Saturday, August 20, 2016

NXT TakeOver: Back to Brooklyn Predictions


This seems like an odd use of Austin Aries. He's been overshadowed and his performances haven't been great, so he finds himself here. I could see this feud being used to help No Way Jose develop. He shouldn't beat Aries at all though. Aries has potential to be a key player for NXT going forward. He should win this while Jose needs to have the best performance of his career and both guys could benefit from it.

Winner: Austin Aries

NXT is going about getting Andrade Almas over in all the wrong ways. The vignettes were cool, but then he shows up dressed like male stripper and debuted against the popular Tye Dillinger, causing the crowd to not really feel him. Since then, his matches have been lackluster and he has no character at all. Now, he's set to face Bobby Roode, who debuted with one of best theme songs ever and cut an awesome promo. Roode made the impact, pun intended, that Almas hasn't been able to. Roode should win here and start his push towards a title contender and top guy in NXT.

Winner: Bobby Roode

Honestly, I think I'm looking forward to this match more than any other. The Revival are such a great old school team and have had some awesome matches over the past few months. Gargano and Ciampa have really grown on me and have undeniable chemistry. I don't know if this will be quite on the level of the Revival/American Alpha series, but they did set a high bar. Personally, I'd have Gargano and Ciampa win here so the Revival could join the Smackdown tag scene. However, I think they retain here and Gargano and Ciampa win it in their second shot.

Winners: The Revival

This is being hyped as a major rematch and, while it does feature the two biggest names in the women's division, I'm not too excited about it. Their first match was good but never reached great status to me. The Brooklyn crowd could help this, I just don't see it being amazing. it should be a very good encounter that sees Asuka retain. I know Bayley would win for the repeat moment but I don't see why that would be a good move. She's done all she can in NXT to be honest. Asuka needs to go over here, stay unbeaten and give the big rub to someone else, like Ember Moon.

Winner: Asuka

A worthy main event for sure. I do wish NXT spent more time building actual programs. Nakamura debuted, beat Sami, Aries and Finn and then it was just like "you get a title shot." That's fine sometimes, but I think NXT relies too much on big names facing each other, rather than an actual story. Anyway, this should be all kinds of rad. It should feel like a hard hitting G1 Climax style match and if Nakamura brings his "A" game, this could be a MOTY contender. Since it is a big show, like TakeOver: Dallas, expect the best from Nakamura. I say he wins to strike while the iron is hot.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura