NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 predictions

NXT Women's Championship: Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Kairi Sane

Round three.

In the week where we found out the Mae Young Classic finalists, we'll see a rematch of last year's final in the Barclays Center. Kairi Sane defeated Shayna Baszler then, with Baszler subsequently getting her win back in February. The two are 1-1 against each other. This will be the rubber match.

While it definitely wouldn't feel surprising if Shayna Baszler retained her title, there are many other moving parts here.

Shayna Baszler has been a dominant bully with the championship, but it now feels like her reign has run its course. She's already decisively defeated every babyface in the NXT women's division. None save Sane have any momentum at the moment, and if she were to lose here, Baszler would have no competition left. The only alternative would be to hot shot the two Mae Young Classic finalists to title contention, but with that final at Evolution taking place only three weeks before War Games, the build would be extremely underwhelming, with a result that would either snuff all the heat of the challenger or put the title on that challenger with a premature payoff.

Furthermore, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn always has a signature babyface triumph. The first came with Bayley's cathartic victory over Sasha Banks to finally capture the NXT Women's Championship. The second came with Shinsuke Nakamura cementing his rise to the NXT Championship. The third came with Drew McIntyre's triumphant return to the company as a reinvigorated competitor, taking the NXT Championship along the way. With the way this year's NXT Championship match will likely go, this would be the other possible big babyface moment. Triple H usually likes to have babyfaces be the ultimate victors in extended feuds like this.

Kairi Sane is also being advertised for Raw's Osaka show, and sending her in as champion seems the logical thing to do (and NXT actually has logic). Shayna Baszler has also already teased her arrival on Raw, as she showed up there about a month ago, claiming she ran out of competition in NXT.

And then there's Io Shirai, who will likely be in the audience. She and Sane have years of history together as friends and rivals, and an NXT Women's Championship program between them has the potential to be the best feud for that title since Sasha Banks and Bayley.

All of these things point to Sane's victory. If any title in Brooklyn is the likeliest to change hands, it's this one.

Prediction: Kairi Sane defeats Shayna Baszler to become the new NXT Women's Champion.