Tonight is a big one, folks… NXT takes the spotlight this evening with WWE NXT TakeOver: Portland! Ladies and gentlemen, we are looking at arguably one of the biggest NXT cards yet about to go down! Rhea Ripley defends her NXT Women’s title against Bianca Belair in a match where it seems the winner is going to WrestleMania! And that’s only one of the major matches for tonight’s show! Jordan Huie of the Overtimer here, about to give you the full coverage for tonight’s TakeOver! That means a live recap of every match posted mere moments after they conclude! Not to mention a preview of all six bouts on the card! Let’s not waste any time here!
NXT Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Bianca Belair
Man, honestly, it’s still so hard to believe it’s real. Tonight we’ll finally see another TakeOver where the women’s title match does not involve Shayna Baszler, the first in 820 days! Not only that, but she’s allegedly not going to be on this show at all, truly astounding. In this brave new world, we have two powerhouse athletes of the women’s division squaring off. Rhea Ripley defends against Bianca Belair but that’s almost not even the story here.
After winning the Women’s Royal Rumble, Charlotte Flair has gotten herself involved with Rhea Ripley. Though for whatever reason she’s held off on officially announcing it, it’s pretty damn clear that she’s going to challenge for the NXT Women’s title at WrestleMania. And she’s confronted both Ripley and the challenger here tonight, Bianca Belair, just to leave the door open. This title match was also plugged on the latest edition of WWE Monday Night Raw on top of that. They also made a point to let Bianca shine perhaps more than anyone else in the Women’s Rumble match itself, as a means of making an impression on the regular WWE audience.
This is all to make us question who wins here tonight and I think some have even predicted that there could be a draw leading to a three way. But my expectation is still a straight-up Charlotte/Ripley match. And to that end, that means Rhea Ripley retains here tonight. I wouldn’t necessarily mind being wrong, but I do think WWE goes to the multi-way well for big women’s matches at Mania a little too often. It’s much easier to be iconic with big singles matches.
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