Results:

  • Tegan Nox, Mia Yim & Shotzi Blackheart def. Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez
  • Finn Balor def. Damien Priest
  • Keith Lee (c) def. Johnny Gargano to retain the NXT North American Championship
  • Adam Cole (c) def. Velveteen Dream in a Backlot Brawl to retain the NXT Championship
  • Karrion Kross def. Tommaso Ciampa
  • Io Shirai def. Charlotte Flair (c) & Rhea Ripley to win the NXT Women’s Championship

Three Thoughts:

Io Rises

In a tremendous triple threat main event, Io Shirai captured the NXT Women’s Championship. The match had great action all the way through. Io managed to stand out by constantly hitting big moves and hitting one of the spots of the night. She climbed to the top of the awesome In Your House set to dive onto both Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley. There were some rumors that Io was destined for a main roster call-up. Those seem to be ended for now, as she will be the next one to rule the yellow brand’s Women’s division.

Dream Is Over

In what was probably the weakest cinematic style match we’ve seen, Adam Cole retained the NXT Championship against Velveteen Dream. It was a very strangely produced Backlot Brawl match. There was weird lighting, jumpy camera cuts, and overall it felt disjointed. These two are much more talented than this match made them look. A big spot with Cole falling onto a car windshield was good. The inclusion of Dexter Lumis to take out the rest of Undisputed Era was too. Now these two will both move on to new competitors, with Dream’s hopefully residing on the main roster.

The Rest Was Good

Kross absolutely crushed Ciampa. WWE clearly sees big things in their newest act, and are going to push him accordingly.

Johnny Gargano is working really hard to be a detestable heel. He pushed Keith Lee by constantly cheating and working over Lee’s hand. While a mixed tag is still likely in the cards, it seems like Gargano won’t be the one to dethrone Lee anytime soon.

Finn Balor and Damien Priest put on a crisp contest. It was the second best match of the night in my estimation, with both men hitting huge moves and a bunch of excellent kicks. The back bump that Priest took onto some steps was particularly nasty. 

The six-woman tag was a very fun opener. Seeing Tegan Nox get a measure of revenge on Dakota Kai was excellent. Shotzi Blackheart stood out the most in the match – she’s a future main eventer.

Grade: A

Another excellent TakeOver. This show grade is boosted by the run time (just under two and a half hours) but also had quality matches. The main event was excellent and the right call to close the show. Balor-Priest was a clinic, Kross-Ciampa told the story it needed, and Lee-Gargano was good even if it was a touch long. The only miss on the night was the NXT Championship match, but that had more to do with production than participants. Plus all of the old-school nostalgia gave us some enjoyable laughs.

One More Thing:

Keith Lee & Mia Yim showed support to Black Lives Matter tonight through their gear. Yim’s shirt lists the names of the now-exonerated Central Park Five.

 

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