NXT North American Championship: Keith Lee (c) vs. Dominik Dijakovic
If there was ever a star tailor made to open this show, it’s Keith Lee. The man is the personification of “over,” and the crowd will be going nuts for him. As for this match? I mean how can it NOT deliver? All these guys have EVER done is deliver! It’s far too soon for Keith Lee to lose the North American here, and we’re also in a spot where a drawn out feud between these two men wouldn’t work. So what do we do?
You debut Kevin Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux, that’s what!
I don’t see NXT waiting long at all to debut this pairing, and I think it’s too obvious not to put them together. Kevin will be way over from the jump, and Scarlett can be the heat magnet he needs to work as a heel. Keith Lee vs. Kevin Kross at Takeover: Tampa Bay will be the match you never knew you wanted to see, and you will love it.
Prediction: Keith Lee, with a Kevin Kross post-match attack
Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano
Bro, the hits just keep on comin’, don’t they! Here we have another instant classic, that will outshine Balor vs. Matt Riddle that came before it. Johnny Gargano is basically incapable of having a bad match, and Finn Balor is FINN FREAKING BALOR. Unlike Keith Lee vs. Kevin Kross referenced above, this is the match you’ve known you want to see, and now you get to see it.
The answer to “what the hell do you do here” is really predicated on what happens next for both guys. And I think that, for these two, the road to Tampa Bay ends with… Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano.
I think this feud ends with The Demon, but since Finn is the heel, the Demon comes out because Johnny demands it. Johnny Wrestling picks up the big win, and Finn wants to avenge that loss. Johnny only does it to face the Demon, who vanquishes this feud on the night before the grandest stage in the business (and the biggest of the year for NXT).
Prediction: Johnny Wrestling
