From the Rumor Mill: Four huge matches planned for NXT Takeover: New Orleans
What's the story?
NXT Takeover: Philadelphia definitely raised the bar for the past weekend of wrestling action in ECW country and it seems that the 'Developmental Brand' of WWE could the steal WrestleMania weekend with some of the planned matches for NXT Takeover: New Orleans.
In case you didn't know...
Johnny Gargano's NXT Championship match against Andrade 'Cien' Almas received five stars from Dave Meltzer and the match is now considered to be the best showdown in the history of NXT.
There wasn't a single match on the NXT card that fell short of the hype that surrounded it as the next generation once again proved that they have what it takes to step up to the main roster. Not only that, but Almas and Adam Cole both appeared in the Men's Royal Rumble match and had fantastic showings as they represented their brand.
Kairi Sane replaced Alicia Fox in the Women's Royal Rumble match and NXT Women's Champion Ember Moon also made an appearance in the history-making match, which proves that WWE obviously has some huge plans for these stars moving forward.
The heart of the matter
NXT Takeover: New Orleans is just over two months away and according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there could be some huge plans in store for the developmental brand.
"For Almas the likely direction for the title is with Aleister Black, who beat Adam Cole. After Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly kept the tag titles over the Authors of Pain, who have been rumored for months to be main roster bound, it looks like they are back working with Sanity (Eric Young, who’s hair is now cut short, along with Killian Dain & Alexander Wolfe). Sanity came out to counter the interference of Fish & O’Reilly in the Cole vs. Black match."
It seems that the main matches planned for the show could be Almas vs Aleister Black for the NXT Championship whilst The Undisputed Era take on Sanity in a six-man tag match. Which will also include Adam Cole and Killian Dane, who face off on next week's episode of NXT.
"Ember Moon was able to stack Baszler, who was holding an armbar, into a pin to retain the title. Even though Baszler has been a standout as far as getting over at the tapings, it felt early for her to win the title and that finish protected her, particularly since she choked Moon out after the match, which seemed to indicate a continuation of the program."
Ember Moon and Shayna Baszler put on a fantastic performance at Takeover: Philadelphia but it seems that their feud will continue heading into WrestleMania weekend where Baszler may have a chance to lift gold for the first time in WWE.
What's next?
NXT tapings take place tonight and they will be a good indication of where the brand is heading moving forward. But with Takeover: New Orleans now just nine weeks away it seems that the current storylines could be the ones that end up reaching their climax at WrestleMania weekend.
Author's take
After the part he played in The Royal Rumble and the stand out match that he had with Aleister Black, it seems that Adam Cole will be a little wasted in a six-man tag. But the booking team in NXT have never failed to put on a good show, so this could play out quite well.
The other matches were ones that many of the NXT Universe could have predicted but are still expected to be ones worthy of WrestleMania weekend.
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