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NXT TakeOver: XXV has been considered by many to be one of the greatest TakeOver events in the brand's history. Five matches of non-stop top-tier action was finished with an incredible NXT Championship match, where Adam Cole managed to knock off Johnny Gargano, finally capturing the title after claiming that the Undisputed Era would be dripping in gold in 2019 five months ago.
Tonight, we saw recaps of each title match that took place at TakeOver, along with two great match-ups that were filmed prior to the event going live. To start the show, the Limitless Keith Lee continued to move up the ladder as he faced off against the Finest Kona Reeves.
In our main event of the night, the rubber match between Mia Yim and Bianca Belair took place. With a win tonight, one of these superstars could end up in a future championship match with NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler.
Keith Lee vs Kona Reeves
Lee easily escaped a wrist lock from Reeves, turning it around and forcing him into the ropes. Lee pulled him back into the middle of the ring and continued to place a severe amount of torque on his wrist. Reeves leaped over the ropes onto the floor to escape his grasp but was again yanked back inside.
A strong right from Reeves finally broke the hold. Lee caught him coming off the ropes, attempting to toss him over head. Reeves faked a knee injury, bringing Lee close for a dirty headbutt to the jaw. This left Lee stunned as he took several big shots from the Finest. A running knee took him down, but he broke out of a pinfall by one.
Reeves locked in a surfboard stretch to a kneeling Lee. As the big man tried to break the hold with pure strength, Reeves rocked him in the back of the head with an elbow strike. At this point, though, Lee began hulking up, only getting angrier as each strike landed. Finally, back to his feet, he caught Reeves with several punches and mowed over him with a running crossbody.
Reeves lured him to the ropes, dropping him shoulder first into the ropes. A uranage inside the ring nearly put Lee away, but he broke out at two. A step up knee was countered with a punch to the patella, followed by a rolling back elbow and a pounce. The Limit Breaker nearly left Reeves in a crater in the ring as he was pinned.
Results: Keith Lee defeated Kona Reeves via pinfall.
At TakeOver, Candice LeRae had Io Shirai's back, attempting to thwart the interference from the Horsewomen during the Women's Championship match. Though Shirai still lost, she left the ring on top as she battered Shayna Baszler with a steel chair. Next week, Shirai and LeRae will team up to take on Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke in tag team action.
We were treated to highlights of the NXT Tag Team Championship match at TakeOver. The Street Profits overcame the Forgotten Sons, Undisputed Era, and Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch. Post-match, the new champions celebrated with the cameraman that, according to Ford and Dawkins, had been with them from day one.
Tyler Breeze was met backstage following his match with Velveteen Dream for the North American Championship. Though he didn't win, he put on an amazing show and said that he was here to stay. He's now and forever NXT.
Another Damien Priest vignette played, hyping up the man formerly known as Punishment Martinez. Priest has already had one match in NXT, losing to Matt Riddle in a highly contested bout back in 2018.
Mia Yim vs Bianca Belair
Belair forced Yim into the corner at the beginning of the match, then slammed her face first before taunting the crowd. Yim sprang up to her feet, dropping Belair with a reverse mat slam and a sunset flip. Belair kicked out but was met by a dropkick from Yim. Belair kicked out again at two.
A tilt-a-whirl headscissors tossed Belair onto her back. She took back over after bringing the HBIC down with a facebuster and catching her with a clothesline. Yim was locked in an abdominal stretch where Belair was able to attack the exposed ribs, punching and digging at her abdomen. Yim finally managed to escape after a grueling few minutes, but was dropped on Belair's knee with a tilt-a-whirl gut buster. The Bow & Arrow was then locked in, as Belair continued to work over Yim's ribs.
Yim escaped the hold but was again cut off by a running knee to the gut. A few standing Banzai Drops hurt her further, but Yim escaped a springboard Banzai Drop and rolled Belair up. Belair broke out and connected with another facebuster. Picking her back up, the Est. of NXT tried to beat Yim into submission, but Yim was able to turn it into a cross armbreaker.
Belair escaped quickly, only to be caught by Yim with a guillotine hold. Belair nearly gave out, but managed to plant Yim with a spinebuster. Yim tossed her outside in an attempt to catch her breath. That only gave Belair a chance to dish out some more punishment, as she pulled her ribs into the ring post.
Yim fought her off and followed her to the outside, where she was nearly sent into the apron with a Glam Slam. She countered and sent Belair into the steel steps with a roll-up.
Back inside, a series of kicks and a low dropkick sent Belair into the corner where she was caught in the Tarantula. Yim broke the hold before the five-count, and turned it into the Code Blue. Belair kicked out.
Belair held onto Yim's pants as she ran towards the ropes, bringing her back in for a release back suplex, dropping Yim face first. Yiim kicked out of back-to-back pinfalls, frustrating Belair. A powerbomb was countered into another guillotine lock. Belair escaped but was met with two more stiff kicks from Yim. A back elbow to the throat stunned Yim, but she avoided a top rope dive from Belair and connected with a second-rope Seoul Food.
Results: Mia Yim defeated Bianca Belair via pinfall.
Yim walked away tonight, not only winning the match, but winning the series, going up 2-1 against Belair in NXT.
Drew Gulak and Kushida put in a master class performance last week. However, Gulak was furious with the result, assuming Kushida would try to submit him. He challenged him to a submission match next week, which Kushida agreed to.
The Undisputed Era are down a member once again, as Bobby Fish was injured at TakeOver: XXV. Due to this, we'll see a special tag team reunion next week, as Roderick Strong will again team with Kyle O'Reilly to face the duo of Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch.
