TakeOver New York is 2 weeks from today and with the addition of 3 big title matches this week only one match remains to be finalized. Meanwhile, the Wrestlemania card is a bit clearer even if some feuds continue to drag out their twists and turns.
NXT TakeOver: New York, Apr. 5
Triple H kicked off this week’s NXT by addressing the situation with the NXT Title. He pretty much came right out and said that the original plan was for an epic 2 out of 3 falls showdown between Ciampa and Gargano. Alas, with Ciampa relinquishing the title to have neck surgery, Johnny Wrestling needs a new opponent. The Game made a 5 way match of former NXT champion Aleister Black vs former North American Champs Adam Cole and Ricochet vs current NA Champ Velveteen Dream vs currently undefeated Matt Riddle. An opportunistic Cole eventually picked up the victory and earned the chance to face Gargano in New York.
Over on NXT UK this week GM Johnny Saint and his assistant Sid Scala kicked off the show by announcing that the UK title would also be on the line at TakeOver New York. Before they could say much about who might challenge for the title, current UK Champion Pete Dunne entered the ring and said just three words, “Give me Walter.” By the end of the show, the match had been confirmed.
NXT Title: 2 out of 3 falls for the vacant title: Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole (bay bay)
NXT Tag Titles- War Raiders© vs Ricochet & Aleister Black OR Forgotten Sons- The final match of the Dusty Classic is set for the main event of NXT TV next week. The winners of that match win the Dusty Cup and the right to face War Raiders for the titles in New York.
NXT Women’s Title-Shayna Baszler© vs Io Shirai vs Bianca Belair vs Kairi Sane
NXT UK Title: Pete Dunne© vs Walter
NXT North American Title: Velveteen Dream© vs Matt Riddle-This match was announced via social media this week.
WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony, Apr. 6
-Degeneration X: Shawn Michaels, HHH, Chyna, X-Pac, Road Dogg, and Billy Gunn
-Honky Tonk Man
-Torrie Wilson
-Harlem Heat
-Warrior Award Inductee: Sue Aitchison- While most folks may not recognize her name, Aitchison has been a WWE employee for over 30 years. She spearheads the company’s community outreach programs and facilitates their partnerships with organizations such as Make A Wish. This is actually very much in keeping with Warrior’s original idea that there be an award for the unsung workers behind the scenes who make many of the amazing things we do see possible.
Wrestlemania, Apr. 7
Host: Alexa Bliss
Special Correspondents: Michael Che & Colin Jost of SNL
Universal Title: Brock Lesnar© vs Seth Rollins
Raw Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey© vs Charlotte Flair vs Becky Lynch
WWE Title: Daniel Bryan© vs Kofi Kingston- I’m gonna go ahead and list this match since we ALL know it’s going to happen. That said, the saga of Mr. McMahon screwing Kingston out of this match continued this week. Kofi successfully defeated 5 men in a gauntlet match only to be told by McMahon that he needed to defeat a 6th man. That final man was the champion Daniel Bryan, and having already fought 5 other men Kingston was unable to beat the fresh champion. I honestly have no idea where they go from here in the story. It’s not as if there’s someone in the company who ranks higher than Vince who can come in and overrule the chairman.
Cruiserweight Title: Buddy Murphy© vs Tony Nese
No Holds Barred: Triple H vs Batista
Farewell Match: Kurt Angle vs Baron Corbin- Angle appeared on Raw again this week having a match with fellow former Olympian Chad Gable as part of his “farewell tour.” Prior to that match Angle announced that his final Wrestlemania opponent would be the man who made his life miserable as GM, Baron Corbin. I’m fully in favor of a veteran like Angle working with younger talent on their way out the door, and his Raw matches against guys like Apollo and Gable are perfect examples. However his finally match ever, on the grandest stage of them all, really needed a bigger star with whom he had history. To quote Jim Ross’ social media post, the selection of Corbin is “underwhelming.”
Miz vs Shane McMahon
AJ Styles vs Randy Orton
United States Title: Samoa Joe© vs Rey Mysterio- Mysterio announced this week that after pinning the champion during a tag match last week he was getting a shot at the title at Wrestlemania. I was pretty sure that this was going to end up being another multi-man match until Rey introduced his son during the interview. I’m not sure why they would do that if Dominic wasn’t going to be used as part of a one on one feud with Joe.
Andre Memorial Battle Royal: Braun Strowman- It was unclear if this match would be returning again this year until Strowman declared this week that he was entering. With only 2 weeks of television remaining before Mania he is the only known competitor at this time.
Rumored possible matches: Asuka vs Mandy vs Sonya, Sasha & Bayley vs Natalya & Beth Pheonix vs Nia & Tamina vs the IIconics, Usos vs Hardyz, Reigns vs McIntyre
A fatal 4 way match of Carmella vs Naomi vs Mandy vs Sonya is set for next week’s SDL to determine who will challenge Asuka for the SD Women’s Title at Mania.
Assorted News and Notes
Plans change all the time in WWE, and the latest example seems to be Rey Mysterio’s position on the Wrestlemania card. There’s word going around that the original plan was to continue his feud with Andrade and build to a mask vs hair match at Mania. Of course we now know that Rey will face off against Samoa Joe for the US Title, but perhaps they’ll keep this idea on the back burner and bring it back another time.
Contracts
Any speculation regarding the possibility of AJ Styles jumping ship to another company can now be put to rest. The man himself matter of factly made the announcement in a tweet about his new puppy. “This is the newest member of my family. Also, I’ve signed a new contract with the WWE. What a cute little guy.”
NXT News
Thus far MMA Horsewomen Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke have primarily been seen backing up their friend Shayna Baszler in NXT. Two-time NXT Womens Champ baszler is long overdue for a main roster promotion though and could be making that move after Wrestlemania. NXT officials have been using local house shows to test out how best to use Shafir and Duke after Baszler moves up. Shafir, who is of course married to Roderick Strong, has been working mixed tag matches with the Undisputed Era and could be added to their ranks officially. Duke would then likely be pushed as a singles star. All that said, it also wouldn’t be completely ridiculous to keep them paired up as a tag team now that a women’s tag division exists.
