WWE NXT TakeOver: Toronto full match preview - Asuka vs. Mickie James

NXT Championship

Asuka (c) vs. Mickie James

The Empress of Tomorrow made a convincing case that no one is ready for her, so General Manager William Regal went out and found someone who could handle his champion.

The Road to TakeOver

Pretty simple really. Asuka beat EVERYBODY, including Bayley twice.

And the still undefeated in WWE champ wasn’t giving anyone pep talks, either.

So after poor little Liv Morgan stepped up and almost got killed, General Manager William Regal brought in former TNA Knockout Thea Trinidad who... pretty much got knocked out. But Mr. Regal had another card to play, and that was to bring back a woman who won titles on the main roster six times during her five year run with WWE - Mickie James.

Since then, NXT’s spent a little bit of time educating new fans on who James is and why they should be excited to see her, but... that’s it.

What's at Stake?

In the short-term, not much. Mickie’s a mother now, but she gave birth to her son a couple years ago, and never took much time off on either side of her pregnancy, so there’s none of the worries you might usually associate with a returning veteran. James should be ready to go toe-to-toe with Asuka, and there’s every reason to believe wrestling fans are in for a treat.

Long-term, we’re pretty much where critics were afraid we’d be when the booking team decided to keep the current champ undefeated while the Four Horsewomen and every other established female character in Orlando got sent to Raw and SmackDown. There are no indications this is anything more than a one shot deal for Mickie, and even if she sticks around, replacing a 35 year old badass with a 37 year old one doesn’t really address the issue.

But let’s worry about that after this weekend!

Be here at cSs on Saturday night to watch NXT’s latest dream match unfold with the best dang group of wrestling fans on the interwebs!