NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 airs this Saturday, August 18, live on WWE Network. The latest NXT live special from the Barclays Center features a last man standing match for the NXT Championship, as well as NXT Women’s, Tag Team, and North American Championship matches. It will be followed by a seven-hour post-show on Sunday.
We’ll be here all weekend with live results, an open discussion thread, news, jokes, and more. Here’s how the card looks as of Friday.
NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 Card:
1. Last Man Standing Match for the NXT Championship: Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs. Johnny Gargano
2. NXT Women’s Championship Match: Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Kairi Sane
3. North American Championship Match: Adam Cole (c) vs. Ricochet
4. NXT Tag Team Championship Match: Undisputed Era (c) vs. Mustache Mountain
5. EC3 vs. Velveteen Dream
As always, we’ve got your complete rundown of the card and analysis below, featuring predictions for all five matches. Make sure to drop a comment and let us know who you think’s winning, and click here to read the corresponding column for SummerSlam 2018.
EC3 vs. Velveteen Dream
What You Need To Know: NXT has its own mini-division of arrogant young men who are also extremely fit, possibly pansexual, and bordering somewhere between pro wrestling absurdity and straight-up avant garde weirdness. The top two faces in that division are EC3, the “top one percent” who is also hush hush the kayfabe nephew of the lady who used to run the competition, and Velveteen Dream, a former Tough Enough contestant who turned into a violent version of Prince and whispers shit directly into the camera. They are bizarre wrestling wizards who are mad at each other because they’re a lot alike, and because one threw the other into a pool one time.
What Will Happen: This is the match I’m looking forward to the most at TakeOver, which is kinda funny because it’s objectively the least important. It’s two lovable weirdos battling for supremacy, and while ever atom in my being wants Velveteen Dream to become the show’s protagonist and win the NXT Championship, I think his big match losing streak needs to continue here to set him up for something better in the future. Kassius Ohno doesn’t count as a big match, ever. EC3 gets the win in a Hard Fart match, Dream looks good in defeat again, and you know, eventually he’ll be The Guy. He’s like 11 years old, it’s fine, we’ve got time.
Staff Picks
Raj Prashad – Velveteen Dream needs a win, and this seems like the likely outcome in what should be an early match on the card.
Robby Kalland – I need a Velveteen Dream win here like I need oxygen. I also hope there is a kiddie pool ringside for EC3 to throw him into and Dream to flail like he’s drowning in six inches of water.
Elle Collins – Sooner or later, Velveteen Dream is going to start winning his big matches. Sooner or later, but probably not against EC3. The Top 1%’s going over here.
NXT Tag Team Championship Match: Undisputed Era (c) vs. Mustache Mountain
What You Need To Know: Undisputed Era is a team of former Ring of Honor jerks who’ve decided to team up in WWE developmental to be super jerks. They’re being challenged by a pair of guys from England with mustaches so beloved they’ve dedicated an entire landform after them. Imagine if two senior frat brothers took on a doting British dad and his scrappy son.
What Will Happen: This is sure to be a barn burner, but as a lot of the staff picks are probably going to say, Mustache Mountain’s already traded the Tag Team Championship with Undisputed Era once. Unlikely chance they’ll do it again. Still, any time you can get Tyler Bate and Trent Seven on an NXT show, it’s better for it. Look for this to go on early, make everyone think it’s gonna be match of the night, and then get barely topped by like two of the three matches after it.
Staff Picks
Raj Prashad – Undisputed Era has really established itself as the force of NXT, and no reason to think they’ll drop the titles here.
Robby Kalland – Mustache Mountain take the titles back here in the lesser of the two grudge matches on the card.
Elle Collins – I adore Mustache Mountain, but they already traded the belts back and forth once, so I doubt that’s happening again. Undisputed Era retains.
North American Championship Match: Adam Cole (c) vs. Ricochet
What You Need To Know: Remember those senior frat brothers I mentioned above? Their Sergeant-at-Arms is Adam Cole. He says “baby” after his name so much it became a catchphrase thousands of people chant with him, if that tells you anything about him. His opponent is Ricochet, a descendant of Kentucky’s seven ancient Aztec Tribes who has about 35 abs somehow and will flip at/onto you until you’re dead. This is going to be great.
