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NXT TakeOver: Portland is only a few nights away, and fans of NXT are all pumped to watch their favorite stars in action.
Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox are all ready to battle after Kai tore their friendship apart. The two women will battle in a Street Fight at the event which could leave a scar on one of the two Superstars.
Johnny Gargano will finally get his hands on the man who has attacked him and tried to hurt him on several occasions, as he will come face to face with Finn Balor in the ring.
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Three members of The Undisputed Era will also defend their titles during the event, but all eyes will be on Rhea Ripley’s match against Bianca Belair as the NXT Champion has already laid down a challenge to Charlotte Flair for WrestleMania 36.
With so much going on, a lot of unexpected and surprising things are waiting to happen at the event. With that in mind, we will make 5 bold predictions for the event in this article.
Take a look at the 5 things that must happen at NXT TakeOver: Portland!
#5 Dakota Kai will take down Tegan Nox
Dakota Kai was always known as the biggest and purest babyface in all of NXT. That all changed at TakeOver: WarGames when she attacked her teammate and longtime friend Tegan Nox before Nox could enter the cage.
This broke up Team Kick, and Nox suffered a bad knee injury due to the attack. Nox returned weeks later on January 15, 2020 to compete in a Battle Royal, but Kai, who wasn’t part of the match, appeared just to eliminate Nox.
The captain of Team Kick then got her match against The Shiniest Wizard, as the two met in a one-on-one match on the January 29 episode of NXT, but Nox outsmarted Kai by attacking her with a knee brace and defeating her.
While Nox is the favorite babyface in this match, it’s the newly turned heel Kai who has the upper hand considering that it’s a stipulation match
At TakeOver: Portland, Kai should hand down a severe beating to Nox and she will injure Nox to turn more villainous as a Street Fight will suit her character.
Emerging victoriously in this match-up and taking out Nox for some time will allow Kai to reach newer heights before confronting her old nemesis once again.
#4 Keith Lee will find his next challenger
Keith Lee is the new wrecking ball in WWE after shooting to fame in the build-up to NXT TakeOver: WarGames and Survivor Series.
The big man has found himself in a favorable position after getting the backing of the WWE Universe and his bookings have taken a turn for the better. Lee defeated Roderick Strong for the NXT North American Championship last month and is waiting for his first title defense.
Dominik Dijakovic overcame the unforgiving Damian Priest to become the No.1 contender for Lee’s prize, and the two men will likely have the most hard-hitting match of the night.
While these two men have faced each other several times in NXT amid mixed bookings, Lee will likely be the one to come out on top in this clash as it’s too soon for him to give up his title.
With that in mind, we could see Lee being attacked by someone during his celebration after his victory in order to immediately move on to another bigger feud. Lee's feud with Dijakovic does not seem like a longterm prospect as the two have already battled enough late last year.
Someone like Priest or Cameron Grimes will attack Lee and immediately get into a rivalry with NXT’s biggest man for the North American Championship.
Check out the 5 potential finishes to Keith Lee vs Dominik Dijakovic here!
#3 Johnny TakeOver and The Prinxe will fight to a no-contest
Johnny Gargano’s life has been turned upside down since Finn Balor has returned to NXT. Balor came in as a babyface but soon showed his true colors by turning heel and attacking Gargano in October 2019.
Since then, the two men have been involved in a bitter rivalry even though they haven’t shared the ring yet. Therefore, their encounter at TakeOver: Portland will be massive as it will be the first time these two men will get their hands on each other.
While Gargano is a veteran performer, Finn Balor has vowed to end Johnny Wrestling’s career and send him back to the hospital. With such bitter words coming out of both men’s mouths, fans can’t wait to see how they will do inside the ring.
NXT has shown that this rivalry is way too personal, and therefore we think that the match will defy all rules and run into a no-contest as both men will do everything in their power to put each other down rather than just win the match.
We predict that this match will run into a no-contest as it will spill all over the arena and it won’t be the last time we see the two men battling in this rivalry.
Check out the 5 potential endings to that match between Finn Balor and Johnny Gargano!
#2 Charlotte Flair will attack Rhea Ripley
While Shayna Baszler was an incredible NXT Champion, Rhea Ripley seems to be at par with her and is looking to surpass her dominance on the Black and Gold brand.
Ripley’s rise to success is no secret, and The Nightmare is ready to take on one of NXT’s most brilliant heels at TakeOver: Portland, Bianca Beliar.
While Ripley has a huge task ahead of herself at Portland, she has her eyes on the women’s Royal Rumble Charlotte Flair. Ripley has challenged Flair to an NXT Championship match for WrestleMania 36, and while both women have appeared on RAW and NXT since, Flair hasn’t accepted the challenge.
WWE should allow Flair to be present during the NXT Championship match between The Nightmare and The EST of NXT, and watch the two women compete closely.
The Nightmare is likely to retain the title at the event as she’s only getting started with the title, and we believe that The Queen will attack Ripley after her match at TakeOver: Portland and then accept her challenge for WrestleMania.
This will help NXT increase the viewership of the show and portray Flair as the clear heel in this battle with Ripley getting comfortable as a babyface.
#1 Roderick Strong will cost Undisputed Era
In August 2017, Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly formed one of WWE’s most well-known factions dubbed ‘The Undisputed Era’. In April 2018, Roderick Strong backstabbed Pete Dunne to help Fish and Cole win the NXT Tag Team Championships and became part of the faction in the process.
Since then, all four members of the faction have held gold for extended periods of time and become the best faction in sports entertainment.
Strong was the first man to lose his title at a time when all four men had belts around their waist after he lost the NXT North American Championship to Keith Lee. He is the only man from the faction who is not booked for a match for TakeOver: Portland, as Cole will defend his NXT Championship against Tommaso Ciampa while Fish and O’Reilly will defend their Tag Team Championships against The Broserweights.
While The Velveteen Dream has recently returned to reignite his feud with Strong, we might watch him cost his faction during the Tag Team Championship match or the NXT Championship match. His distraction or interruption to help his faction-mates during one of the two matches would cost them their title at the event and make them bitter towards him.
This will help NXT allow one of the Championships to change hands without doing damage to the faction’s image while creating cracks between the four men for future clashes which could give us a match between Cole and Strong down the road.
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