Predicting the next 5 NXT Champions
The NXT Championship is arguably one of the most prestigious championships in all of professional wrestling. With the exception of Bo Dallas, its titleholders have all gone on to become household names in the history of NXT, and to a lesser extent, the main roster.
Aleister Black is the current Champion, and he'll face Lars Sullivan next week at the second edition of TakeOver: Chicago.
Lars Sullivan is unlikely to take the title there. Instead, this match looks like it will be centered on building the Black Mass even more as one of the most powerful finishers in the company.
If not Sullivan then, who will be the next champion? What about the one after him? Unlike the main roster, NXT's propensity for logical storytelling gives us the ability to make confident predictions.
#1 Tommaso Ciampa
Things don't look good for Johnny Gargano in Chicago.
Sure, he beat his former DIY best friend in New Orleans, but Tommaso Ciampa is out for revenge.
A street fight between the two is scheduled, and for Johnny's story to be complete, he'll need to suffer another setback.
EC3 is looming, but whether he interferes or not, the odds are that Tommaso Ciampa will take the win in Chicago. He might put Johnny Gargano on the shelf, or he might not. Whatever the case, his victory is poised to put him into title contention.
A meeting with Aleister Black in Brooklyn would result. There, Tommaso Ciampa will slither himself into the NXT Championship in the most dastardly, unfair way possible, both to keep Black strong as he heads off to the main roster and to make him, even more, the biggest heel in the company.
The 14th NXT Champion won't be able to rejoice long in his ill-gotten gain, however.