What’s the story?
According to Cageside Seats, it’s highly possible that there will be no title changes at Backlash weekend. This is including NXT Takeover: Chicago.
In case you didn’t know...
Backlash weekend will take place at the Allstate Arena in Chicago. NXT Takeover will precede Backlash. Both cards are relatively stacked, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Takeover outdo Backlash. It has become the norm for Takeover shows to outdo the main roster PPVs and steal the weekend.
NXT Takeover: Chicago has 5 matches in total while Backlash has 8 matches(including the Kick-off show). It should definitely be an interesting weekend. Usually, Takeover specials are held on the weekends of Big 4 PPVs(Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Summerslam, and Survivor Series). This may be the first year where a Takeover special won’t be held at Full Sail University since the start of the Takeover era in 2014.
The heart of the matter
There are 4 championship matches at NXT Takeover: Chicago and 3 title matches at Backlash. It wouldn’t be surprising to see no title change hands at Backlash. Perhaps the title which has the best chance of changing hands is the United Kingdom Championship at Takeover.
The UK Champion Tyler Bate will defend his title against Pete Dunne who he defeated in the finals of the UK tournament in January to become the inaugural champion. However, Cageside Seats further reported that the current plans in NXT are for the champions to retain their titles.
The biggest talk of the weekend is the possibility of Jinder Mahal pulling off an upset and becoming WWE Champion. However, from the look of things, a title change seems quite unlikely, and Mahal seems to be a bit of an experiment for WWE.
Also read: Evaluating Shinsuke Nakamura’s main event potential heading into Backlash 2017
What’s next?
This coming weekend is Backlash weekend, and fans should get excited for some huge potential match of the year candidates.
Author’s take
As much as having no title change all weekend is not pleasing, it may very well be the right move to make going forward with the storylines of NXT and SmackDown LIVE. The United Kingdom championship changing hands, however, would not be surprising.
The United Kingdom special show starts soon and to create buzz about it, a title change would be ideal. It’s similar to how there was a title change on the first episode of 205 LIVE to create buzz about the show. Pete Dunne would be a great choice to become the second United Kingdom champion.
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