'll see. Street Profits have been appearing more and more on Raw and Smackdown so it's only a matter of time before Vince sticks his filthy claws in them and steals them away for himself. With the return Breezango to NXT, there may not be a need for a face team to be holding those titles right now. UE VS Breezango at a future Takeover for the title seems likely but it can only start here. I'll be upset for the boy but I got Undisputed Era in this one, capturing the NXT Tag Team Titles for the 3rd time. Kyle O'Reilly already holds the record for most cumulative days held. This will add to the record.
In a rare Takeover with TWO women's matches, newly heel Io Shirai will face Candice LeRae in a grudge match. It's amazing to finally have a heel Japanese female in NXT. Asuka was going that route for a bit but they never went full heel and Kairi was too pure during her run for it. Io makes the most sense. This is all definitely leading to a title reign for her as well. As much as I want Candice to get on track here and finally start competing for the title at Takeovers, she can't lose to a star who just turned heel. Io Shirai will defeat Candice LeRae in a competitive match.
In what might be the best match of the night, NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream will defend against Roderick Strong and NXT UK's Pete Dunne in a Triple Threat match. I don't need to say it again but I will; THIS is going to be epic. As with the tag title match, UE's declaration to get all the titles is clear and Strong has the best chance out of them all to walk out with a title. He's got momentum on his side and Dream has been champion since January so it might be time for a change. Dunne's in the match to make it even better. Kind of surprised Dunne isn't on the next NXT UK Takeover. Anyway, after a grueling match, I got Roderick Strong winning his first singles title in NXT by capturing the NXT North American Championship.
Shayna Baszler is chasing history. The already record setting 2 time NXT Women's Champion will defend her title against Mia Yim. Baszler is already the 3rd longest reigning NXT Women's Champion so one, she's looking to get closer to the #2 position. We all know Asuka's 510 day reign isn't going to be surpassed but she's 20 days shy of Paige's 308 day reign. Baszler has held the title twice and is just less than 100 days from having the record for most cumulative days as NXT Women's Champion. If you're a math person, you'll know the next NXT Takeover following Toronto is Wargames in Los Angeles. That's just about a little more than 100 days after Toronto. Do you follow me? Now, I've gone against Baszler at Phoenix and I was wrong. I went against her at New York, I was wrong. I'm not making that same mistake. I think Yim will look fantastic in the match, but she's not the one. Shayna Baszler will retain her title in the same way she's done in the past few Takeovers; submission. Night night Yim. Sorry.
The main event is the third and probably final match in the Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole feud. After the trilogy of matches between Cole/Ciampa last year, you'd think I be tired of seeing Gargano main event and compete at Takeovers but man, these last two battles with Adam Cole have been barn burners. I truly believe their first match at New York was the best WWE match since Punk/Cena at Money in the Bank 2011. The amount of emotion and anticipation during the match was unmatched and their rematch was more of the same. It's the greatest two match series in NXT history and now, it's time for the last match. Can they top what they've done already?
Johnny Gargano will try to avenge his Takeover XXV loss and regain his title when he challenges Adam Cole for the NXT Championship. This will be their 2nd 2 out of 3 Falls match but it will be a bit different. The first fall will be a normal singles match, the 2nd a street fight and the third will be decided IF/WHEN it's needed. My guess would be a Ladder match ala Triple H/HBK 3 Stages of Hell back at Armageddon 2002. Granted, they had a Cage match as their 2nd fall but you get it. Anyway, this is it for one of these guys.
Gargano and Cole have both done everything there is to do in NXT. They've won all the titles that's available to them, they've main evented multiple Takeover events and have raised the bar for the black and yellow brand. A loss here would either mean two things; either a call up to the main roster or taking a different role in NXT, maybe that of a gatekeeper for the newer talent to prove themselves. I honestly don't want either on the main roster just yet as we've seen not all the call ups get storylines right away and I'm sure a guy like Gargano would get lost in the shuffle. Anyway, this will be another barn burner. Cole/Gargano's chemistry is off the charts and they can't have a bad match. This will go the distance, all three falls, 40+ minutes. I absolutely love Gargano and I want the best for him in his WWE career but if Cole's other faction members are going to win, Cole HAS to win. We need Undisputed Era to have all the title. And it will be so. Adam Cole will defeat Johnny Gargano to retain his NXT Championship. And that's....Undisputed.
Takeover Toronto will be an amazing lead in to SummerSlam!
SummerSlam with its 10 matches and likely growing, especially with a 2 hour pre show. The Cruiserweight championship will take its usual spot on it but I'm not sure about any other matches. Reigns will definitely be on the show and maybe Andrade and Rey will have one more match. Let's just focus on the 10 announced for now.
Drew Gulak will defend the Cruiserweight Title against Oney Lorcan. This will be another great match as the Cruiswerweights have not disappointed this year on PPV. Lorcan will destroy Gulak in this match but he won't be the one to end the reign. I still think Humberto Carrillo will be that guy. Drew Gulak retains in a fun hard hitting match.
In a SummerSlam 2017 rematch, Finn Balor will battle Bray Wyatt but this time, Bray Wyatt is under a new gimmick as The Fiend, who's making his in ring debut, I guess? Anyway, we all know how this is going to go. They've done a great job at building up the appearance and putting him over Hall of Famers like Mick Foley and Kurt Angle was genius. Balor is apparently going on vacation after SummerSlam so he's doing the job here. It also opens up the opportunity for a future Demon VS Fiend match. This might be a squash match too. Regardless, Bray's winning here.
