As I head into this weekend, my heart is all aflutter. If you haven't read any of my previous posts from the last couple of weeks, my wife and I will be attending Axxess on Saturday morning, and then making my way over to TakeOver Phoenix that same day, and then on Sunday, I'll be at Chase Field to see the Royal Rumble. This is a dream weekend for us as we continue to pledge our devotion even further to WWE. And with dreams come hopes. And with hopes come columns. So let's mark out together and look at the TakeOver Phoenix card as I discuss my hopes and my predictions with you.
As far as match order, I'm uncertain, but it's a sure thing that the bout for the NXT title will go on last, so let's just start with that.
So we have Aleister Black returning to try to take his belt back from champion Tommaso Ciampa. The only thing that hurt Black's momentum this year was the injury he suffered during a house show, but he came back like a house on fire. The story of how he lost the belt and ultimately how his injury was really smartly kayfabed into him being attacked became the "Who Shot J.R.?" of NXT in 2018 (Google it, kids), and it worked brilliantly as it turned out to be Johnny Gargano, the same guy who cost him his title, who assaulted him. Now, the resolution of their beef is likely far from over as NXT is very much into long-term storytelling for some of its biggest stars, but at TakeOver, it's all about Black taking on Ciampa to reclaim something he never should have lost. Now, both Black and Ciampa have been putting on instant-classic matches all throughout 2018. Black's victory over Andrade "Cien" Almas at TakeOver New Orleans to capture the title was fantastic, and his match against Johnny Gargano at TakeOver Wargames was awesome to behold. Ciampa has had a number of fantastic 5-star matches all year against Johnny, and his heel work is the best in the business right now. As far as their in-ring chemistry, the championship match they had on NXT back in July was very solid, but since this is in a TakeOver and not just in front of a Full Sail audience, I have a strong feeling they're going to burn the house down and get ultra-physical. Black's feats of athleticism combined with his strong striking abilities play well with the contrasting technical background of Ciampa. Now the real question is how will the match end? This feels like a tough one, because I'm really enjoying Ciampa's run with Goldie, but I feel like in order to get Black back into the star position he should have, he needs to pick up the win. But I also have a strong feeling that the finish is going to get schmozzed up by Gargano. I'm hoping that's not the case since that's been done to death already, and because of Candace La Rae's intervention at Wednesday's episode, I'm thinking that it's going to be a while before we see Johnny and Tommaso again.
HOPE: Aleister Black wins the title
PREDICTION: Aleister Black wins the title
So let's go to the match with the least amount of hype or real consequences, and that's the grudge match between Matt Riddle and Kassius Ohno. I'm totally loving Matt Riddle right now. His character work and his in-ring work are terrific. And this is also probably the most interesting Ohno has been in a long time now that he's turned heel. And the outcome of this match is really going to depend on how much they want to invest in the progression of Ohno as a legitimate contender. My opinion is that Ohno is pretty much perfect right where he is; he's a guy that has been and should be used to put the incoming talent over. And when it comes to Riddle, that's someone I feel that NXT is going to eventually make a top guy, so it just wouldn't make sense to not give Riddle this win. The match will be a lot longer than their match at Wargames, and it should be a good showcase for both, and it'll be really interesting to see Riddle fight from underneath and overcome.
HOPE: Matt Riddle wins
PREDICTION: Matt Riddle wins
Now let's discuss the NXT Women's title bout between Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler. This felt pretty 50/50 to me at the beginning, but as I break it down, it seems a lot clearer. If they choose to have Belair go over, it could be the beginning of Baszler's transition to the main roster, but if they're committed to Shayna, which I think they are, this could also be more of a statement win for Shayna and showing a dominant heel faction within the Women's roster on NXT with Baszler being backed by Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. While Belair is somewhat over at Full Sail, I don't see that transitioning yet to the TakeOver stage, and her character still isn't clear enough to me to root actively for or against. So Belair needs some more work on that end of things in order to take the belt off Shayna. Whether or not a schmozz will be involved here is up for some debate, because they've already done that when Baszler defeated Kairi Sane at Evolution. But to be fair, Undisputed Era did that a lot at their beginnings as well, so I wouldn't be too upset about that. If it somehow ends in a DQ, it keeps the belt on Baszler and it keeps Belair undefeated. Take a month or so before the next TakeOver to build up Belair, and if they're committed to keeping her undefeated, she can win, but she would hopefully win with a more distinct personality. For now, though, it makes more sense to keep the belt on Shayna.
HOPE: Shayna Baszler retains via DQ
PREDICTION: Shayna Baszler retains clean.
