Tossing Salt Presents:
WWE NXT TakeOver: Chicago

Thoughts & Predictions
May 19, 2017

We are just a couple of days away from the latest NXT live event, NXT Takeover: Chicago, which is coming up on Saturday night. I was going to wait until Saturday to do this prediction column and post it alongside the upcoming prediction column for WWE Backlash, but what the hell? I’m awake and can’t sleep and it’s 3:00am so why not just do it now, right? Works for me. So five matches have been announced thus far and it looks as if it should be a good show. Where is my crystal ball? Let’s do that prediction thing.

NXT: Takeover Chicago

NXT Championship Match
Bobby Roode (c) vs. Hideo Itami

I keep hearing that Hideo Itami may be headed soon to the main roster, but I hope not. The main roster is so packed and over-crowded right now, he’d be lost in the shuffle. I think I would prefer to see him stay in NXT for a while longer and wait for the right time to move up. It’s not now. As for this match, it should be one hell of a match. Roode is such an amazing and dare I say it, glorious, champion. He is a great talent and in my opinion, the perfect man to lead the NXT roster right now and represent them as their champion. These men will try to steal the show and quite possibly will do exactly that. I don’t think the title is going to change hands tonight. It’s not the right time for that and Roode still has a lot of life left as the champ. Look for a great match and in the end, Roode retains and it will be glorious.

Winner and STILL NXT Champion: Bobby Roode

Triple Threat – NXT Women’s Championship Match
Asuka (c) vs. Ruby Riot vs. Nikki Cross

Asuka is so awesome. She has almost replaced my beloved, Ivory as my favorite Diva. No, that will never happen and Ivory, aka Lisa Moretti, will always be my #1 woman wrestler. But Ivory is retired (for now) and of the current ladies, where so many are so damn good, Asuka had earned my respect and the top spot in my eyes. This is a triple-threat match and the odds are against Asuka, but she has already overcome the odds so many times, can she do it again? Yeah, I think so. Look for a tremendous match and in the end, my new woman, Asuka, will triumph and retain.

Winner and STILL NXT Women’s Champion: Asuka

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

There is a big question mark on this match right now due to a leg injury for Ciampa last night at a NXT live event. The match had to be stopped and Ciampa had to be helped to the back and couldn’t put any weight on his leg without screaming in pain. If it’s as serious as it appeared, I can’t see Ciampa getting medically cleared on Saturday night in time enough to work the match. So what happens? Does Gargano get to pick a substitute partner for this match or will there be another team given their spot or what? I was originally going to give this match to Gargano and Ciampa, but with this latest situation and the injury to Ciampa, I don’t see that happening or the belts changing hands here. Regardless of how the match goes or who the opponents end up being for the Authors, they’re keeping the belts.

Winners and STILL NXT Tag Team Champions: The Authors of Pain w/ Paul Ellering

WWE United Kingdom Championship Match
Tyler Bate (c) vs. Pete Dunne

This is a great opportunity for Bate and Dunne and the UK Division to really get their first time in the spotlight at a big time WWE event and I’m expecting them to put on a fantastic match that will surely compete with Roode vs Itami for the best match of the night. I’m not familiar with either men all that much with the exception of watching a few matches on YouTube, but these guys have some skills. The question is though, will there be a title change tonight? I can’t really see the entire NXT event go without any titles changing hands and since I’ve predicted the champions retaining in all of the other matches, maybe this is where the magic will happen. I can see that the company is high on Bate and having him make a successful defense right off the bat would be great, but having the title change in the midst of a great match would be pretty positive for the division too. I think, if I was the WWE, I’d have a title switch. Why the heck not.

Winner and NEW United Kingdom Champion: Pete Dunne

Roderick Strong vs. Eric Young (with Alexander Wolfe and Killian Dain)

Another good match that I expect will start the show and get the ball rolling. Young is such an amazing chameleon of a wrestler and can do serious, comedy, face, heel, sane, not quite so sane, etc. And Strong? I can’t say anything bad about him at all and he’s a great talent in his own right. I think I’ll go with a lot of crazy and chaos and a strong match. And the numbers game of Eric and his unit will come out on top in the end.

Winner: Eric Young

And there you go. I’ll have my predictions for WWE Backlash up on Saturday at the latest, plus I have a “Wrestling Q&A” almost ready to go as well. I also think a couple of “Fact or Fictions” and maybe even a “This Or That” will be coming up soon as well. That’s all for me for now though. Thanks for reading and I’ll catch you on the flip side. Have a great one.

Ubuntu!