NXT TakeOver: The End will take place on Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL. This event will air Live on the WWE Network and will follow up the last live special NXT TakeOver: Dallas. This event, also has been building up to be a show which is expected to be nothing short of being spectacular.The following are the matches announced for the event and my predictions for the same.
So let’s get the ball rolling.
Andrade ‘’Cien’’ Almas vs. ‘’The Perfect 10’’ Tye Dillinger
As seen on this week’s episode of WWE NXT, Tye Dillinger worked as a FACE (odd ain’t it?) and defeated Murphy in a singles match and after the show, Dillinger took to Twitter and asked NXT General Manager William Regal for a match at NXT TakeOver: The End.
He tweeted out:
@RealKingRegal has never been shy about giving earned opportunity. In nearly 15 years I have never asked for anything, I've simply tried…
— Dillinger (@WWEDillinger) June 2, 2016
To earn it. I'm asking now. @RealKingRegal …give the #Perfect10 a shot at @WWENXT #TakeOver:TheEnd
— Dillinger (@WWEDillinger) June 2, 2016
It was duly announced on June 2, that Dillinger will wrestle the debutant Andrade “Cien” Almas at the event.
Andrade ‘’Cien’’ Almas (formerly known as La Sombra in CMLL in Mexico) signed a developmental contract with WWE in November 2015. He made his WWE in-ring debut at an NXT house show in Tampa, FL on January 8, 2016, wrestling as "Manny Andrade" and defeating Riddick Moss. He has been in great matches on NXT House Shows against the likes of Austin Aries and Christopher Girard to name a few. At NXT TakeOver: Dallas, Andrade defeated Christopher Girard (formerly known as Biff Busick in the independent circuit) in a near 3 minute dark match.And now Andrade will make his debut on NXT TakeOver: The End against Tye Dillinger.
Tye Dillinger has become a glorified jobber sadly. But the guy has the potential to be a great WWE Superstar and enjoys a great rapport with the NXT Universe.
And still here, in my opinion, he’ll be the one to take the loss against a debutant AGAIN. We are likely to witness the technical and aerial prowess of Andrade and The NXT Universe will feast their eyes on the magnificence of La Sombra.
PREDICTION: Andrade ‘’Cien’’ Almas will emerge victorious on his debut.
Austin Aries vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
On May 25 episode of WWE NXT, ‘The Greatest Man That Ever Lived’ Austin Aries declared his intention to become the next NXT champion and said that he is sick and tired of being overlooked, and added that other people stole the spotlight from him even when he made his TV Debut first, which got a response from ‘The King of Strong Style’ Shinsuke Nakamura.
After a rather ‘interesting’ back and forth on the mic, William Regal then came to calm and settle the argument between the two gentlemen by scheduling a match between Nakamura and Aries for NXT TakeOver: The End.
For this match, I expect a full-blown HEEL Turn from Aries which will get him the victory over Nakamura. Without a shadow of a doubt, the match will deliver.
Expect an instant classic and this feud to continue till the next NXT Live Specials.
PREDICTION: Austin Aries getting the ‘cheap’ win.
NXT Tag Team Championship Match:American Alpha (Gable & Jordan) (C) vs. The Revival (Dash & Dawson)
On March 16 episode of NXT, American Alpha defeated The Vaudevillains to be the #1 contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship. They would face The Revival, who defeated the team of Enzo and Big Cass to retain the titles at Roadblock.American Alpha defeated The Revival at NXT TakeOver: Dallas to win the NXT Tag Team Championship in a 15 minute fantastic, hot opening bout for the night. Now, on May 18 episode of NXT, William Regal made the rematch official between the two exceptional tag teams for NXT TakeOver: The End.
In this week’s episode of WWE NXT, The team of ‘The Psycho Killer’ Tomasso Ciampa and ‘Johnny Wrestling’ Johnny Gargano pulled an upset pinfall win over The Revival. But, The Revival took their ‘revenge’ and pummelled Gargano/Ciampa post match until American Alpha came to the ring to stop the beatdown.
In my opinion, this match will be again an exceptional bout. Let’s see how it stands against their previous encounter in Dallas, TX. The champions will likely retain the title here.
And The Revival will get busy with the team of Gargano & Ciampa in the forthcoming episodes of WWE NXT.