So let's now move on to what is honestly my least anticipated match of the card, and that's the NXT Tag title bout between War Raiders and champs Undisputed Era. I wish that I could say that I was feeling War Raiders at this time. To me, they feel a lot like The Bludgeon Brothers; they're big, they're badass, but I don't feel like they're a team I can get behind yet. There are teams on the roster that have more personality, like Street Profits, and even Lorcan and Burch feel more natural for me than War Raiders. But Undisputed Era, while being my favorite faction and tag team on the roster, has held these titles for a long time, despite their very brief time without the titles when they dropped to Moustache Mountain in the UK (which, let's face it, was just to get a good pop from the UK crowd) just to win them right back in their next rematch. So maybe it's time to get the tag titles off Undisputed Era and let War Raiders see what they can do with it, but I also see this match having the highest probability of a schmozz since Adam Cole doesn't even have a match on this card. So, this is almost a flip-a-coin match booking for me.
HOPE: The Undisputed Era retains via dirty win
PREDICTION: War Raiders win the titles
And now from least to most anticipated match of the evening, and that's the North American title match with Johnny Gargano vs champ Ricochet. If you're a regular reader of this blog, I have made no secret of the fact that I think Johnny is the best male wrestler in all of WWE, and a big part of that is his ability to really develop and evolve his character. He's gone from babyface to mega-babyface after Ciampa's heel turn to ultra-mega-babyface when regained his job at NXT at TakeOver New Orleans in the Unsanctioned Match against Ciampa and has consistently done the best overall work in the entirety of WWE, having MOTY candidate after MOTY candidate matches all year long. And then when he did the unthinkable and turned heel, he was still working as if he was the face in all of his matches, and that's just genius-level work. Meanwhile, Ricochet has been the most spectacular high-flyer on the NXT roster since his arrival, and is certainly one of the best high-flyers in the industry. I always go back to three spots in his time in NXT: his take of the Adam Cole superkick as he headed backwards into it at their championship match at TakeOver Brooklyn 4, his 450 from the ring out to the floor during his promo with Velveteen Dream hyping up their match at TakeOver Chicago, and then a throwaway spot where he did MATRIX-level shit as he dodged the Over-Under finisher from Strong and O'Reilly in a promo spot. That, for me, was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen him do. So what I'm expecting is a eye-popping, mind-blowing match between two of the fastest performers in the company, and to see Ric go all out to defend his title, but I think that this will be the reward title that Johnny TakeOver deserves. It just makes sense to get Ricochet back to fighting from underneath and to get a strap on Johnny so that he feels that all of his actions lately have been justified.
HOPE: Johnny Gargano wins the title
PREDICTION: Johnny Gargano wins the title
So that's it for me for this weekend! I might get more into more about WOW as I start to see more of it on a weekly basis, but for now, I just need to get to know the performers and the format of the show. I really enjoyed the first episode on AXS, and I'm looking forward to a lot more of that promotion. I'll be back on Monday evening with a rundown of all my experiences and recaps of everything in the coming weekend! I hope that you all have a really awesome time watching all the cool shit going down this weekend in WWE!
Until next time, kids...
As far as match order, I'm uncertain, but it's a sure thing that the bout for the NXT title will go on last, so let's just start with that.
So we have Aleister Black returning to try to take his belt back from champion Tommaso Ciampa. The only thing that hurt Black's momentum this year was the injury he suffered during a house show, but he came back like a house on fire. The story of how he lost the belt and ultimately how his injury was really smartly kayfabed into him being attacked became the "Who Shot J.R.?" of NXT in 2018 (Google it, kids), and it worked brilliantly as it turned out to be Johnny Gargano, the same guy who cost him his title, who assaulted him. Now, the resolution of their beef is likely far from over as NXT is very much into long-term storytelling for some of its biggest stars, but at TakeOver, it's all about Black taking on Ciampa to reclaim something he never should have lost. Now, both Black and Ciampa have been putting on instant-classic matches all throughout 2018. Black's victory over Andrade "Cien" Almas at TakeOver New Orleans to capture the title was fantastic, and his match against Johnny Gargano at TakeOver Wargames was awesome to behold. Ciampa has had a number of fantastic 5-star matches all year against Johnny, and his heel work is the best in the business right now. As far as their in-ring chemistry, the championship match they had on NXT back in July was very solid, but since this is in a TakeOver and not just in front of a Full Sail audience, I have a strong feeling they're going to burn the house down and get ultra-physical. Black's feats of athleticism combined with his strong striking abilities play well with the contrasting technical background of Ciampa. Now the real question is how will the match end? This feels like a tough one, because I'm really enjoying Ciampa's run with Goldie, but I feel like in order to get Black back into the star position he should have, he needs to pick up the win. But I also have a strong feeling that the finish is going to get schmozzed up by Gargano. I'm hoping that's not the case since that's been done to death already, and because of Candace La Rae's intervention at Wednesday's episode, I'm thinking that it's going to be a while before we see Johnny and Tommaso again.
