TJR: WWE NXT Worlds Collide 2022 Preview
The WWE NXT Worlds Collide event features NXT and NXT 2.0 superstars in action while some wrestlers from Raw and Smackdown are part of the show as well.
It’s the second WWE Premium Live Event this weekend coming one day after Clash at the Castle, which is on Saturday. Worlds Collide has an early start time of 4pm ET taking place at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. It’s early because the AEW All Out pay-per-view is at night, so WWE probably figured if they did it before All Out they’d get more eyeballs on this show.
This is a five-match show and every match is a title match. Lots of talented NXT wrestlers are not this card, but that’s okay because we get to see some NXT UK talent, so there are fresh matchups. There was a segment on the last episode of NXT with Nathan Frazer and Axiom agreeing to a 2/3 Falls Match. Some people thought it was at Worlds Collide, but it is not listed on WWE.com so I’m assuming it’s on NXT TV next week.
The reason this show is happening is because WWE announced that NXT UK is ending with NXT Europe starting in 2023. That means they need to unify titles so that going forward it’s just going to mean the main NXT titles will be on this show. When NXT Europe launches next year, we’ll see new titles on that brand as well. Anyway, let’s get to the show.
NXT & NXT UK Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Championships Elimination Match: The Creed Brothers vs. Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen vs. Pretty Deadly vs. Gallus
I like that it’s an elimination match because I think if it was one of those matches where it’s the first fall wins then sometimes you don’t really get to involve all four teams enough. By doing it this way, they can book a longer match that goes over 20 minutes if they want to. All four teams certainly have a shot to win. There hasn’t been much in the way of storytelling involving the teams other than they got into some brawls last week on NXT. I like Briggs/Jensen as a babyface team, Pretty Deadly are crafty as heels and Gallus has a lot of power to their game. I think it makes the most sense for The Creed Brothers to keep their title reign going and it will elevate them to unify the titles. I’ll go with Julius & Brutus Creed to put on another impressive performance leading to a win.
Winners: The Creed Brothers (Julius & Brutus Creed)
NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships: Kayden Carter & Katana Chance vs. Doudrop & Nikki A.S.H.
This was set up with one promo on NXT last week so there’s no story going in other than Doudrop and Nikki were both from NXT earlier in their careers with Doudrop part of NXT UK. I think it should be a competitive match with Carter & Chance finding a way to retain since they just won the titles fairly recently. There’s no need to do a title change although if they do it then that’s fine because Doudrop & Nikki can add depth to the NXT tag team division for as long as they are there. I just think the champs will retain.
Winners: Kayden Carter & Katana Chance
NXT North American Championship: Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricochet
It was another match set up on last week’s NXT with Ricochet interrupting a bragging Hayes promo to set up this challenge. Ricochet is one of the most athletic guys in all of WWE while Hayes is right up there too, so it should be a fast-paced exciting match with a bunch of cool spots. Sometimes when I watch NXT I think they put the barricades too close to the ring, but if you position the dives so that they are in the aisle then there’s more room.
This is another case where I think the main roster wrestler Ricochet is there to put over the NXT guy. Hayes will probably be on the main roster next year at some point. I’d like to see Hayes keep the title for a few more months, maybe he has a title unification match with Bron Breakker later this year, and then the loser of that is in the Royal Rumble while joining the main roster. Anyway, for this match, I can see them getting around 15-20 minutes and probably having the best match on the show. If you are only a casual NXT viewer, this is the match I would recommend the most.
Winner: Carmelo Hayes
NXT & NXT UK Women’s Championship Unification Match: Mandy Rose vs. Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport
Anybody that reads my NXT reviews knows that Mandy Rose is by far my favorite woman on the brand. Yes, part of is based on looks since she has stood out since her Tough Enough days, but I think she’s really improved as a performer over the last year while also succeeding very well as the heel leader of the Toxic Attraction group. I have also said many times that I thought Nikkita Lyons was the one to beat Mandy for the title, but I think I changed my mind when it comes to this match. As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
I’m picking Blair Davenport to win this match. I honestly don’t know that much about her other than a bit from her pre-WWE days and I’ve see some of her in NXT UK too. My feeling is that they set up a triple threat match to do a title change where the challenger with “nothing to lose” ends up winning both titles in one match to unify them. Satomura could also win I guess, but she’s had a good title run also. I think this could make Davenport a star right away on the NXT brand. As for Rose, with rumors of Toxic Attraction’s Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne going to the main roster, I think Mandy should absolutely go with them and probably has to drop the title before that. It just feels like the right time. If not then like I said maybe it’s Lyons beating Mandy at Halloween Havoc in October. Anyway, I hope it’s a pretty good match. Sometimes triple threats can be sloppy, but with a veteran like Satomura in there I hope it’s entertaining.
Winner AND NEW NXT Women’s Champion: Blair Davenport
NXT & NXT UK Championship: Bron Breakker vs. Tyler Bate
The main event should be one of Breakker’s best matches of his title run because Bate is such an incredible performer. They are two guys with different body types and experience level since Bate was amazing even as a teenager while Breakker has only been wrestling on TV for the past year or so. In that year of watching Breakker, he has improved a lot in terms of selling moves and added some moves to his arsenal as well. I think Bate will bring out the best in him while also impressing a lot of people that haven’t watched Bate that much.
As for a result, I think Breakker winning is the likely scenario. Like I mentioned earlier, I’d love to see a Breakker-Hayes title vs. title showdown towards the end of the year and maybe that’s the plan, but if not then perhaps somebody else emerges as a challenger for Breakker. I think they’ll probably go around 15 minutes. I don’t think it’s a great idea for Breakker to go that much longer, so keep it simple enough with Bate getting some nearfalls and in the end I expect Breakker to get the clean win. Perhaps we’ll see his next challenger after the match as well.
Winner: Bron Breakker
BONUS PREDICTIONS
The Match I’m Looking Forward To The Most
Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricochet.
The Match I Care About The Least
Kayden Carter & Katana Chance vs. Doudrop & Nikki A.S.H.
Longest Match
The Creed Brothers vs. Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen vs. Pretty Deadly vs. Gallus. Since it’s an elimination tag team match, it could easily go over 20 minutes.
Shortest Match
Kayden Carter & Katana Chance vs. Doudrop & Nikki A.S.H.
Excitement Level on a Scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high)
It’s around a 7. I think it’s a solid card for the most part. Some of the matches have good build while others were just added in the last week, so there’s not much in terms of stories in some cases. The match quality should be fairly with Hayes/Ricochet likely leading the way, then the tag team match could be great and the NXT/NXT UK Title match should be fun. The women’s three way will interest me in terms of the result because I picked a title change, so I want to see if I’m right about that.
The show airs Sunday afternoon. I may not be home to catch it all live. I think I might not do a review until Monday morning because I will be so busy this weekend and focusing on the long AEW All Out show on Sunday night.
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Thanks for reading. Go Toronto Blue Jays. My contact info is below.
John Canton
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