Tag: The Undisputed Era

NXT Takeover: Vengeance Day: Every Match Ranked

What a great show. There’s really no simpler way to say it. This show far exceeded any of the 2020 Takeovers in my view and was an absolute joy to watch from start to finish. It’s shows like this that make ranking the matches difficult. The middle of the list was especially hard to rank on this one as all five of these matches have things worth raving about.

The biggest headline though is what happened after the main event, I’ll talk about it here so it’s out of the way. In my heart, I kinda wished Undisputed Era would go on to Raw or Smackdown as a unit but ignoring that, they have done everything there is to do in NXT. They’ve risen, they’ve fallen, they’ve risen again, and they’ve fallen again, as far as NXT is concerned, their story is done. Which means that the options were to either have them move on to the ‘main roster’ or break up and turn them all into singles stars.

I think there’s going to be some very interesting storytelling on the horizon between the faction, especially with Dunne and Balor on the periphery of the scene. This break-up could easily become the standout storyline of the year.

Now, let’s talk about the wrestling.

5 – Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez def. Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon
(Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals)

This is one of those scenarios where I have to clarify that even though this match is ranked last, it’s still really good.

As expected these two teams clicked really well in the ring, even if they lacked the polish you’d see in veteran teams. The story was interesting because the faces actually dominated the largest chunk of the match, which you don’t often see in tag matches. It serves an underlying story though because whenever Dakota Kai was in the ring, their team went on the back foot, but as soon as Gonzalez got in, they were back in control. No attention was ever drawn to it, it was very clearly there throughout the match, and it’s going to be interesting to look back on stuff like this when Gonzalez inevitably breaks away from Kai.

It took a while for me a little while to get into this match, as it had a slow start, but that was entirely forgotten by the end as the action really got going into the place that I like. Gonzalez was undoubtedly the star of the show here, getting to show all aspects of her arsenal with explosive & brutal attacks combined with slower, more devious assaults. The faces kept coming back for more though, and they came out of it looking like they’d fought hard for it, they’re both raring to go in terms of going for the women’s title, and I think this was a decent platform for them to get there, even with the loss.

Meanwhile, Gonzalez & Kai are also ready to pop off, and it’ll be interesting to see how they deal with all of these women gunning for Io’s title in the near future. I highly doubt that Gonzalez & Kai will beat Jax & Baszler for the titles, but that’s ok because this tournament felt more like a way to solidify the incredible push Gonzalez has been getting over the past few months. What I do know for sure though, is that NXT’s women’s division is going to have one hell of a year with these talents all over it.

4 – Io Shirai(c) def. Toni Storm & Mercedes Martinez
(NXT Women’s Championship)

Again, this was a really good match that I enjoyed; I’m just a bit disappointed it didn’t go longer. It only got 12 minutes in the end, and I really think it deserved more, especially to kick it up into that higher gear that it should’ve got to.

That complaint aside, there was still plenty to enjoy about this one. As expected, Martinez & Storm ended up focusing too heavily on each other to realise the ferocity at which Shirai was coming at them. Martinez felt like the main star of the show to me, she kicked things off with a bang and seemed to be involved in the action at every single point. It definitely helped re-establish her place in the division after disappearing for a while thanks to Retribution. Similarly, Storm got a lot of momentum on her side, and it doesn’t feel like she’s done with Shirai, it wouldn’t surprise me if a singles match between the two takes place in the near future.

Shirai did what she did best though and tore it up whenever she was on screen. Even if she wasn’t always the main focus of the action, her presence was always felt, doing cool stuff like jumping off of the scaffolding, for example. The match kept up a good pace, as you’d expect with three competitors in the mix, it kept me glued to the screen all the way to the finish. As I said, the only problem was that I felt a little short-changed by the 12-minute runtime. However, I’m confident this will lead to greater things down the line.

3 – MSK def. Grizzled Young Veterans
(Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals)

Another blinder of a tag match from a division that is heating up in a significant way.

One thing I’ve not given Grizzled Young Veterans (and specifically Zac Gibson) enough credit for is how brilliant they are on the mic. It’s no wonder that they’ve been given promo time before every single one of their matches in this tournament as it’s really where they shine brightest. That’s not to say they don’t shine brightly in the ring though, as they undoubtedly meet the high standards I’ve set for the NXT tag scene.

There wasn’t much complex in the way of the story in this match, both teams got their time to shine and show off just about everything they can do. Thankfully, they didn’t need too much of a story because what they can do is bloody entertaining to watch. There was a lot of fun to be had in this match, and neither team ever looked to have it in the bag. MSK pulled out the high-flying stuff (which we saw surprisingly little of last night) but Gibson & Drake were able to counter that with an extra dose of brutality in their offence.

While I certainly wouldn’t have complained if Grizzled Young Veterans had won, I think MSK to get the win was the right decision. It solidifies their place as feature players in the tag division, even though they’re not going to win the titles just yet, and it gives GYV another chip on their shoulder, which I’ve no doubt they’ll spin into promo-gold.

2 – Johnny Gargano(c) def. Kushida
(North American Championship)

So you know the match that you pictured in your head when someone said Gargano vs Kushida? Yeah, that’s pretty much exactly what this match was, and it was brilliant.

