Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

By Nicholas Jason Lopez

It has become yearly tradition that NXT trumps the main roster and this time around on professional wrestling’s biggest weekend, it’s set to happen again.

Two nights before WrestleMania graces New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, NXT “takes over” Brooklyn’s Barclays Center (yet again) and if history’s doomed to repeat itself (again), we’re in for a treat.

Compared to WrestleMania’s overbooked 15-match extravaganza, TakeOver’s refined to five simple bouts.

We’ll give our preview and predictions below.

– NXT Tag Team Championship – War Raiders (Hanson And Rowe) (Champions) Vs. Ricochet/Aleister Black – A match purely designed for in-ring tag team prowess, we can see why Black/Ricochet (We like to call them “Jock & The Goth”) would be the ones to challenge the hefty Champs, but this all stems back to our biggest gripe in the first place and this has nothing to do with NXT directly – the main roster. Back on Raw a while back, Black, Ricochet, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa all made their debuts. For unexplained reasons, Black/Ricochet were suddenly buddies and tagged with no issues, though their personalities couldn’t be more different. Once they competed in the Dusty Classic, things made a little more sense and we’re happy they won, because at least they have that headed into this bout. They also have competed on Raw and SmackDown against the likes of The Bar and WWE Raw Tag Team Champions The Revival. That being said, War Raiders continue to do their thing as Champs, remind us why they’re Champs and give Black/Ricochet a proud official sendoff from NXT to the main roster.

Prediction – War Raiders (Hanson And Rowe) 

– WWE United Kingdom Championship – Pete Dunne (Champion) Vs. WALTER – Is WALTER capitalized? We think so. It just feels right. He may chase us down and destroy us otherwise. We wished we kept tabs more on NXT UK to give a more deep and profound opinion, so don’t let us fool you with sheep’s wool. We’ll keep this one easy. Dunne has been Champion for eons practically and if there ever was a time to pass the belt onto greener pastures, why not WALTER? #WhyNotWALTER should trend on Twitter. Hopefully people don’t think that’s related to Breaking Bad. Eh, whatevs. Dunne could kill it on the main roster and practically begs for a call-up. This will impress because any Dunne match always does. Fingers may break, but expect a different result this time in the end. We go WALTER.

Prediction – WALTER 

– NXT North American Championship – Velveteen Dream (Champion) Vs. Matt Riddle – Besides the main event, this particular match has our pupils fixed to the card. Dream has garnered a reputation for TakeOver show stealers and the long-haired, flip-flop swagalicious Prince Riddle should provide a fun way to continue the trend. We also think this feud has NXT’s best storyline and not much had to be done. We just wish they dedicated more time to it. Think about this – this feud only needed about two back-and-forth segments, a sex couch, the color purple and the word “bro” to get over. What will they do in the ring to wow us? Exactly. Being that Dream just became Champion in a huge win over Gargano weeks ago, it would devalue the belt to transition it to Riddle. At least right away. Find a way for this feud to continue and then let Riddle win it in June. You may argue Riddle needs some big wins to establish himself early in NXT, but he’ll be just fine. He’s Matt Riddle. Bro.

Prediction – Velveteen Dream 

– NXT Women’s Championship – Fatal 4-Way – Shayna Baszler (Champion) Vs. Bianca Belair Vs. Io Shirai Vs. Kairi Sane – Of all NXT’s feuds, this one may be the most overbooked, but that’s a good thing compared to the suspension/arrest/vacated Titles/crutch blasphemy we’ve seen on the main roster with The Man, The Woo & The World’s Baddest Bitch for weeks. This should definitely be a hard hitter with a quickened pace like most four-ways, but we like Baszler’s chances the most. She had a few moments of momentum where she laid out all three competitors with her finisher at the same time, but her Horsewomen lackeys drag her down a bit. Baszler’s due for a main roster call-up and is pretty much “Punk Rock Ronda Rousey” and has Mixed Martial Arts ties to Rousey, so Creative should take advantage while they can before Rousey leaves. Baszler should come up as NXT Women’s Champion to come across as an immediate threat. That plus none of the other competitors in this match quite scream “Champion” right now. Shirai/Sane are better fit for the Women’s Tag Team Division, which based on WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks/Bayley’s NXT appearance, a match with The Sky Pirates is imminent. Belair gets better with every outing (plus her theme is BOMB – EXCUSE ME, GURL) but they can hold off on a run with the belt for her until the time is right. Baszler wins, gets called up as Champion and becomes Rousey’s bestie.

Prediction – Shayna Baszler 

– Vacant NXT Championship – Best Two-Out-Of-Three Falls – Johnny Gargano Vs. Adam Cole – What should’ve been a worthy finish to a feud months in the making has been derailed by reality. We even got a nice little DIY reunion out of it mixed in with the Dusty Classic, but the way they wrote off Ciampa leaves a logical way to come back to it once he’s fully healed. Backs against the wall, Triple H essentially said “Have no fear, let’s make the best of it” and presented the best match possible right now at the top of the card. It’s a dream match essentially and reports from live shows say that Cole/Gargano have excellent in-ring chemistry. No surprise there. Storyline-wise, the two had a great in-ring promo exchange on short notice to shift Gargano from tweener to hard-working babyface and Cole to brash heel. The Undisputed Era also vowed earlier this year to be like nWo 1997 and hold all the gold. A win for Cole would help do just that, plus it doesn’t feel right if Gargano beats anyone but Ciampa to become NXT Champion. Just wouldn’t feel like the end reward. True, we feel bad for Gargano since he most likely was booked to win the belt over Ciampa, but when reality hits, you make it work. Cole as Champ works right now.

Prediction – Adam Cole