Surprise!
If you’ve been reading my work since the beginning, chances are that you’ve been asking me about when I was going to bring back my Running Diaries. I haven’t had the right opportunity to do so until now. You’re going to see these from me for every Takeover event, every WWE Network “pay-per-view” event, as well as every AEW pay-per-view event. No more introduction is needed. Are you ready? I’m ready. LESS DEW EET!!!
(0:00) Honestly, it’s pretty crazy to think about the fact that this is the 30th NXT Takeover event. They’ve come such a long way as a brand over the last six-plus years. Nice, albeit short, video package to start the show and hype tonight’s big matches.
(0:03) Did we really need to hear more of Corey Graves on commentary?
(0:04) We’re getting things started with Finn Balor vs Timothy Thatcher, which is a pretty random match, as far as a lengthy build is concerned, but has a ton of potential.
(0:05) I dig the work Balor has been doing in NXT, but a big part of me misses him on the main roster.
(0:06) Thatcher is certainly an acquired taste for many wrestling fans. Many fans find themselves bored watching him for the first time because he isn’t flashy, but holy shit, can he work the technical style.
(0:09) Finn has already started to adapt and change his style for the match, working more of Thatcher’s style, staying on the mat and using stiffer strikes.
(0:10) It’s a little strange to start a show with a slower match like this. Usually, you’d want something a lot more fast-paced and exciting. NXT usually loves following that formula, but I guess that type of thing goes out the window when you aren’t performing in front of arena full of fans.
(0:12) You just cringe when you watch the way Thatcher performs his submission holds. You can see the tension in Balor’s muscles as Thatcher twists and turns his limbs.
(0:13) We’re only a couple minutes into the match, and Balor might be bleeding from the mouth and has welts on his back, while Thatcher looks to have some scrapes on his knee and back. It’s everything you would expect from this.
(0:14) Add some blood on Balor’s elbow to the mix.
(0:16) Balor lifts Thatcher up, grabbing him by the tights, and almost giving us a full shot of Tim’s twig and two berries. They’re already trying to live up to the Takeover XXX name.
(0:18) I think these two have used up the entire show’s Abdominal Stretch budget at this point.
(0:20) Beautiful 1916 DDT gets the win for Balor. Like I said earlier, this style of wrestling can really be an acquired taste, but I enjoy it when it’s done well. This was 3-stars, easily, and I wouldn’t be upset if you wanted to go to 3.25 or even 3.5 stars.
(0:21) She-Generation X are in the building, watching Takeover from the crowd.
(0:22) It looks like we’re getting the Ladder Match next, as we’re getting a video package for it now. It still feels scuzzy that The Velveteen Dream is involved in anything, let alone seemingly in the middle of a push right now. If he wins this match, the internet is going to explode.
(0:26) This should’ve been the show opener, if we’re going to be honest with each other.
(0:28) Damian Priest is paying homage to Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon, while indirectly paying homage to Shayna Baszler and Baron Corbin, while Bronson Reed is paying homage to Bam Bam Bigelow.
(0:30) We’re still having ring entrances, and Velveteen Dream is paying homage to Scott Steiner. I really could’ve continued with that and made some more jokes, but I will refrain.
(0:31) Dream is such a talented in-ring performer. Add that to his character work, and the fact that he’s only 25 years old, and you have the potential for an all-time great… if he could stay out of trouble.
(0:34) Cameron Grimes tries to climb two ladders at the same time, but gets the ladders pulled away from him, turning him into Rob Van Dam hitting the splits in mid-air.
(0:35) Dream’s facial hair makes it look like he has peanut butter on his chin.
(0:37) It’s strange to have spotfest matches like this and not have 20,000 fans going nuts for those spots. Try as they might, the Performance Center trainees just aren’t the same.
(0:40) Bronson Reed with the patented Terry Funk whirly bird spot with the ladder.
(0:42) Reed’s nipples keep popping out from behind his singlet straps, and the singlet is starting to ride up his crotch. Again, we’re seeing why this is Takeover XXX and not just Takeover 30.