The fast-paced opening immediately grabbed my attention and kept me in the match for the entire runtime. That extended sequence of the two of them continually trading blows and counters without missing a beat ‘action too quick to call’ as I’ve heard it referred to is just the sauce I like. While I’d love for it to carry a whole match, I know that’s quite the ask when these two guys have to go 20 minutes, so an extended sequence right at the start is more than enough to satisfy me.

The match didn’t lose me when it slowed down though, as it shifted the focus from impressive offence to a clear story where both men were focusing on each other’s weak spots and trying to get one over on each other at every opportunity. Gargano is brilliant at adapting his heel style depending on his opponent and his tactic against Kushida of striking the neck little and often was a very engaging one. Kushida was never really on the back foot though, he took it to Gargano’s arm at every opportunity, and the two men were able to match each other beat-for-beat. I loved that feeling of both men feeling like they were on an altogether even playing field.

While I wouldn’t have booked Gargano to retain, I can’t complain about the decision. Kushida will undoubtedly bounce back from this loss and Gargano’s title reign is really turning into something special, with both of his major stories so far being winners.

1 – Finn Balor(c) def. Pete Dunne
(NXT Championship)

In the intro, I mentioned that this list was hard to rank, but the number 1 spot was never in any doubt. This match was incredible and an early contender for match of the year.

In my predictions, I speculated over whether Balor would slow his pace to match Dunne, or whether Dunne would accelerate his pace to meet Balor. As it turns out, the answer was both of those things would happen. The first half of the match was a slow, mat-based affair that was full of tension. Dunne controlled the majority of it, with Balor on the back foot in a way we haven’t really seen from his title reign just yet. However, the story progressed, and Balor started to adapt, he started to match Dunne’s holds and bite back here and there, as the match’s pace slowly picked up.

Towards the latter third of the match is where things really got going, as Balor broke free from Dunne’s holds and went balls-to-the-walls with his offence. What was brilliant though, was that Dunne immediately snapped into that style and could match Balor. It gave me the impression that this was Dunne’s gameplan all along and from here the match because of a brilliant back-and-forth affair that had me on the hook with every near fall. The flow between every hold and every move was damn-near flawless, and both guys felt like they were an inch away from victory at any given moment.

As much as I wanted Dunne to win, I can’t deny that Balor earned the victory in this one and Dunne looked great for it. I don’t think this is the last of Dunne in the title scene, and I can’t wait to see what else he and Balor can do, potentially with Undisputed Era in the mix too.

NXT Takeover XXX: Every Match Ranked

The 30th Takeover is officially in the record books and well…I definitely enjoyed it. It feels like a notable shift in the style of PPVs that NXT is going to be putting out from now on. It feels like, in order to appeal to the broader USA Network audience, they’re shifting their PPVs to have more or something for everyone, rather than constant, hyper-focused top-quality wrestling matches to please Meltzer’s star ratings. Whether this change is for the better or worse remains to be seen over the next year or so, but if the shows they come out with that like the ones of Saturday, I don’t think I’ll mind.

This was by no means among the best Takeovers of all time, but it was a show that kept me entertained from start to finish, and I can honestly say there wasn’t a bad match for the entire night. Sure, it didn’t blow me away, and I doubt it’ll be remembered all that vividly in the years to come, but sitting here, 12 hours after the show’s finished, I’m feeling positive about it.

6 – Breezango def. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch, Legado del Fantasmo
(Winners become #1 contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championships)

I was wondering how NXT was going to treat their pre-shows. Whether they were going to give the matches room to breathe and let the wrestling sell the show. Unfortunately, they made the time restrictions even heavier, as they only had 30 minutes for Booker T to bicker with Sam Roberts, instead of the usual 60.

It’s a pretty simple case with this match, it wasn’t bad, all of the action was enjoyable, however, coming in at just under 7-minutes, it didn’t have time to be anything more significant. Especially given that it was a triple threat tag match, it seemed like a really bad decision to cut the time on this one so heavily. That’s the kind of match that needs the time to build to a chaotic climax, but that phase of the match never got the chance to arrive.

What we got was perfectly enjoyable, Legado is doing a great job character-wise in the ring, and I want to see more of them in the near future. Breezango winning is an interesting choice, as they already got a tag title shot recently, but I don’t mind going for round two. As I said in my predictions, they’ve had a new fire lit under them since returning to NXT, and they feel like very different wrestlers to what I knew them as during their first runs in NXT.

5 – Finn Balor def. Timothy Thatcher

Good match, zero build.

There’s honestly no better way to put it in my mind. I think I probably would’ve liked this match more if I had some greater reason to be invested in it. I know Thatcher has been screwing Balor over here and there, but I don’t think it was given nearly enough focus every week on TV. This is one of those situations where it seems like management just wanted to have a Finn Balor match on the PPV, without having any real plan for what he could do.

Regardless of how invested I was in it, the match was of good quality. I’m still not adjusted to Balor’s more muted style, but this was an instance where he had an opponent it played well with. Thatcher is a proper mat-based wrestler, and he knows how to make it look impactful and intriguing (something unfortunately rare in the modern wrestling scene). Balor responded to it well, trying to speed the pace of the match up at every opportunity to stop Thatcher getting one over on him.

