NXT Takeover: Unstoppable
May 20, 2015
Full Sail University
8:00 p.m. EST
Watch: WWENetwork
Tonight, NXT takes center stage once again on the WWE Network with their sixth Network-exclusive special, NXT Takeover: Unstoppable.
This special promises to be a historic one for the NXT brand as many questions surround the future of their roster, the future of the NXT championship as well as the continued ascension of the women’s division. In the main event, former NXT champion Sami Zayn battles current NXT champion Kevin Owens. Both Zayn and Owens have made appearances on WWE Monday Night Raw in anticipation of this special leading to questions about their long-term NXT future. Owens, more notably, is booked for the upcoming Network exclusive PPV WWE Elimination Chamber.
Sasha Banks defends her NXT Women’s Championship against Irish import Becky Lynch in a match with a high probability of stealing the show. With so much instability in the men’s main event picture, NXT has relied upon the women to carry the load — going so far as having these two main event their most recent house show in Philadelphia. If you either don’t watch women’s wrestling or avoid WWE’s version of women’s wrestling, stop. Watch this match and appreciate the immense talent of both of these women.
Elsewhere on the card, the veteran Rhyno battles Baron Corbin, Bayley and Charlotte battle NXT newcomer Dana Brooke and her partner the newly-heel’d Emma. Finn Balor and Tyler Breeze battle for the NXT Championship #1 Contendership (Hideo Itami will pull out due to injury), Blake and Murphy defend the Tag titles against Enzo Amore and Colin Cassaday and last but not least, there’s been a lot of rumors about the possible debut of Samoa Joe.
Perhaps best of all, NXT Takeover: Unstoppable can be watched live for exactly $0. Yup, it’s yet another free month for WWE Network giving you absolutely no excuse to skip this show. Order WWE Network, sit down and enjoy! -Rich Kraetsch
Bayley & Charlotte vs. Dana Brooke & Emma
Rob McCarron (@ShakeThemRopes): My guilty pleasure match of the night, I’m very excited to see the multiple angles in this one. We have the newly evil Emma in the ring with Bayley, the Total Diva Dana Brooke being in the ring with the strongest female force in NXT over 2014 in Charlotte, and the chance to see in some way where the NXT female division is headed to finish 2015.
Prediction: Dana Brooke & Emma
Bryan Rose (@br26): This is a weird one. Bayley and Charlotte are both kind of not in the women’s title picture and probably should be called up soon, but probably won’t be, so they’re in a flux. Meanwhile Emma just sort of exists as as new heel, and Dana Brooke…well, is a new lady. Obviously she’s one of the greenest people on the roster, so we’ll see if the veteran NXT ladies can deliver in this match. Could go either way, but if I had to guess, they want to give Dana a big push, so she might pick up the win over one of her opponents.
Prediction: Dana Brooke & Emma
Alex Wendland (@AlexWendland): Dana Brooke is on the level of these three already? Brooke seems kind of tossed-in, but let’s see what she can do. I’m guessing Bayley and Charlotte look poised to win before dissention costs them the victory. Eventually, Bayley should get the rub to send Charlotte to the main roster. At Unstoppable, however, look for Emma to get the win over Bayley to advance that burgeoning feud.
Prediction: Dana Brooke & Emma
Taylor Mitchell (@MrTCMitchell): This is a great way for NXT to keep pumping out new talent into their Divas division. Dana Brooke has all the tools, but still green, so why not pair her with Emma to hide her weakness while still getting better? This is also a great way to keep Charlotte relevant. Charlotte will eventually put Dana Brooke over on her way out of NXT, but Bayley is going to take the fall here.
Prediction: Dana Brooke & Emma
Baron Corbin vs. Rhyno
Rob McCarron: Another match that some see as unconventional for NXT, although I’d say it’s not only necessary, but precedented. After all, we’ve had Too Cool of all people wrestle on a Takeover. The question is whether they go long, or if Baron catches Rhyno quickly to emphasize how dominant he is and can be.
