NXT TakeOver XXX took place on Sunday 22nd August at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. I'm trying a new way of reviewing these shows, which will be how the match ends and general thoughts about it. I appreciate any feedback about this new format.
Anyway, we had a match on the Kick Off Show, which was a triple threat tag team match between Breezango, Legado del Fantasma and Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. Breeze gets the win after hitting Lorcan with a super kick. I was surprised that Breezango won. Legado del Fantasma have been on fire over the last few weeks and I thought this would be the next step up. Having said that, it makes sense that Breezango would get the win here.
Winners: Breezango (0 for 1)
The first match was Finn Balor taking on Timothy Thatcher. This was match in which you saw Balor use his high flying offence but struggle to deal with Thatcher's style of putting you in holds that hurt you. Despite Thatcher almost getting Balor to submit a few times with a single leg Boston Crab, Balor managed to overcome his injured ankle to hit a 1916 DDT and get the win. it would have been nice to see Thatcher get the win but Balor getting the win was the right call. The match was probably not as exciting as previous Balor matches have been in NXT but this was still an entertaining contest.
Winner: Finn Balor (1 for 2)
Now, a match I was really looking forward to seeing: Johnny Gargano, Damian Priest, Bronson Reed, Velveteen Dream and Cameron Grimes facing each other in a ladder match for the vacant North American Championship. Gargano gets some help from his wife, Candice LeRae, but she gets taken out when Reed, with her on his back, splashes Gargano from the ladder. At the end of match that had some insane spots, Gargano and Priest fight it out on top of a ladder. Gargano is pushed off and Priest grabs the belt to get the win. This match was really entertaining. Having said that, I felt like it had too many false finishes. As for Priest, I think he'll do a good job being North American Champion.
Winner: Damian Priest (1 for 3)
The next match is Adam Cole (Bay Bay!) taking on Pat McAfee. Despite McAfee putting up more of a fight than I thought he should have, Cole gets the win with a Panama Sunrise. I had mixed feelings about this match. I thought it was a bit weird that the biggest heel in NXT for at least 3 years was now a face against a celebrity. However, McAfee does portray himself as an arrogant jerk so it made sense. While I was quite impressed with McAfee's wrestling ability, it doesn't mean that we should have more celebrities wrestling in NXT. Save that for the main roster.
Winner: Adam Cole (1 for 4)
The penultimate match is for the NXT Women's Championship as Dakota Kai challenges Io Shirai. Kai gets some help from Raquel Gonzalez during the match, especially when the referee is briefly taken out. However, it is not enough as Shirai hits a Moonsault to get the win and retain the title. Afterwards, Gonzalez doesn't take the loss well and attacks Shirai but Rhea Ripley comes in to make the save. This was an entertaining match between the two and it looks like Shirai's next challenge will be Ripley, which should be fun to watch.
Winner: Io Shirai (2 for 5)
The main event is for the NXT Championship as Karrion Kross challenges Keith Lee. Kross focuses on Lee's right arm and despite a great fightback by Lee, Kross manages to get the win with a Doomsday Saito from the 2nd rope. The match was pretty good. However, I strongly disagree with Kross getting the win. Keith Lee becoming the NXT Champion was a great story, especially as he was also the North American Champion. Relinquishing the North American Championship made sense but it led to Lee having the shortest NXT reign in history and that is nonsensical to me. The thing is NXT have done this before with Sami Zayn and Johnny Gargano. Both guys became Champion as part of a great feel good story then go on to lose it on their first TakeOver defence. I get that they wanted to put Lee on the main roster. However, due to the pandemic, they're not going anywhere so they could have done what they did with Kevin Owens and have him feature on the main shows while still being NXT Champion. Then, to make things worse, Kross suffered a separated shoulder during the match, leading him to vacate the Championship the following Wednesday. So, not good all round.
Winner: Karrion Kross (2 for 6)
With the exception of Kross winning the main event, I enjoyed TakeOver XXX. All of the matches were pretty good and I'm interested in seeing how NXT goes moving forward.