The match’s narrative was fairly basic, but it was well-told in this instance. I adored the shot where Balor landed hard on his feet with a missed Coup-de-Gras only for both him and Thatcher to go wide-eyed, realising the opportunity Thatcher has just been given. Sure, Balor predictably came out on top, but I now understand Thatcher’s style and enjoy watching him more than I did going into it, so that’s got to be a positive.

4 – Karrion Kross def. Keith Lee(c)
(NXT Championship)

Sure, this felt more like a main-roster main event, but it was a very good one.

In my predictions, I theorised about the different ways this matches could go. While I pointed to Lee vs Dijakovic for a formula they could try to replicate, that ended up not being the case, and what we got instead had upsides and downsides.

The downsides first, which are mostly to do with pacing. I don’t care who you are, or how in-line with your character it is, ‘working the arm’ by holding it in place for 5 minutes, isn’t entertaining. Putting that spot to early on in the match was a bit of an issue too because it meant I felt out of the match almost immediately, and it had to win me back later on, rather than winning me over straight away and keeping me into it for the rest.

However, once the match left those spots behind, things picked up. The match was never fast, but I don’t think it needed to be, because it was impactful. When you’ve got a guy as big as Lee, and a guy as jacked as Kross, the entertainment value is going to be in the hard-hitting stuff, so that’s what they went for. I don’t feel like it entirely lived up to it’s potential, but I still enjoyed what we got, and I’m not going to sit here crying about how I didn’t get the match I wanted.

The finish was a bit odd. I know the Doomsday Suplex is one of Kross’ signature moves, but it didn’t look all that impressive in this instance. It looks great when he can throw a guy half-way across the ring like they’re nothing. However, with Lee, it looked like any standard middle rope spot – a type of spot that hasn’t won a match in about a decade. It made the finish feel a bit sudden and took the wind out of me a bit when Kross won off of something I wasn’t expecting.

Ultimately, I think he has all the potential to be a fantastic champion, so I’m happy to wait and see on this one.

3 – Adam Cole def. Pat McAfee

Well, it was definitely a lot better than I was expecting.

To point out the obvious, the in-ring action was reasonably basic. McAfee pulled off some impressive stuff here in there, but there wasn’t a great variety in the moves he gave or took (although, he took a picture-perfect Panama Sunrise, so props there). The thing is, the action wasn’t the point of this match, it was never going to be. This was a match all around the drama and the story, and looking at the in-ring storytelling on display here, it was really entertaining.

Pat understood the role he needed to play and played it to perfection. He picked all the right moments to be a cocky jackass and all the right moments to run away scared. I didn’t particularly care for the faction warfare stuff, but it was a good bridge to take us from the 100% drama-focus of the early stages to the latter phase of the match, where action became much more critical to the story.

Cole played off of McAfee really well too. His facial expression on the kickouts and impressive manoeuvres worked into the attitude that they have been presenting each other with. What’s most important is that, when the time came for McAfee to take his beating, he made it look good. Like I said, none of the moves he took (other than the Panama Sunrise) were particularly complicated or impressive, but he made the beatdown on him feel weighty, so watching Cole kick his ass was satisfying.

Nothing about it was a technical masterpiece, but I came away from it in a good mood, having thoroughly enjoyed the match I just watched.

2 – Io Shirai(c) def. Dakota Kai
(NXT Women’s Championship)

Weirdly, despite this being in the number two spot, there isn’t a great deal I have to say about it. It was just a really good match.

I don’t think anyone had any doubts over the result, so my focus around this match was more getting the most out of the action as possible, of which I think both women did a great job. Io looked beatable at several points without ever coming across as week, while Kai got to show off just about everything she can do. Momentum was continually shifting between the two women in this one, which meant we got a great variety in terms of the action. Yes, it had slower spots where Kai worked a limb for an extended spot because it was buried in between plenty of action, I was happy for the match to take a short breather every now and then.

As predictable as it was, I think it’s important to Kai’s story that we hit the obvious beat of Gonzalez getting involved. Given Kai’s insistence that she’s got to where she did ‘on her own’, something like this should sow the seeds of discourse between her & Gonzalez, especially since I’d imagine Kai will find a way to blame Gonzalez for her loss. Meanwhile, I think it’s time for Io to move onto someone else, probably Candice LaRae. Kai could absolutely come back later down the line and challenge whoever the champion is again, but for now, I don’t think we should overplay that hand.

I’m intrigued by the Ripley/Gonzalez tease though. I’m not sure if they want to head in a tag-team direction with that, or whether it’ll be a singles feud. Either way, I’m looking forward to it, and I hope it serves as a coming-out party of Gonzalez as a major player in the NXT women’s division.

1 – Damian Priest def. Johnny Gargano, Bronson Reed, Velveteen Dream, Cameron Grimes
(North American Championship)
(Ladder)

20-minutes of mental ladder-match antics. Perfect, exactly what I wanted.

