5 Biggest Takeaways from NXT (August 10th)
I like to keep things as positive as possible.
I like WWE.
I like AEW.
- Mr. Money in the Bank… Finn Balor! - November 28, 2023
- A Quick Fix: 3 Changes to Make with AEW Programming - November 4, 2023
- And The DEVIL is….. - November 2, 2023
#3: Is This the End of Walter’s Reign?
As of this writing, Walter has remained champion for 857 days. He has mostly remained in the NXT UK brand for that reign, but still a very impressive feat. Not sure many people thought it would be possible to beat Pete Dunne’s reign of 685 days, but Walter ran right past that number and hasn’t looked back.
Last year, Walter and Dragunov had a match of the year level bout in which Walter would come out victorious in a very hard-hitting, brutal match. If you have not seen it, do yourself a favor and go do so as soon as you can. It is wrestling at its finest. At Takeover 36, a little less than a year later, the two will do battle again.
With Walter appearing more frequently on NXT shows this year, one has to wonder if his time with NXT UK is coming to an end. Are they really going to pull the trigger and move him over to the states? I personally think so. The timing would never be better for him but the only question that remains is, how do they take the belt off of him? They could leave it on him and allow him to still compete on the NXT UK brand between shows. This would give the UK brand more exposure but I’m not really sure it would be the way to go. They could have him vacate the title as he moves on to bigger and better things. This would protect him as an unbeatable monster and give him a real claim as the top contender for any title he sees fit to go after. This would be the choice I went with if the plan is indeed to have Walter be a top guy for the company in the future.
Now we go to the third option. Does Dragunov have a real opportunity to defeat Walter at Takeover? I’m not 100% certain of this, but I’m pretty sure the only loss Walter has taken since arriving in the WWE/NXT is during the Survivor Series 5 on 5 on 5 match. And even then, he took the pin from Drew who was in the beginning stages of his massive push. So with that, do we really see Ilja getting a victory over him on a stage as big as Takeover?
It would definitely give him a great rub and elevate him as a guy to be reckoned with. With Ilja showing up this week on NXT and putting him in a match with Dunne, it almost seemed like it was testing the waters a bit. Let’s see how the casual audience reacts to what this man can do in the ring and see if he can connect with a live tv audience. Having him take the L to Dunne less than 2 weeks away also makes for an interesting choice. Are we really going to see a guy who lost beat the almighty Walter? It doesn’t seem possible when you look at it in that light, which is exactly why I think it will happen. Dragunov will come across as an underdog, again, and the story of the match will be to see if he can overcome the odds and learn from his last match to conquer the unbeatable Walter. Whatever the outcome might be, you can expect this match to steal the show at Takeover 36 on August 22nd.
About Author
