WWE NXT: Takeover In Your House: Staff Predictions Roundtable Discussion
Charlotte Flair vs Io Shirai vs Rhea Ripley-NXT Women’s Championship match
Jesse Velasquez: Your match of the night is right here. The attempt to put the NXT women’s championship on Charlotte to boost ratings failed. The pandemic put a halt on Rhea Ripley’s short lived reign. Which is a shame because she was looking at a dominant reign as Women’s champ.
The Ripley-Flair feud can continue without the NXT women’s title at stake. Charlotte can transition back to RAW and Ripley can follow if management feels that suitable.
All of this being said, I see Io Shirai winning her first major championship on American soil. Shirai can lead the black and gold brand going forward. She will have a lot of contenders to choose from, including Ripley which would lead to fireworks with a one on one bout for the championship on the line.
Chris Jeter: Does anyone find it ironic that WWE put the NXT Women’s Title on Charlotte Flair as a means to boost NXT’s ratings when the person she beat for the belt helped the brand score one of its few ratings wins over AEW: Dynamite? Again, these people have no idea what they’re doing.
That notwithstanding, this could be the match of the night, time permitting. Picking a winner will be a bit trickier. On one hand, Io Shirai taking the pin in a tag match a couple weeks ago usually indicates a coming win on the big show, but I don’t think the company’s given up on the Flair experiment yet. Plus, the focus seems to be on Ripley getting her win back over Flair, so I’ll take the champion to retain by pinning Shirai and extending the feud with Ripley.
Joe Anthony Myrick: I can’t see Flair retaining. If the goal truly was for a Flair championship reign to boost NXT ratings, I can’t see her keeping the belt when those ratings haven’t been boosted in two months. This one is down between Ripley and Io. I say Io wins so Ripley and Flair can finish their one on one feud without a title and when Ripley finally beats Flair, then we get Ripley vs. Io.
Kevin Parvizi: As much as fans hate on Charlotte Flair for being overpushed, every single program of hers (with the exception of Sasha Banks and Asuka…) involves another wrestler getting over. Bayley, Becky Lynch, and Carmella come to mind. So I think Rhea Ripley gets her title back, as much as I think Io Shirai, who is the best overall wrestler in NXT, should be champion.