This one had everything you could want from a multi-man ladder match. It didn’t need much time to warm up, the pace accelerated to maximum pretty darn quickly and stayed there right up until the end. Everyone got a chance to shine, each of them getting their own memorable moments, and somehow, everyone getting a chance to look like they were about to win the match. I honestly thought ladder matches were very limited in terms of pulling off convincing false-finishes, but man, every time someone got to the top of that ladder (which, in the final 5 minutes, was a lot) I thought it was over.

Outside of that, it was ladder-spots galore. Priest running up the ladder to do a dive onto the outside, Grimes holding the ladder on shoulders and smashing everyone to bits with it, Gargano awkwardly power bombing Grimes onto the ladder in a way that made it look even more brutal than intended. We even got a spot I can’t remember ever seeing before in a match like this, where they kept piling up people and ladders into the corner, only for one guy to squish them all together. All of it was a blast to watch, and what makes this match take the number one spot.

Damian Priest was absolutely the right person to win this one. I’m not sure who he’ll feud with first (probably one of the other participants in this match), but I hope he has a long and fruitful reign. He’s been threatening to break through in NXT for a while, and hopefully, a run with the North American title will seal the deal.

And there you have it! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. Please, let me know what you thought of the show, either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo! Finally, make sure you come back here this time tomorrow, where I’ll be giving you my review of Summerslam!

NXT Takeover XXX: Predictions & Analysis

NXT Takeover time! A time where we can all rejoice and feel happy that great wrestling is going to be on our screens very soon. Except…this time around, I’m not nearly as excited as I usually am. At least 3 of the matches have unlimited potential, that is true, but weekly NXT TV the past month or so has felt pretty soulless to me. None of the builds to any of the matches have been anything unique or exciting. The only build that’s done things differently ended up being killed dead in the water on Wednesday when Pat McAfee cut the world’s most generic heel promo.

Maybe the pessimism of the world has gotten to me, who knows? Let’s try to stay positive as we break down the matches.

Breezango vs Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs Legado del Fantasma
(Winner becomes #1 contender for the NXT Tag Team Championships)
(Kickoff Show)

You know, the NXT Tag Team division became utter barren so quickly, I barely even noticed.

The tag division on NXT has heavily suffered from Imperium very rarely being on TV week-to-week. I like Imperium as champions, and I hope they hold onto the titles for a while, but they were such a bad choice given the current situation. This isn’t like Lesnar with a world title, where him not showing up as much adds to his drawing power, with the NXT tag titles gone from TV most of the time, it just means we stop caring. I want to care about the NXT tag titles, they’ve given us some of the best matches in NXT history, but right now, they’re in serious trouble.

That said, I’m confident this will be a fun match. I’m not entirely sure what the point was on putting this on the pre-show but provided it gets a respectable amount of time, I have no reason to doubt the excitement we could be in store for. Breezango have had a new fire lit under them since returning to NXT, Lorcan & Burch have always been extraordinarily reliable in situations like this, while Legado del Fantasma are the exciting new prospect and still feel quite fresh.

There’s a couple of ways to go in terms of a winner here. My first instinct was that Legada del Fantasmo would win because they’re the fresh guys and even if they aren’t going to win the tag titles, a high-profile match with the champions would be great for them. However, I’m actually going with Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch. My logic behind it is pretty simple, I think they’ve been killing it over the past year, and while their role is mainly to put guys over, I think it would be really cool to see them go for the titles. I don’t think they’d dethrone Imperium, but it’d be great to watch.

Finn Balor vs Timothy Thatcher

This is one of those matches that most people won’t give much thought, but could absolutely tear the house down on Saturday. I’ve still not made my mind up entirely about what I think of Thatcher, but there’s definitely a lot to love about his character. His stuff with Riddle was a great way to bring him to prominence, and I like the idea that he’s someone who slowly crawls his way up through the ranks in NXT over the next couple of years.

I don’t really know what this match is going to be like, these are two guys who have pretty different styles, and that always makes it hard to tell how they’ll mesh. I have faith in them though, so I’m remaining optimistic that it’ll be good. I’m torn for a winner though. As much as Balor’s in a position where nothing will hurt his stock too much in the long-run, I still don’t think he should lose too often. Looking into recent history, he got a win over Damian Priest at the last Takeover, but that’s it, he’s lost to just about everyone else with name value. That said, beating Balor would be an excellent way to turn some heads towards Thatcher.

It’s a tough call, but I’m going with what I think is the more sensible pick in Finn Balor. I just don’t think Thatcher has been built up enough to the point where he could beat someone on Balor’s level. That said, I would certainly be on board if Thatcher won.

Adam Cole vs Pat McAfee

Ok, just to get it out of the way, I don’t know if the radio show blow-up was a work, or a shoot that NXT turned into a work, and quite frankly I don’t care.

I’m of two minds with this feud. There’s the optimistic side of me that says McAfee is going to blow us away. I have no idea how long or hard he’s been training for, so I can’t make a judgement call yet, but he’s been around the industry long enough, and he’s in the ring with Adam Cole, so I think there’s a good chance this could be a killer match. Then there’s the pessimistic side, which says this is going to be like every other time an ‘outsider’ tried to come in and have a serious wrestling match.

