NXT Battleground will be here this Sunday live from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. There are a total of six matches on the card with three of them for the women, including a new championship to be crowned.
The matches are as follows:
NXT Underground Match
Shayna Baszler vs. Lola Vice
NXT Women’s North American Title
Ladder Match
Michin vs. Lash Legend vs. Fallon Henley vs. Jaida Parker vs. Sol Ruca vs. Kelani Jordan
NXT Women’s Title Match
Roxanne Perez (c) vs. TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace
Here’s Diva Dirt’s predictions:
NXT Underground Match
NICK: If Lola hadn’t won against Nattie, I would have to give this one to her, but she did. I just don’t see in a world where Shayna will lose this. Shayna does have a big loss to win ratio but this is one match I can’t see her losing.
WINNER: Shayna Baszler
JOEY: The story for this match has done little to make me want to root for either woman. I really enjoyed the underground match between Lola and Nattie though, so hopefully they can provide the same level of entertainment here. I like Lola just fine, but she’s got no business beating Shayna (had no business beating Nattie either but whatever). Hopefully WWE remembers that Shayna beat Ronda at SummerSlam last year in a similar match up. Not to mention, losing to Shayna won’t hurt Lola in the slightest but Shayna losing to Lola… that’s a no from me.
WINNER: Shayna Baszler
ALGEO: To be frank, I’m not sure what’s going on here, but this sounds like an aggressive little match! Lola can prove a lot here, but I do believe a win for Shayna can garner her a little more momentum in an albeit interesting main roster run.
WINNER: Shayna Baszler
DAVID: Shayna Baszler. I’m admittedly not a big fan of Lola, and it would be satisfying to see Shayna put her in her place. I think it would actually help Lola in the long run as it could help her develop more of a serious character and have her stray away from the “I shake my ass on TikTok” shtick she’s been doing for over a year now. A loss to Shayna would also probably teach her from a character standpoint to not think of herself so highly when she’s still just a developmental talent.
WINNER: Shayna Baszler
NXT Women’s North American Title
NICK: Any of the six could win and I honestly wouldn’t be mad at it. However, there is one woman who just keeps losing the big one and I think now is her time, and that is Kelani. Kelani would be a perfect babyface to start this new title and I’d be down for it.
WINNER: Kelani Jordan
ALGEO: This brand new title has a legend written all over it, and I don’t see anyone else holding it other than the one and only Ms. Lash Legend! Considering her story with the Meta Four and Trick Williams it only adds so much to the story they already have. And furthermore, Lash will have more opportunities to showcase her prowess with some gold on her.
WINNER: Lash Legend
JOEY: There’s so much excitement surrounding this match between crowning an inaugural champion, the unpredictability over whose winning and each performer being hungry to prove themselves as the next breakout star in NXT. It’s difficult to choose a winner bc a case could be made for each superstar on why they should win but like I said in my NXT recap this week, Fallon and Sol are the two I keep going back and forth on who should walk out with the North American Championship. Against my better judgment, I’m going to go against the feel good moment, so fingers crossed this match is second on the show.
WINNER: Fallon Henley
DAVID: Sol Ruca. While Lash would not be a bad pick considering her high-profile storyline with NXT Champion Trick Williams at the moment, Sol made her return a few months ago from an injury that took her out of action for almost a year. Her winning the title would really bring her time in NXT full circle and would be a good heartfelt moment for her.
WINNER: Sol Ruca
NXT Women’s Title Match
NICK: If any of you have known me over the past few years, you would know my love for Jordynne Grace. When she was revealed as the surprise opponent I literally cried. This is a dream and I am so excited for her. With that being said, I am shocked by my fellow writers predictions all picking Ms. Grace to win. Do we really think that? I’d be down, but I just don’t see a world (yet) that a WWE title, even an NXT one, is held in another company. So for that alone I go with Roxy retaining.
WINNER: Roxanne Perez
JOEY: Well this was a delightful surprise!! Imagine if Jordynne wins the match and takes the NXT Women’s Title to TNA, recreating a summer invasion type angle where members of the NXT roster go to TNA trying to win it back from Grace. Roxanne being beside herself and fumbling her championship over to a completely different company could be fascinating storytelling from a character perspective, especially with how highly Perez regards herself. I feel like this is probably a foregone conclusion but with NXT leaning into the mess lately, I think I will too.
WINNER: Jordynne Grace
ALGEO: The implications of this match seem so unpredictable. On one hand Roxanne Perez is just fresh into this reign and can do so much with it at this time, and it makes sense for her to stick it out as champion in the long run. Meanwhile, Jordynne Grace has the opportunity to do something unheard of in the world of wrestling. I think I’m on the side of herstory making for this one, and regardless of how it’s handled this could change the rulebook of WWE and TNA as we know it.
WINNER: Jordynne Grace
DAVID: This was a hard one, but ultimately I picked Jordynne Grace. With the way NXT’s women’s division is currently with an overwhelming amount of heels and babyfaces who haven’t been built up to a high level or haven’t been on the show long enough, it’s hard to see where Roxanne’s title reign can go if she beats Jordynne. Jordynne on the other hand, despite being from another company in TNA, could revitalize the division for a little while and hopefully build up some more names. As i’m not someone who watches TNA on a regular basis, I would like to see more of her in the ring and see how she meshes with the NXT girls. I think she’ll leave quite the impact. (Pun intended)
WINNER: Jordynne Grace
