Our preview and predictions for NXT Takeover: New York, coming to you from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York live at 7 PM EST on the WWE Network.
WrestleMania weekend kicks off for WWE in a big way this Friday night for NXT Takeover: New York. A five-match card with every match having a title on the line, the black and yellow brand will look to steal WrestleMania weekend early with a loaded show from top to bottom.
Today we are gonna preview each match and offer our predictions for arguably NXT’s biggest show of the year. So let’s kick it off, shall we?
The War Raiders defend the NXT Tag Team titles against Ricochet and Aleister Black
There’s a good chance this match will kick off the show as Takeovers have a good history of starting with a hard-hitting tag match, and this one will most certainly live up to the bill. Aleister Black and Ricochet won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic to earn the right to challenge the War Raiders at Takeover.
The challengers are in the process of making history, as in a seven-day period they will have challenged for all three men’s tag team championships: Raw, SmackDown and NXT. This has never happened before and likely will never happen again.
The War Raiders have been on a tear of the NXT roster as of late, defeating every opponent that has stood in their way. With Ricochet and Black not being long for NXT roster one has to believe it will be no different here. However, this match should be fantastic and a great way to kick off the show.
Prediction: The War Raiders retain
Pete Dunne defends the NXT UK Championship against WALTER
Pete Dunne has held the NXT UK Championship for over six hundred days after taking the title from Tyler Bate at NXT Takeover: Chicago in 2017. But some would say he hasn’t faced a challenge during his reign quite like WALTER.
WALTER debuted in NXT UK in January at the end of their first Takeover: Blackpool event, coming out to the ring after Dunne’s successful title defense against Joe Coffey. The two had a stare down and everyone knew it was only a matter of time before they would get in the ring to battle for the championship.
Those who haven’t really been keeping up with NXT UK and aren’t familiar with what they call British strong style are in for a real treat. So many matches on this show have the potential to steal the show, and these two can certainly pull off that feat.
Prediction: WALTER wins the NXT UK Championship
Shayna Baszler defends the NXT Women’s Championship in a fatal four-way against Io Shirai, Kairi Sane, and Bianca Belair
It’s possible Shayna Baszler’s crusade for respect from the rest of the NXT Women’s division might be coming back to haunt her as she finds herself against three opponents instead of one this Friday night. It is entirely possible that we could see anyone in this match walk out with the championship.
Originally this match was scheduled to be Baszler defending the title against either Io Shirai or Bianca Belair, but due to her interference causing the match to end in a no contest, NXT General Manager William Regal decided to make the match a fatal four-way, also adding in former champion Kairi Sane who got involved post-match trying to save her friend Shirai against Baszler and got choked out in the process.
There has been marketing for this match even on WWE’s official website that would suggest that this would become a ladder match, but as NXT went off the air on Wednesday night there was no confirmation that this would be the case. This match could go in any direction, but with the potential of Sane and Shirai challenging for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles in the future, the odds for either of them to win on Friday decrease quite a bit.
Prediction: Bianca Belair wins the NXT Women’s Championship
Velveteen Dream defends the NXT North American Championship against Matt Riddle
This is another match that has the potential to steal the show as Velveteen Dream takes on the King of Bros, Matt Riddle, for the North American title. Before the neck injury to Tommaso Ciampa, this match was scheduled to be a triple threat with Adam Cole in the mix but that all got thrown out the window with Ciampa’s injury putting Cole into the main event and leaving this match to become a singles contest instead.
The Dream has been obsessed with keeping the spotlight on him and Riddle has been persistent about getting Dream’s title around his waist. Mind games have been played as Dream watched Riddle’s match from the stage on a couch as the King of Bros defeated Kona Reeves and the two had a stare down on the stage post-match to build the hype for this bout.
It could be argued that the Dream has stolen every single Takeover that he has wrestled on. From his gear to the matches themselves, it seems everyone is talking about him by the time Takeover is said and done. With all the calls-ups as of late and Dream’s obsession about having Vince McMahon “Call him up” this could be a surprise swan song for the Champion Friday night in Brooklyn.
Prediction: Matt Riddle wins the NXT North American Championship
Johnny Gargano goes one-on-one with Adam Cole in a two-out-of-three falls match for the vacant NXT Championship
This match should have been the climax from years of build between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, but it was unfortunately called off when Ciampa had to vacate the championship due to injury and to undergo neck surgery. To find a new opponent for Gargano, Triple H had a fatal five-way on NXT which saw Adam Cole come out the victor to challenge for the vacant championship.
This match will be contested in a two-out-of-three falls format to determine a definitive winner, according to Triple H, which technically takes a five-match card and pushes it up to seven. Hopefully, this has all the makings to give us our longest Takeover event ever.
It would be shocking for this match to not go all three falls, as Cole has already teased that the Undisputed Era will play a role in this match early and often, with his teammates more than likely getting ejected from ringside prior to the finish. The finish of this match could go either way and heavily depends on whether Gargano will be called up to the main roster following WrestleMania. Either man winning would not be a surprise to anyone at this point; it’s truly anyone’s match here.
Prediction: Johnny Gargano becomes NXT Champion and remains in NXT following WrestleMania
How to watch
Date: Friday, April 5th, 2019
Time: 7:00 pm EST
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Venue: Barclays Center
Live Stream: WWE Network
This event could go down as one of the most noteworthy Takeovers ever where this is a chance that every single match could feature a title change. What do you think of our predictions? Who will leave with the championships at Takeover? Sound off in the comments below!
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