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NXT TakeOver: In Your House was the first NXT Takeover in the pandemic era of wrestling. Takeover shows are usually full of amazing wrestling but the shows themselves are clearly enhanced by extremely hot crowds. Could they put on a good show under these conditions? The answer is a clear yes.
It was arguably the best WWE show from top to bottom during these interesting times. They had excellent wrestling, silly 1990’s humor and some real surprises.
They made the clear and right choice for the main event as well. While I look forward to more NXT Takeovers with live crowds, this is proof WWE can put on a good show without them as well.
With all of this in my mind, after wondering when I can talk to DX on AOL chat, I present my list of the top five most surprising moments of WWE Takeover in Your House:
#5 Depth of the NXT Women’s Division
It was an interesting choice to have a six-woman tag match as the opening match of an NXT Takeover. The choice paid off in a surprising way. It is proof that NXT still has the strongest Women’s Division in pro wrestling.
It helped we had built-in feuds in the match itself. Mia Yim and Candice LeRae have had a pretty heated feud recently. We also had the long standing feud between Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai as well. It helps all four of them are strong wrestlers capable of putting on a really solid match.
Shotzi Blackheart is a very charismatic wrestler who has tremendous potential. Raquel González can’t keep the same fast pace as the other five but has a unique look for this talented Women’s Division.
It was also a surprise to see the good guys win the tag match. Tegan Nox hasn’t had a lot of success in her feuds so it was nice to see her on the winning end of things for once. I am sure a lot of us would be happy to see a new challenger come for these talented six wrestlers.
#4 Johnny Gargano flies through plexiglass
Johnny Gargano has proven himself to be an excellent heel. His new cocky persona and vignettes with his wife have been top notch of NXT television. It seemed like he would have a chance to knock off Keith Lee on Sunday night.
The match was the longest and one of the strongest of the entire night. Gargano controlled a surprising amount of the offense, cheating and trying to eye gouge his way to a North American Championship. But the turning point was the most surprising spot of the night. Keith Lee rammed Johnny Gargano through the plexiglass. It looked painful and made a lot of people really miss ice hockey.
The match went back and forth a little more before Lee picked up the clean victory and title defense. You are never going to get a bad match out of these two and I hope they get to do so with a hot NXT crowd in the near future. They deserve it.
#3 The pacing of the Backlot Brawl
Cinematic matches are quite popular in the post-pandemic pro wrestling world. The NXT Championship match between Adam Cole and Velveteen Dream was another in the series of these style of matches. The question that we might have after the fact is why it was needed for this particular match?
The entrances with their respective cars was pretty cool. I always support Negan cosplay like Dream had. But then the match really became a series of spots with Cole running away from Dream. That was a pretty surprising thing and didn’t really seem to support the need for the cinematic style and multiple camera cuts.
We had some fun spots with Adam Cole’s brutal drop onto a windshield. Dexter Lumis stealing two members of the Undisputed Era was pretty surprising as well. But, again, that could have been achieved in a traditionally filmed match.
The ending was an interesting one. Adam Cole did a low blow followed by a Panama Sunrise onto a pile of steel chairs. Cole has held the NXT title for over a year now. It makes you truly wonder when it will end.
#2 Karrion Kross destroys Tommaso Ciampa
Since I haven’t had the chance to say this for an NXT Takeover yet I can finally say it now: Karrion Kross has one of the best entrances in professional wrestling. It really helps to sell him as a star. I cannot wait to see him in front of a live audience.
The match itself was a truly surprising one. Kross destroyed Ciampa in about seven minutes. Ciampa, the former NXT Champion and part of the very last Takeover main event, was absolutely crushed by Kross on Sunday night.
Ciampa got in a little offense but it was quite short lived. Kross simply tossed him around the ring with a series of brutal suplexes and spinning slams. It was like the former Champion didn’t stand a chance.
It seems Kross is being well positioned to be a future NXT World Champion. If he continues to destroy the biggest names in NXT in such a dominant fashion, who can argue with him?
#1 Io Shirai wins the NXT Women’s Championship
I think it is time for a “You deserve it!” chant.
Io Shirai has proven herself to be one of the best wrestlers in the world in recent years. Her match with Candice LeRae at last year’s NXT Takeover: Toronto was one of the hardest hitting matches you will see. But every time Io Shirai has had a chance at the NXT Women’s Championship, she has fallen short. It is great to see that change on Sunday night.
She was the star of the show and it seemed like she was involved in every near falls and had an amazing amount of aerial moves throughout the excellent Triple Threat match. Was it really that shocking that Io would be the one to jump off the top of the house?
The ending itself was really unique. Io Shirai jumped off the top rope onto Rhea Ripley who was caught in a Charlotte Flair submission. This seemed to push Flair down and allowed Shirai to pick up the impressive victory. This might be the end of Charlotte Flair in NXT. If it is, they picked the perfect champion to carry the brand forward.