(0:43) Candice LeRae out to prevent Grimes from climbing the ladder, and then she starts slapping the taste out of his mouth. These type of spots are very different in a WWE product where the man can’t, and aren’t expected to, return shots and hit women. It made Grimes look dumb for just standing there and yelling at her without doing anything about it.
(0:45) Reed just flattened Johnny Gargano with a splash from damn near the top of the ladder, all while LeRae was on his back. RIP Johnny. Get the spatula to clean him up.
(0:47) So… Dream climbs to the top of a giant ladder, ready to jump down on a prone Grimes. Dream realizes he can touch the North American Title, so he climbs down to the shorter ladder to try and pull the belt down. What a fucking schmuck.
(0:49) Sunset Flip from the top of ladders, and Gargano nearly breaks Grimes’ arm on the way down… not unlike how Grimes nearly broke my leg at an indy show a few years back, but that’s a different story for a different day.
(0:50) Reed tips the ladder while Dream was trying to grab the title, sending Dream flying out of the ring and falling straight to the depths of hell, apparently. He went smooth the fuck off the screen and disappeared.
(0:52) Damian Priest pulls the belt down after a tease of a Gargano victory. Priest is the new North American Champion. Good match. Not an all-time classic match of this type, but solid work from all five men, allowing them to have their moments. The match favorite ended up winning, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’ll give that 3.5 stars, with 3.75 being acceptable, as well.
(0:55) Adam Cole (Bay-Bay) vs Pat McAfee is up next. This is something I’ve been looking forward to. McAfee has more natural charisma than your average professional wrestler, and appears to still be in good shape from his days in the NFL. If there’s anyone on the NXT roster that can make him look good in his debut match, it would be Cole.
(1:00) McAfee is cutting a Mister Kennedy/Anderson style of promo before the match, and at first glance, he looks like someone pretending to be a wrestler with his tank top, shorts, knee pads, and Nike trainers. We’re not off to a great start.
(1:03) Lots of rest holds to start things off. Nobody should be expecting McAfee to be 1996 Rey Mysterio just yet, but they’re really letting this build. Lots of old school heel tactics from Pat so far. Calling timeout, getting his corner to give him water, etc.
(1:05) McAfee with the dive from the top rope to the outside! He wiped out all of his NFL cronies, NXT security, and Undisputed Era. That automatically makes him ten times the man that Rob Gronkowski is.
(1:07) As you would expect from one of the better Punters in NFL history, McAfee has quite the strong set of legs.
(1:08) Speaking of his legs, McAfee just hit Cole with a dropkick. It wasn’t exactly Kazuchika Okada’s dropkick, but it wasn’t terrible, either. They’re really letting him get a lot of offense.
(1:10) When Cole is on offense, McAfee is actually doing a pretty decent job of selling.
(1:12) Holy shit, McAfee is showing some crazy athleticism all of a sudden! Cole pushed him from the top rope, sending Pat into a moonsault where he landed on his feet, followed by a straight up box jump, jumping right back to the top in one shot. Good Lord.
(1:16) A little too much cockiness from McAfee leads to him jumping into a superkick.
(1:18) Cole picks up the win with a Panama Sunrise, which McAfee sold like a million bucks. That match was so much better than it had any right being. If he wants to, McAfee has quite the future as a pro wrestler. All he needs to do is keep training and being DeAngelo Williams in to be his tag partner. Let’s say 3 stars, just to play it safe. Nothing on this show has set the world on fire, but everything has been entertaining and done its job.
(1:22) Time for the NXT Women’s Title match, with Io Shirai defending against Dakota Kai. I’m a bigger fan of Kai than the average person, and Io’s work speaks for itself, so I have high hopes for this one.
(1:25) Kai out to the ring with Sonya Deville’s older sister, Big Mami Cool. I still can’t believe I have to type that.
(1:29) We’ve already had a big botch, with Shirai flipping into… nothing? Yikes.
(1:31) When Dakota first turned heel, I was skeptical. She was such a good face character, so it was hard to picture her heel work doing that justice. I’m glad to be proven wrong, though. From her facial expressions to the way she works in the ring, and everything in between, things are working out for her.
