History Will Be Made at Worlds Collide With Stakes At An All-Time High: What To Expect

Let’s say it right off the rip: WWE's Worlds Collide is going to be quite the historic event.

Although Worlds Collide has become somewhat of a regularly-occurring event within the confines of NXT — with events taking place in 2019 and 2020 — it has historically been a one-off show focused on a few marquee matches to get Superstars from different brands in a ring together. The stakes were practically non-existent.

Sure, NXT and NXT UK mixed it up in a huge multi-man tag team match in 2020 — but looking back, that bout had the historical significance of an exhibition match. In actuality, after each Worlds Collide event, the status quo remained unchanged, and Superstars from both NXT and NXT UK went their separate ways. It was a lot of chaos and fanfare that ultimately amounted to nothing.

That won’t be the case this Sunday afternoon when Worlds Collide 2022 airs on Peacock.

When the final bell rings, NXT UK will be officially disbanded in order to prepare for the upcoming launch of NXT Europe sometime in 2023.

When the final bell rings, the NXT UK Championships will be officially dissolved, merging their lineage with their United States counterparts.

When the final bell rings, there will be two undisputed champions holding their titles high.

For the first time ever, Worlds Collide has tangible, big-time stakes.

Our only worry is that the Capitol Wrestling Center isn’t big enough to handle all of the action.

With that, let’s take a look at the huge lineup of matches.

NXT CHAMPIONSHIP UNIFICATION MATCH: Bron Breakker vs. Tyler Bate

Ever since it became clear that these two Superstars would be locking horns to unify the NXT and NXT UK Titles, we’ve been salivating.

Everybody knows what Bron Breakker is capable of. There’s a reason why he’s been a dominant champion over the last year or so — his unique combination of overwhelming power and an insatiable hunger to become the best adds up to an unstoppable machine. (It doesn’t hurt that he has Steiner DNA running through his veins, either!)

To fans in the United States, Tyler Bate’s pedigree may not seem to stack up to Breakker’s, but that is absolutely wrong.

Tyler Bate has made a living being the best pound-for-pound wrestler on the planet, capable of performing moves the best heavyweights and cruiserweights alike can do. In order to properly appreciate the talent level of Bate, go out of your way to check out his unbelievable match against WALTER — the current SmackDown Superstar Gunther — for the NXT UK Championship back in 2019. There’s a reason why so many fans consider that match to be the match of the year.

Bron Breakker and Tyler Bate going one-on-one to unify their respective titles is a dream match that we didn’t even know we wanted.

But on Sunday, we’re getting it, and the stakes will never be higher.

The most interesting part will be how split the jam-packed Capitol Wrestling Center will be; both men are fan favorites with a huge following, so ultimately, who will the crowd get behind? That momentum and support may be the X-factor that could propel Breakker or Bate to the biggest win of their careers.

Don’t be surprised if both Superstars pull out all the stops — there’s no better stage for it.

For Bron Breakker and Tyler Bate, this is essentially their WrestleMania moment. 

NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP UNIFICATION TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: Mandy Rose vs. Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport

NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose has found a career resurgence ever since she returned to Florida, carving out an impressive title reign of 300-plus days and counting. Even her loudest detractors have to admit that Mandy has stepped up her game to the point where nobody seems like they can beat her.

Lost in that narrative, however, is the fact that the NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura has currently held that title for an astonishing 448 days.

That’s not a typo.

448 days.

It really puts Mandy’s own title reign in perspective, doesn’t it?

Meiko is legitimately a living legend — just check out her Wikipedia page if you don’t believe us. There’s a reason why she’s been UK’s champion for this long — she’s just that damn good.

When you sprinkle Blair Davenport into the mix, one has to wonder if she could be considered as the favorite to win this Triple Threat Match — after all, conventional wisdom states that both current champions are most worried about each other, leaving Blair as an afterthought.

