WWE NXT TAKEOVER: BROOKLYN at a glance
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn is going head to head with Ring of Honor this Saturday prior to WWE Summer Slam, so let’s recap the card and predict who the winners will be!
Apollo Crews vs Tye Dillinger
It has been announced that Apollo Crews (the former Uhaa Nation) is set to debut at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn; and Triple H confirmed that his opponent will be “The Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger via the pre-Takeover conference call he does. Now this is where NXT would be missing the services of CJ Parker. Not to say that Tye would be the best replacement, but it could set back his gimmick’s momentum. Prediction: Apollo Crews wins.
Samoa Joe vs Baron Corbin
Samoa Joe has had a rather uninteresting WWE run. It has been mired further with Tyson Kidd’s freak accident. This match would ultimately determine how Joe will be treated in the future. With a Corbin win, they can have Joe act as the gatekeeper representing the indie darlings in these indie darlings vs homegrown talent match-ups. A Joe win could potential catapult him in the NXT main event scene, possibly replacing Kevin Owens in the rotation should WWE keep Owens on the main roster. Prediction: Samoa Joe wins.
Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs Tyler Breeze
This is Breeze’s oppurtunity to get out of his current midcard status. We already know he’s good, but a really impressive performance over someone like Liger would make believers out of lot of Prince Pretty’s doubters. For those expecting Liger to win, keep in mind that he is not one of the “protected” New Japan Pro Wrestling wrestlers (that goes to Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi). Liger also has lost to the likes of Adam Cole (BAY-BAY!) and Jay Lethal when he appeared at Ring of Honor prior. Prediction: Tyler Breeze wins.
NXT Tag Team Championship
Blake and Murphy w/ Alexa Bliss (c) vs The Vaudevillains
The storyline here is how Alexa Bliss has been able to time and again help out the Dubstep Cowboys to repeatedly win. With a perennial rematch with Enzo and Cass at the horizon, it’s hard to think that Blake and Murphy can actually lose. I’m expecting a lot of the Alexa Bliss shenanigans to happen here, not even discounting the possibility of a DQ finish. Prediction: Vaudevillains by DQ.
NXT Women’s Championship
Sasha Banks vs Bayley
The Hugster is on quite a roll right now. On one angle, this would look like the best time for Sasha to drop her title. On the other hand, Bayley’s quite ripe for the Sami Zayn type redemption story. I’m going with the latter. Prediction: Sasha retains.
Ladder match for the NXT Championship
Finn Balor vs Kevin Owens
Interesting to note that Finn Balor hasn’t had a loss with the demon paint on. That could change this Saturday, though not without surprises. We haven’t really seen much of Hideo Itami these days so a possible run-in by him isn’t out of the question. There’s also this insane possibility of having the Bullet Club invade NXT since the ROH guys are also in Brooklyn. Anyway, my prediction: Owens takes the title back, but not without interference.
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn will be airing live on the WWE Network this Saturday (Sunday morning in Manila).
