WWE NXT TakeOver 36 Preview: New champions to be crowned; Superstars to be pinned for the first time

NXT TakeOver 36 will take place the night after WWE SummerSlam this weekend. NXT has done well to book some big matches for Sunday night to create hype for the event.

Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly are set to write the third chapter of their rivalry at TakeOver 36. Instead of a regular wrestling match, the two men will do battle in a 2-out-of-3 falls match.

Meanwhile, Raquel Gonzalez will look to teach Dakota Kai a lesson after she betrayed her former friend a few weeks ago. Will the NXT Women’s Champion be able to put down The Captain of Team Kick after working alongside her for several months?

Ilja Dragunov will get to have another go at WALTER at TakeOver 36. The Unbesiegbar failed to defeat The Ring General in their first encounter, but he is a changed man now. Will the new energy help him become the first man to pin The Austrian Anomaly in singles action in NXT?

Karrion Kross provoked Samoa Joe enough to bring him back to the WWE ring. The two men will do battle for the NXT Championship on Sunday. Is Joe ready to become the first-ever three-time NXT Champion at TakeOver 36?

Here’s what one can expect from WWE NXT TakeOver 36 on August 22, 2021.

---

#5. Another Million Dollar battle is on the cards for WWE NXT TakeOver 36

The Million Dollar Championship will be on the line at WWE NXT TakeOver 36. LA Knight will defend his title against Cameron Grimes after Ted DiBiase laid down the challenge.

Knight won the title in a ladder match and also won the services of Grimes as his butler in the process. Knight and Grimes have been involved in a few segments and matches on NXT, and DiBiase believes he has seen enough.

At TakeOver 36, LA Knight and Grimes will once again meet for the Million Dollar Championship. If Grimes loses this time, then 'The Million Dollar Man' will become Knight’s new butler.

DiBiase believes that he’s made a great deal with the Million Dollar Champion. However, things could go south for him if The Technical Savage fails to win the match and the title from LA Knight.

Both men have an equal chance of winning this contest. Knight has had a good start to his NXT career, while Grimes is looking to win his first title in the company. Things could go either way in a match that has more than just a championship on the line.

Is Grimes ready to win his first title in NXT and restart his journey to the moon? Or will DiBiase pay the ultimate price if LA Knight manages to pick up another victory over his current butler?

#4. Will The Undisputed Finale end the rivalry between Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly at WWE NXT TakeOver 36?

Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly will go to war in an Undisputed Finale at WWE NXT TakeOver 36. Fans have watched superstars compete in many different gimmick matches. However, the Undisputed Finale could bring one of the two superstar’s NXT careers to an end on Sunday.

Adam Cole believes that he is the greatest NXT Superstar of all time. While that statement is undisputed, O’Reilly has proven himself to be more than a handful on NXT. The superstar went on a singles run late last year, and Cole could not handle anyone getting more chances than him.

The two former brothers in battle will meet in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match after splitting their first two clashes. O’Reilly wants to face Cole in a traditional wrestling match for the first fall. The Panama City Playboy has selected a Street Fight to try and end KOR’s in-ring career in the second.

NXT General Manager announced that both men will battle inside a Steel Cage in case they cannot reach a result in the first two falls. Will the match allow O’Reilly to get a big boost in WWE? Or will Adam Cole silence his critics and pick up another major victory on NXT?

#3. Can WWE NXT UK Champion WALTER defeat Ilja Dragunov one more time at TakeOver 36?

WWE NXT TakeOver 36 will host the match between WALTER and Ilja Dragunov for the NXT UK Championship this Sunday. WALTER vs. Dragunov II was originally scheduled for the July 22 episode of NXT UK. However, The Ring General sustained a hand injury during a backstage altercation with The Mad Russian a week before the match.

Both men will have the chance to show what they’ve got in front of the entire NXT Universe. WALTER has held the title for over two years now and looks invincible. However, The Mad Russian is one of the very few men who have come close to defeating the NXT UK Champion.

Dragunov has had a big character change since his previous encounter with WALTER and is arguably more aggressive and lethal now. This positive change could work in his favor as he looks to take down The Ring General for good.

However, WALTER has never been pinned one-on-one in NXT, and he will likely have Imperium at ringside to help him out in the contest. The numbers game could surely play in The Austrian Anomaly’s favor at TakeOver 36.

This is the most highly anticipated rematch in NXT UK history. Will Dragunov walk out of TakeOver 36 as the new NXT UK Champion? Or will WALTER put down another challenger with ease at the big event?

#2. Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez will represent the WWE NXT women’s locker room at TakeOver 36

Dakota Kai ended months of friendship for a shot at the WWE NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver 36. A Kaio Kick shook the entire NXT Universe as she took down Raquel Gonzalez to send a warning to the NXT Women’s Champion.

Gonzalez won the title from Io Shirai not too long ago. However, she has proven to be a great champion on the women’s roster and has received a lot of praise for her work.

Meanwhile, Kai is arguably the top performer in NXT today. Although she has not won any singles titles in her career, she has shown that she can work any gimmick extremely well.

The championship showdown will decide who deserves to be the leader of the NXT women’s locker room. Gonzalez came into NXT as Kai’s henchwoman and soon overtook her to become the champion.

BREAKING: @RaquelWWE will battle @DakotaKai_WWE for the #NXTWomensTitle at #NXTTakeOver 36 on August 22 at 8 ET/5 PT! Streaming on @peacockTV in the U.S. and @WWENetwork everywhere else. #WWENXT https://t.co/WPkLUFNtgw

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) August 9, 2021

Gonzalez trusted Kai blindly and paid dearly in the end. Big Mami Cool picked up several major victories with Kai by her side. It will be interesting to see how the NXT Women’s Champion functions opposite The Captain of Team Kick without any backup.

#1. Is Karrion Kross going to continue his WWE NXT Championship reign past TakeOver 36?

Samoa Joe will return to the WWE ring for the first time since February 2020 at NXT TakeOver 36. Joe joined the brand as a special enforcer and helped William Regal bring some calm to the brand for a few weeks.

He came face to face with several top NXT Superstars, but none provoked him the way Karrion Kross did. The NXT Champion attacked Joe following a match with Johnny Gargano and put him out with the Kross Jacket.

Kross has been undefeated on NXT ever since his debut. He will be looking to put The Samoan Submission Machine to sleep to prove that he’s the most dominant champion in WWE.

Meanwhile, Joe has nothing to prove to the WWE Universe. The former NXT Champion simply wants to choke Kross out and teach him a lesson.

This will be the most high-profile clash of TakeOver 36, and the result could go either way. Will Joe put an end to Kross’s title reign and also force him out of NXT? Or will Kross defeat another former NXT Champion to prove that he’s the best in WWE?