Planning on watching WrestleMania 35 but not up to speed on current storylines? Here’s a primer that should answer all of your questions heading into Sunday’s event.
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Without a clear conclusion to the running four-year conflict between Ciampa and longtime friend/rival Johnny Gargano, the show could have easily lost a lot of its luster — but Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative Paul “Triple H ” Levesque conveyed how they were able to push past the dramatic change.
“Top to bottom, [the card] just feels special and that’s really saying something coming out of the situation with Tommaso Ciampa… and us having to sort of re-chart our course this close to the event,” Levesque said on a conference call last week. “But it speaks to the depth of the talent and everything else and their passion and commitment that we can do it in a seamless manner. While I hate the fact that Johnny and Tommaso are not being able to pay off what has been a very long, emotional storyline ride for them, it is what it is and we’ll head in a different direction.”
Adam Cole stepped in after a thrilling Fatal 5-Way match that showed off the depth of the NXT roster, rounding out a card with five title matches that each have their own path to stealing the show.
“I often say that sometimes the best things come out of that chaos,” Levesque said. “Chaos, for whatever reason, sometimes creates this beautiful storyline.”
(c) – indicates defending champion
NXT championship: Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole
A new NXT champion is guaranteed to be crowned at NXT TakeOver: New York, in a match that’s never been seen within the confines of WWE. Gargano and Cole will battle in a 2-out-of-3 falls contest that will almost certainly close the show, and the combination of two performers at the top of their game and the intense short-term build has fans buzzing ahead of Friday’s show.
It hasn’t been a four-year build within NXT, but Gargano and Cole have a fair bit of history of their own before they signed with WWE; in fact, they’ve been battling inside the squared circle for the better part of the decade. Cole has talked about their history dating back to 2009 , with Cole banking a win over Gargano at EVOLVE’s second show in 2010, and again years later in California when Cole successfully defended the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla championship against Gargano.
Their NXT story is just getting started, however, as the only televised match they’ve been in together came as part of the same team in a six-man tag team match on Halftime Heat during Super Bowl LIII. This match represents a branching path for NXT, with each outcome taking the show in a dramatically different direction moving forward.
With Gargano on the more established path, he seems the likelier choice.
Prediction: Johnny Gargano realizes his dream and becomes NXT champion.
After winning the 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, Aleister Black and Ricochet challenge the War Raiders for the NXT tag team titles in Brooklyn. WWE
NXT tag team championships: War Raiders (c) vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet
The War Raiders made a statement at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix in January. They kicked off the show by ending the near-200 day title reign of the Undisputed Era in their first NXT tag team championship opportunity, flashing their full capabilities as a versatile pair of big men. This time around, they’ll battle a team that’s found instant success as a duo on all three of WWE’s biggest shows.
Aleister Black and Ricochet are fresh off winning the 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but they’ll be pulling double duty during WrestleMania weekend. After multiple wins over Raw tag team champions The Revival, as well as a variety of other top teams on Raw and SmackDown , they’ve earned themselves a SmackDown tag team title opportunity in a Fatal 4-Way match on Sunday at WrestleMania.
The looming question going into this match is whether this is the last hurrah for Black and Ricochet as part of the NXT roster, especially with championship aspirations elsewhere and regular appearances on the main roster.
“I think that is to be determined, the nights following WrestleMania and beyond,” Levesque said when answering that question. “I think you see that some of the call-ups right now, there’s a crisscrossing of stuff that is taking place. I think some of that will settle down after WrestleMania a little bit, but nothing has been written in stone as to where anybody goes, lands or does anything otherwise, so I think we’re just going to have to wait and see.”
This early into their title run, this has the makings of a signature win for the War Raiders as they start to establish their dominance over the division.
Prediction: War Raiders retain.
Io Shirai, shown here doing a moonsault onto most of the NXT women’s division, is one of three challengers for Shayna Baszler’s NXT women’s championship at TakeOver: New York. WWE
NXT women’s championship: Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Bianca Belair vs. Io Shirai vs. Kairi Sane
Through much of her NXT career, Shayna Baszler has run roughshod over the women’s division. She is the only two-time NXT women’s champion to date, and she has made a physical statement in every match she’s had so far. Only one woman — Kairi Sane — has successfully challenged Baszler along the way, and she’ll be one of three women who will look to put an end to her dominance.
Sane will join the high flying Io Shirai and Bianca Belair in a match that features, “four of the most talented women in the industry,” Levesque said.
Belair unsuccessfully challenged Baszler at TakeOver: Phoenix , thanks to interference from Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke, and the specter of more involvement from the “Four Horsewomen” of MMA looms over this match as well. Sane, a former NXT women’s champion in her own right, looks to climb back to the top. But keep an eye on Io Shirai, who is making her TakeOver debut on Friday and has become a focal point for NXT dating all the way back to October. will attempt to make history in her first-ever TakeOver match.
No one knows for sure what Ronda Rousey will be up to post-WrestleMania, but keep a watchful eye on Baszler, Shafir and Duke, her longtime friends, should Baszler lose her title at TakeOver.
Prediction: Io Shirai becomes the new NXT women’s champion.
Matt Riddle and Velveteen Dream are two of WWE’s brightest stars of the future WWE
NXT North American championship: Velveteen Dream (c) vs. Matt Riddle
The future of NXT and the WWE overall, for that matter, is bright. Look no further than NXT TakeOver: New York’s North American championship match as a gleaming example.
“[They are] two unbelievable performers. Definitely the future of the business, period,” Levesque said when addressing current North American champion Velveteen Dream and challenger Matt Riddle .
The Velveteen Dream captured the North American championship on NXT TV in February with a win over then-champion Johnny Gargano. It was Dream’s first championship victory in NXT. Riddle, on a tear since his NXT debut and undefeated in one-on-one matches, will look to accomplish the same feat on Friday.
Prediction: Matt Riddle wins the North American championship.
WALTER challenging Pete Dunne for the WWE United Kingdom championship is a dark horse to steal the night at NXT TakeOver: New York. WWE
WWE United Kingdom championship: Pete Dunne vs. WALTER
This match has managed to fly under the radar a bit as far as the overall TakeOver card is concerned, but Pete Dunne and WALTER are bound to open some eyes.
“I wanted to showcase that UK brand — the Pete-WALTER match was a perfect opportunity to do that,” Levesque said. “Pete Dunne, who just exemplifies that brand and has an unbelievable future, and WALTER, who is new to us, but obviously [has made a] big impact.” Levesque continued. “That’s a match that I’m looking forward to being something special.”
WALTER made his WWE debut at the first NXT UK TakeOver event back in January, and he’ll look to end Dunne’s historic near two-year United Kingdom championship reign in what’s certain to be an intensely physical match.
Prediction: WALTER ends the historic reign of Pete Dunne and becomes the third WWE United Kingdom champion.
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