Prediction: Baron Corbin
Bryan Rose: Corbin has kind of stalled momentum wise. Whereas a few months ago people were into the counting gimmick, he now just has long matches and has kind of been exposed as a tall green guy. Since this is developmental, obviously that’s okay, and he totally needs to be working longer matches in these kinds of situations. Rhyno’s a lot better than people think, but I don’t know in the long run if this is going to be a good match or not…probably going for the latter. Regardless, they see something in Corbin, Rhyno’s not a guy under contract, so it makes sense for him to pick up the win.
Prediction: Baron Corbin
Alex Wendland: Baron Corbin is in danger of going the way of Bull Dempsey. Perhaps NXT’s goal is to have monsters leap frog each other until one is halfway decent enough to challenge for the title. I’m not sure Corbin is the top of the heap, but a good performance against Rhyno would give him a chance that Dempsey never got, Corbin deserves that much.
Prediction: Baron Corbin
Taylor Mitchell: Rhyno’s return to a WWE ring was fun for a couple of weeks, but now it has run its course. Baron Corbin is being tested by the NXT crowd much like Roman Reigns was from the WWE crowd earlier this year. This is the time we learn if Baron has what it takes to succeed on the big level. This match, however, won’t show us much. It’ll be short and sweet.
Prediction: Baron Corbin
#1 Contender NXT Championship
Finn Balor vs. Tyler Breeze
Rob McCarron: Finn Bálor has been in this position before, the victor of a #1 contendership match. Will he get the spot again? I think Tyler Breeze, the MVP of NXT TV, will get the chance this time, and partly because of what I feel will be the result of the main event.
Prediction: Tyler Breeze
Bryan Rose: I guess Hideo Itami has officially been removed from the match. Regardless, I think this will be a fun match. Breeze is pretty good, and Finn Balor, hey, I’ve heard of that guy! As for who wins, well, could go either way. Balor has recently had a title match and lost clean, so he seems less likely. Breeze could win it, but that would mean Owens losing the title to Zayn. It seemed to make a lot more sense for Itami to win in the long run, but I guess since plans change I’d say Balor wins and gets another shot at Owens.
Prediction: Finn Balor
Alex Wendland: What could be the best match of the night also starts out as one of the most disappointing. There isn’t much tying Finn Balor to Tyler Breeze without Hideo Itami as the lynchpin. We all know these two can go, and I have no doubt that they’ll overcome the setback of Itami’s absence. A leader for match of the night from a pure in-ring perspective.
Prediction: Finn Balor
Taylor Mitchell: This fresh match up will no doubt be fun. Finn has a good match will just about anyone and Tyler Breeze continues to be a home grown talent that can hang with the indie darlings. The demon should not come out for this match as it doesn’t have that big feud / big match kind of feud. Balor wins here and the demon makes its return to capture the NXT title over Owens.
Prediction: Finn Balor
NXT Tag Team Championship
Blake and Murphy © vs. Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady
Rob McCarron: Enzo & Big Cass are the hot team right now, as the crowd just loves them almost as much, if not more, than any other act in the system. I feel Blake & Murphy are more transitional champions, stepping up their profile, than a long term option.
Prediction: Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady
Bryan Rose: I’ve always wondered why they put the titles on Blake and Murphy. Not that they’re bad or anything, but they just sort of exist. They have no real gimmick other than beating up on the New York guys and feel like they still need some more work on the house show circuit before coming to TV full time. My assumption is that they’ve been the placeholders for the last few months Amore and Cassady can pick up the big win and titles. That’s who I’m going with here.
Prediction: Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady
Alex Wendland: I once said that Blake and Murphy were my favorite tag team in the WWE, but that was when they had no personalities, I couldn’t tell them apart and they definitely weren’t maybe-sexual-predators. I prefered the tag champs when they had zero personality, and that’s a weird feeling. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, however, are only getting better with more mic time and more screen time, they deserve a good run with the belts. Blake and Murphy deserve therapy.
Prediction: Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady
Taylor Mitchell: Enzo and Cass are the ultimate guilty pleasure of NXT. Almost to the point that it’s not a “guilty pleasure” because EVERYONE loves them. Enzo and Cass deserve a run with the NXT tag titles. This leads to either 1. Enzo improving in the ring or 2. Enzo transitioning into Big Cass’s mouthpiece for when these two make their big main roster leap. oh yea… Blake and Murphy are good, but need some character development.
