The 2018 NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia pay-per-view is scheduled for this upcoming Sunday night and it appears as though the card has been finalized outside of any last-minute additions, which means it’s time for another look at the superstars on the roster who have been skipped over.
For whatever reason, these men and women from the brand weren’t deemed important enough to find a spot for at the event—at least as far as it’s currently being advertised. Some of those omissions might be justified, while others below are a bit more questionable. Let’s take a look at who will be sitting this show out.
From the Male Singles Roster
Strangely, despite Lars Sullivan calling out Killian Dain, and then Roderick Strong calling out Sullivan, all three of them have nothing scheduled for this card, whereas The Velveteen Dream and Kassius Ohno weren’t really locked in any kind of feud and they have a match.
That seems to indicate that WWE had a different idea of what they wanted to do for TakeOver and decided to change for one of two reasons, most likely: a) they’ve been fond of The Velveteen Dream and didn’t want to exclude him, so they had to cut something and decided Sullivan/Dain/Strong was the least important, or b) they actively don’t want to do anything with Sullivan/Dain/Strong anymore after they had already filmed those segments during the tapings, and that storyline has been dropped entirely.
Lio Rush has a long way to go before he’s back in good graces. We’ll see if I’m wrong in a few months, but I don’t even think we’ll see him on the card for New Orleans.
Fabian Aichner is new enough and not in the midst of a true push, so his exclusion is just a matter of other people being bigger deals.
No Way Jose is someone I’m anticipating to pop up in the Royal Rumble, and until I’m proven otherwise, I’m working under the assumption that’s why he’s not here (even though he’s not been at any TakeOver in a while).
I doubt anybody is even aware of Buddy Murphy, Cezar Bononi and Wesley Blake in any powerful capacity, as even I forgot to put their names on this list’s first draft.
Due to his injury, Drew McIntyre went from someone who would normally be on this card for sure to someone who was a guarantee not to compete even by the time the last TakeOver was finished.
Finally, there’s Tommaso Ciampa, who has been injured for several months. I’m very, very suspicious that we’re going to see him return here to screw over Johnny Gargano, so even though he’s technically not advertised for this event, I’m going out on a limb in saying that he’ll appear nonetheless.
The United Kingdom Division
Since it isn’t officially part of the NXT brand, but tangentially associated with it, the United Kingdom division is often taking a backseat and only brought out when there aren’t any other options available or when the company wants to remind us that it’s still around.
As such, UK champion Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Wolfgang, Mark Andrews and any of the unofficial members of that roster are off the TakeOver card for Philadelphia, which should come to no surprise, since it’s the norm.
However, just like with everybody else on this list, there’s a chance they wrestle on the tapings that precede the event, so we might see any of them in action as far as in a live event capacity.
From the Women’s Division
Over the recent weeks, plenty of the women’s division in NXT have been showcased as props and building blocks in the feud between Ember Moon and Shayna Baszler, mostly with The Queen of Spades attacking someone for the hell of it.
With that being the target storyline, I’m not shocked that The Iconic Duo have had nothing to do, as them being attacked wouldn’t feel right. Plus, I keep thinking they will be in the women’s Royal Rumble match instead, but that’s just a pondering.
Kairi Sane is said to be somewhat banged up and resting from her injuries, explaining her absence from the card, while the likes of Aliyah, Bianca Belair, Lacey Evans, Taynara Conti and Vanessa Borne just aren’t being prioritized right now—or, in some cases, likely any time soon.
When it comes to Nikki Cross, she may appear in some fashion to interfere in the Extreme Rules match between Aleister Black and Adam Cole if we see the return of SAnitY trying to get some revenge, but even that could be a stretch compared to the most likely option of her just sitting this show out.
From the Tag Team Division
The Street Profits lost their No. 1 contender’s match to The Authors of Pain, taking them out of the running for that title opportunity.
SAnitY pretty much should still be on the backburner as far as having a title shot since their rematch went haywire, yet they were skipped over in favor of AOP. Odd. Perhaps that will come into play at the event itself with them interfering, as previously mentioned with Nikki Cross.
TM61 has yet to get back in the swing of things, Heavy Machinery are lingering around but not a focal point, Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli are working their way up the ranks although they still have some time before they get on one of these cards, and The Brit-Am Bruisers (Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan) haven’t been seen in a while, so no wonder.
The Live Event Crew:
If you’re a stickler for things being complete, we of course have to mention the live event crew who aren’t regularly part of the NXT tapings, let alone ever highlighted on a TakeOver special.
Adrian Jaoude, Babatunde Aiyegbusi, Big Boa, Brennan Williams, Chad Lail, Cheng Yuxiang, Christopher Dijak, Dan Matha, Demetrius Bronson, Eric Bugenhagen, The Ealy Brothers, Jeet Rama, Kishan Raftar, Kona Reeves, Marcel Barthel, Ming, Raul Mendoza, Rocky, Steve Cutler, and Tian Bing round out the men’s portion of this roster, with the house show women consisting of Abbey Laith, Dakota Kai (who was pretty much written off as injured anyway), Jessie Elaban, Reina Gonzalez, Rhea Ripley, Sage Beckett and Zeda. [Side note: what’s up with Xia Li never being classified as part of this roster anywhere when she even competed in the Mae Young Classic? Strange..]
The idea that these superstars are still in the lower class of the developmental system pretty much explains on its own why they didn’t receive any of the few spots on the TakeOver card, but in the coming months, we should see some of them stepping up their game and possibly turning that around.
Do you think these men and women or any others not on this list should have been booked on the card in some fashion? How would you have utilized them if given the opportunity? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
