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The WWE NXT TakeOver: New Orleans pay-per-view is scheduled for April 7, 2018 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Follow along here for spoilers and information on the event's card, lineup of matches and news regarding the pay-per-view.

The following are my predictions for the 2018 WWE NXT TakeOver: New Orleans PPV. Check back for NXT TakeOver: New Orleans results and review coverage here when the time comes.

WWE NXT TakeOver: New Orleans 2018 Spoilers and Predictions

NXT Championship Match: Andrade "Cien" Almas (c) vs. Aleister Black

This was the most logical conclusion following Almas retaining against Gargano, and it's good to see WWE going with the predictable route. Black is ready to hold this title and I think we're not far off from having Almas and Zelina Vega come up to the main roster, so this should be a win-win all around.

PREDICTION: Aleister Black takes the title.


NXT Women's Championship Match: Ember Moon (c) vs. Shayna Baszler

Since this is match #2 between them, Baszler has to get the win. She simply has to. It sucks for Ember Moon fans, but Baszler losing here is not an option. The only question is whether or not they'll have a third match at another TakeOver, which would be Chicago before Money in the Bank, or if Moon will move up to the main roster in the meantime and they'll do their rematch on a regular episode of NXT instead. Baszler's coming out on top with a submission victory.

PREDICTION: Shayna Baszler takes the title.


Ladder Match for the NXT North American Championship: EC3 vs. Killian Dain vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream vs. Ricochet

Well I certainly didn't see this one coming, that's for sure! I don't think this is necessary whatsoever, and I'm a little worried that there are too many titles in the company right now. Also, I don't dig the name. However, I love the group of people that will be competing in this match, as it pretty much means we're guaranteed to have a good champion in a variety of different ways. I'm rooting for EC3 or Velveteen Dream. How about you?

PREDICTION: Well crap, I don't know who is going to win, but I think we can rule out Adam Cole and Killian Dain. I'm leaning toward EC3 or Ricochet winning.


NXT Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Match: The Undisputed Era (c) vs. The Authors of Pain vs. Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne - Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic

Good lord, this has been all over the place, so try to keep up. At first, The Forgotten Sons were the original people to mention that the tournament was even coming back, yet they were pushed aside and not given a spot on the bracket. Eventually, the bracket was released and Moustache Mountain was on it, but they were replaced by Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne, who made it to the finals with The Authors of Pain, but The Undisputed Era caused a no-contest for the finals of the tournament, prompting William Regal to announce a triple threat match between those teams where the winning team would not only win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but also the NXT Tag Team Championship. We are also not sure what's going on with Bobby Fish's injury, yet Adam Cole is on the card in another match, so he'll either do double duty, they'll replace him in the ladder match and he'll wrestle here, or Fish will be ready to compete.

Okay, now that all that is out of the way, let's talk about how things will go down.

I think we can rule out Dunne and Strong, as Dunne is holding the United Kingdom Championship and Strong could very well be on 205 Live going forward. This kind of spoils that he probably won't be winning his upcoming match against Cedric Alexander in that tournament, by the way, as I doubt he'll be wrestling at TakeOver and then the following night at WrestleMania. I also don't think The Authors of Pain are going to win the tournament for the second year in a row, especially because the titles are on the line and I don't think they'll revert back to them. Instead, I think this is just going to be sticking to The Undisputed Era, with them being able to gloat about winning the tournament despite how they didn't wrestle in any of the matches to lead up to the finals.

PREDICTION: The Undisputed Era win.


Unsanctioned Match: Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa

The stipulation to this match is that if Ciampa wins, Gargano is definitely never allowed back into NXT ever again, while if Gargano wins, he's hired back onto the roster. I think that makes this pretty certain that Gargano is going to win, as I can't imagine Gargano will stay out of the NXT realm and move up to the main roster just yet. Originally, if he had done this exit and been part of the Cruiserweight Championship tournament, then yes, I would have thought that was a possibility, but now, no. They HAD to do something like this, and there's a very good chance this is one of the best matches of the entire year in WWE. I'm looking forward to it so much that it's definitely one of my top 5 favorite things I'm anticipating regarding the entirety of WrestleMania Week, including the Hall of Fame and all of the matches happening at Mania itself. This could be amazing.

PREDICTION: Johnny Gargano wins.