Prediction: Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady
NXT Women’s Championship
Sasha Banks © vs. Becky Lynch
Rob McCarron: The women have stolen the show multiple times on NXT Takeover. Sasha has done so, herself, a couple of those times. Becky hasn’t. I feel she’ll be motivated to a high degree to put her best career performance here, and that could be great news for viewers. Is it her time to shine atop the female division, though? Maybe, but not yet.
Prediction: Sasha Banks
Bryan Rose: This should be really good. Lynch has really come to her own in recent months and Banks is just killing it right now. I don’t think it’s time to take the title off Banks yet, however, so she should be retaining here. Regardless, this will probably turn out to be a hell of a match, and on like other NXT shows, should steal the show.
Prediction: Sasha Banks
Alex Wendland: I’m still not sold on Becky Lynch, but I’m starting to come around. I love the submission finisher and I’m glad she’s dialed back the manufactured punk rock gimmick. That said, this isn’t the end of Sasha Banks’ title run. As always, the NXT Women’s Championship match is the dark horse for match of the night.
Prediction: Sasha Banks
Taylor Mitchell: This match has the potential to blow Banks vs. Charlotte out of the water. Becky has come into her own over the last couple of month totally erasing her early NXT run awkwardness. All the while Sasha Banks continues to prove she is one of the best talents in ALL of NXT. Sasha has longevity written all over her, she is already evolving her character. This will be a GREAT match, but Sasha is continuing her run, because the WWE Divas title has a storyline involving 5 women. No room for Sasha….yet.
Prediction: Sasha Banks
NXT Championship
Kevin Owens © vs. Sami Zayn
Rob McCarron: With what happened on Monday night, and the announcement of Owens vs Cena at Elimination Chamber, I don’t see how Kevin Owens can walk out of Takeover as the NXT Champion. Does that mean Sami wins? I don’t know. Does a surprise newb show up? Does Cena somehow play into the show at all? Owens seems destined for the main roster as early as, well, now, so this might be his last night in town.
Prediction: Sami Zayn
Bryan Rose: Their first encounter was a little weird, but in the long run made sense as they’ve been building it up to this match really well. Owens has been one of the best things to happen in WWE in a long time, and his heel act has really been a refreshing, unique change on how they do things there. Zayn is one of the best babyfaces anywhere right now. I’ve heard of their excellent feud in Ring of Honor, so if they can do anything as close as that here tomorrow this’ll probably end up being one of the best matches in NXT in a long while. It’s a shame the injury to Zayn’s shoulder happened the way it did on Raw a few weeks ago, but hopefully it doesn’t affect the match quality here. Even if it does, I think they’ll find a way to make it work into the match. If you had asked me a few weeks ago who would win, it probably would be Zayn. But with the injury, and Owens now feuding with John Cena of all people, it makes sense for Owens to win unless he’s being called to the main roster immediately after this, which I don’t feel is happening. So I say Owens.
Prediction: Kevin Owens
Alex Wendland: NXT’s version of Batman and The Joker or Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. “We’re destined to do this forever.” Soon they’ll both be on the main roster, but, especially with his recent injury, Zayn is going up first after losing this match and taking a little break to recover. Maybe. No primary sources on that, it just makes sense. This has the feeling of a Loser Leaves Town match, but we don’t need the stipulation to know the stakes. This is easily the best, most developed story of the night (to be fair, it would be hard for anything to top it) and could be match of the night depending on Zayn’s health.
Prediction: Kevin Owens
Taylor Mitchell: After Kevin Owens incredible main roster debut this past Monday on Raw, it is clear to me that Owens is retaining here. The WWE wants NXT to be a touring brand and they want Network subscriptions to increase. They have finally realized the gold mine of NXT they have and are promoting it properly. Having the NXT Champion wrestle the United States Champion John Cena on a PPV is a great move. It’s not going to increase Network subs largely or instantly, but it’s a great start. This will be another classic Zayn vs. Owens match with Owens putting Zayn down for good……. until their next battle. These two are “destined to do this forever”, and I can’t wait to watch the next fight.
Prediction: Kevin Owens
