NXT Takeover Phoenix

After catching NXT Wednesday night, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of matches.  The women’s tag match was a little sloppy but aside from that, NXT delivered per usual.  I love the angles with this promotion, they keep you guessing week to week and it has a very old school feel to it.

I love the smaller arena, because you can hear the crowd and nearly every reaction of every fan.  So after watching the go home show to Takeover this Saturday I have, what I feel is a pretty good idea of how things will pan out.  Let’s take a look at the card and make some predictions, shall we?

Matt Riddle vs Kassius Ohno

Everybody’s favorite bro, Matt Riddle will go one on one with Kassius Ohno tomorrow  night.  The match made official by NXT general manager William Reagal, should be a quick one.  Matt Riddle will win, in not a squash, but close.  I think Ohno will get an early jump, but in the end Riddle will be victorious.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Matt Riddle

North American Championship

Current champion Ricochet will take on the confusing Johnny Gargano.  I say confusing because he, like Daniel Bryan, had a heel turn out of nowhere.  But also like Daniel Bryan, it’s working.  I personally don’t see Ricochet dropping the title this Saturday and I believe he will find a way to win and retain his championship.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Ricochet

NXT Tag Team Championship

The Undisputed Era will take on The War Raiders for the NXT Tag Team Championship.  The Undisputed Era has had a strangle hold on the tag team division in NXT for a good year now.  And for good reason, the faction is great!  I personally think the entire faction will be called up before the end of the year, but not until after WrestleMania.  So with that, The Undisputed Era will win and retain, it what may be the show stealer of the night.

GoHomePWB.com pick: The Undisputed Era

NXT Women’s Championship

The always tough and always ready Shayna Bazler will put her title on the line against the undefeated EST of NXT, Bianca Belair.  I don’t think Belair gets her first loss Saturday night, but I don’t think she wins the championship either.  Bazler and her friends will rely on dirty tactics and eventually get caught, ending the match in a dq win for Belair.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Bianca Belair

NXT Championship

In a rivalry that has been stewing for months now, Tommaso Ciampa and Aleister Black will do battle for the NXT championship.  I personally think Black will find a way to win, in what I predict will be the only title change of the night.  Part of me thinks Gargano will get involved, but I think it will be to the detriment of Ciampa.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Aleister Black

There you have it, NXT Takeovers are always a great show and I anticipate Phoenix will be in for a treat tomorrow night.  A slate of matches that will surely not disappoint.  Look for the tag team match to be the one that people are talking about Sunday morning.  With that said and those predictions in the books, lets take a look at the Royal Rumble.

Royal Rumble Preview

The Royal Rumble is finally here!  My favorite pay per view of the year and I think we are in for quite a few surprises this year.  For the first time in a while I am looking forward to the other matches on the card opposed to the rumble match itself.  I like the storylines headed into the pay per view, finally a decent build to what should be a great show.

Asuka vs Becky, AJ vs Bryan, Lesnar vs Finn and The Bar vs Shane and The Miz are just a few matches that I am curious to see how they unfold.  Those are just a few of what is actually a pretty good-looking card.  So let’s take a look at the match ups and make a few predictions.

Cruiserweight Championship

Buddy Murphy will defend the Cruiserweight championship in a fatal-four way match during the kickoff show this Sunday.  Kalisto, Akira Tozawa and Hideo Itami will join Murphy in what should be an action packed match.  Itami is the only one in the match to not hold the Cruiserweight championship and I am calling for that to change on Sunday.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Hideo Itami

United States Championship

The most irrelevant championship on the main roster will be defended on the kick off show Sunday as well.  Champion Rusev will defend against Shinsuke Nakamura and I don’t think the title will change hands just yet.  I like Rusev to retain, but I would like to see the championship elevated to at least a mid card match by WrestleMania.  Good luck right?

