NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day features a loaded card full of Championship gold and major ramifications for the top spots in NXT. Each of the individual Championships are being defended, while two teams will have a chance to challenge for the Tag Team Championships as well by the end of the night, so we’re in for a treat. That said, what about after Vengeance Day? Once the landscape is known after the event, it will be time to look to the future and set up the next big feuds and Championship runs, and we’ve collected seven things we want to see happen after the book is closed on Vengeance Day.
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Some of our wishlist consists of certain stars being put into the title picture, while others are more focused on a big change to a particular title (or titles). Others are feuds we want to see happen next, while others are tag teams we want to see go full time, and even a faction we want to see rocketed into threat status.
There’s a little bit of everything here, and you can check it all out starting on the next slide.
You can find the official description for NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day below.
“This year, Valentine’s Day becomes Vengeance Day as NXT takes over! Tune in as Finn Bรกlor defends the NXT Title against Pete Dunne, NXT Women’s Chamion Io Shirai clashes with Toni Storm and Mercedes Martinez in a Triple Threat Match and North American Champion Johnny Gargano puts his title on the line against Kushida. Plus, don’t miss the finals of the Men’s and Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classics! NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day comes your way this Sunday at 7 E/4 P on the award-winning WWE Network.”
Here’s the full card:
Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart vs Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai (Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals)
MSK vs Grizzled Young Veterans (Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals)
NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano vs Kushida
NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai vs Mercedes Martinez vs Toni Storm (Triple Threat Match)
NXT Champion Finn Balor vs Pete Dunne
What match are you looking forward to most and which of our picks do you hope happens? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things NXT with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
Karrion Kross vs Finn Balor
Karrion Kross was set to enjoy a lengthy run as NXT Champion when he was unfortunately injured in the very match he won the Championship in. Thankfully Kross has returned to action and has quickly picked up where he left off, leaving destruction in his wake. That said, while the Santos Escobar pseudo-feud is interesting, it’s time to give everyone what they’ve been waiting for.
Kross has crossed paths with Escobar and Damian Priest in recent weeks, but after the teases, it’s time to launch the Finn Balor Kross feud that fans have been looking forward to since Balor won the Championship.
We always knew it would come down to these two, and after Pete Dunne at TakeOver (which I feel he’ll win), this is the next logical step, putting Kross back in the title picture and starting a hopefully satisfying and lengthy feud with Balor. Kross never lost the title after all, and Balor’s been a great Champion and earned it all the way, so this could be one of the best feuds of 2021 easily.
The Women’s Tag Team Title Needs a Change
While we have a team very much worthy of holding these titles later in the list, this is more about the current titles themselves and how they’re used. While there’s been a great NXT Tag Team Title match back when Sasha Banks and Bayley held them, there hasn’t been another one since, and the titles have just been traded between Raw and SmackDown, and half the time it’s been given back to Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax.
The reason why is twofold. One it seems there’s just a preference to keep the titles on Raw or SmackDown, and two there’s a distinct lack of tag teams to choose from on either brand, so you end up just slapping two people together quickly for a challenge and going with the only legitimate tag teams.
Meanwhile, on NXT there are so many tag teams in the women’s division just waiting for the chance to compete for the title, as the Women’s Dusty Cup showed. So, it’s time for a change. Either stop limiting the titles to Raw or SmackDown and have NXT call them home for a while or forget them altogether and introduce NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships so that they can run with the ball.
It’s Shotzi’s Time To Go Solo
Speaking of NXT’s stellar Women’s Division, one of the brightest talents on the roster is Shotzi Blackheart, who has quickly become a fan favorite and earned even more fans with her hosting gig at Halloween Havoc. Everything from her personality to her unforgettable tank entrance is money, and she’s proven herself time and time again in the ring.
As we head into TakeOver, she’s in a tag team with Ember Moon, but neither star is going to be in a tag team for long, and after building steam with a big win at WarGames and a stellar 2020 overall, it’s time to let Blackheart go for the gold on her own.
In fact, an argument could be made it’s time to have her take down Io Shirai, but perhaps the best build is to have Raquel Gonzalez become NXT Champion and then have Blackheart eventually dethrone her. Either way, it would be difficult for Blackheart’s momentum to be higher than it is now, and waiting too long could result in a loss of steam for the star, and no one wants to see that.
Raquel and Dakota Need the Tag Team Titles
You know how I said I had a Women’s Tag Team Champions pick? Yeah, here it is. Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai have shown just how deadly and entertaining they are in the ring together, delivering shocking moments and hilarious spots in equal measure, which all you need look at is Kai being stuffed into a locker…or a trash can…okay there’s a theme.
It’s a combo that works, and especially if they win the Dusty Cup finals, there will be a perfect opportunity to get them into the title picture.
Not only would they be great as heel Champions, but they would be able to utilize the fantastic Women’s Division in NXT and offer fresh challenges and feuds for the titles that they aren’t getting, especially since Bayley and Sasha held them.
Make it happen WWE.
Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa Full Time Tag-Team
While Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa are unlikely allies, sometimes that makes for great tag teams, and that is certainly the case with these two competitors.
Ciampa and Thatcher’s styles are actually more similar than you might thing, as both stars specialize in hard-hitting offense and a more aggressive approach. There are differences too of course, as Thatcher is more likely to lock you in a brutal submission while Ciampa will beat you down with a chair or a crutch, but the effect is the same.
They showed wonderful chemistry in the ring against each other, but they’re even more enjoyable as a team, and without a clear feud for either at the moment, this would be a perfect way to get them on television and beef up the tag division at the same time.
Robert Stone Brand Becomes a True Threat
This one might get me some flack, but I’m perfectly okay with that. I’ve enjoyed the Robert Stone Brand storylines over the past year, but it felt like it was spinning its wheels until the Dusty Cup. That’s they debuted a new team of Aliyah and Jessi Kamea, and while they did lose, they managed to impress quite a bit during their match against Gonazalez and Kai.
It was a promising new beginning for the Robert Stone Brand, and if you want to maximize it, they need to become a threat and have the numbers to be able to face off against other NXT factions. One way to do that is to put another younger star in the group or maybe even two and letting them run wild.
Having 3 or 4 members would allow you to pull shenanigans more effectively, and it would also give the necessary numbers (especially if it were an even male/female split) to take on groups like The Way and any tag team in NXT. They could actually help each side challenge for gold, and seeing a threatening Robert Stone Brand take on comedy gold generator that is The Way would be worth the effort all by itself.
Ember Moon vs Mercedes Martinez
After Vengeance, a few stars are going to need new feuds, and two of those stars could very well end up being Ember Moon and Mercedes Martinez. Martinez is in a Triple Threat match against Toni Storm and NXT Champion Io Shirai, while Moon is paired up with Shotzi Blackheart in a tag match for the Dusty Cup against Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai.
If Ember and Martinez win, well then they have their schedules pretty full moving forward, but if they don’t, they’re going to need a feud, and I would love to see them face each other. Both are in the perfect heel face places to square off, and Martinez and Moon’s contrasting styles should make for great matches. Their matches could easily be show-stealers and give them a chance to shine before their next title opportunities, so here’s hoping it happens.
