What could go down at the NXT TakeOver: San Antonio live special?
On Saturday night, WWE NXT will present their first live special of 2017 with NXT TakeOver: San Antonio. It will precede the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, which takes place one night later.
The TakeOver: San Antonio match card hasn’t received the major headlines like other shows before this. It doesn’t include any flashy matches or must-see debuts, but there may be hidden gems in there with the NXT Women’s Championship match and the TakeOver arrival of Roderick Strong.
There are five matches set to take place and memorable moments potentially set to be made. What could happen at the show?
Source: WWE.com
Tye Dillinger Loses Again
Tye Dillinger hasn’t been able to find his groove in storyline. He can’t seem to win any big matches, especially on the NXT TakeOver stage, and has become frustrated throughout. This includes losing to Bobby Roode at TakeOver: Toronto and failing to become the No. 1 Contender to the NXT Championship.
Heading into San Antonio, Dillinger is going head-to-head with SAnitY, who have four members. He’s facing Eric Young, specifically, but matches with this stable always tend to result in a distraction for the opponent. This will be the case for the Perfect 10.
SAnitY is riding high in NXT, having reinvigorated the stable scene. There hadn’t been many of these in developmental for the past few years, so this Young-led group has been a welcome addition to programming. They have a great deal of momentum too with Young, Nikki Cross, and Killian Dain recently debuting and crushing everyone in his path.
This match may see Dain get involved and cost Dillinger the match. He could attack with the referee distracted and aid Young in hitting his finisher for the win. This may push SAnitY toward the main event scene and give EY a shot at the title.
For Dillinger, however, it would continue his storyline of losing in NXT. He would be overwhelmed by the numbers and may question what he could do next. From there, NXT can find a way to build to Dillinger getting a big win during the WrestleMania Weekend TakeOver event and giving him a huge second half to 2017.
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#DIY is #Done
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa received their moment in the spotlight in November. They finally defeated the Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championships and pulled off one of 2016’s best wrestling matches in the process.
Since then, DIY has mostly been quiet. They beat the Revival in a rematch, but have been away from their TakeOver opponents, the Authors of Pain, for most of December and January. This could be done to not make Gargano and Ciampa weak as possible against these two behemoths. The challengers have been made to look unstoppable since their debut in June 2016, so it’s possible NXT didn’t want to expose them.
Well, if that’s the case, then expect DIY to be done for at TakeOver: San Antonio. Their reign will end as part of Paul Ellering’s “Chapter 3”.
NXT is no stranger to taking belts off underdog babyfaces relatively early. They gave American Alpha a tag title win at NXT TakeOver: Dallas, but lost their rematch two months later to the Revival. Sami Zayn received potentially the most storyline-based and greatest moment in NXT history. However, Kevin Owens defeated him at the TakeOver event just two months later to become NXT Champion. Gargano and Ciampa seem to be next in line for getting a moment under the sun, but falling on their faces a short time later.
The Authors of Pain haven’t quite connected with NXT as heels (many Superstars aren’t reaching Full Sail University right now). Their Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic win came with little fanfare, and there hasn’t been a moment that made them stand out. TakeOver: San Antonio may their time to shine, at the expense of DIY.
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Strong is Strong
The recent imports to WWE NXT haven’t met expectations. Austin Aries never connected as a face, so he would be turned heel just months after arriving. Before Shane Thorne’s injury, TM61 struggled mightily to connect with Full Sail University and will face a tough when they are healthy. Ember Moon also hasn’t reached the NXT Universe. This could go back even further to 2015 to make the case of new faces just not connecting.
However, one NXT TakeOver: San Antonio match will feature tow stars that need wins to gain momentum and possible growth with the fans—Roderick Strong and Andrade “Cien” Almas.
It’s been a tough road for Almas, who faced fan-favorite Tye Dillinger in his debut and defeated him, much to the dismay of NXT fans. This set the tone for Cien’s time in WWE, as he struggled all the way to TakeOver: Brooklyn II and literally would be an afterthought in the promo package for his match with Bobby Roode. His heel turn has been an improvement, but still not where NXT made you think he would have been seven months ago.
