NXT comes home to Orlando this Saturday for NXT TakeOver: Orlando. TakeOver will air from the Amway Center in Orlando at 8 ET/5 PT/530AM IST available on the WWE Network.
The men and women of NXT are in action on the night before WrestleMania and just like last year, they may steal the spotlight from their main roster counterparts once again. The card is stacked and the show will be headlined by Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura who will wrestle for the NXT Championship.
Asuka will also be defending her NXT Women’s Championship against Ember Moon. Both women are undefeated in NXT and will wrestle to see who’s the top woman in NXT. The Tag-Team Championships are also on the line in a Triple Threat Match with the Authors of Pain defending their titles against The Revival and #DIY.
TakeOver will also see the NXT in-ring debuts of Ruby Riot and Aleister Black.
Ruby Riot will team up with Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose, and Roderick Strong as they try to take down the threat of SAnitY. Aleister Black, on the other hand, will be in a one on one match with Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas.
Let’s get into a preview of the card along with predictions for the show.
| Participants | Title |
|---|---|
| Aleister Black vs Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas | Singles Match |
Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose, Roderick Strong & Ruby Riot vs SAnitY (Eric Young, Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe & Nikki Cross) | 4-on-4 Tag-Team Match |
| Authors Of Pain (C) vs DIY vs The Revival | NXT Tag-Team Championship |
| Asuka (C) vs Ember Moon | NXT Women’s Championship |
| Bobby Roode (C) vs Shinsuke Nakamura | NXT Championship |
Aleister Black vs Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas
This first in-ring debut at NXT TakeOver: Orlando will see the former Tommy End (compared to CM Punk for his insane promo and in-ring skills) make his NXT debut as Aleister Black as he takes on Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas. Almas has been on a hot run since turning heel and will be a formidable opponent for Black.
Their styles are quite different while also quite similar. Almas and his Lucha-style offense should gel with Black’s innovative martial arts inspired style. Expect this match to be one of the sleeper matches which could turn out to be one of the best matches of the weekend.
The match will be a showcase of what these two men can do and should kick-off TakeOver with a fast-paced affair to get the fans really pumped up. The result, with Black debuting, may sort of be a foregone conclusion with people expecting Black to win on debut, but the match itself will definitely not disappoint.
Prediction: Aleister Black to win on debut
Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose, Roderick Strong and Ruby Riot vs SAnitY (Eric Young, Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe and Nikki Cross)
This is one of the matches I’m most looking forward to at WrestleMania weekend, even though we got a teaser for this match last week on NXT with a 3-on-3 tag-team match. That match ended in a DQ after the referee lost control and saw the first NXT television appearance of Ruby Riot, who was known on the indies as Heidi Lovelace.
She will make her in-ring NXT debut at TakeOver as she teams up with NXT fan-favourites Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose, and Roderick Strong as they wage a battle to end SAnitY’s reign of terror. SAnitY has gone after Dillinger ever since the first round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic last year.
So far, he’s had no success against them thanks to SAnitY’s strength in numbers. Dillinger recently added No Way Jose and Roderick Strong to his cause, but they were still losing in the numbers game thanks to Nikki Cross. With Ruby Riot now joining forces with Dillinger, Jose, and Strong, we may finally see someone take down SAnitY, at least a peg or two.
Prediction: Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose, Roderick Strong and Ruby Riot
Authors of Pain (C) vs DIY vs The Revival (elimination match for the NXT Tag-Team Championships)
This one is probably the hardest match on the card to predict. Either of these three teams could walk away with the titles this Saturday. The fact that this match will be an elimination match only makes it even more unpredictable.
DIY are the clear underdogs on the night while The Revival will once again resort to their dirty, but ingenious, ways to regain the titles. The champions, on the other hand, will look to bulldoze through their much smaller opponents as they aim to continue their impressive run as NXT Tag-Team Champions. With Paul Ellering at ringside, they also have the advantage in numbers.
Can the Authors of Pain retain their titles this Saturday?
Prediction: Authors of Pain retain
Asuka (C) vs Ember Moon (for the NXT Women’s Championship)
In my opinion, this match should have headlined TakeOver: Orlando. It isn’t just for the fact that we’ve already seen Bobby Roode face Shinsuke Nakamura before, it’s because Asuka and Ember Moon are two of the best female wrestlers on the planet, and with both their undefeated streaks on the line, it just feels like the bigger match.
Asuka made her NXT debut in September 2015 and is still unbeaten. She won the NXT Women’s at NXT TakeOver: Dallas last year after defeating Bayley and her title reign currently stands at 363 days (at the time of writing). When she walks in at TakeOver: Orlando to defend her title, Asuka will have held the belt for exactly a year – the longest title run in NXT history.
Ember Moon has almost been as impressive herself. She’s become a fan favorite since her debut at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II last August, also remaining undefeated. Armed with her spectacular finisher, The Eclipse, Ember doesn’t take any prisoners in the ring.
Which woman will leave TakeOver with the Women’s title? It’s a really hard prediction to make but I really hope Asuka retains and beats Goldberg’s unbeaten run of 173 – 0. However, as much as my heart wants Asuka to retain, my head tells me that Orlando will see Asuka hand the torch to Ember Moon before eventually making her main roster debut.
Prediction: I’m still going with Asuka for this one, even though my head tells me otherwise.
Bobby Roode (C) vs Shinsuke Nakamura (for the NXT Championship)
Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura will main-event NXT TakeOver: Orlando when they meet once again to battle it out for the NXT Championship. Roode was victorious in January, at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio, when he took advantage after Nakamura ‘injured’ his knee following a Kinshasa.
Roode will look to leave TakeOver with the belt still around his waist, where it’s by hook or by crook. Nakamura, on the other hand, will have a point to prove as he looks to become the first ever 3-time NXT Champion.
Nakamura will finally get his long-awaited rematch for the title this Saturday and we can expect the King Of Strong Style to bring his A-Game with him. With rumours of a main roster call-up hovering, is there a chance that Nakamura could actually win back the title this Sunday?
Prediction: Bobby Roode retains, Shinsuke Nakamura gets called up soon after WrestleMania weekend.
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