NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 is out of the way and tonight, the first set of tapings for the NXT episodes leading up to TakeOver: WarGames II took place, giving us a window into some possible plans for the event.
As such, it’s time to give some super early predictions on how things may play out for that event, based off the most recent pay-per-view, the direction of these TV tapings and all other potential information we can gather. Per usual, I invite everyone else to take part in the predictions by giving their own guesses in the comments below.
What do I see in my crystal ball for NXT TakeOver: WarGames 2018? Let’s take a look at some of the potential matches…
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
NXT Tag Team Championship / WarGames Match
This is one of the two big ones that are going to shape the card, and since we only have tapings that will take us into the end of September, there are still many more episodes left to go that will help clarify the issue.
However, this is where things stand right now: The Undisputed ERA are shoo-ins to be involved in this match, as expected. It’s unclear if the NXT Tag Team Championship will be on the line, or if this match will feature all three active members of the stable (as Bobby Fish is still unlikely to return, but by all means, those rumors could be untrue and he could be back in time for this, too)
War Raiders will definitely be part of the opposition, as they’ve twice made the babyface save and went on the attack against Adam Cole, Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly.
Ricochet, having taken the North American Championship from Cole, has been in the mix, too, but Pete Dunne is still hanging around. There was even a match between Dunne and Ricochet that was title for title, which The Undisputed ERA interrupted.
Then, after that whole fiasco, Oney Lorcan, Danny Burch and Keith Lee got involved against The Undisputed ERA, adding yet another group of people to the mix, but some reports suggest this may have been more of a dark segment than anything that will air on the show itself.
That’s a lot to unpack, but I think it means we’re looking at a potential three or four team setup of trios for this WarGames match: The Undisputed ERA vs. Ricochet and War Raiders vs. British Strong Style (Pete Dunne and Moustache Mountain) vs. potentially Keith Lee, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch.
Last year, there were three teams and the titles weren’t on the line. If Ricochet is involved, I think we can kiss the North American Championship and the Tag Team Championship goodbye as far as being defended. However, there’s just as much time for Ricochet to be moved onto another feud and for someone else to come in and be paired with War Raiders, so anything can happen.
My guess is we get the three teams without the Lee/Lorcan/Burch triumvirate, no belts are in danger and it gives WWE some breathing room for not having to put the titles on War Raiders until Phoenix in January.
NXT Championship Match
For the most part, the only real guarantee regarding the NXT Championship is that it will be defended by Tommaso Ciampa, although even that isn’t 100% due to the possibility of injuries and such getting in the way—or, alternatively, the opposite with the return of Aleister Black.
So far, if we follow the narrative WWE is telling us, Black’s attacker is not anyone from The Undisputed ERA, nor EC3, Velveteen Dream, Johnny Gargano or even Tommaso Ciampa, as he stated in a promo that if he were to attack Black, he’d have done it on a bigger stage and he was going to, but someone beat him to it.
There aren’t too many people in NXT who can be considered possible “suspects” to really pay off a story with Black, as it’s unlikely they’d give that spot to someone like Kona Reeves or Raul Mendoza or even Kassius Ohno (although he’s a little bit more suspicious now after these tapings)—and there’s always a chance Ciampa simply lied.
I would put more faith in a singles match between Ciampa and Black happening here than anything else, but just for the sake of explaining things, Velveteen Dream and Johnny Gargano went at it and Gargano lost. Nothing has been clarified about this being a No. 1 contender’s match or anything of the sort, so it may be just a stepping stone filler feud to get somewhere else, but that is where the second set of tapings will come into play.
My prediction: we’ll see Ciampa vs. Black for the NXT Championship, although there’s certainly a possibility WWE goes with something a bit different and books Ciampa against Velveteen Dream.
EC3 vs. Lars Sullivan
We’re already two steps into this feud. First, EC3 named Lars Sullivan as his top suspect for the attack on Aleister Black on this week’s episode of NXT in an interview with Mike Rome. Then, according to this set of tapings, Sullivan struck back by laying out EC3 backstage before going on to decimate Raul Mendoza on two separate occasions.
This seems pretty straightforward. Sullivan is back, he’s being built up to look like a monster again, EC3 is the target in his sights and
The Fifth Match
Depending on what happens with WarGames, the North American Championship and the NXT Championship, the fifth match on the card (fourth being the women’s title match, discussed below) could consist of a variety of different players.
In my mind, the names that stand out the most are Aleister Black (if he’s healed up and isn’t fighting Ciampa), Velveteen Dream (again, if he’s not fighting Ciampa), Johnny Gargano (obviously), Keith Lee (if he isn’t in the WarGames match) and having the debut of Matt Riddle.
Part of me thinks if Matt Riddle gets a match, it would be against Velveteen Dream or Johnny Gargano and he’d win. An even bigger part of me thinks they’re going to hold off on his debut until after this event and the same could be applicable to Keith Lee if he isn’t in the WarGames match.
We could get something as simple as a Gargano/Dream rematch from this set of tapings, or Gargano could sit out the event with the storyline that he needs to find himself again, leaving Velveteen Dream to fight Ciampa and Aleister Black to fight whoever his attacker was, or any other multitude of options.
This is almost impossible to figure out right now, with so many other variables up in the air.
NXT Women’s Championship Match
Finally, let’s talk about the women’s division. For the record, this isn’t last on this article for any kind of ranking order, but because everything else is so intricately tied into each other’s feuds that it would be bouncing around too much to take care of this in the midst of all that, as this is very much its own, separate thing.
With that being said, the idea of other things getting in the way does somewhat apply to this in one capacity: Evolution.
TakeOver: WarGames doesn’t happen until November 17—the night before Survivor Series. Evolution is set for October 28th and it’s already been advertised that the NXT Women’s Championship will be defended on that card.
Since Kairi Sane didn’t drop the title at least until the September 19th airing of NXT, it’s safe to say she’s probably heading into Evolution as the champion and will have her rematch with Shayna Baszler at that event, rather than at WarGames, particularly because they’ve gone straight into The Queen of Spades talking about wanting her rematch.
After Evolution, the championship could go in any number of directions.
If Baszler wins the title back, the options of her challengers are pretty limited. Candice LeRae is the first that comes to my mind, but she could also fight the winner of the Mae Young Classic, as that could be for a future title shot, as that’s what happened with last year’s WarGames and Sane getting inserted into the championship match.
If Baszler gets called up to the main roster (which I think she will), then Sane will retain there and move on to someone else. Again, maybe it’s a match against the Mae Young Classic winner, but it could also be a heel on the current NXT roster. I’m banking on Bianca Belair being the next champion, so I don’t think she’ll get the shot here, but I could see Lacey Evans getting an opportunity at WarGames to come up short and give Sane another person to retain over. I highly doubt Aliyah will get the shot, as she’s lower on the totem pole.
With all this in mind, I’m thinking we have Kairi Sane against Lacey Evans or Io Shirai.
Those are my predictions, but what matches do YOU think will be on the card? Drop your guesses in the comments below!
