Welcome back to another round of Quick Takes—a post that indulges in the topics that aren’t worth dedicating a full article to, but are still on my mind.
Each week, I try to cram in as many smaller talking points as I can via a speedier process, and I invite you to chime in with your own thoughts about these topics and anything else by keeping the discussion going in the comments below! Drop some more talking points in there for everyone to chat it up about, too!
Without further ado, let’s get into this week’s topics.
NXT TakeOver Announced for February 14, 2021
The next NXT TakeOver event will take place February 14, 2021. So far, it hasn’t been given a subtitle of any sorts.
They could just call it TakeOver 33, but I think they’d be missing a great opportunity to bring back the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre name.
You don’t book a show with no title to it on a holiday and then go out of your way to avoid it. New Year’s Evil was as close to January 1st as they could’ve gotten it. The Great American Bash and Halloween Havoc were around those holidays.
This is a no-brainer. The only way they shouldn’t go with that name is if they opted for a brand new name that has a reference to Valentine’s Day in some fashion. Then again, what could be a better name for it than that? The only thing I can even think of that I’d be okay with would be “NXT TakeOver: Love & War” and even that isn’t as good.
WOMEN’S Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Team Speculation
It was announced this week on New Year’s Evil that there will be a women’s version of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic “soon” with no indication as to when it would start or what teams would be involved.
Just like last week, I figured I’d chime in with my thoughts on the potential teams we could see pair up and who might win.
First things first, I’d assume the winners will get a WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship title shot. That only makes sense, given the winners of the men’s will get an NXT tag title shot and there isn’t a women’s tag team division specifically in NXT.
- Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez are guaranteed. If they aren’t in the tournament, I’ll eat my hat. I’m not even wearing one. I’ll go buy one and eat it.
- Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell should naturally represent The Way. They’re the only other team that I think is certain.
- The Spitfire Warriors (Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter) should be guaranteed, but you never really know. They aren’t exactly the most prolific members of the roster. But they’re rock solid and they deserve a spot here. I think they’re actually overlooked in general.
Trying to sort out 5 more teams is actually rather difficult, as they’re pretty random pairings that will be made.
Aliyah and Vanessa Borne could reform Borne & Boujee. We haven’t seen Borne in a long, long time and nothing’s come out as to why that’s the case.
I think Ember Moon will team with Shotzi Blackheart.
Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley could form a team. I’m not sold on it, but it’s a possibility.
Xia Li and the other woman who she’s now associated with could be in this, but I don’t think that will be the case. They’d have to establish her and they would have to win the tournament.
Maybe Santana Garrett teams with someone like Jessi Kamea for a first-round elimination?
For that matter, Valentina Feroz and Katrina Cortez?
We haven’t seen Skyler Storey yet. Maybe she will team up with Briana Brandy or Ivy Nile or one of the other Performance Center recruits who haven’t been in action.
Lastly, there’s a chance Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir come back into the mix here. They had popped up in Raw Underground, but since that’s gone away, we’ve seen people like Arturo Ruas show up back in NXT. It would shock me if they WEREN’T in this tournament. In fact, I’d go so far as to say they might win the tournament and win the Women’s Tag Team Championship titles from Asuka and Charlotte Flair with a little bit of help from Shayna Baszler.
What are your takes on these topics? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!
