NXT Takeover: XXV Preview, Predictions And Thoughts

It might not feel like that much time has passed since the last Takeover special and really….it kind of hasn’t. We’re less than two months removed from Takeover: New York and therefore things are a bit rushed, mainly due to the Saudi Arabian show moving things up. The card looks rather good for the most part, but things aren’t feeling as exciting as they usually are. That’s never stopped them before though so hopefully everything goes well. Let’s get to it.

Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong

It’s pretty rare to have a Takeover match that is this obvious but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be boring. Riddle is one of the few people in wrestling that is close to an actual prodigy so it makes sense to feature him on these Takeover shows. Strong is no slouch though and it’s a good idea to have someone in there with this much experience to help make Riddle look great.

So yeah of course it’s going to be Riddle here, who is pretty clearly going to be challenging for the title at the next major Takeover. We’ll get to who he faces later, but this is going to be Riddle getting tested with a bunch of backbreakers and the Stronghold before making Strong tap while saying BRO a lot. That’s all it should be but they’ll give us a fun ride before we get to the obvious ending.

Strong is having his own issues:

Women’s Title: Shayna Baszler(c) vs. Io Shirai

Aside from the main event, I try to go in order of how confident I am in order of the matches but with this show (as tends to be the case with Takeover) it’s just a random order because you could go with every option in almost any match. That’s the case here as Shirai seems ready to get the big win….but that would mean Baszler loses and that’s almost hard to imagine.

I’ll go with Shirai winning, though I’m scared of the idea of Baszler going up to the main roster. That’s been such a plague as of late (by that I mean years) and Baszler is someone they could screw up in a hurry. Shirai could be the face of the division, though I’m not sure I can imagine Baszler losing. She has to at some point though and I’ll go with Shirai taking the title.

Someone has to stop her:

Tag Team Titles: Undisputed Era vs. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Street Profits vs. Forgotten Sons

The titles are vacant coming in and this is a ladder match as the Viking Raiders vacated the belts to move up to the main roster. You know, because THAT has gone so well (hence my fear about Baszler) and they couldn’t be put in here and lose the titles before moving up. Anyway, this is really a battle between two teams, though you can never guarantee what is going on.

There are two main options here but I’ll go with them making the smart choice and going with the Street Profits. The fans want to see them getting the titles and they gave the Viking Raiders a run for their money, though NXT certainly likes the Forgotten Sons as well. Lorcan and Burch and the Era feel like they’re there to add in more bodies, even if the Era winning isn’t out of the question. I’ll take the Profits, though the Sons are a strong option as well.

They’re coming for the titles:

North American Title: Velveteen Dream(c) vs. Tyler Breeze

The battle of the entrances alone is going to be amazing. This is a heck of a story between the only two people who could really pull it off, but what makes this work so well is that I’m not sure who is going to win. Breeze could be back in NXT full time and he has never won the big one, but Dream seems ready to be the biggest breakout star in forever and having him lose here wouldn’t be the best idea in the world.

The more I think about it though, the more I think it makes sense to keep the title on Dream. He has everything you could want in a star but I’m completely terrified of WWE trying to “fix” him. This has the show stealing potential as Breeze is going to want to use his opportunity to get noticed and Dream is Dream. I’m looking forward to this though and it should be awesome.

Just give me the entrances:

NXT Title: Johnny Gargano(c) vs. Adam Cole

This is a rematch from April at Takeover: New York where Gargano won the title in a pretty polarizing 2/3 falls match. Cole won the first fall and got the rematch though, which makes quite a bit of sense. That’s also been his big sticking point in the promos leading up to it and that’s about all he can talk about it coming in as well. There’s going to be some screwiness in the match with all the people involved on the floor (Riddle is all but guaranteed to be involved) and this one depends on where things are going from here.

I’ll take Cole to win the title, though it’s another match where I have next to no confidence in the pick. Cole has been chasing the title for a long time now and at some point he needs to win the thing. Either way, I can’t imagine anyone but Riddle walking out of Toronto as champion so the winner is just keeping the title warm until then. I’m looking forward to the match, and it could be better than the previous version.

They’re both ready and that’s awesome:

Overall Thoughts

This should be a blast for the most part, though coming off an all time show like Takeover: New York, there are only so many things they can do. The show feels like it’s being added into the calendar because it has to be, but I’ve long since had enough faith in NXT to make anything work. I’m sure it’s going to be awesome, and that’s still leaving it so much higher than anything else at the moment that it’s hard to truly be worried.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28 wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

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