WWE NXT TakeOver: Dallas is coming up, and as I do with every special event, I try to look at the list of people being showcased on the card and determine who will end up stealing the most amount of the spotlight by the end of the night.
Since NXT is all about making a name for yourself in order to impress the WWE Universe, it goes without being said that everybody is trying to be their best on events like this, but sometimes there are others that just stand out more in some fashion. A lot of this comes down to the booking decisions, as not everyone can be a winner, but sometimes it’s the quality of the match or just the atmosphere of someone competing.
For NXT TakeOver: Dallas, it seems like there’s a wide variety of these attributes and every single match has the potential to tear the house down. Despite this, I’m limiting myself to the top three choices for two reasons: 1) it’s not quite so special of a list if half the people on the show are included, and 2) I honestly can’t make up a decision about who will win in the NXT Championship and NXT Women’s Championship matches!
With all that being said, who are three candidates I’ve chosen? Let’s take a look…
American Alpha
Jason Jordan and Chad Gable have to be winning that NXT Tag Team Championship, am I right? I just can’t imagine Dash and Dawson leaving this show with the belts still around their waists. Back when they originally won them, I was surprised, but I also immediately assumed they were transitional champs to set up either Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady or Jordan and Gable. With the former team coming up short in their title shot, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that American Alpha would take the titles.
The WWE Universe has embraced Jordan and Gable with open arms, and it’s time for WWE to take that duo to the next level by giving them the belts. They’re the perfect team to be holding the championship in preparation for Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, who I assume will be debuting in NXT and winning those titles sooner or later. Enzo and Cass can move up to the main roster, the Hype Bros can take a step up the ladder as the secondary babyface tag team, and the rightful kings of the division will be crowned.
Austin Aries
Austin Aries is making his debut, for the most part, which means he’s a top priority by default. People can be quick to overlook his opponent, Baron Corbin, but he’s no slouch after having a great year in 2015. The fact that Aries is working with him right off the bat is a good indicator that he’s considered somewhat of a commodity by WWE.
Keep in mind that while Aries will be the focal point in this match, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll win. In fact, there’s a good possibility Corbin is booked to win just to keep fans on their toes. These two could put on a great match and Corbin can pull some kind of dirty deed to get the victory as far as the rulebook is concerned, but the fans would know that it was Aries who was the real man on top. Of course, there’s an even bigger possibility that Aries just simply wins because he’s the babyface looking for vengeance after being attacked by Corbin and it would make the fans happy to see Aries get the victory.
Either way, one of the biggest attractions to this show is seeing Aries in action, and he won’t be looking like a chump no matter what happens.
Shinsuke Nakamura
In a lot of ways, you can copy and paste what I said above about Austin Aries and apply it to Shinsuke Nakamura, but he’s in an even better position than that. While I think there’s a chance Aries can lose his match, I have no doubt that Nakamura will be victorious against Sami Zayn.
Not only is Sami Zayn someone who could lose and not diminish in quality from the point of view of the WWE Universe, Nakamura is a bigger star than Aries and will be protected as such. There’s no way Zayn will be cheating to win like there is a possibility of that happening with Corbin, which means this match is very likely to end with a definitive winner, and it would do Nakamura no good to lose to Zayn in his first match.
Having been called up to the main roster, Zayn is leaving a bit of a hole in the NXT roster, despite being absent for many months. Nakamura is going to be one of the primary guys in NXT that will fill the void left by Zayn’s absence as a top babyface for the brand. To give him the proper momentum to be able to pull that off, he would need to win, as Zayn can lose and still get an enormous pop at WrestleMania, particularly if he wins the Intercontinental Championship to compensate for this loss. For a lot of fans, this will be the first time they’ll ever see Nakamura, and WWE will want to make him out like a big deal so he can give off a great first impression to viewers.
Those are my choices, but what do you think? Will Bayley or Asuka steal the show similar to what happened with Bayley and Sasha Banks? Does Samoa Joe walk out with the championship and become the new head honcho? Are you drifting more towards Elias Samson?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
