5 surprising moments from NXT TakeOver XXX

Keith Lee, sadly, had a brief NXT Championship reign, which ended at NXT TakeOver XXX.

NXT TakeOver XXX was one of the best shows of the Pandemic Era of professional wrestling. We saw a fun pre-show tag match, a physical opener, an incredible ladder match, a surprisingly good Cole-McAfee match, and a truly shocking title change.

While NXT TakeOver isn’t quite the same without a loud live audience, they still put on an excellent in-ring wrestling show on Saturday night. WWE Summerslam will have to step up its game to match the in-ring quality given to us by NXT TakeOver XXX.

As we are still trying to figure out how Pat McAfee could possibly be that good in his first ever professional wrestling match, let's look at the five most surprising moments of NXT TakeOver XXX:

#5 Breezango wins at NXT Takeover XXX

It is strange to see this tag team back in the title hunt again after so many setbacks.

Breezango hasn’t had a lot of luck in recent years. Injuries have constantly derailed any momentum for this highly entertaining team. They never seem to have any luck in NXT. So you certainly wouldn’t expect them to get back into the NXT Tag Team title hunt again at NXT TakeOver.

The three tag teams (Legado del Fantasma, Breezango and Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch) put on a highly entertaining opener on the pre-show. The pace of the seven-minute match was great and filled with some strong near falls. It was certainly a surprise to see Tyler Breeze hit his finisher and pick up a win.

They are now the number one contender’s for the NXT Tag Team Championship. It will be strange to see the biggest comedy team in NXT go against the very serious tag team champions, Imperium.

#4 The technical wrestling showcase at NXT Takeover XXX

Balor was in a lot of pain on Saturday night at NXT TakeOver.

If one is going to fight Timothy Thatcher in an NXT Takeover match, you have to be quite flexible, as it is going to be a very painful night for any opponent.

The Finn Balor vs. Timothy Thatcher match was certainly one of the most unique matches you will see open an NXT TakeOver show. Timothy Thatcher has a style unlike any other wrestler in the entire WWE brand. He will bend any body part into the most painful shape that he possibly can think of.

The locks he put on Balor’s arms, wrists and legs looked quite painful indeed. It is certainly surprising to see a long match in this very technical style in the high-flying, athletic pace of modern WWE.

Finn Balor took a lot of punishment on Saturday night, but was able to fight off many painful submission attempts and then hit his Coup De Grace followed by 1916 to pick up a victory at NXT TakeOver XXX. It was an important win for Finn Balor to get him back on track in NXT.

Balor had lost a lot of important matches recently on NXT programming. He also just might need a few days off to rest his joints after his long match with Timothy Thatcher. He certainly has earned it after NXT TakeOver XXX.

#3 The brutality of the North American Ladder Match at NXT Takeover XXX

That looks really painful.

The North American Championship Ladder Match certainly had the potential to steal the show at NXT TakeOver XXX. The match had three TakeOver veterans in Damian Priest, Velveteen Dream and Johnny Gargano, and two talented wrestlers in Bronson Reed and Cameron Grimes making their NXT TakeOver debuts. Could they pull off a great ladder match without an audience present? They certainly did. It was likely the best match of the Pandemic Era in the WWE.

Some of the moves that were performed were certainly impressive. Damian Priest did an impressive dive from the top of the ladder to his competitors on the floor below. Cameron Grimes did the splits between two ladders.

Candice LeRae took a ride on the back of Bronson Reed from the top of a ladder to splash onto her husband. Velveteen Dream took quite a bump from the top of a ladder through a table outside the ring. All five competitors and Candice LeRae deserve a lot of credit for taking some real risks on Saturday night at NXT TakeOver XXX.

In the end, Damian Priest won the ladder match and his first North American Championship. He has been putting in some great work on Wednesday nights and it is nice to see him being. The one question that one can pose is why Priest jumped into a hot tub with full pants on. That doesn’t seem really that smart but we can let him enjoy the moment he truly deserves.

#2 Pat McAfee impresses in a loss to Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver XXX

One of the many impressive moves by Pat McAfee.

It certainly seemed like a strange idea for an NXT Takeover. Unlike the main roster, they simply do not have celebrity matches. While celebrity matches might bring some mainstream attention, they are usually painful to watch. It is tough to see a trained professional wrestler having to bump for such an inexperienced newcomer.

How would a former NFL punter fare against one of the best NXT has to offer? In truly surprising fashion, Pat McAfee might have put on the best performance by a first time celebrity wrestler, ever. It was an incredible performance at NXT TakeOver XXX.

Pat McAfee began to impress with a senton off the top rope onto Undisputed Era and McAfee’s allies. He followed this impressive move by controlling the majority of the offense with Adam Cole.

The single most impressive sequence was when Pat McAfee was pushed off the top rope into an perfect backflip and landed on his feet. He followed it up by leaping to the top rope and hitting a suplex on Adam Cole. That would be impressive for a veteran wrestler but for a first time wrestler, it is a simply unheard of moment.

The match itself had many believable near falls. Pat McAfee tried one too many high-risk moves and eventually met the Panama Sunrise finisher to lose to Adam Cole. The match certainly exceeded all expectations.

#1 Karrion Kross wins the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver XXX

Kross shocks the world by winning the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver.

Karrion Kross and Scarlett have certainly impressed since their arrival in NXT. It is amazing to think they only debuted on NXT television in April of this year. Kross has shot up the card faster than any talent ever has on NXT.

His match with Keith Lee will certainly have had mixed reactions from NXT fans. It was a very slow, methodical style. Lee was in peril for a majority of the twenty-minute match.

He did get one believable near fall at the end of the match but then tried to follow it up by going to the top rope. He tried to gain an advantage and pull off an amazing comeback victory. This was a mistake as Kross was able to hit his Doomsday Saito from the second rope for a sudden pin fall. Kross won the NXT Championship.

It is a little sad to see Keith Lee lose the title in just 45 days. That is the single shortest reign in NXT Championship history. Hopefully Keith Lee will move onto to greater things. We also hope Karrion Kross, who might have sustained an injury at NXT TakeOver XXX, is healthy as well. He is a dominant heel who could carry the brand for months to come.