WWE NXT: Takeover In Your House: Staff Predictions Roundtable Discussion

NXT TakeOver: In Your House will be live this Sunday night.

The WWE is taking an old school approach to this NXT Takeover pay-per-view. Bringing back the In Your House theme from the mid 1990’s and applying to the black and gold brand. With the Global pandemic at an apex, This will be the first NXT TakeOver on the WWE Network that will take place without a raucous crowd.

Of the six matches being offered on Sunday night, three will be of the championship variety. On top of this, the other three bouts could have exciting conclusions to some well-produced stories that will further advance all of the NXT championship pictures going forward.

The writers at Daily DDT have put together our thoughts and predictions for Sunday’s event. With all of this being said, here are the outcomes we have come up with for NXT Takeover: In Your House.

Mia Yim, Shotzi Blackheart, and Tegan Nox vs. Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, and Raquel Gonzalez

Jesse Velasquez: This six-woman tag was added Wednesday on NXT’s weekly show. While the heels have dominated this exchange over the last three months, it could mean this is finally the time for Yim, Blackheart, and Nox to get a much-needed victory.

I am not buying that just yet. If NXT is looking for a new top contender to emerge from this group of ladies, It’s my belief that Candice LeRae will be the choice. LeRae and company will continue their winning ways in this bout with Candice picking up the pinfall.

Chris Jeter: The heels have gotten most of the heat on television the last couple of weeks, so I’ll pick the babyface trio to get the win here, with Nox pinning Kai as payback for all those losses (because that’s DEFINITELY an even exchange!). I wish I had more to say about the match, but all I keep thinking about is how miscast LeRae and Kai are as heels.

Joe Anthony Myrick: This one’s a fun way to get the women who’ve been spotlighted in recent weeks onto the TakeOver card, but this could also be a sleeper hit. Could go either way, but I say the team of heels win. Specifically with LeRae picking up a win for her team. Not only because it seems like she’s closer to moving on into the main event title hunt after this, but because she’s overdue for a big TakeOver win at this point.

Kevin Parvizi: This match might be the most difficult one to predict, but I think the babyfaces get the win. The heels won’t be able to work with each other, and the babyface team is going to be on absolute fire. Like Chris, I also think Tegan Nox will get the winning pin.

Finn Balor vs Damien Priest

Jesse Velasquez: Priest has been thrust into the upper mid card since debuting on NXT television. He has fallen short in most of his higher profile matches in NXT. Balor in the meantime is staring at an impending feud with WALTER when the pandemic begins to clear up. Priest could use the victory here, but Balor is ready to move on to bigger stories and will prevail here.

Chris Jeter: Priest was a lot more interesting as Punishment Martinez than he is now as this generic goth heel. That said, this match with Balor will likely be a “test” match to see if he can work longer one-on-one matches with elite workers. They’ll get time to flesh a decent story out, and I expect Finn Balor to get the win.

Joe Anthony Myrick:  This match could go either way, but I’m leaning more in favor of Priest winning to get him a big win at TakeOver. Balor has a feud with Imperium/WALTER to look forward to after this. I don’t know where Priest goes after this whether he wins or lose, so might as well elevate him a bit. Then, Priest could move on looking strong in either a title feud, or against a game competitor.

Kevin Parvizi: Finn Balor is positioned as one of NXT’s top stars, so beating him would be a huge deal for Damian Priest (or anyone else). I think Priest eventually gets that big win, and WWE knows they have a future star in him. But I don’t think it’s time for him to take down Balor. 

Keith Lee vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT North American Championship)

Jesse Velasquez: This match has the potential to be the show-stealer. Two of the best in-ring workers in the company with a title at stake. Gargano has made the shift to rule-breaking tactics while Lee is the monumental fan favorite here.

I look at this bout as a building block for Keith Lee to move into the NXT title picture and eventually unseat Adam Cole as the champion. Gargano will find a way to win via outside interference and become a two-time NXT North American champion.

