WWE News: Three top singles matches set for NXT TakeOver: Chicago II (Contains Spoilers)
What’s the story?
Following the conclusion of Friday night’s NXT tapings at the Full Sail arena this week, three top singles matches have now been seemingly revealed for NXT’s next big pay-per-view, TakeOver: Chicago II.
In case you didn’t know…
The first NXT TakeOver: Chicago event was held on the 20th of May, 2017 at the Allstate Arena, in Rosemont, Illinois. The match-card for TakeOver: Chicago included five matches, out of which four were championship bouts.
As noted, ‘The Bruiserweight’ Pete Dunne defeated Tyler Bate to capture the WWE UK Championship in the second contest of the evening, whereas, both Asuka and Bobby Roode successfully defended the NXT Women’s Championship and the NXT Championship respectively.
In the main event of that evening, the duo of Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano unsuccessfully challenged The Authors of Pain for the NXT Tag Team Championships, however, after the match, Ciampa attacked Gargano by performing two running knee smashes and thus turning heel in the process and eventually was the beginning of the rivalry between the former NXT Tag Team Champions.
The heart of the matter
After Friday’s NXT Tapings at the Full Sail Arena, we can now confirm for the fact that NXT Champion Aleister Black will indeed be defending his championship belt at the next big NXT pay-per-view, that is, TakeOver: Chicago II and the ‘Dutch Destroyer’s’ next challenger is non-other than the walking behemoth known as Lars Sullivan.
After successfully defeating both Ricochet and The Velveteen Dream during this week’s tapings, Sullivan went on to challenge Aleister Black for the NXT Championship and then proceeded with a brutal beatdown on the champion as well.
In addition, new NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler retained her title over Dakota Kai, but ‘The Queen of Spades’ was jumped by Sanity’s Nikki Cross, who eventually grabbed the NXT Women’s Championship and issued a challenge to Shayna at TakeOver: Chicago II.
Following their gruesome Unsanctioned Match at TakeOver: New Orleans, a rematch between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa also seems to be on the cards, as the two former tag team partners are now slated to compete in a Street Fight in the very same building where this feud started in the first place.
(You can read the full spoilers from NXT’s May 9, 2018 tapings at Full Sail here, courtesy of Cageside Seats)
What’s next?
NXT TakeOver: Chicago II will take place on the 16th of June at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
Author’s Take
The TakeOver: Chicago card is already shaping up to be a promising line-up and the WWE Universe could certainly expect a few more additions, as The Undisputed Era is also likely to make it to the match card as well, with Adam Cole possibly defending the North American Title and his fellow stablemates Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong defending the NXT Tag Team Titles.
The WWE UK Championship could also very well be on the line if the NXT management decides to book Pete Dunne for the show.