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NXT presents a four match Takeover War Games card on 11/17. Here’s our take on what will happen.
WWE NXT Champion Tomasso Ciampa vs. The Velveteen Dream
Dave: The beauty of NXT supercards is that in most cases, the booking could make either side the winner. That is part of what makes NXT so much fun. In this case, Dream really could use a big, break through win. But, Ciampa has been so, so good in his role and has so many loose ends to tie up with other talents that it makes sense to keep the Title on him. My guess is that NXT does just that, Ciampa retains, probably through some sort of nefarious means.
Mike: I'd really love to see Dream win the title as he's obviously a centerpiece talent, but I don't think this is the time or place for it. I really wonder if we see Johnny Gargano interfere and end up aligned with Ciampa in some fashion. I expect Dream to just blow the roof off here with a tremendous performance as it's his first Takeover main event bout. I am really, really looking forward to this one.
Richard: I agree that this match could go either way, but I also agree that Ciampa is doing so well in his role that it would be a mistake to take the title off of him (and we don't have to worry about the main roster trope of "how can we do the wrong thing in the worst possible way"). Andrew and I talked about how this match might not have had the best build for a Men's Championship match, but you have War Games as the focus so it doesn't have to be Masterpiece Theatre booking to get here. Dream has succeeded when placed in a high profile situation and I think even though he will not win the title, he will showcase why people are so high on him. Will this be Dream's last match in NXT? Who is next for Ciampa? With the storylines for the other two Non-War Games matches, what if this was the opener?
The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong & Bobby Fish) vs. Ricochet & Pete Dunne & War Raiders in Wargames: The Match Beyond.
Dave: This should be awesome, just awesome. All of these guys can go. My hunch is that what it will come down to is that The Era is an actual team, thus will be willing to do whatever it takes for the greater good. Their opponents don’t have that going for them. Era wins.
Mike: WWE showed last year that they can tweak the Wargames concept and make it work for them last year. I miss the cage but I understand why WWE wants the talent to be able to do bigger spots. I'd really like to see Undisputed Era end up winning here so that we can continue the babyfaces chasing them for revenge. It will be interesting to see if they tease more issues between Dunne and Ricochet since they never really resolved that competitive rivalry.
Richard: Other than eight top wrestlers in this match, there is so much that they can do going forward from this match. You have the next challengers for the tag titles, a man who wants his North American Title back, and Pete Dunne trying to get revenge for what Roddy did to him. I hope Kyle or Roddy start for Undisputed Era so we get them for about 20 minutes before the Match Beyond begins. Will we see Ricochet do a dive from one ring into the other (and if so, how far from the ropes will he start and finish). The attack to Hanson and Dunne's legs could be a benefit for Undisputed Era. I think Undisputed Era should win, but for some reason, I think we see something happen where the Undisputed Era are outsmarted and defeated.
Johnny Gargano vs. Aleister Black
Dave: Does Black get his revenge right away? I think it makes way more sense for Johnny to go over here. He has left his comfort zone of being the good guy so he has a lot more at his disposal when it comes to winning a match. I put Gargano over here, and keep the feud going.
Mike: I agree with Dave here. It's way too early to stall some of the Gargano momentum after the turn and attack on Black. I almost sort of expect Ciampa and Gargano will have some sort of angle that aligns them back together here. As far as a finish, my guess is a DQ or Gargano cheats to gain the victory.
Richard: Another match where either man could logically win. I hope this is a brawl more than a wrestling match with Gargano picking his spots instead of getting in Black's face. Will we see Candice get involved? I could see Gargano falling into the trap of 'trying too hard' to win the match in the same way it cost him against Ciampa. They could do Black winning with a number of Black Masses and Gargano knocked loopy but only to see that Gargano has gone truly evil but still feeling that everything he is doing is right (see: Turn . . . DGUSA for reference). Since Ciampa approves of what Johnny has done, will we see them reunite for a short period of time, to maybe let Johnny give Ciampa a false sense of security until they meet one last time at the Non Big 4 Takeover show?
WWE NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane, best of three falls
Dave: I love Kairi, I really do. But Baszler is just special and she is awesome with the belt around her waist. It allows her to be even more demeaning than she usually is. If it’s me, and she is not being called up to the main roster of course, I put her over here. Perhaps her fellow Horsewomen get involved to make that happen.
Mike: My guess is we see them split a fall each and then we'll see Marina and Jessmyn get involved yet again. Unless there is a plan to bring Baszler up to the main roster, I don't see any reason to switch the belt off her so quickly afte the Evolution match. As long as they give this time, this will probably be the best match they've had to date.
Richard: The two out of three falls stipulation could help Sane since Baszler still has the MMA mentality of single fights so she will have to alter her training style. Do we see Marina and Jessamyn get involved to potentially sacrifice a fall so Baszler can get two quick ones? I hope this goes two falls so it breaks the usual pattern of having to go three falls. Regardless, I hope they give this match a lot of time (and they have it with only 4 matches). I could see Sane winning the title back, but do they want to hot shot the title? There are more heel options as challengers so it could make sense to give Kairi the belt again, but Shayna is so good in her role.
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