Every title on the line at NXT Takeover 2 on the WWE Network

 

NXT, the increasingly popular developmental system of WWE, is hosting another big live event, NXT Takeover 2, on Thursday, September 11 on the WWE Network (which you can order for just $9.99!). Despite being NXT being up-and-coming talents in WWE, their product is growing in popularity and I’ve seen many people online saying they are more excited for NXT Takeover than they are for WWE’s Night of Champions or whatever is happening on Raw or Smackdown.

One of the main reasons fans are so eagerly awaiting Takeover is because NXT stars and feuds have been built up so well leading into this two-hour live event. Each match on Takeover will be the culmination of several weeks-worth of feuds and confrontations built up. The card will be as follows:

Grudge match

Mojo Rawley vs Bull Dempsey

Hair vs Hair

Enzo Amore vs Sylvester LaFort

NXT Women’s Championship

Charlotte (c) vs Bayley

NXT Tag Team Championship

The Ascension (c) vs Sin Cara and Kalisto

NXT Championship

Adrian Neville (c) vs Sami Zayn vs Tyler Breeze vs Tyson Kidd

Aside from the NXT Championship and NXT Women’s championship match, many of these matches grew out of conflicts that happened in or around the recent tournament to decide a number one contender to the NXT tag team championships.

Also, the most recent episode of NXT touted that NXT Takeover 2 will see the debut of Japanese wrestling star Kenta! Whether this means he will be in a match or just appearing on the show, remains to be seen.

Mojo Rawley and Bull Dempsey teamed up in the first round of the NXT tag team tournament but after suffering a loss to the Vaudevillains, Bull turned on Mojo and attacked him, seeing Mojo’s desire to stay in the match rather than tag out to Bull as the reason for their loss to Aiden English and Simon Gotch. Bull has been on the warpath in NXT lately, destroying every opponent he’s matched up against. But Mojo Rawley, despite his upbeat demeanor, is a massive individual himself and this match should be very physical. Mojo may be NXT’s ‘hype man’ but I’m picking Bull Dempsey in this contest.

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady are two of the most popular and charismatic stars in NXT and were a part of the NXT tag team tournament, though they were eliminated in the semifinals by the Vaudevillains. After the match, Enzo was attacked by the Legionnaires – Sylvester LaFort and Marcus Louis – who shaved off part of Enzo’s beard. Apparently, LaFort and Louis took offense to the likes of Enzo and Big Cass being in the tournament while the Legionnaires were not. After the attack, Enzo challenged LaFort to a classic ‘hair vs hair’ match. It’d be a shame to see Enzo’s expertly trimmed hair get buzzed off so I’m picking him for the win and LaFort losing his hair.

The NXT Tag Team Champions The Ascension have been running roughshod over their opponents in NXT, though recently their opponents are generally guys no one has ever heard of before. To remedy the lack of quality tag teams in NXT, a tournament was started to determine a number one contender to the tag team titles. From this tournament, several top teams have emerged though only one team will face The Ascension – and that team will be the high-flying duo of Kalisto and Sin Cara. The luchadores will face the tag champs at NXT Takeover and though they give up a lot of size to the reigning champions, they make up for it with amazing speed and incredible maneuvers that only the likes of Kalisto and Sin Cara can pull off. Despite the mismatch in size, I feel like Kalisto and Sin Cara could definitely pull off the victory. (I feel like The Ascension are ready for the main roster and dropping the belts is a good indication that they are moving up. Also – what would be the point of holding an entire tournament to build up a new contender to the titles and not put them over?)

To many, the NXT Women’s Division is a much more complete division than the WWE Divas roster. The NXT women’s wrestlers routinely have more exciting matches and their work on the mic actually makes them seem like competent, credible athletes (as opposed to the Divas whose promos lately consist of “I hate you because you stole my boyfriends and you’re a bitch” or the Paige/AJ “frenemy” shtick, which has gotten better lately but is still kinda lame). NXT Women’s champion Charlotte, daughter of the legend Ric Flair, has been dominant in her time as champion, defeating Becky Lynch and her former friend Sasha Banks with ease. But the ever-positive, hard-working Bayley has been chasing the championship for months now and this match up should be every bit as good as Charlotte vs Natalya for the NXT Women’s championship. While Bayley has been impressive lately, I wouldn’t be surprised if Charlotte manages to hold onto her title in this contest.

Finally, the NXT Championship scene has seen more contenders to the title than ever before. NXT Champion Adrian Neville has taken on all comers in his time as the champ and with Tyson Kidd, Tyler Breeze and Sami Zayn all vying for the title, he hasn’t backed down from the challenge but rather given them ALL a shot at the NXT Championship. Tyson Kidd believes he’s the best athlete in NXT and should be next in line to hold the belt while Tyler Breeze thinks that his “uggo” competitors aren’t nearly gorgeous enough to be the face of NXT. Both Kidd and Breeze have proven they’re willing to go to any length to win the title while Sami Zayn is quite the opposite. Zayn has been winning the crowd over as effortlessly as he dives over the top rope and despite losing an impressive series to WWE Superstar Cesaro, Zayn has looked impressive in every bout in NXT and proven that he would be a fighting champion. This match is too hard to call but personally, I hope that Sami Zayn comes out the winner in what will surely be a main event to remember.

NXT Takeover will be airing live on the WWE Network (for just $9.99!) on Thursday, September 11.