NXT TakeOver: In Your House Review

NXT TakeOver: In Your House took place on Sunday 7th July in the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. I'm looking forward to this one as the card looks pretty good so, let's take a look.

After an opening musical performance by Code Orange, we get our first match; which is the team of Shotzi Blackheart, Mia Yim and Tegan Nox taking on Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez. The match is a good back and forth affair before Kai distracts the referee, giving Gonzalez the chance to clothesline Blackheart and give her team the advantage. Blackheart manages to get the hot tag to Yim. Later on, Yim and LeRae brawl to the back and Nox hits The Shinest Wizard on kai to get her team the win. This was a fun match to watch.
Winners: Shotzi Blackheart, Mia Yim and Tegan Nox (0 for 1)

The next match is Finn Balor taking on Damien Priest. Balor hits Priest with a running dropkick before the bell and when the bell rings, Balor continues his assault. Priest sends Balor into the steel steps to get the advantage. Balor gets back into the match and hits Priest with a forearm, sending him onto the steel steps. Balor then hits 2 Coup de Graces to get the win. This was quite a good match.
Winner: Finn Balor (1 for 2)

We now get  Johnny Gargano challenging Keith Lee  for the NXT North American Championship. After a few minutes, Gargano tries to leave via the door on the entrance way. The match goes back into the ring and Gargano focuses on the hand that he injured earlier in the week. Lee does get back into it but he's hampered by the injured hand. Garagno and Lee go out of the ring and Gargano has to break the count to stop Lee getting counted out. That turned out to be a bad idea as Lee bodychecks Gargano through the plexiglass into the crowd. Candice LeRae tries to interfere but she's stopped by Mia Yim. In the end, Lee hits 2 spirit bombs followed by a Big Bang Catastrophe to get the win. I thought this was a really good match.
Winner: Keith Lee (2 for 3)

The next match is a Backlot Brawl for the NXT Championship as The Velveteen Dream challenges Adam Cole (Bay Bay!). Highlights of the match include: Cole trying to leave a few minutes into the match and Dream stopping him with a baseball bat; an Uber randomly arriving(?);  Cole sent flying into a car windshield; Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish interfering; Dexter Lumis coming out from under the ring and putting Strong and Fish into the boot of his car and driving away; and Dream hitting a Purple Rainmaker. In the end, Dream gets caught monologuing and Cole low blows him. Cole then hits a Panama Sunrise onto a pile of chairs to get the win. The match was ok but the constant camera cuts and the random bit with the Uber did take me out of it a little bit.
Winner: Adam Cole (3 for 4)

The penultimate match is Karrion Kross taking on Tomasso Ciampa. Ciampa gets in some offense for a few minutes before Kross slams him onto the ring apron. Kross goes on to hit an array of suplexes keeping Ciampa down. Ciampa does make a comeback but Kross made him pass out due to the Kross Jacket, giving him the win. I was surprised that Ciampa got in as much offense as he did but otherwise, it was the kind of match that I expected.
Winner: Karrion Kross (4 for 5)

 For the first time in almost 5 years, the NXT Women's Championship will be in the main event as Charlotte Flair faces Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley in a triple threat match. Highlights of the match include: Charlotte doing Flair chops on both Ripley and Shirai; Charlotte putting Shirai in a Boston crab; Shirai putting Charlotte in a cross face; and Ripley stopping Charlotte putting Shirai in the Figure 8. The match goes to the entrance way and Shirai takes out Charlotte and Ripley with a crossbody off the top of the set. The match goes back in the ring and Ripley hits Charlotte with a Riptide from the top rope then puts Shirai in the Prism Trap. Charlotte remembers that it's no disqualification so beats the fuck out of her opponents with a kendo stick. Charlotte puts Ripley in the Figure 8 but Shirai hits Ripley with an Asai Moonsault then pins her to get the win.

The match was really good and I was quite surprised that Io won. As for Charlotte Flair, I feel like her reign was a wasted opportunity. She only defended her title twice beforehand and she got herself disqualified in one of them. I was looking forward to see face other wrestlers such as Tegan Nox and Candice LeRae; but based on the fact that she challenged Asuka for the RAW Women's Championship the following night, I guess that's not happening.
Winner: Io Shirai (4 for 6)

TakeOver was pretty good but it was let down by the NXT Championship. With the pandemic happening, WWE have been doing a few cinematic style matches. For some reason, the 2 worst ones have been on NXT. Hopefully, they will do less of them in the future.