Blair has nothing to lose and everything to gain, unlike Mandy and Meiko.

In a match where you don’t have to be pinned to lose your title, a quick flash rollup by Blair to any of the other two women could mean we could see the most surprising Unified Women’s Champion ever — and that would mean that both Mandy and Meiko’s legendary reigns would come to a screeching halt.

Triple Threat matches are pretty rare in NXT’s women’s division — so needless to say this is a match that could steal the show. 

NXT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP UNIFICATION ELIMINATION MATCH: Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen vs. Creed Brothers vs. Gallus vs. Pretty Deadly

All four of these teams would make great unified champions to lead NXT into the future — but the real question is, at what cost?

Elimination matches add an element of time to each team’s strategy — it’s not one-fall to a finish, which means that ostensibly this title match could go much longer than any of these teams are used to.

With three teams needing to be eliminated before the final bell is rung and new champions are crowned, endurance becomes a huge factor. Who has the capability to outlast three of the most imposing tag teams in all of NXT and NXT UK?

We’re putting our money on Diamond Mine’s Creed Brothers. Both men come from an extensive amateur wrestling background, and they’re got the drive and dedication to be the sole survivors of this hectic match.

But in reality? Any of these teams can win, which is why a match like this is so captivating to even think about, let alone watch!

NXT WOMEN’S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Katana Chance & Kayden Carter vs. Nikki A.S.H. & Doudrop

After reaching the pinnacle of NXT’s women’s tag team division, Katana and Kayden had to have been surprised when two of WWE’s biggest female Superstars made their presence known and laid down the challenge for their titles.

How can the new champions possibly have seen this coming?

They had a much-deserved layoff from active competition ever since they won the titles, and we figure they took advantage of that time off by scouting their future competition — in NXT. Surely they never thought in their wildest dreams that Superstars from Raw or SmackDown would invade the CWC and stake their claim to their newly-won titles.

But that’s exactly what happened.

It looks like one of two things will happen on Sunday:

Either Katana Chance and Kayden Carter establish the legitimacy of their title reign right off the bat with a huge statement win over two big names…

Or they are revealed as simple pretenders to the throne — a team that caught lightning in a bottle at one time, but ultimately didn’t have the chops to be the face of the NXT women’s tag team division.

Nikki A.S.H. and Doudrop are trying to rain on the champion’s parade — and it’s a strategy that just may work.

NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricochet

Carmelo Hayes has made a career in NXT by being a part of the most explosive and action-packed matches in recent memory. Nobody would be surprised if he made the jump to Raw at some point in the future — he just has that IT-factor.

We were shocked when Ricochet arrived back in NXT to throw down the challenge for Worlds Collide, and we’re prepared to be shocked at multiple points during their match on Sunday.

To put it simply: these two Superstars don’t need ladders to put on a match filled  with gravity-defying, jaw-dropping moments — their athletic abilities are off the charts and they’re going to show the world what they’re capable of.

Can Carmelo Hayes fight off his biggest challenge yet? Or will Ricochet become only the third two-time NXT North American Champion? And if Ricochet accomplishes that feat, will he make NXT his new home?

Or will he — *shudder* — take that title back to SmackDown, robbing NXT of one of its most prestigious championships?

Wow.

Talk about an absolutely stacked lineup.

Past iterations of Worlds Collide have primarily focused on NXT and NXT UK — and while that also rings true this year, it seems that more and more Superstars from Raw and SmackDown have made their presence known — and they’re coming for titles, too.

Honestly, Sunday’s event could really be called All Worlds Collide — because that’s exactly what is happening. Every WWE brand is going to be fighting for supremacy, and for the first time ever, the winners are going to have some serious hardware to show for it.

On Sunday, we’re going to see some truly amazing matches.

We’re going to get some truly unforgettable moments.

And we’re going to witness some truly remarkable champions step up and lead NXT into the future.

You can watch Worlds Collide this Sunday on Peacock.