NXT In Your House Predictions for each match on the card

Watching how WWE has retooled this NXT show over the last few months, there’s a bit of irony to the promotion promoting the brand’s third annual In Your House pay-per-view (or “Premium Live Event” if you prefer). What started as a cute homage to WWE’s series of PPVs from the ’90s has become the perfect encapsulation of what NXT 2.0 is.

Between the less-than-stellar matches, lousy acting, and one-dimensional gimmicks, NXT 2.0 and an early ’90s episode of Raw are indistinguishable from each other; it’s like that “it’s the same picture” meme from The Office.

This approach hasn’t garnered the brand much interest, which explains why so many of the matches on this card carry extra stipulations. On top of that, all five of the brand’s championships will be defended on this show.

These are the predictions for NXT In Your House 2022

Bron Breakker (c) vs. Joe Gacy- NXT Championship; if Breakker gets disqualified, Gacy wins the NXT Title

WWE usually saves the “champion loses the title if they get DQed” stip for a cowardly heel titleholder, not the brand’s lead babyface titleholder, but because WWE just had to extent arguably the worst storyline in pro wrestling (certainly the worst in the company) another few weeks, so here we are.

To be clear, WWE put this stipulation here to make you think that Gacy could slither out of In Your House with the NXT Championship without pinning Bron Breakker. That’s not happening.

Gacy is in this spot for two reasons: WWE thinks his “left-wing” cult leader gimmick gets the right kind of heat and his abilities in the ring will help the still-green Breakker progress between the ropes. There’s no disputing the latter point, but seeing WWE double down on this character, as predictable as that decision is, has led to some terrible television that undercut Breakker’s character for the sake of testing his acting range.

Nevertheless, expect some solid action and a few near-DQ spots with Breakker to suss out some tension, but we know how this one’s ending.

Prediction: Bron Breakker pins Joe Gacy, retains the NXT Championship

Mandy Rose (c) vs. Wendy Choo- NXT Women’s Championship

The Mandy Rose as champion” experiment needs to end. WWE gambled on the idea that putting the title on a woman who is antithetical to everything the women’s division was during the “black and gold” era of NXT and letting that generate massive heat, but all it has produced are a bunch of mediocre matches and promos.

To be fair, Rose has tried her best to make this work and she’s just doing what the company is asking of her, but she’s clearly out of her depth in this spot. Based on the John “Bradshaw” Layfield-esque title run she’s on, WWE seems to feel the same way. Chickens*** heel title runs like this can work in the short term, but we’ve now seen the same matches with the same distraction finishes for months! We’re long past the point of staleness with this story.

That said, doin’t expect a title change here. While fans have taken to Wendy Choo (the gimmick isn’t good, but Choo’s performance in the role has won fans over), she’s here to get a decent match out of Rose without straying too far from the Rose formula.

Prediction: Mandy Rose pins Wendy Choo, retains the NXT Women’s Championship

Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson)(c) vs. The Creed Brothers (Julius and Brutus)- NXT Tag Team Championship; if the Creed Brothers lose, they must leave Diamond Mine

These last few weeks of Diamond Mine segment have shown how vital Malcolm Bivens (Stokely Hathaway) was to that group. He carried much of the promo load for the faction during his time in WWE and with him now putting those talents to use alongside Jade Cargill in All Elite Wrestling (AEW), it has exposed the oration shortcomings of everyone else, especially Roderick Strong.

All that to say, it’s probably time for everyone to move on from Diamond Mine, which likely explains why WWE (through Strong) added this stipulation to the tag title match. A Creed Brothers win here seemed like a slam dunk before that got caboosed to this bout, so a finish where Strong turns on the Creeds and costs them the match appears more probable.

Plus, it feels like WWE might want to keep the belts on Pretty Deadly for a bit. That team is still a mixed bag. Some weeks, they hit the right notes as heels you want to see get beat up. Other weeks, they’re the most aggrivating act on a roster that houses Grayson Waller and Tiffany Stratton.

Prediction: Pretty Deadly retains the NXT Tag Team Championship (Elton Prince pins Julius Creed)

Cameron Grimes (c) vs. Carmelo Hayes- NXT North American Championship

We have reached the match that will almost certainly steal the show. Cameron Grimes and Carmelo Hayes are easily two of the best workers on the brand, so it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they exceeded their stellar effort from NXT Vengeance Day.

It also shouldn’t surprise anyone to hear (or read, in this case) that this match received the best build of all the In Your House matches. Yes, it’s shocking to learn that a feud centered around wrestlers provinw who’s better and who’s the more worthy champion resonate with fans more than cheesy spookhouse segments, but it’s the truth.

WWE could go either way with this match, especially since it feels like the winner will eventually drop the title to Solo Sikoa. Hayes seems destined to, at the very least, ascend to the main event picture in NXT, and regaining the North American Title would delay that elevation.

That said, WWE could move the title back to him in order to put Sikoa over. At the same time, Grimes is probably better equipped to handle that task, even if that means turning Grimes heel (which would be a mistake, but one WWE would make given how much the NXT fans prefer Sikoa over Grimes).

Eh, when in doubt, go with the champ.

Prediction: Cameron Grimes pins Carmelo Hayes, retains the NXT North American Championship

Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne)(c) vs. Katana Chance and Kayden Carter- NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship

Katana Chance and Kayden Carter’s primary reason for wanting this title shot is because they’re the only actual team in the women’s tag “division”. That doesn’t reflect well on the champions or the challengers, and it’s another bit of evidence to the well-proven point that WWE doesn’t care about women’s tag team wrestling.

Oh, and the heels relying on short jokes to get heat tells you everything you need to know about how much thought WWE put into this.

Much like their Toxic Attraction leader’s title reign, Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne’s time with the tag titles has far surpassed the expiration date. Unlike Rose, though, we might actually see them lose the titles. On a show like this, WWE is booking at least one title change and they can always give the belts back to Dolin and Jayne on TV.

Prediction: Katana Chance and Kayden Carter win the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship (Kayden Carter pins Jacy Jayne)

Legado Del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, and Cruz Del Toro) vs. Tony D’Angelo, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, and Troy “Two Dimes” Donovan- Losing team must join the winning team’s group

This is one of those storylines that isn’t for everyone but has its fans that will overlook some of the sillier aspects (or embrace them for what they are). While some fans know that there are better versions of the mobster genre than the B-movie nonsense that plays out between Legado Del Fantasma and Tony D’Angelo’s crew, others appreciate the satire, whether the parody is intentional or not.

Given how new D’Angelo’s trio is, the idea of them immediately getting subsumed into Legado Del Fantasma seems a bit preposterous. Having LDF begrudgingly work under D’Angelo is the far more interesting branch in the timeline. Plus, it allows WWE to set up LDF inevitably breaking away and turning babyface.

Prediction Tony D’Angelo’s crew wins (D’Angelo pins Cruz Del Toro)