From Norwich to Chicago...

Theres a few things that have happened in WWE in the last couple of days that I want to cover in brief before I get onto some PPV predictions!

First of all I wanna talk about the WWE United Kingdom Championship special that aired on the WWE Network this past Friday. Overall I thought the show was decent but my epectations were perhaps to high after the excellent tournament back in January. Having Jim Ross and Nigel McGuiness on commentary was fantastic. Not only was it a breath of fresh air to hear only 2 announcers on a WWE show again but the two make a really good team with their massive amounts of experience in the industry. Wolfgang Vs Joseph Conners was an ok match but probably not the best way to start the show. I know from seeing both men on UK indy shows like ICW and WCPW that they are capable of better. The cruiserweight tag match again was ok but wasn't really anything you wouldn't see on RAW or 205 live. The no.1 contenders match between Pete Dunne and Trent Severn and the main event UK title match between Tyler Bate and Mark Andrews were both very good. Trent Severn did a really good job of selling his arm injury. He is such a versatile peformer its astonishing. Pete Dunne is perhaps the most vicious heel in wrestling right now. Just proper nasty! Both Tyler Bate and Mark Andrews came out of the main event looking like superstars. In fact either guy and both Dunne and Severn are all good enough to be part of the Raw or Smackdown rosters right now! My only problem with both matches was the outcomes of both was already known as WWE had announced a while ago it would be Bate Vs Dunne at Takeover: Chicago and that took me out of both matches a bit. Hopefully will get more information soon about more Specials or a weekly TV show.

And then last night we had NXT Takeover: Chicago. OH BOY! What a hell of a show this was!! Every match was at least good. One match could very well be match of the year. And we saw one of the most shocking heel turns in quite some time. The show opened with Roderick Strong Vs Eric Young. They have really built up Strong recently and it was important they continued that momentum in this match and they didn't disapoint. Strong winning with one of his old signature moves, The End of Heartache, was a good mark out moment! And then we had Tyler Bate Vs Pete Dunne for the WWE UK title. WOW.....JUST WOW!! GIVE THEM ALL THE STARS FOR GODS SAKE!! It was hard to imagine them topping their match from January's tournament final but they absolutely surpassed all expectations in Chicago. This match had the crowd off their feet multiple times and with chants of 'UK' and 'Fight Forever' they gave the two competitors ever bit of respect they deserved. This is a match people will be talking about for quite some time and I strongly advise every one watch it. Pete Dunne won with The Bitter End to become the new champion and set up one more match down the road hopefully once they establish the UK show. Following that match was always gonna be tricky but I think Asuka Vs Nikki Cross Vs Ruby Riot for the NXT Womens title was a good match regardless. Ruby Riot looked really good in this match and the crowd seemed to be behind her quite a bit. Nikki Cross continues to look crazy and Asuka was her usual badass self. I was disapointed by the end of the match though. It seemed a bit clumsy and Asuka ended up pinning both Cross and Riot for the win. It feels like Asuka has held that title for WAY too long now. This was the chance to take the title off her but keep her undefeated and looking dominant. I was surprised at first that Bobby Roode Vs Hideo Itami for the NXT championship was next but what happened after the main event it made sense to have this match here. Anyway I enjoyed this match and though they told a really interesting story. Roode has a bit of a slower build kind of style to his wrestling which isn't really the NXT style bit I enjoy it as it has more of a classic feel to it. Itami is great and I'm pleased he got to showcase his abilities in this match. The finish was a great back and forth that was convincing enough to make you think that maybe Itami could pull it off. In the end Roode won after consecitive Glorious DDTs. Its hard to see where Itami goes now but I think its time for him to go to main now he's had a shot at the NXT title. And finally in the main event it was #DIY Vs The Authors of Pain in a ladder match for the NXT Tag Team titles. Jesus this match was brutal! The spots and bumps all 4 of these men took was crazy! AOP both being splashed through ladders. Gargaano almost being decapitated. A German suplex off a ladder through another ladder. Even Paul Ellering took a superkick the crazy old man! In the end AOP climbed the ladder after destroying #DIY with the multiple powerbombs for the win. After the match though was the biggest story of the main event. After spending some time taking in the appreciation from the Chicago crowd it looked like we would end the show with #DIY waving to the crowd at the top of the stage. We even got the traditional end of show trademark we get from WWE. Then suddenly Ciampa hurls Gargano into the stage and starts beating him down. Jeeeesus! This was a complete shocker to me. This was the most shocking heel turn for me since Seth Rollins turned on the Shield a few years ago. After some viscious knee strikes the attack ended when Ciampa dropped Gargano through several tables by the techinical area. The crowd started chanting 'F**k you Ciampa' proving just how effective of a heel turn this was. NXT was looking a bit short on heels in the mens division but now they have a massive one in Tomasso Ciampa.

Finally its time to talk about tonight and WWE Backlash 2017. Here are my predictions:

• Pre-Show Match: Tye Dillinger Vs Aiden English
  I expect Tye to win again but I think this match will at least go longer than their previous matches. Also hopefully more singing and less crying from English!
  
• Luke Harper Vs Erick Rowan
  These two had a really good match I thought on Smackdown recently and I expect them to do it again. This time however I am picking Harper to win.
  
• Baron Corbin Vs Sami Zayn
  This is a really hard one to predict as both men could use the win. I'm going to go with Zayn as he hasn't won a match yet since coming to Smackdown. A surprise win followed by a beatdown would make the most sense to me.
  
• Shinsuke Nakamura Vs Dolph Ziggler
  A 99.9999999% guarantee that Nakamura will win this and I have every faith in the world this will be an awesome match. Both men are capable of pulling off a match of the year candidate and I really hope they deliver.
  
• Naomi, Chalotte Flair & Becky Lynch Vs Natalya, Carmella & Tamina (with James Ellsworth)
  I would have preferred a Womens title match but at last they are using all the women in the division in something meaningful. I expect the heels to win this one as they need to continue to establish themselves as a threat. Don't expect it to be clean though!
  
  
• United States championship match: Kevin Owens (c) Vs AJ Styles
  Possibly the main event and definietly the most anticipated match on the card other than Nakamura Vs Ziggler. I wouldn't be surprised if AJ won but as KO as only just won the belt back and is doing great with his 'New Face of America' gimmick. Owens wins via dastardly heel tactics.
  
• Smackdown Tag Team championship match: The Usos (c) Vs Breezango
  My favourite feud on Smackdown right now and a bit of a sleeper for me. Breezango have been absolutely killing it at the moment with the 'Fashion Files' that I can totally see them winning this match. I would go nuts for it and I think the Chicago crowd would too!
  
  
• WWE Championship match: Randy Orton (c) Vs Jinder Mahal (with the Singh Brothers)
  A lot of people seem pretty split on this and even though It would be shocking to see Jinder win I fully expect Orton to retain his title. I do think the match will surprise people and be better than people expect it to be.

And so ends this post! Thanks for reading and come back tomorrow when I will have my review of WWE Backlash.