For some reason, Dolph Ziggler is facing Goldberg. That will put butts in seats. This will be a squash. Spear, Jackhammer, payday. Goldberg wins.
Dream match! Trish Stratus is coming back for one more match and it's a doozy. She's facing former 9 time champion Charlotte in a generational match in Trish's hometown in Toronto. This is a SummerSlam match, even if it was thrown together 12 days before the show. This is a passing of the torch match. I, like many of you who may read this, grew up on Trish. She is the greatest female star since Fabulous Moolah. We are now in an era of great women's wrestling and it's time for a new GOAT. Charlotte, whether you love her, hate her or are tired of them shoving her down our throats, is worthy to be that person. Trish will get her hits in, hit her signature moves, but Charlotte will walk out victorious.
Kevin Owens will face Shane McMahon and if Owens loses, he will quit WWE. Despite the hatred in this feud, this is a normal match, a decision that I hope will be changed on the pre show. Many of have predicted and said this is the way that Shane will eventually leave TV for good so I can't see Owens losing here. Kevin Owens will win and start the eradication of Shane on our TVs every week.
Ricochet will get his shot at regaining the United States Championship when he faces AJ Styles for the fourth time. Ricochet is 1-2 against The Phenomenal One. These two deserve a lot of time on Sunday to showcase what they can do. Their match at Extreme Rules was great and I'm looking for more of the same here. With Undisputed Era potentially holding all the titles, New Day holding all the titles and The OC with all the titles, one of those factions will have to lose a title first. I don't think a heel Styles was done for the US Title. The money is in a heel Styles chasing the Universal Championship right? Let Ricochet win here and feud with Cesaro. Or, maybe heel Styles is best for the mid card right now? Styles/Mysterio could finally happen as could Styles/Alexander. THAT might be best with the uncertainty of a World Title on Raw for the foreseeable future. OK, I'm going with Styles to retain.
Bayley will face her hardest challenge yet when she faces Ember Moon for the Smackdown Women's Championship in a battle of former NXT Women's Champions. This is Ember's big chance to show the world what she's got. This is Bayley chance to show that even the best can't contend with her. This is probably the match I want to see most at SummerSlam, based on in ring talent and with how things could go. Moon winning would mean that Smackdown is predominantly filled with black champions, which would be a first and something to see right? Bayley winning would mean she would need a new challenger. As much as I want Ember to win, I STILL think this is how WWE will reintroduce Sasha to WWE. With the focus of WWE 2K20 on the Women's Revolution, wouldn't it make sense to promote it by having two of the Four Horsewomen feud for the title? Sorry, Ember, but for that to happen, Bayley has to retain here. Ember won't go down without a fight and I hope we get to see the Eclipse reversed into a Bayley to Belly. Bayley retains.
Becky Lynch looks to continue her reign when she defends the Raw Women's Championship against Natalya in a Submission match. Nattie is the 3rd Canadian in a big match at SummerSlam and she's got a tough road to win the championship. This will be great! This should be a wrestling fan's dream. Becky is the cover star of WWE 2K20 and because of it, she's not losing here. I don't know who's next for her but depending on if Baszler wins her respective match, maybe she'll be looking for revenge for her friend Ronda. That would be something. Anyway, Becky retains with the Dis-Arm-Her.
Kofi Kingston's magical journey as WWE Champion is in serious jeopardy as he faces a foe from his past. It will be Kingston defending against Randy Orton at SummerSlam. If anyone can claim to be Mr. SummerSlam, it might be Randy Orton. Orton has had 3 of his 13 World Title reigns BEGIN at SummerSlam. 2002, 2011 and 2013 if you're keeping record. And with Smackdown moving to Fox soon, they may want a guy like Orton holding onto the title heading into the deal but honestly, that doesn't work for the overall story. Kingston called Orton out to close an old chapter of his career. he has to go over Orton to basically validate his reign. If Kofi loses the title to anyone, let it be Andrade and give Andrade the heel Latino stable the world needs! Kingston NEEDS this win here. He can't become champion only to lose it to the guy who held him down in the first place years ago. This title run and reign has all been for this exact moment in time. Kofi Kingston will defeat Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship. He will run into Andrade next. Mark my words.
Brock Lesnar is back at his favorite event and will defend the Universal Championship in a Wrestlemania rematch against Seth Rollins. This will be Lesnar's SIXTH STRAIGHT SUMMERSLAM MAIN EVENT, his eighth overall counting the 2002 and 2012 matches. His reign over this event is insane and I know I gave kudos to Orton as Mr. SummerSlam, but Lesnar is the SummerSlam God. His battle with Rollins is very important as it will determine the future of the red brand for awhile. Will we have another part time champion again until Wrestlemania or will Rollins come through and slay the beast once again? I'm going with the former. Although it wouldn't make sense for Raw to again LOSE their main champion, especially if the Wild Card rule will be ending soon with Smackdown moving to Fox. They need that title around. Guys like Strowman, Drew McIntyre, Samoa Joe, Ricochet, Cesaro, The Fiend Bray Wyatt and AJ NEED a main title to contend for. Their hopes rely on Rollins. The way the story goes, they want you to believe he doesn't stand a chance come Sunday. He's been decimated these past two weeks right? While I know Rollins will put up a big fight come Sunday, I just don't see Lesnar losing back to back SummerSlam main events. I really REALLY hope I'm wrong and it pains me to even type this, but I got Brock Lesnar retaining the Universal Championship at SummerSlam, holding the title hostage until God knows how long. I hope I'm wrong and Rollins wins, only to be attacked by Wyatt....
There is it! SummerSlam weekend! You excited?!/
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