10 HUGE NXT TakeOver: Portland Predictions You Need To Know

1. The Road To WrestleMania?

Randy Orton
WWE

As touched upon elsewhere in this article, it feels pertinent to include NXT on WrestleMania after the trouble the company went to to involve them in both the Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble, but is there any possible way this will feel remotely organic?

In the event that the results play out in the aforementioned fashion, could Finn Bálor target Adam Cole immediately after his victory over Tommaso Ciampa, but make it clear that he's all about settling a debt on the 'Grandest Stage' rather than a slightly smaller one the night before? Becky Lynch said Shayna Baszler should be on the lookout for her, not the other way around. Might Sunday be the night? The Kabuki Warriors had their best match as a tag team on NXT and could pick and choose from a host of females to offer a shot to on April 8th.

And so on. The possibilities are limitless yet shouldn't be - despite the relative proximity of the 'Show Of Shows', there is so little confirmed. The black-and-gold brand should for once be permitted to set the agenda rather than react to it, not least with a Raw the following evening that could at long last provide a synergistic quality between the company's former flagship and its newest televisual property.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett