TakeOver has come and gone and overall, it was another great show from the yellow brand. My only minor complaint about the show itself was the fact that there was a disregard of the rules in a couple matches. I’ll break that down later on, but other than that, it was a fine show. The audio was a little off in a couple of the matches, but not a big issue in the grand scheme of things. There were a lot of new opportunities for a lot of fresh faces tonight and we may also see some competitors moving on from NXT. I guess we’ll find out about that soon enough, but here are the results of the show and my reaction to it all. By the way, I predicted every match correctly, not to pat myself on the back or anything.

- 6-Women Tag Team Match

Tegan Nox, Shotzi Blackheart and Mia Yim over Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai and Raquel González

I didn’t think this match was going to open the show, but nevertheless, they did a fine job. It wasn’t the best match on the card, but it was good for what it was. A good old-fashioned face vs. heel 6-person tag match. Raquel González walked out of this match as the star. She got a wonderful chance to showcase her skills and ran with it. Tegan Nox is also one of my favorite female competitors and she picked up the pinfall victory for her team. Other than that, it wasn’t a special match, but it was good.

GRADE: 7.8/10

- Men’s Singles Match

Finn Bálor over Damian Priest

I knew this had the potential to be one of the best matches on the card and I thought it was a really good showing. As the match progressed, I thought it was Priest’s match to lose. I would like to think he will be competing for the NXT Championship in the near future, but Bálor had the answer for him tonight. I don’t know what this means moving forward. Bálor may be the next challenger for Cole, but he may not be. I guess we’ll find out soon enough, but for now, it was a good win for Bálor and another great showcase from Damian Priest.

GRADE: 8.8/10

- Men’s Singles Match: NXT North American Championship

Keith Lee (C) over Johnny Gargano

It was another successful title defense for Keith Lee tonight. It was the longest match on the card, which is kinda surprising if we would’ve been told that prior to the show. The match was really good, but the blatant disregard for the rules was a small blemish on what was otherwise an excellent match. The ref counted up to 8, but when Gargano re-entered the ring the count was wiped away. The ref quit counting. What is the point of having a count-out rule, enforcing said count-out rule to a certain point, then forgetting about it mid-count? Seriously. Anyways, it was a really good match, but it could have been a wonderful match without the crazy count-out blemish.

GRADE: 8.9/10

- Last Chance Backlot Brawl: NXT Championship

Adam Cole (C) over Velveteen Dream

Going into the match, I had my doubts about this living up to its fullest potential. It was perfectly placed on the card and I’m glad it didn’t close out the show. Was it bad? No. Was it awesome? No. It wasn’t necessary to have a cinematic match in this particular situation. In my opinion, cinematic matches are catered for competitors that may benefit from picking and choosing their spots and editing out things that don’t work to make the match as a whole look better, not for performers that are entering their prime and are at the top of their brand. I personally thought a cinematic match was lazy booking to be honest, but only in this particular instance. It was my least favorite match of the night considering the fact that it was a main title match, but from an action standpoint, it wasn’t horrible.

GRADE: 7.7/10

- Men’s Singles Match

Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) over Tommaso Ciampa

I was interested to see Kross in a PPV setting and he didn’t disappoint. His entrance is unique, it isn’t my cup of tea, but it is fine. He absolutely demolished Ciampa in this match. Ciampa fought back a little bit, but it was very minimal. Kross looks like he will be competing for the title in no time. The execution of the match was done to perfection, but in all reality, it was a glorified squash match, considering the fact that most Ciampa matches are 30-minute classics.

GRADE: 8.4/10

- Women’s Triple Threat Match: NXT Women’s Championship

Io Shirai over Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair (C) *MATCH OF THE NIGHT*

This was an amazing match and well deserving of the closing spot on the show. I had a really good feeling about this one heading into the show and this was an absolute brawl of a wrestling match. I had a good feeling that Charlotte Flair’s reign in NXT was coming to an end and it was the perfect way to go out. She didn’t take the pin and to be fair, there weren’t many other women in the brand that they were going to push her way, not now anyway. This was indeed, Shirai’s moment to shine and she did just that. Shirai is such a great competitor and it is not every day that you see women of her caliber step into the ring. It was a great moment to end the show, but one thing that I disliked was the fact that we found out the triple threat was no-DQ 15 minutes into the match. Growing up, I have always thought that triple threats are regular matches with relaxed count-out rules, but I guess I’ve been wrong. It didn’t take away from the match quite like the North American title match did, but it was a small blemish. Either way, it was Match of the Year caliber.

GRADE: 9.9/10

Yacs

NXT TakeOver: In Your House Results and Reaction