I can see a match between these three teams happening at the next NXT Live Specials for the Titles.
PREDICTION: American Alpha will retain the title.
NXT Women’s Championship:
‘The Empress of Tomorrow’ Asuka (C) vs. Nia Jax
Asuka captured the championship by defeating Bayley via submission in a 15 minute captivating bout at NXT TakeOver: Dallas on April 1.
On the May 18 episode of NXT, Nia Jax defeated former NXT Women's Champion Bayley in a brutal bout. Bayley suffered and sustained of the majority of the ‘brutality’ of the bout. Following Bayley's loss and her inability to perform at 100%, on the next episode of WWE NXT on May 25, Jax defeated Carmella and Alexa Bliss via pinfall in a Triple Threat Match to be crowned the #1 contender for the NXT Women’s Championship. So, Nia Jax would face the reigning champion, Asuka, at NXT TakeOver: The End.And this week on WWE NXT, we had a contract signing between the ladies for their match at NXT TakeOver: The End. Nia proclaimed that she not only defeated Bayley but she ‘broke’ her and added that she ain’t scared of Asuka. Asuka screamed at Nia in Japanese and replied that Nia should be. Then Asuka tried to land a spinning head kick but failed as Nia countered it by grabbing her leg and flooring her with a vicious Powerbomb to end the segment.
In my opinion, this bout will be a close one to call with a number of near falls.
We have Asuka who is a genius in terms of mat wrestling and has a badass arsenal of kicks which can KNOCK YOU OUT.
And, we have Nia Jax who is a ‘monster heel’. She is a steamroller and has incredible strength in her arsenal. She’ll try to establish her dominance over The Empress of Tomorrow. But will she succeed over the feisty and unpredictable Asuka? Let’s see. At the end of the day, I don’t expect the recently crowned Champion to lose her throne so soon.
Asuka will retain the title. And she will win with just an inch of her life.
PREDICTION: Asuka retains the title.
Steel Cage Match for the NXT Heavyweight Championship:
‘The Samoan Submission Machine’ Samoa Joe (C) vs. ‘The Demon’ Finn Bálor
Finn Bálor retained the title by defeating Samoa Joe at NXT TakeOver: Dallas. As he retained the championship, Bálor went on to surpass Neville as the longest reigning NXT Champion.
On April 21, at a house show in Lowell, MA, Samoa Joe defeated Finn Bálor via pinfall in a hard fought bout to win the NXT Heavyweight Championship.
On May 11 episode of NXT, NXT General Manager William Regal scheduled a rematch at NXT TakeOver: The End.
Throughout various house shows, the duo were unable to contain themselves from engaging into ‘pier-six brawls’, and on May 17, during a contract signing at WWE Performance Center, the match was made official with the stipulation of being contested inside a Steel Cage. This will be the first ever steel cage match in NXT history.
And in this week’s episode of WWE NXT, we had an ‘interesting’ sit-down interview involving the two gentlemen with Corey Graves hyping their bout at TakeOver: The End.
Joe and Balor did a great job of portraying that they do not see eye-to-eye along with presenting arguments as to why. Joe was blunt and straight to the point and while we know talking isn’t Bálor‘s strong suite, he held his own as well.
This Live Special will mark ‘The End’ of the Joe/ Bálor Saga.
A steel cage match for ‘The End’ of this rivalry is a nice touch. A Steel Cage confines both the gentlemen inside the ring and also gives them room to use the structure to their respective advantages. I’m not a big fan of Steel Cage matches, but I’m optimistic that NXT surely will deliver (or exceed) on our expectations.
I see Samoa Joe retaining the title as I see no chance of Joe losing the title this early in his reign. An exceptional bout is expected between the two highly acclaimed competitors.
Bálor will rightfully climb up the ladder to the main roster where there is a ‘Club’ that’s waitin‘ for him. And Samoa Joe will move on to face new challenges and carry the banner of NXT for the days to come.
‘The World Class Maniac’ Eric Young or ’The IT Factor’ Bobby Roode or even the returning Hideo Itami may be waiting in the horizon to get a shot at The Title. Or how about a mouth-watering match between Joe and the King of Strong Style?
Who’s next? Only time will tell…
PREDICTION: Samoa Joe wins the bout and retains his title.
Thanks for reading.And do tell us your picks in the comment section below!
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