The story’s been ok, it certainly had a decent amount of heat to it following the blow up on McAfee’s show, but I don’t think they capitalised on it all that well. Things started alright, with them seeming to patch things up, only for them to come to blows on NXT again, I even liked Cole’s rant about the situation, because Cole can talk with the best of them. What killed my excitement for the match was McAfee’s promo on Wednesday. I alluded to it in the intro, but it was dull and generic, not just with the words he was saying, but the style he delivered them, it was like what a trainee would put out after their first week of promo classes.

I’m a bit torn with a winner because I think there’s a chance McAfee is going to stick around and wrestle semi-frequently on NXT. If that’s the case, then I think he should win, not to mention, with a draft coming later in the year, I wouldn’t be surprised if Cole is leaving NXT sometime soon. That said, this is Adam Cole we’re talking about here, he’s just off the back of a 400+ day title reign and is bouncing back from a high-profile loss. Surely he’s got to win? Admittedly, I don’t think it would do all that much damage to Cole in the long-run, but it just doesn’t feel right to pick anyone other than Adam Cole to win this one.

Damian Priest vs Cameron Grimes vs Johnny Gargano vs Bronson Reed vs Velveteen Dream
(NXT North American Championship)
(Ladder)

Ahhh, a good old fashion multi-man ladder match. These will always be entertaining, regardless of which promotion they take place in. That said, the last time NXT had a ladder match for the North American Championship, it was arguably one of the best multi-man ladder matches ever, so…

That doesn’t answer the question of who wins though, so let’s take a look at the participants.

Velveteen Dream – I don’t think Dream was even supposed to be in this match initially. Given the uncertainty surrounding his return, I think NXT management decided that the only thing they could do with him so close to the PPV was to shove him in this match. On top of that, Dream’s already had a run with the North American Championship. There are indeed a lot more opponents he could face now, but I don’t see what could be gained from it.

Bronson Reed – The case with Reed is that I think just being in the match will be enough to raise his stock. He’s still a fresh face in NXT, and this is the perfect opportunity to show everyone what he can do. That said, I don’t see him winning the title for at least another year, he’s just not been built up enough yet. Hopefully, his performance in this match will go some way to remedying that.

Johnny Gargano –  It’s really starting to feel like the NXT writers have no idea what to do with Gargano. That’s the problem when he’s been in NXT for so long – Ciampa’s got the same problem – as great as he is, NXT doesn’t have as deep of a roster as Raw or Smackdown, so there’s very little for him to do nowadays other than to take high-profile losses to the new guys. That’s not to say he won’t add anything to this match, I think he’ll be fantastic, but much like Dream, there’s nothing to be gained from him winning the title again.

Cameron Grimes – Now we’re getting to the people that I think have a chance of winning this thing. To me, the North American title seems to be the perfect tool for taking someone who’s not quite a huge star yet and getting them over and a main eventer in the eyes of the fans. This is technically the role of any mid-card title, but in practice, it very rarely works out that way. However, Grimes is in the perfect position to pick up a mid-card title right now, if he were to go on a bit of tear for it for 8 months or so, it’d be the perfect launching pad to send him to the main event scene. I’m not picking him to win though, as I think there’s one guy that NXT is more likely to invest in right now.

Damian Priest – Honestly, I think Priest is the only real choice for this one. It’s felt like he’s been on the cusp of breaking through for around a year now, so we’re coming very close to ‘now-or-never’ territory. Priest has all the makings of a top guy in NXT, and I think his feud with Balor was a mini-test of that fact. The way I see it, Priest is a perfect fit for the North American title in his current state. NXT in need of a heel champion, and who better than a man who will probably be one of NXT’s biggest stars in a year.

Io Shirai(c) vs Dakota Kai
(NXT Women’s Championship)

It’s amazing how briefly Charlotte was champion. It already feels like it was years ago.

I’ll speak plainly, Io Shirai has been absolutely killing it since winning the title. I was pessimistic about waiting this long to put the title on her, but all my doubts have since been cleared. Sure, she’s not been wrestling as much, but when it comes to pure force of personality, there is no woman better in NXT in right now. There’s nothing about her character that inherently draws her to a heel or babyface alignment, a fact that I think will be fantastic for her stories throughout her title reign. Dakota’s been on fire too, she grasped her heel persona almost instantly, and since then it’s been built to an incredibly compelling degree.

I honestly think we could be in for one of the best WWE matches of the year so far, I really do. Io has already proven that she can go with just about anyone, and I really get the feeling that we’ve not seen anywhere near the limits of what Kai can do yet. I firmly believe that these two women will have near-flawless chemistry, and we could be in for a fast and fun fight.

That said, I think this is by far the easiest match to predict. Io Shirai is winning this one, her title reign has barely begun and has so much potential. Meanwhile, Dakota’s story can be enhanced by a loss here. She’s already getting a bit too full of herself, so if she blames Raquel Gonzalez for her loss, then there could be months of great TV in that. Not to mention, Io herself is proof that Dakota could easily come back in a year’s time and pick up the title without it feeling any less of an accomplishment.

Keith Lee(c) vs Karrion Kross
(NXT Championship)

Colour me impressed, I really thought they were going to wait on this one.