Chris Jeter: This heel Johnny Gargano schtick isn’t working for me, but the NXT creative team has invested a lot of time into getting the character shift over, so I can’t imagine they would cut the legs out from under it so soon. So expect Gargano to win the title using chickens**t tactics so Lee can chase him.

Joe Anthony Myrick: Tough call, this one. It feels too early for Gargano to lose a match after turning heel, but it also feels too early (even at six months in) for Lee to lose his belt. Gargano seems like he has more to lose, credibility wise, in defeat so I think Johnny Wrestling wins his second  NXT North American Title.

Kevin Parvizi: I’m going to go against everyone else and conventional wisdom by picking Keith Lee to retain the title. Jesse Velasquez is, in my opinion, right on the money when he says Lee is ready to move on to the NXT Title picture. He’d be a great pick to dethrone Adam Cole, whose reign needs to come to an end. But does Lee’s? I don’t think so. And I actually think Johnny Gargano should face defeat.

Tommaso Ciampa vs Karrion Kross

Jesse Velasquez: I would be stunned if Kross loses here. While you can tell me that Brodie Lee and Lance Archer lost their first big match in AEW, both of those bouts had championships at stake. Ciampa has a name that carries weight in NXT, but this bout has a backstory with no title involved. I expect a back and forth battle with Kross having his hand raised in victory.

Chris Jeter: Karrion Kross is winning. I don’t know if it will be a surprise squash (which could work if done right) or if it comes after a 20-minute war, but Kross needs to win. I can’t understate enough how dumb it would be for Kross to lose his big match. Ciampa will be fine.

Joe Anthony Myrick: Simply put, Karrion picks up his first TakeOver win over Mr. NXT to establish himself as a top heel. Simple as that. May very well be the easiest match to predict on the card. Or at least, this is exactly what should happen. Kross has only been on the screen for a few months time and already looks like a million bucks thanks in part to a wicked entrance and has a main eventer’s presence. It’d be foolish not to give him a big win off the bat.

Kevin Parvizi: I have Karrion Kross winning this match, and, like my colleagues, I don’t have to think twice about it. Kross is destined for an NXT Title reign sooner rather than later. Expect him to defeat Tommaso Ciampa in a surprisingly short match.

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.

Adam Cole vs Velveteen Dream (Last Chance Backlot Brawl) NXT Championship Match

Jesse Velasquez: We are looking at another cinematic match in the main event. It will be amazingly presented like most of these types of bouts we’ve seen. The last chance stipulation is the icing on the cake here.

This is a make or break match for Dream. Adam Cole is ready to move on to bigger and “better” things. (Is the main roster necessarily better?) I originally thought Velveteen Dream would be the man to take the torch from Cole and lead NXT as it’s champion.

However, I see Dream moving to RAW or Smackdown after the unsuccessful attempt to unseat Cole in this match. With crowds still not ready to return to arenas, Adam Cole will remain your NXT champion.

Keith Lee will be the man to defeat Cole and send him and the rest of the Undisputed ERA to either Red or Blue brand when crowds can be present to witness the shocking call up of the UE.

Chris Jeter:  What would’ve been an anticipated coronation a year ago now feels like a bit of a blase inevitability now. I guess that’s what happens when you script the babyface as a jerk for a significant portion of this longstanding feud.

Anyway, the “last chance” stipulation more or less gives this one away, so I’ll pick Velveteen Dream to win what should be a fun, cutscene-heavy spectacle (unless all those months of him trying to steal Roderick Strong’s wife was foreshadowing a heel turn after a loss here).

Joe Anthony Myrick: Another tough one, just because on one hand, it’s about time for Cole to drop the title and move on to something bigger. On the other, the Dream has some terrible allegations against him and even if they are merely just allegations, it’s not the best look (in the eyes of some fans at least) to have him win the title before any public confirmation has been made of his name being cleared.

But alas, if WWE didn’t want to put the title on him so badly, they wouldn’t have given him a title rematch. I think this is where Dream wins the title, for better or worse.

Kevin Parvizi: I don’t feel great about this pick, but I think Adam Cole wins the championship. I’ve been picking against the guy for so long that I’ve become reluctant to pick against him. He’s just been dominating NXT.