Takeover: Brooklyn IV Predictions

   NXT's Takeover: Brooklyn has almost become NXT's version of WrestleMania and tomorrow night is the fourth installment.  Looking back, Takeover: Brooklyn had some pretty historical moments.  The first event featured the first and only WWE appearance by the legendary Jushin "Thunder" Liger, an amazing Ladder Match for the NXT Title featuring Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens, and the monumental NXT Women's Title win of Bayley over Sasha Banks.  Brooklyn II featured Shinsuke Nakamura defeating Samoa Joe for the NXT Title.  Last year saw Drew McIntyre win the NXT Title from Bobby Roode, only to be attacked by Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Bobby Fish, the Undisputed Era.  We're in for a treat once again!  Here are my predictions for the show!

NXT Women's Title - Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane

   Since Takeover: New Orleans over WrestleMania weekend, the Queen of Spades has dominated the competition in NXT's women's division.  Shayna overcame Nikki Cross at Takeover: Chicago II in June and bullied and brutalized Dakota Kai.  Now, she faces the woman that defeated her to win the first annual Mae Young Classic, the Pirate Princess herself, Kairi Sane.  However, the wrestler Shayna is now compared to then is completely different.  Since defeating Ember Moon, Shayna has caused chaos and knows she is at the top of her game.  Kairi may come off silly and happy sometimes but deep down there is a killer instinct.  In this outing, I'm picking Shayna to retain, with Kairi coming close, perhaps in a dirty fashion if it looks like Kairi may have her number.  Before I give my reason why, I need to address something.  This is not their rematch.  They already had their rematch on NXT television a few months ago with Shayna getting the win so this is the rubber match.  However, it won't end here.  I'm predicting Kairi to win the NXT Women's Championship from Shayna at the first ever WWE all-women's event in October, Evolution.  For now, Shayna will remain Champion.

NXT Tag Team Titles - Undisputed Era vs. Mustache Mountain

   These two teams have recently traded tag team gold in NXT.  It was Mustache Mountain's Tyler Bate and Trent Seven that won the Titles from their Undisputed counter parts at the UK Championship Special this year.  Barely weeks later, Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reilly won them back.  The War Raiders recently made a challenge to the winners in a Championship match for a future date.  With that being said, I'm choosing the Undisputed Era to retain here because the big money match is them against the War Raiders.  Plus, Mustache Mountain have the NXT UK brand for themselves and they'll no doubt be first in line at a chance for the brand's Tag Team Titles.  The winners tomorrow night will be Undisputed!

The Velveteen Dream vs. EC3

   This is going to be a very fun match and the back story here has been nothing short of entertaining.  At the UK Show in June, the two were teamed up against Aleister Black and Ricochet.  After EC3 accidentally knocked Dream off the apron, he didn't take too kindly to it.  In a fashion similar to Rick Martel and Tito Santana, the Dream walked out on his opponent, leaving him to the wolves, which prompted the Top 1 percent-er to demand a match.  The rivalry has been heating up lately and I'm looking forward to this match.  I'm wondering what crazy outfit Dream will be rocking and also if EC3 will have a more elaborate entrance, since this is his first singles outing at a Takeover.  It's anyone's game, honestly!  Though I can see EC3 needing the win, I'm taking the Dream here.  However, if there's a superstar that can still come out shining after a loss, it's the Velveteen Dream.  He's still my pick for this contest, though!

NXT North American Title - Adam Cole vs. Ricochet

   This match is going to be incredible, I'm sure!  Cole defeated 5 other superstars in a Ladder Match at Takeover: New Orleans to become the first NXT North American Champion.  While he has defended the Title, he hasn't done so on a Takeover.  Since Ricochet set his sights on the Title, he's been a target of Cole and his Undisputed Era cohorts, as they've left him laying one or two times.  Originally, my pick was Ricochet to walk out the new champion.  After thinking on it for a while, I've changed my mind, as they can extend this feud.  Also, I feel like Cole's reign hasn't exactly been cemented yet.  I'm going with Cole to retain, which will lead into Takeover: War Games II in November, which will hopefully pit the Undisputed Era against Ricochet and the War Raiders, with those men winning their individual Titles at a later date.  For now, the North American Championship will remain Undisputed.

NXT Title Last Man Standing Match - Tomasso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano

   This is a rivalry that has been going on for well over a year now, as Ciampa did the turn heard 'round the world at Takeover: Chicago in May of 2017.  This will be their third Takeover match.  As everyone is aware, this was originally going to be a Triple Threat match including former NXT Champion Aleister Black, who went down with an injury.  Fortunately, WWE has turned this into a "who done it" angle with a someone attacking Black, which I'm sure will be addressed soon.  The reason for the Triple Threat was when Gargano accidentally cost Black the Title against mortal enemy Ciampa.  I'm hearing many stating that this will be the end of the feud.  I can't disagree enough!  For one thing, I sincerely doubt Ciampa is losing the Title after just winning it last month.  Not only that; if he loses, he'll exercise his rematch clause.  There is still so much they can do without making the fans sick of it.  They can extend it without having them fight for a while, leading to their ultimate showdown, at least in NXT.  I've got Ciampa with the win over Johnny Wrestling.  As we've seen, especially at Takeover: Chicago II, Gargano has become what he hates, and it cost him dearly, which is what the Sicilian Sociopath wanted.  Gargano must reach deep down to that place that lets him become Johnny Wrestling once again.  For her own good, I'd suggest Candice LaRea stay far away from this match.  

   The next Takeover is War Games, where I see both men potentially on opposite teams in a War Games match, or they will go on with different opponents.  In the mean time, I see Takeover: War Games feature Aleister Black getting his revenge on the mystery man who took him out.  This means that I don't think either Ciampa or Gargano are responsible for the attack on Black.  At Takeover in January, I see Black getting his one on one Title rematch with Ciampa while hopefully Gargano wins some kind of NXT Royal Rumble, wins the Title from Ciampa during WrestleMania weekend, and finally puts it to bed at Takeover: Chicago III, culminating exactly two years after DIY exploded.  I have so many thoughts running through my head and honestly, I'm looking forward to this more than SummerSlam, though I'm not trying to compare NXT to the main roster shows.  So far, Takeover hasn't disappointed me and I'm sure this will be no different.  

 If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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