There’s so much to break down here and so many directions the story could go. First of all, Kross is incredible. He’s the first person in so long that I think genuinely gives off a Lesnar-esque vibe of indestructibility. Not only has he torn through everyone he’s come into contact with, but everything surrounding his persona & characterisation gives him an aura of an unstoppable badass. Meanwhile, Keith Lee is the purest human being on the planet, so watching him being pushed to his mental limits by Kross is very compelling stuff.

I have all the confidence in the world this match is going to rock. Lee’s shown time and time again that he can wrestle any style he needs to for a match. Kross has a wide range as a performer too, so I think there are several ways this one could play out. Personally, I think this will be akin to Lee vs Dijakovic in January, with plenty of big & explosive moves and a pace that refuses to ever let up.

This is where it gets tricky though because honestly, neither man should be losing here. However, I don’t think we’ll get a screwy finish, that’s not the NXT way. The thing is, Keith Lee has only just won the title, he’s barely held onto it for a minute, which, under normal circumstances should mean there’s no way he’s losing the title this quickly. The problem is when you look at NXT’s history, the brand’s biggest babyface always have insultingly short title reigns; Sami Zayn, Johnny Gargano & Drew McIntyre are all clear examples of this. On top of that, Kross has been built up like no-one else has since he debuted. He SLAUGHTERED Tommaso Ciampa, and if that isn’t a sign that he’s destined for stardom, I don’t know what is.

The way I’ve rationalised it to myself is thus: Keith Lee can recover from a loss, a hell of a lot better than Karrion Kross can. Sure, Lee won’t have the title anymore, but people are still going to love him regardless because of everything he is as a person and a performer. Meanwhile, Karrion Kross’ whole persona has been built around his unstoppable nature, so taking such a high-profile loss this early on in his NXT run could be catastrophic in regards to the audience’s view of him. Maybe I’m overanalysing it, but I’m going to go with the logic I’ve laid out and pick Karrion Kross to be crowned our new NXT Champion.

And that’s it! Thank you very much for taking the time to read these predictions. Please, let me know what you think is going to happen on Saturday, either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo. Finally, make sure you come back here this time tomorrow, where I’ll be running down my Summerslam predictions!

NXT Takeover: Toronto 2019: Every Match Ranked

I feel like we say this every time an NXT Takeover show has finished but holy crap what a show!

As usual, this show did not fail to deliver the goods when it came to its action and once again I came away from it feeling incredibly satisfied and a bit blown away by the fantastic wrestling that was gifted to us last night. Although the show as a whole isn’t in the running for best Takeover ever unlike seemingly the rest of them from this year are, there were still some matches in here which I’d rank among the best to ever take place on a Takeover. Not to mention, even a sub-par Takeover would still be better than most wrestling shows on the planet.

Still, among this heavy competition which matches rose to the top? Let’s discuss it as I rank every match from NXT Takeover: Toronto 2019.

5 – Shayna Baszler(c) def. Mia Yim
(NXT Women’s Championship)

When a match like this happens of a Takeover it’s always a bit difficult to talk about because as much as this match was still great, it wasn’t quite up to the very high standard we’ve come to expect from these shows.

That said, similar to Bianca Belair’s match against Baszler, this was a great showcase for Mia Yim. While I’d been enjoying her work on NXT TV, it wasn’t until now that I felt like I had a good sense of who she was as a wrestler. Baszler did what Baszler does best for a big chunk of this match – being domineering and mean spirited – but for the first time in her title matches, it seemed like there was extra emphasis on Baslzer showing weakness.

After some great moments where Yim took a couple of cheap shots and gave Baszler a taste of her own medicine, Baszler did a brilliant job of playing the victim for a bit. In the end it served both characters well, it showed us that Mia Yim isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and isn’t going to try and be a pure face if it gets in the way of her goals, while to the contrary it grew the sense of intelligence and strategic mastery of Shayna Baszler, with her taking no time at all to realise her injured arm made the Kirifuda Clutch impractical and seamlessly switched to a brutal looking leg choke.

This might not quite have been as good as we were hoping but it was still a brilliant showcase for Mia Yim and laid the groundwork to further this feud going into the autumn.

4 – The Street Profits(c) def. The Undisputed Era
(NXT Tag Team Championship)

NXT Tag Title matches seem to be the perfect show openers.

Seeing The Street Profits spouting bollocks every week on Raw this past month or so almost made me forget that they’re brilliant wrestlers as well. This matchup was a great contrast of styles between Profits and UE and it made for some great phases in the action as O’Reilly and Fish tried desperately to stop Dawkins and Ford from gaining any kind of momentum, although it was ultimately futile.

As always, this match reached it’s peak once things descended in chaos and everyone started flinging themselves about everywhere. Almost all of the action in the second half of this match perfectly incorporated all four guys in order to create some really fun sequences. I really wasn’t expecting The Street Profits to win, but ultimately I think it’s the right decision, partly because they had much more to lose if they dropped the titles and also it means we won’t be losing them from NXT anytime soon, which is always the best.

3 – Io Shirai def. Candice LeRae

First off, can we just take a second to appreciate how AMAZING Io looked last night?

Admittedly, I wasn’t into this match early on, but around the halfway mark things really picked up. I’m a little salty about the reports saying that the original plan for this match was Io vs Kairi, but that doesn’t take away from how great this match ended up being. I’ve not been over familiar with Candice as a wrestler until now but I can most certainly say I was impressed by this performance.