What Will Happen: The North American Championship hasn’t really been a thing since its inception, but Adam Cole’s NXT run is getting increasingly great, and you aren’t going to find many better or more giving opponents in the ring than Ricochet. Cole should retain by the skin of his teeth, possibly by the skin of three other dudes’ teeth, but this is the obvious non-main-event sleeper-but-totally-awake match of the night. Bonus points if Rob The Fish returns to help out and bashes Ricochet in the head with his weird little Dusty Rhodes Classic trophy it looks like he got for participating in tee-ball.
Staff Picks
Raj Prashad – This one could tear the house down in Brooklyn. Adam Cole has really hit his groove and seems ready to elevate into the NXT title picture. Ricochet looks like a million bucks and should run away with this one.
Robby Kalland – The Ricochet push is very real and I think he takes the belt here in a rough night for Undisputed Era and I would happily order another Richochet/Dream feud with a title on the line.
Elle Collins – Adam Cole has done basically nothing with this belt for as long as this built has existed, so I’d love to see Ricochet take it. On the other hand there have been rumors that Ricochet’s been nursing a lingering injury, so that might not bode well. Still, I’m going to be optimistic and pick Ricochet here.
NXT Women’s Championship Match: Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Kairi Sane
What You Need To Know: One of Ronda Rousey’s friends is a half-German, half-Chinese girl Fonzie with hate in hear heart who wants to intimidate and choke out every other woman in existence. Her blood rival (from WWE’s inaugural women’s tournament finals) is a peppy pirate who is also a princess, who is also a bad-ass joshi monster. Baszler thinks she can intimidate everybody. Sane doesn’t seem like she even understands what “being intimated” means.
What Will Happen: This is going to be killer, but Baszler’s definitely retaining. I’m predicting Sane goes to the well one too many times with her Insane Elbow, and gets caught in a Kirifuda Clutch. Shayna Baszler is the truth, y’all. I want to see her show up at Evolution in October and big-time Ronda Rousey, and this is how we get there.
Staff Picks
Raj Prashad – NXT has really played up the Kairi can beat Shayna bit, but there’s no reason for Baszler to drop the belt anytime soon.
Robby Kalland – Baszler retains here after eventually wearing down Sane physically.
Elle Collins – This could really go either way. Kairi deserves a run with the belt, and I won’t be shocked if she wins it here. On the other hand, my gut says Shayna’s still got some championing left in her, so I’m picking her to retain.
Last Man Standing Match for the NXT Championship: Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs. Johnny Gargano
What You Need To Know: Former tag team partners hate each other so much their hate consumes the entire promotion and its top championship. They were supposed to be in a triple threat against a Dutch occultist, but he ended up the victim of a murder mystery and won’t be able to make it.
What Will Happen: It’s Gargano/Ciampa III. It’s Last Man Standing. If they can avoid the problems of that match gimmick, this’ll be an A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus. Pathos. Emotion. Violence. LITTLE GUYS GETTING CRAZY.
Staff Picks
Raj Prashad – Tommaso Ciampa is the best thing going in NXT (maybe all of WWE, even). It could make sense for Gargano to win the title, but Ciampa is just too hot right now. Ciampa weasels his way into the win.
Robby Kalland – I’m so glad we’re getting the third installment of this feud as a 1-on-1 (I hope Aleister Black has a speedy recovery, but this deserved to be Gargano/Ciampa III). If it was a main roster PPV, I’d say Gargano wins no doubt, but I think NXT has done a great job of building to this with Gargano just unable to get out of his own way in this feud and I think Ciampa retains the belt in a bit of a surprise (which is great because he’s such a great heel champ).
Elle Collins – Okay, it’s mea culpa time. The last time these guys fought, I got my prediction totally wrong because they’d messed with each other so much that I was thinking it was their third match already, when in fact it was only their second. This time it really is their third match, so once against I’m picking Johnny Wrestling.