Strong is still relatively new to NXT. He joined last fall and had been set to work with Aries, until the Greatest Man That Ever Lived suffered a brutal eye injury that’s kept him out ever since. This placed Strong into a mid-card babyface role that he seemingly hasn’t gotten his feet under yet. There hasn’t been much of a connection between him and the fans, which somewhat concerning at this stage.
The booking decision will be a tough one for NXT to make because the loser is going to continue to trend down. There’s more potential in the former ROH World Champion, however, with his wrestling ability that hasn’t been seen in longer matches and charisma that hasn’t been seen much yet. To do this, NXT would have to let Strong show a little more swagger, which has been missing from his game. Maybe this comes against Almas on Saturday.
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Nikki Cross Ends Asuka’s Reign, But Doesn’t Pin Her
By the time NXT TakeOver: San Antonio rolls around, Asuka’s NXT Women’s Championship reign would have crossed 300 days. It’s been a historic run for the Japanese star, as she’s destroyed the NXT women’s division since October 2015; her championship win came in April 2016. This has included beating Emma, Dana Brooke, Bayley, Liv Morgan, Nia Jax, and Mickie James.
The toughest task of them all may be facing three different women for Asuka. Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, and Nikki Cross will all be gunning for the NXT Women’s Championship.
The focus of this fatal four-way has been on one thing in particular—the dynamic between Asuka and Cross. From the moment they crossed paths in December, to their standoffs in the match, NXT has played this up as the big-money matchup. Not surprisingly, it’s worked since the Scottish woman’s unique, psychotic character with SAnitY has clicked. Couple that with Asuka, who has connected with the fans since her first day, and all the teases of fighting, and it makes for something intriguing.
There’s something about what Nikki has done that makes it seem like she’s title bound, however. She’s received a rapid ascension into the title picture after just debuting with SAnitY three months ago. Technically, so have Kaya and Royce, but they haven’t received the spotlight like the former owner of the Storm surname has with moments like this:
With the amount of attention that Cross is getting, she could be the one to dethrone Asuka. However, it would be by pinning one of the Aussies. This keeps the Empress of Tomorrow’s streak of not being pinned or submitted intact and creates the new star that the NXT women’s division so badly needs. There would be the top face, Asuka, and the top heel, Cross, established and able to lead developmental’s females into the spring for a one-on-one match at NXT TakeOver: Orlando.
Kay and Royce have done quality character work throughout this buildup. With a fatal four-way in place, though, it seems like one of them are going to be used to take the fall here.
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Everyone Needs a Hero
At the end of the most recent NXT taping, Kassius Ohno—better known as Chris Hero on the independent scene—made his return to Full Sail after three years away. He confronted Shinsuke Nakamura and motioned toward his NXT Championship before leaving. This wouldn’t make it to TV, but got acknowledged on WWE’s social media pages.
Over the weekend, Ohno is finishing up his EVOLVE commitments in San Antonio, which just happens to be the city where NXT is hosting TakeOver. EVOLVE 77 is taking place at 3:00 p.m. ET, should take just three hours or so to get done, and isn’t too far away from the Freeman Coliseum. Might we see him show up then?
NXT probably won’t want to overshadow Bobby Roode, who is challenging Nakamura for the NXT Championship. However, if the Glorious One goes down clean, then we may see Ohno strut to the ring to confront the King of Strong Style in TV. It wouldn’t make for a shocking moment, but if he lays out the NXT Champion, then it would heat up the next feud for the title for TakeOver: Orlando.
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Match Predictions
We have already broken down a handful of moments that could happen at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio. Some of them included match predictions. Below is a full list of predictions for each bout that will take place on the two-and-a-half hour show:
- Roderick Strong defeats Andrade “Cien” Almas via pinfall.
- Eric Young defeats Tye Dillinger via pinfall.
- The Authors of Pain defeat DIY to win the NXT Tag Team Championship.
- Nikki Cross defeats Asuka, Billie Kay, and Peyton Royce to win the NXT Women’s Championship. She will not pin Asuka, however.
- Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Bobby Roode via pinfall to retain the NXT Championship. Kassius Ohno will appear at the end of the show to confront and attack Nakamura.
Next: Ranking Every Royal Rumble Match Winner
These matches and other potential segments will take place on Saturday night at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio. What could happen at the show?