GoHomePWB.com pick: Rusev

Smackdown Tag Team Championship

The Bar will defend their tag team championships against the newly formed team of The Miz and Shane McMahon.  Last Tuesday The Bar put an absolute beating on The Miz and Shane which typically would tell me that the challengers will win Sunday.  I am cautious to make that call, because all signs point to The Miz vs McMahon at WrestleMania.  But putting the titles on them will only add to the story, so I am going with The Miz and Shane McMahon as the winners and new Smackdown tag team champs.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Shane McMahon and The Miz

Smackdown Women’s Championship

I strongly believe that Becky will be in the Women’s championship match at WrestleMania against Ronda Rousey.  Becky is clearly “The Man” on the main roster right now and everyone wants to see her and Rousey at WrestleMania.  The only question is will it be because Becky wins the Rumble or because WWE will unify the Women’s Championship title?

With the Women’s tag team titles being a floating championship and Smackdown changing networks by the end of the year, I can see the two different brands unifying and once again having storylines carry over from RAW to Smackdown.  With that said, I think there is a good chance Becky wins Sunday night.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Becky Lynch

RAW Women’s Championship

Sasha Banks vs Ronda Rousey is very interesting match up to me.  Sasha is about the only women left on the RAW roster that Rousey hasn’t beat.  I think Rousey will add Sasha to her list of victims by the end of the Rumble, setting up a champion vs champion match at WrestleMania between Rousey and Lynch.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Ronda Rousey

WWE Championship

The “New” Daniel Bryan will take on AJ Styles Sunday in what will probably be the last match between the two.  With that said the writing is on the wall as far as the winner goes.  I think Daniel Bryan wins, although not clean.  I think the winner of the Men’s Royal Rumble will be a surprise and take on Daniel Bryan for the title at WrestleMania.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Daniel Bryan

Universal Championship

Finn Balor has the unenviable task of taking on Brock Lesnar Sunday night.  The good news is… if he wins he wins the Universal championship.  If, is a big word here, a very big word!  I don’t honestly see how Balor wins.  I think he will put on a great match and probably push Lesnar to his limits, but in the end Lesnar wins.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Brock Lesnar

Women’s Royal Rumble

The second edition of the Women’s Royal Rumble will take place Sunday night and I am glad to see that the majority of the wrestlers in it are actually on the main roster this year.  The inaugural Women’s rumble was full of legends as it should have been, but I feel like they were just filler participants to get to thirty.

This year a much larger women’s roster, adds a little more intrigue for me.  Superstars like Charlotte, Alexa Bliss, Bayley, Carmella and Nia Jax are in the Rumble, and are all hungry to get the championship around their waste again.  My personal opinion goes along with my champion vs champion scenario and unifying the Women’s championship at WrestleMania.

I have already predicted Becky vs Rousey for a unified Women’s championship match at WrestleMania, but we are missing a piece of the puzzle.  And that missing piece is Charlotte.  I am calling it now, some three months before WrestleMania, Charlotte vs Becky vs Rousey for The Women’s unified championship in the Main Event match at WrestleMania.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Charlotte

Men’s Royal Rumble

This years Royal Rumble is quite a puzzler.  I think there are many possible victors this year including, Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, two-time winner Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Adrade and Rey Mysterio.  I have not heard yet if Braun will be in the rumble, but if he is I am not sure how you don’t pick him.

It could be a return that wins as well.  Kevin Owens is due to return soon or maybe, and it’s a long shot, but maybe a Dolph Ziggler.  I know WWE would hate to lose him and a Rumble win would have to be something that would maybe keep him around.  But in all seriousness, if you said I had to choose, I have to go with Rollins.

What I would like to see is Rollins win and then chase Daniel Bryan for the WWE championship.  I think that would be a better match than Rollins and Lesnar, and I think WWE is saving Lesnar for Strowman at WrestleMania.  So as many options as there are, I will play it safe and say Seth Rollins wins the 2019 Royal Rumble.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Seth Rollins

I honestly am having a hard time with my predictions for the Royal Rumble card, which is a good thing.  WWE is becoming a more unpredictable product and that’s exactly what the doctor ordered.  Enjoy the Royal Rumble this Sunday and I would love to hear your predictions for the pay per view.  Feel free to comment and as always thanks for reading gohomepwb.com, the people’s wrestling blog!