By the same token, even though I’ve never seen Io’s work as a heel before she joined NXT, it’s obvious from her performance here that she’s an absolute natural at it. One of my main criticisms about Io so far in NXT was her general lack of a persona, but all of those complaints have been totally washed away with this match because everything she did was dripping in personality.

In addition to that, you throw on a match with a lot of fast-paced and impressive looking action (including one of the best looking top rope Spanish Flys I’ve ever seen) and a couple of shocking kick-outs from Candice and this was a brilliant way to get people behind both characters going forward.

2 – Velveteen Dream(c) def. Pete Dunne & Roderick Strong
(North American Championship)

I swear, any other show this would’ve been number 1.

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a triple threat match on a Takeover and it’s generally a type of match that I always find fun to watch even when I don’t particularly care for the participants, so when the idea of such a match where the participants are the best character in NXT, one of the best technical wrestlers in NXT and Pete fucking Dunne, I was pretty excited and sure enough, this match did not disappoint.

The action in this match was paced to perfection, I enjoyed when all three men were jockeying for position early on and quite honestly I was ready to praise this match for being brilliant by the two-minute mark, but things only got better from there. There was very little time in this match where any one man was down and out, it was an almost constant rolling line of these three men in the ring together and it made for some brilliant watching.

My favourite part of the match was easily the finish because of how out of nowhere it was. I really thought Strong was going to win when he sent Dream flying and hit the End of Heartache on Dunne, but unbelievably Dream suddenly dropped out of the sky to shitcan Strong and steal the pin, incredible stuff. That’s just one spot in a 20-minute match where the action never lets up, definitely one of my favourite matches of the year so far. However…

1 – Adam Cole(c) def. Johnny Gargano
(NXT Championship)
(3 Stages of Hell)

Let’s face it, nothing on this show could’ve topped this match.

I’ve seen some criticize this match for being “overindulgent” and at 50 minutes I can understand where those people are coming from, however, I think this was paced really well.

The first fall was necessary to ramp up the tension and intensity going into the following two. There was plenty of great action the whole way through the first fall and I was very much a fan of how the finish to that fall played out. I knew Cole was never going to be stupid enough to give up a fall like that, but teasing it only for Gargano to be the one to do it was brilliant.

The second fall seems like the kind of match I normally label as boring but something about how these two went about throwing each other around the arena worked for me. It was slower than the other two falls but given how long this match ended up being, we needed it to catch our breath before some of the mental shit that happened during the final fall.

I wasn’t sure about the weapons-based cage when I first heard about it, but I think these two did a great job at avoiding the gimmicky feel that came across when Ambrose & Jericho did this a couple of years ago, also the faces of Gargano and Cole as the cage descended was a nice little touch. As I mentioned this was in danger of crossing into the gimmicky territory, but every weapon was worked seamlessly into every spot it was in, the only time the action ever really stopped was in order to set up the finish which is quite impressive for a match as long as this.

The spectacle in this match was through the roof and I felt it helped aid this idea that Gargano and Cole’s whole rivalry is being encapsulated in one match. I’m still undecided on whether this was my favourite match of their trilogy, but it’s certainly close.

So that’s what I thought of NXT Takeover: Toronto! Thank you very much for- Oh there’s Matt Riddle!

Anyway, thank you very much for reading, let me know what you thought of the show on Twitter @10ryawoo or in the comments below. Make sure you come back here Monday where I’ll be giving my thoughts of tonight’s Summerslam!

NXT Takeover: Toronto 2019: Predictions & Analysis

Another big 4 weekends, another show much better than the big 4 show itself. It’s time for an NXT Takeover.

While this card still looks fantastic, it doesn’t quite feel like it’ll be as good a show as previous months by virtue of a couple of rematches and some untested talent. However whenever I think this about a Takeover it generally ends up being one of my favourites, so who knows what to think.

Fantastic or not, there will still be winners and losers, so let’s get about picking them, shall we?

Candice LaRae vs Io Shirai

So I don’t know much about Io’s reputation before she joined NXT, but I’m told that “attempted murder” Io is best Io and based on what I’ve seen on NXT weekly so far, I can’t say I disagree. So throwing her in the mix with Candice LaRae, who is just as much of a lovable underdog and fantastic wrestler as her husband and you’ve got the making of a match of the year candidate.

Although, as much as I’d like to see an absolute classic between these two, I also wouldn’t be against Io ripping Candice limb from limb, dancing around in the blood shouting about how she doesn’t need friends….or you know, beating her really dominantly. Which brings me to the obvious because Io Shirai is definitely coming out of this one the victor, she’s been losing to Shayna a lot recently and this new burst of character would go to waste if she lost this early, even if it was a “flukey” win on Candice’s part.

The Street Profits(c) vs The Undisputed Era
(NXT Tag Team Championships)

One day, NXT will be allowed to just have tag team champions without someone stealing them away.

Once again, I don’t think I’ll surprise anyone when I say that I think this match is going to be brilliant. considering how long they’ve been around, it’s weird that this is their first straight-up tag match on a Takeover, but I have no reason to doubt that they’ll knock it out of the park; not to mention they’re in the ring with Undisputed Era.

