Karrion Kross vs. Finn Balor
Karrion Kross was set to enjoy a long run as an NXT champion when he unfortunately got injured in the same game he won the championship. Fortunately Kross returned to action and quickly resumed where he left off, leaving destruction in his wake. That said, while Santos Escobar’s pseudo-fiefdom is interesting, it’s time to give everyone what they were waiting for.
Kross has crossed paths with Escobar and Damian Priest in recent weeks, but after the provocations, it’s time to launch the Finn Balor Kross rivalry that fans have been eager to see since Balor won the championship.
We always knew that it would all come down to these two, and after Pete Dunne at TakeOver (which I think he will win), this is the next logical step, putting Kross back in the title image and starting a hopefully satisfying and long-lasting rivalry Balor. After all, Kross never lost the title, and Balor was a great champion and conquered him to the end, so this can be one of the best feuds of 2021 easily.
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The title of the female Tag Team needs a change
Although we have a very worthy team to keep these titles further down the list, this is more about the current titles themselves and how they are used. Although there was a big NXT Tag Team title fight when Sasha Banks and Bayley held them, there hasn’t been another since, and the titles have just been traded between Raw and SmackDown, and half the time has been returned to Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax.
The reason is twofold. One looks like there’s only one preference for keeping titles on Raw or SmackDown, and two there’s a distinct lack of tag teams to choose from on any brand, so you end up hitting two people together quickly for a challenge and going with the only legitimate teams .
Meanwhile, at 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 to change. Stop limiting titles to Raw or SmackDown and have NXT call them back for a while or forget about them altogether and introduce the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships so they can run with the ball.
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It’s time for Shotzi to go alone
Speaking of the stellar NXT Women’s Division, one of the cast’s brightest talents is Shotzi Blackheart, who quickly became a fan favorite and gained even more fans with her Halloween Havoc show. Everything, from her personality to her unforgettable entry into the tank, is money, and she has proven herself again and again in the ring.
As we move to TakeOver, she is in a duo with Ember Moon, but none of the stars will be in a duo for long, and after gaining traction with a big win at WarGames and a stellar 2020 overall, it’s time to let Blackheart go for gold on his own.
In fact, an argument could be made, it is time to make her defeat Io Shirai, but perhaps the best construction is Raquel Gonzalez becoming NXT champion and then Blackheart eventually dethroning her. Either way, it would be difficult for Blackheart’s momentum to be greater than it is now, and waiting too long can result in breathlessness for the star, and nobody wants to see that.
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Raquel and Dakota need the Tag Team titles
Do you know how I said I had chosen a female doubles champion? Yes, here it is. Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai showed how deadly and fun they are together in the ring, providing shocking moments and hilarious moments in equal measure, where all you need is to look at Kai being placed in a closet … or a can of trash. … ok, there is a theme.
It’s a combination that works, and especially if they win the Dusty Cup finals, there will be a perfect opportunity to put them in the title photo.
Not only would they be great champions, but they would also be able to use the fantastic Women’s Division at NXT and offer new challenges and feuds for the titles they are not winning, especially since Bayley and Sasha won them.
Make WWE happen.
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Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa Full Time
Although Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa are unlikely allies, sometimes this results in great pairs, and this is certainly the case for these two competitors.
Ciampa and Thatcher’s styles are actually more similar than you might think, as the two stars specialize in blunt attack and a more aggressive approach. There are also differences, of course, since Thatcher is more likely to arrest you in brutal submission while Ciampa is going to knock you down with a chair or crutch, but the effect is the same.
They showed wonderful chemistry in the ring against each other, but they are even more fun as a team, and without a clear rivalry for any of them at the moment, this would be a perfect way to put them on television and reinforce the division of labels at the same time.
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Robert Stone Brand becomes a real threat
This may give me some criticism, but I’m perfectly fine with that. I liked the Robert Stone Brand stories last year, but it looked like she was spinning up to the Dusty Cup. That’s how a new team made up of Aliyah and Jessi Kamea debuted and, although they lost, managed to impress a little during the match against Gonazalez and Kai.
It was a promising new start for the Robert Stone brand, and if you want to maximize it, they need to become a threat and have the numbers to face other NXT factions. One way to do this is to put another younger star in the group, or maybe even two, and let them run wild.
Having 3 or 4 members would allow you to prank more effectively, and would also give you the numbers (especially if it was a uniform division between men and women) to face groups like The Way and any tag team on NXT. They could really help each side challenge for gold, and seeing a menacing Robert Stone Brand take over the comedy gold generator that is The Way would be worth the effort alone.
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Ember Moon vs Mercedes Martinez
After Vengeance, some stars will need new feuds, and two of those stars may 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 with Shotzi Blackheart in a Dusty Cup match against Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai.
If Ember and Martinez win, then they will have their schedules full in the future, but if they don’t, they will need a rivalry, and I would love to see them face off. Both are in perfect places to face the heel, and the contrasting styles of Martinez and Moon should make great combinations. Their struggles can easily steal the show and give them a chance to shine before their next title opportunities, so we hope that will happen.
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