NXT TakeOver XXX Predictions: Does Io Shirai retain?

Rhea Ripley vs. Mercedes Martinez in a grudge match

This match seems set after Martinez cost Ripley her #1 contender’s match last night against Kai. Whew, this is going to be a hard-hitting and amazing match!

Martinez is a straight-up force of destruction; give me Martinez vs. literally EVERYBODY. Her skills, charisma, look, demeanor, and physicality all embody brutality (and comparisons to Cris “Cyborg” Justino), which is ironic considering Ripley’s entrance theme screams, “THIS IS MY BRUTALITY!” That’s the thing, though: they both embody brutality.

Let’s also not forget the history between Ripley and Martinez’s recently-hired agent so to speak in Robert Stone and the Robert Stone Brand (RSB). After failing to recruit Ripley to RSB, Stone and Aliyah (his only client at the time after Chelsea Green fired him) faced Ripley in a handicap match only to be simultaneously submitted by her Prism Trap inverted cloverleaf submission finisher, which I love. A Martinez win would exact revenge for Stone and Aliyah while placing Ripley on even more of a downward trajectory.

A Ripley win solidly places her as the NXT Women’s Championship gatekeeper (and not in a bad way!) where she will be in some kind of #1 contender’s match again coming out of TakeOver to determine the Champion’s next challenger. After her momentum was stunted by the loss to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania and her loss last night to Kai, a victory over Martinez may be just what Ripley needs to reassert herself into the title picture.

Martinez winning, however, sets up an intriguing possibility of a Martinez run to the title with the side effect (I’ll leave it to you to determine if it’s positive, negative, or neutral) of elevating RSB. Defeating a recent champion who was just in a contender’s match shoots Martinez up the proverbial rankings, and she could be next for either Shirai or Kai.

The NXT women’s division currently has a few well-told stories, and it’s great to see. It also shows their depth, which can be a problem for whoever loses the match.

Prediction: Martinez by submission after capitalizing on a distraction from Stone