The real problem I’m having here is picking a winner. Street Profits have basic wrestling logic on their side since they’ve just won the titles it wouldn’t make a great deal of sense for them to lose the titles so soon, especially to a team that’s already held them. That said, the Undisputed Era has a pretty strong case too. For one thing, Street Profits seem to have already been called up, with this weird role where they sit around and chat about everything that’s happened on Raw, but does that really count as a proper debut? Then there’s the driving force of Adam Cole’s promise that The Undisputed Era will be draped in gold, and tonight has all the makings of that promise coming true.

I really want to say Street Profits will retain because I think that’d be the right move, but the case for The Undisputed Era to win is just too strong to ignore, so I’m going with them.

Velveteen Dream(c) vs Roderick Strong vs Pete Dunne
(North American Championship)

Wow, they really did a good job of making so many of these matches hard to pick huh?

First off, the fact that Dunne is finally in NXT Prime is brilliant because quite frankly he should’ve been on every single Takeover anyway because he keeps knocking it out of the park. Secondly, I’m very happy to see a Triple Threat Match on a Takeover for once, we see them so rarely on these shows and given how good main roster Triple Threats are, I’m sure an NXT one – especially with these guys – will be incredible.

Once again, I’m really struggling with picking a winner. As much as I’d be very happy with Velveteen Dream retaining, I feel like this match is where he drops that title, especially given he seemed destined to drop the title to Dominick Dijakovic before he got injured. I’m just not sure who it’ll go too. On the one hand, Pete Dunne is fantastic and should never be without a title ever, not to mention you risk making the UK division look like chumps if Dunne comes to NXT Prime and gets his ass kicked. Admittedly the case for Roddy pretty much begins and ends with Cole’s aforementioned promise of draping Undisputed Era in gold, the thing is, I think if that promise is ever going to come true, it has to be now so I’m picking Roderick Strong to pick up the title.

Shayna Baszler(c) vs Mia Yim
(NXT Women’s Championship)

Mia Yim’s one of those competitors where it always seemed like it was a matter of time until she got a big chance to show her stuff like this and here we are. Despite having a build and look that would seemingly favour a more heelish persona, Yim’s done a great job wrestling as a face and has got a large portion of the NXT fanbase behind her going into this match.

As I alluded to, this should be Mia Yim’s big coming-out party, much like Bianca Belair this match with Shayna will hopefully be when everyone sits up and takes note that she’s just as good a wrestler as all the women who came before her in the division. I imagine Shayna will do what Shayna always does in this match, which is be the most wonderful bastard in the world, which will play right in Yim’s strengths as a babyface.

As much as this will be a big spotlight for Mia Yim, I highly doubt she’ll win. It’s pretty rare in the women’s division that anyone wins the title in their first shot at it, not to mention Baszler’s been such a dominant champion it would be almost a waste to have her lose the title like this. I think Yim will ultimately be the one to unseat Baszler, however, I don’t think it’s going to be on Saturday, so I’m going with Shayna Baszler to retain.

Adam Cole(c) vs Johnny Gargano
(NXT Championship)
(3 Stages of Hell)

I know it’s not being advertised as 3 Stages of Hell, but that’s what it is. Plus “2 out of 3 falls where each fall has a different stipulation” is far too long for a header.

As much as it feels like this feud has gone on for a bit too long already, it’s hard to argue with another match considering both of their previous two were among the best in WWE history. The stipulations seem to play into each other’s hands too and I imagine in some sort of ironic twist, each man will win the fall where the other picked the stipulation (Cole wins the Street Fight, Gargano wins the standard match) and I fully expect to see Undisputed Era get involved during the Street Fight.

As for the final fall, which William Regal will reveal if (when) they are tied up after the first two, a ladder match seems like the easy pick. It’s easy for the crew to quickly set up without killing the pace of the whole match and the condensed time frame will add a great sense of urgency to the whole thing. They could surprise us and throw out NXT’s first-ever Hell in a Cell match, but the only issue with that is the crowd would be able to see the cell up in the rafters (or if they use screens to hide it, it’ll be obvious) so it won’t really be much of a surprise.

Once again, I find myself really struggling to pick a winner. If it wasn’t for one factor I’d say Cole was an easy pick, but the thing is: Tommaso Ciampa. We’ve got confirmation that August is when he’s set to return so with him just over the horizon, could we be heading back to the Gargano vs Ciampa match we were robbed of in April? I know that the ending of Takeover New York changed their relationship slightly but it could still work just as well. Then again, what about the other side of the coin? Imagine Undisputed Era standing in the ring triumphant with all the gold only for Ciampa to appear at the top of the ramp and stake his claim. How cool would that be?!

No amount of logic I apply is going to help me decide one way or the other, so I’m going with my heart and picking Adam Cole.

And that’s it! Thank you very much for- wait a minute where the hell’s Matt Riddle? Odd.

Anyway, thank you very much for taking the time to read this piece, let me know what you think is going to happen on Twitter @10ryawoo or in the comments below. Make sure you stick around over the weekend as I’ll be covering both Takeover and Summerslam!