10 HUGE NXT TakeOver: Portland Predictions You Need To Know

8. Dakota Kai Vs. Tegan Nox

Randy Orton
WWE

Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai may well look to Shawn Michaels and Diesel's incredible No Holds Barred match from 1996's In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies for inspiration as they prepare to do battle in a Street Fight on Sunday.

There, 'Big Daddy Cool' battered the living f*ck out of his former friend until the smaller Shawn somehow found away to fight fire with seven-foot fire and emerge as one of the gutsiest babyface victors WWE had ever booked. It was a masterpiece of the genre informed by how well they knew each other and how personal the issue had become.

It was not a ten minute television match with a moderately satisfying conclusion. That is the worst case scenario, not least because it's already happened. The two rather bewilderingly went to battle weeks ago with Nox getting a measure of revenge with a victory. Their fury felt a little forced on NXT's Portland go-home show, but let the angle that kicked off their rivalry be the motivation of the damage here, rather than everything that's come since.

Kept relatively succinct and proactively violent, this could and should be one of the highlights of the night. Both deserve this showcase, here's hoping they're permitted to make the most of it.

Winner - Dakota Kai

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