HOPE: Aleister Black wins the title
PREDICTION: Aleister Black wins the title
So let's go to the match with the least amount of hype or real consequences, and that's the grudge match between Matt Riddle and Kassius Ohno. I'm totally loving Matt Riddle right now. His character work and his in-ring work are terrific. And this is also probably the most interesting Ohno has been in a long time now that he's turned heel. And the outcome of this match is really going to depend on how much they want to invest in the progression of Ohno as a legitimate contender. My opinion is that Ohno is pretty much perfect right where he is; he's a guy that has been and should be used to put the incoming talent over. And when it comes to Riddle, that's someone I feel that NXT is going to eventually make a top guy, so it just wouldn't make sense to not give Riddle this win. The match will be a lot longer than their match at Wargames, and it should be a good showcase for both, and it'll be really interesting to see Riddle fight from underneath and overcome.
HOPE: Matt Riddle wins
PREDICTION: Matt Riddle wins
Now let's discuss the NXT Women's title bout between Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler. This felt pretty 50/50 to me at the beginning, but as I break it down, it seems a lot clearer. If they choose to have Belair go over, it could be the beginning of Baszler's transition to the main roster, but if they're committed to Shayna, which I think they are, this could also be more of a statement win for Shayna and showing a dominant heel faction within the Women's roster on NXT with Baszler being backed by Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. While Belair is somewhat over at Full Sail, I don't see that transitioning yet to the TakeOver stage, and her character still isn't clear enough to me to root actively for or against. So Belair needs some more work on that end of things in order to take the belt off Shayna. Whether or not a schmozz will be involved here is up for some debate, because they've already done that when Baszler defeated Kairi Sane at Evolution. But to be fair, Undisputed Era did that a lot at their beginnings as well, so I wouldn't be too upset about that. If it somehow ends in a DQ, it keeps the belt on Baszler and it keeps Belair undefeated. Take a month or so before the next TakeOver to build up Belair, and if they're committed to keeping her undefeated, she can win, but she would hopefully win with a more distinct personality. For now, though, it makes more sense to keep the belt on Shayna.
HOPE: Shayna Baszler retains via DQ
PREDICTION: Shayna Baszler retains clean.
So let's now move on to what is honestly my least anticipated match of the card, and that's the NXT Tag title bout between War Raiders and champs Undisputed Era. I wish that I could say that I was feeling War Raiders at this time. To me, they feel a lot like The Bludgeon Brothers; they're big, they're badass, but I don't feel like they're a team I can get behind yet. There are teams on the roster that have more personality, like Street Profits, and even Lorcan and Burch feel more natural for me than War Raiders. But Undisputed Era, while being my favorite faction and tag team on the roster, has held these titles for a long time, despite their very brief time without the titles when they dropped to Moustache Mountain in the UK (which, let's face it, was just to get a good pop from the UK crowd) just to win them right back in their next rematch. So maybe it's time to get the tag titles off Undisputed Era and let War Raiders see what they can do with it, but I also see this match having the highest probability of a schmozz since Adam Cole doesn't even have a match on this card. So, this is almost a flip-a-coin match booking for me.
HOPE: The Undisputed Era retains via dirty win
PREDICTION: War Raiders win the titles
And now from least to most anticipated match of the evening, and that's the North American title match with Johnny Gargano vs champ Ricochet. If you're a regular reader of this blog, I have made no secret of the fact that I think Johnny is the best male wrestler in all of WWE, and a big part of that is his ability to really develop and evolve his character. He's gone from babyface to mega-babyface after Ciampa's heel turn to ultra-mega-babyface when regained his job at NXT at TakeOver New Orleans in the Unsanctioned Match against Ciampa and has consistently done the best overall work in the entirety of WWE, having MOTY candidate after MOTY candidate matches all year long. And then when he did the unthinkable and turned heel, he was still working as if he was the face in all of his matches, and that's just genius-level work. Meanwhile, Ricochet has been the most spectacular high-flyer on the NXT roster since his arrival, and is certainly one of the best high-flyers in the industry. I always go back to three spots in his time in NXT: his take of the Adam Cole superkick as he headed backwards into it at their championship match at TakeOver Brooklyn 4, his 450 from the ring out to the floor during his promo with Velveteen Dream hyping up their match at TakeOver Chicago, and then a throwaway spot where he did MATRIX-level shit as he dodged the Over-Under finisher from Strong and O'Reilly in a promo spot. That, for me, was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen him do. So what I'm expecting is a eye-popping, mind-blowing match between two of the fastest performers in the company, and to see Ric go all out to defend his title, but I think that this will be the reward title that Johnny TakeOver deserves. It just makes sense to get Ricochet back to fighting from underneath and to get a strap on Johnny so that he feels that all of his actions lately have been justified.
HOPE: Johnny Gargano wins the title
PREDICTION: Johnny Gargano wins the title
So that's it for me for this weekend! I might get more into more about WOW as I start to see more of it on a weekly basis, but for now, I just need to get to know the performers and the format of the show. I really enjoyed the first episode on AXS, and I'm looking forward to a lot more of that promotion. I'll be back on Monday evening with a rundown of all my experiences and recaps of everything in the coming weekend! I hope that you all have a really awesome time watching all the cool shit going down this weekend in WWE!
Until next time, kids...
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