Rasslin’ Roundtable for NXT Takeover: San Antonio

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Tonight is the final WWE PPV of 2016 – Roadblock End of the Line!

Here is the Pulse Wrestling crew’s full preview with predictions for all planned matches.


NXT Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Bobby Roode

Michael – I know people are speculating that Roode takes the belt off Nakamura here so Shinsuke can move up to the main roster. For some reason, I don’t think the WWE calls up Nakamura just yet. I have zero basis for that thought, I just have a feeling Nakamura will debut on Raw the night after Wrestlemania, not before. With that, I think that Nakamura retains the title in a hard fought match leading to perhaps Roode surprising at the Royal Rumble match.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

Sam P – Well this should be fun. Nakamura still has miles in NXT and can help build up Roode and, soon, Ohno / Hero or whatever the hell they’ll call him. He could easily make the jump to the main roster but it’s Samoa Joe’s turn first.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

Lewis Michie: Not sure Nakamua is coming up to the main roster yet, so would be silly to take the title off of him yet.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura.

Widro – I think they will do a title change here to tease the idea of Shinsuke being in the Rumble.
Winner: Roode


NXT Tag Team Championship
#DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) (c) vs. The Authors of Pain (Rezar and Akam) (with Paul Ellering)

Michael – As good as #DIY is (and I am all for Ciampa getting a ton of exposure), it is hard to deny that the powers-that-be are pushing The Authors of Pain. Rezar and Akam definitely need more seasoning, but I don’t think that matters to anyone in booking. I have two hopes if they make the switch here. 1) I hope they don’t bury Gargano and Ciampa or expel them to 205 Live. and 2) I hope they are making the switch because they are close to signing Ray Rowe and Hansen so we can see War Machine come in a demolish the Authors.
Winner: The Authors of Pain (new champs)

Sam P – Head says The Authors, heart says DIY. And my heart has never said DIY before. Why do DIY when you can pay a handyman to do it better? Anyway, this won’t have the quality of The Revival matches, or even the TM61 bouts, but it should be hard hitting.
Winner: DIY

Lewis Michie: Will be interesting to see if both teams can even go near the level set by the Revival in their time as the NXT tag champions. I feel they’ll
have a solid match, and possibly a shocking ending because I’m not too sure I see The Authors of Pain being beaten yet.
Winner: The Authors of Pain.

Widro – After last Takeover’s tag team title match, this is a major downgrade in match quality. I think DIY will retain here.
Winner: DIY


NXT Women’s Championship
Asuka (c) vs. Nikki Cross vs. Billie Kay vs. Peyton Royce

Michael – Billie Kay and Peyton Royce have found something that works for them with their Aussie mean girls gimmick. Nikki Cross is an intriguing addition to this match. But then again, I have a thing for crazy chicks. And I love Asuka. While I would love to see her move up to the main roster right now, I don’t think she has to lose here to do it. Asuka is better than all three of her opponents, and everyone knows it. Don’t make her lose the belt by shenanigans just because you can. Let her continue to dominate AND let her come up to the main roster. The thing of it is, once you set her loose on the main roster, she will outshine everyone else and the crowd will immediately gravitate to her. So, just because I hope NXT wouldn’t go against too much logic, I will choose …
Winner: Asuka

Sam P – No one woman can beat Asuka, so let’s throw 3 at her simultaneously and see what happens. The fourway seems built to take the belt off Asuka with her technically losing, so look for one of the Aussies to be pinned by the Scottish lunatic.
Winner: Nikki Cross

Lewis Michie: An easy way to take the title off of Asuka without her having been pinned in the WWE yet, I feel like that would be an awesome story to tell with Asuka coming up to Raw or Smackdown having still not lost.
Winner: Billie Kay

Widro – This match seems designed to get the title off of Asuka without pinning her.
Winner: Billie Kay


Eric Young vs. Tye Dillinger

Michael – Tye Dillinger has been on fire of late. The crowds are eating up his Perfect 10 gimmick and he has put on some good matches. In fact, if Bobby Roode takes the title, Dillinger may be in line for a title shot. As for Eric Young, I like what he is doing here as opposed to his weird love story with ODB over in TNA. I don’t see major star in EY though. I think he was brought in to help teach some of the younger guys and give them a seasoned pro to try to go through on their way to bigger things. As such, I see Sanity taking the loss here.
Winner: Tye Dillinger

Sam P – If Dillinger isn’t in the Royal Rumble at number 10, my year is ruined.
Winner: Eric Young

Lewis Michie: I’m holding out hope that Tye Dillinger will enter no.10 at the royal rumble, I’m not sure if a win or a loss is the best way to that. Maybe an Eric Young win forces Tye to find himself by going to the main roster, but I’m not sure they’d bring Tye up with a losing streak so…
Winner: Tye Dillinger

Widro – Eric Young has had a strange run in NXT so far, I think he needs a win here.
Winner: Young


Roderick Strong vs. Andrade Almas

Michael – I really like Almas as much as I wish I didn’t. As for Roddy Strong, I still feel the same way about him as when he was in ROH – he is very good in the ring but has little to no personality and I just can’t connect with him. Hopefully this match will allow both men to really show off what they can do. If they can put on a technical classic, that bodes well for both men. If Strong can find some way, any way, to connect with the crowd, I can see him going over and becoming an immediate top challenger for the NXT title (especially if Nakamura retains). I think Strong versus Nakamura could be great, if they could just get the crowds to care about Strong. If Almas wins, I think they slot him for a title shot soon as well (against either Nakamura or Roode). Either way, technically, this could be the match of the night, which is saying a lot for a card with Nakamura and Asuka on it. But I have no faith in Roddy’s ability to ingest the whole of Andrew Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People before the weekend.
Winner: Andrade Almas

Sam P – These boys need to make an impact and Takeover is the perfect stage. Could go either way, so I flipped a coin.
Winner: Roderick Strong

Lewis Michie: A tough one as both guys are building momentum and could do with a win. I think Strong probably has to take this one though.
Winner: Roderick Strong

Widro – Roddy is moving up the card and this should be a stepping stone for him.
Winner: Strong

Jonathan Widro is the owner and founder of Inside Pulse. Over a decade ago he burst onto the scene with a pro-WCW reporting style that earned him the nickname WCWidro. Check him out on Twitter for mostly inane non sequiturs