Match predictions for NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II
With SummerSlam taking place Sunday, theScore is celebrating the WWE's biggest party of the summer throughout the week with an in-depth look. Here we analyze the matches scheduled to take place at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II, which will go down one day prior at the Barclays Center.
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Billie Kay vs. Ember Moon
The slow and steady build of Aussie performer Billie Kay, as well as the debut of Ember Moon (formally Athena on the independent circuit), should help a women's division that was stripped for parts to benefit the main roster in the brand-extension draft, with Nia Jax, Carmella, Eva Marie, and Alexa Bliss all heading to either Monday Night Raw or SmackDown Live.
It's hard to imagine Moon losing her first bout on the NXT brand. The vignettes leading up to the event painted her as someone who can immediately enter the title picture and one day carry the gold - potential that's hard to come by for other performers like Kay, Mandy Rose, or Liv Morgan.
Kay will have a good showing in a competitive match, but Moon should and will emerge from this looking like NXT's next big star.
Prediction: Ember Moon via pinfall

No Way Jose vs. Austin Aries
This pairing is the perfect example of why a guy like Austin Aries, who could have easily found himself drafted last month, is still needed on NXT.
No Way Jose has surprisingly gotten over with what's really just another dancing gimmick, but in order to avoid turning into a full-fledged stereotype, he needed to add substance to his character. Everyone loves the fun-loving, hip-shaking party animal, but that shtick can get old awfully fast.
Cue Aries, a veteran of the squared circle who has been the perfect foil to the 28-year-old Dominican, bringing a level of badassery out of him many probably didn't expect. Aries is impervious to defeat, and needs to put over the young up-and-comer in Jose.
Prediction: No Way Jose via pinfall

NXT Tag Team Championship: The Revival (c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano
The rise of Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano has been a journey worth watching, as they've gone from sporadically used independent darlings not signed to NXT contracts to No. 1 contenders vying for the Tag Team Championship in front of 15,000 screaming fans.
Their recent one-on-one match in the opening round of the Cruiserweight Classic on the WWE Network got rave reviews, and allowed both of them to stand out on their own between the ropes while strengthening their bond as partners after the final bell with a show of respect.
This program with the Revival needs to extend beyond Brooklyn. The Authors of Pain are still too green, and TM-61 are too much of a wild card. If any of the three belts is going to change hands Saturday night, though, this would probably be the one. The timing just doesn't feel right for Dawson and Wilder to fall, and in wrestling, timing is everything.
Prediction: The Revival via pinfall

Bobby Roode vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas
It's the man with the most glorious entrance music in all of professional wrestling against the man whose name no one can ever seem to remember.
Die-hard wrasslin' fans know Andrade "Cien" Almas as the former La Sombra, one of Mexico's more revered luchadores. Losing the mask and becoming a generic babyface who wears suspenders to the ring has killed much of his buzz, though. It's going to take a major reclamation project to get Almas back on course, because he's way too talented and naturally charismatic to be such an afterthought on a thin roster.
Bobby Roode, on the other hand, is the latest former TNA star to make his way to Full Sail University. If anything, the Brooklyn crowd will get behind him because of his unique rock-opera entrance theme, despite him being a heel. He has future NXT champion written all over him, with a victory over Almas in his on-air, in-ring debut helping propel him to that spot.
Prediction: Bobby Roode via pinfall

NXT Women's Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Bayley
It was at last year's show in Brooklyn when Bayley's stock skyrocketed following a match-of-the-year candidate with Sasha Banks for the Women's Championship. Now she returns to the building where her first reign began in hopes of repeating history - which unfortunately won't be hers to have.
The time for NXT's final "Horsewoman" to finally become a mainstay on the main roster has come, and for that to happen, she'll need to lose once again to the undefeated Asuka on the big stage. As popular as she's become, fans are growing restless with her being down in developmental when it's clear she deserves to be on television. Another classic with the Japanese sensation will be a fitting send-off for everyone's favorite hugger.
Their bout at NXT TakeOver: Dallas was squeezed between two barnburners in Nakamura-Zayn and Balor-Joe. Here's hoping their placement on this card is a bit more accommodating.
Prediction: Asuka via submission

NXT Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
This is a matchup of epic proportions between two of the stiffest strikers in wrestling history: NXT champion Samoa Joe, and his challenger, "The King of Strong Style" Shinsuke Nakamura.
This bout could have the most hype and intrigue of any taking place over the weekend, which is saying something considering there's six championship matches booked for SummerSlam, as well as the return of "The Beast Incarnate" Brock Lesnar. Both superstars are ready to be brought up, so expect the loser here to receive a first-class ticket to Raw or SmackDown soon after.
Nakamura doesn't need the belt nearly as much as Joe, who has really come into his own as a brute-force alpha male continuously vying for respect while on top of the mountain. As was the case in both TNA and Ring of Honor, keeping the gold around Joe's waist for the foreseeable future and having him decimate everyone in his path could be a lot of fun.
Prediction: Samoa Joe via pinfall