(1:35) So far, this has been the worst match of the night. We started things out with an ugly botch, and things have been somewhat slow ever since.
(1:38) Somehow, someway, they read my words as I typed them. Almost immediately after I finished that last entry, things have picked up, thankfully.
(1:39) Dakota has lost at least two or three hair extensions at this point in the match. Not an important factoid. Just something I’ve noticed.
(1:43) Dakota just ended the referee’s life with an accidental big boot. RIP Random Referee.
(1:43) Huge chokeslam from Raquel Gonzalez while the referee is down, but Io kicks out at two.
(1:45) Io picks up the win. Second half of the match saved it from a bad grade. As I type this, Gonzalez attacks Shirai after the match, but Rhea Ripley is out to have quite the showdown.
(1:47) LOL @ a random voice in the crowd yelling out “JUST MAKE CONTACT!” as Ripley and Gonzalez stood and stared at each other.
(1:48) I’ll give that 2.75 stars, and again, that’s mostly due to the second-half picking things up nicely. Another match that gets a passing grade, but it’s yet another on a card that hasn’t featured anything “great” just yet, with only the main event still to come.
(1:49) A video package announces that NXT UK returns on September 17th. Hooray, I guess?
(1:51) Damian Priest is celebrating his title victory by climbing into a hot tub with two busty women and a little bit of the bubbly. I don’t know why there’s a random hot tub set up in the parking lot of Full Sail University, but that Takeover XXX name is going to be legit here soon if the cameras stay on. One of those women has a bikini top on that is struggling to keep things in them, let’s just say.
(1:53) Main event time. Keith Lee vs Karrion Kross in one of the better builds for a match in recent NXT history. I don’t know what I’m expecting from this one. Neither man should be booked to lose right now. I also don’t see this being your usual 45-minute Takeover main event. Buckle in.
(1:55) Kross and Scarlett have the best entrance in pro wrestling today, and it’s not even close. It is tailor made for them.
(1:57) LOL @ the crowd sound being off for the entrance, followed by it being turned back on with some polite applause for Kross. Jesus. This really needs more fans in attendance.
(2:01) One thing that I find funny about Karrion Kross and how he’s presented is that he comes across like a giant. In actuality, he’s the same size as wrestlers like The Rock or Lex Luger. Still a very large human being, of course, but it says a lot about the work being done to make him look superhuman.
(2:05) I worry about wrestling rings when Keith Lee runs into turnbuckles, ring posts, and ring aprons. He’s basically a refrigerator with arms and legs. You just know nobody wanted to play with him when they were younger. He’d pick up some Legos and accidentally break them. He’d pick up some crayons and accidentally break them. He’d pick up some kids and accidentally break them.
(2:07) I like the plan from Kross here, working on wearing Lee down. It’s not the monster truck demolition derby that we were probably expecting. He’s working a smart match.
(2:10) Lee is having to fight back one-handed. Again, that’s a good story for the match.
(2:13) So far, I think this is one of the better matches I’ve ever seen from Karrion/Killer/Kevin Kross. Not a big knock on his previous work, but more a compliment of what he and Keith Lee are doing tonight.
(2:16) Crazy strength from Kross, hitting a Saito Suplex on the much larger Lee.
(2:18) Believable near fall, with Lee almost passing out to the Kross Jacket submission.
(2:20) The pace is picking up. We’re starting to get the style of match many were expecting to see.
(2:21) Holy shit, Karrion Kross is the new NXT World Champion after a second-rope Saito Suplex. Absolute stunned silence from the crowd. I don’t think anyone thought that was going to be the end. I didn’t. The announcers were giving their usual jinx, calling the match over before the referee began his three-count, but I guess Kross is too powerful for jinxes of any kind. I’ll say 3.5 stars because I’m being generous.
(2:23) We go off the air with Kross and Scarlett celebrating on the ramp. Another very solid night of matches from NXT, as we always get with Takeover events, but nothing is going to be a Match Of The Year candidate. That isn’t necessary of every show, of course. It’s just something different from the usual Takeover.
I’ll see you all again tomorrow night with a SummerSlam Running Diary!