NXT TakeOver: XXX (August 2020)

 

Original Airdate: August 22, 2020

From Winter Park, Florida; Your Hosts are Vic Joseph, Beth Phoenix, and Corey Graves

Opening Match: Finn Balor v Timothy Thatcher: Finn charges while Thatcher is still getting his entrance gear off, but Timothy gets the better of it as they go to the mat. This is the first time I've seen Thatcher, but I feel like even Bob Backlund would tell him to get a little flashier with his gear. Thatcher holds a front-facelock, but Balor backdrops him over the top to buy time, and punts Timothy in the ribs when he rolls back in. Finn tries to capitalize, but Thatcher outwrestles him on the mat again, this time cranking a leglock. Balor makes the ropes, but the damage is done, and Thatcher stays on the leg. Balor keeps finding escapes, but Thatcher keeps taking him back to the mat before Finn can follow up, until Balor finally manages to throw a seated dropkick at him to buy recovery time. That leads to a slugfest, with Finn getting the better of it with a pele kick, but both men end up looking up at the lights. Finn recovers first with a double stomp, so he tries for the 1916, but Thatcher powers into a block. Reversal sequence ends in Finn hooking an abdominal stretch - which seems like such a weird move to go to at this point in the contest. Balor wears him down for the 1916, but it only gets two, so Finn uses the running dropkick to set up the Coup de Grace - Thatcher dodging. That hurts Finn's leg, and Thatcher is right on that shit with a half-crab, but Balor makes the ropes. Thatcher pulls him away and stays on the leg, and drops him with a German suplex. He goes in for the kill, but Finn is ready with another abdominal stretch, down into a cradle for two. Mat-based abdominal stretch follows, but Thatcher counters to an anklelock. He grips tight to keep Balor off the ropes, but Finn manages a counter to a double stomp. That allows him to hit the Coup de Grace, and the 1916 finishes at 13:32. I was pretty bored with this one. * ¼


NXT North American Title Ladder Match: Johnny Gargano v Veleteen Dream v Damian Priest v Cameron Grimes v Bronson Reed: This is for the vacant title. Big brawl to start, you know the drill. Priest and Reed clear the ring, but Dream attacks them both before they can properly showdown, and he gives Gargano a rocker dropper for stealing his colors. Dream holds the high ground, but Grimes attacks him while he goes for a ladder. He goes for one of his own, but somehow ends up with only a little step ladder - which I genuinely hope is not a sign that Hornswoggle is coming in. Gargano hits Grimes with the slingshot shoulderblock, and he gets inside with a ladder, but Priest cuts him off. Priest's gear feels like a tribute to that Shawn Michaels Hasbro figure from back in the day. So, anyway, lots of guys trade off to try and clear the ring so they can climb, with little of consequence going on until Grimes tries to climb two ladders, and ends up in a painful looking split when they're pulled away from him. That was pretty funny. Much better than the stupid step ladder spot. Gargano does a fun sequence where he keeps blocking moves by getting onto the ladder for climb attempts, but it ultimately goes nowhere. He and Dream arm themselves with ladders to beat off any challengers, but it doesn't last long, and Priest sandwiches them both in the corner. That leads to a big sandwich spot won by Reed, and then we get the big tower of door superplex spot for good measure. Priest ends up surviving best, so he makes the first real climb attempt of the match, but Dream pulls him down. Dream climbs, but Priest springboards to knock him off. He tries another springboard at Johnny, but Gargano is ready with a kick, but Dream dumps him before he can climb. That allows Reed to wear the ladder around his head to hold guys back, but Gargano manages the slingshot DDT to put a stop to that. Dream grabs a ladder and CHUCKS it at Johnny's head, but Gargano ducks, and thank God for those social distancing barriers. Even ECW would have cringed at that one. Next we get the dog pile sequence on the outside, and even get two of them for good measure, complete with a cameo from Candice LeRae. She beats on Grimes until Johnny can come in to attack, and he helps her send Grimes off the apron with a rana for another dog pile spot. Well, at least that one felt like it had a purpose, as it leaves Johnny a clear path to climb. Which he does, but Reed knocks him off. Reed has the belt, but Candice climbs to stop him from unhooking it, so Bronson dives with a flying splash onto Gargano - complete with Candice riding his back the whole way down! That looked great. Reed climbs, but Priest is coming up the other side, and they slug it out. Priest wins, but Grimes knocks him off, and nearly gets the belt before Dream stops him. This leads to a long, overblown sequence with Dream spending an eternity setting something up some multi-ladder contraption instead of just taking the belt, but Priest knocks him off before he can even do his dive. That's just mean. Dream pouts by giving Priest a superkick that misses by a country mile, but I guess Priest feels guilty, because he sells it anyway. Dream climbs, but Reed tips him off - right onto a crash pad on the other side of the barricade. They could have at least picked a better camera angle there. This all ends in Gargano and Priest having a tug of war over the belt at the top of a ladder, with Priest getting the better of it to win the title at 21:23. Felt like they were just going through the motions of what a 'multi-man ladder match' is 'supposed' to be. ** ¼


Adam Cole v Pat McAfee: This is essentially McAfee's debut. McAfee plays mind games in the early going, messing with Adam as they feel each other out. That leads to a showdown between the Undisputed Era and McAfee's NFL pals, ending in McAfee doing a dive for a dog pile spot on the outside. Man, even the singles matches can't be without those dog pile spots. It's the real pandemic. McAfee with a bodyslam for two, and he grounds Cole in a chinlock, but Adam starts fighting free, so McAfee matslams him. Back to the hold, but Cole escapes again, so McAfee dropkicks him into the corner. He follows to slap him around, but Cole gets fired up, and slugs Pat down. Bicycle kick connects, allowing Cole to stomp a mud hole in the corner, and a fireman's neckbreaker is worth two. Shining wizard, but McAfee counters with a schoolboy for two, so Adam destroys him with a lungblower for two. He goes upstairs, but McAfee crotches him, and brings Cole down with a vertical superplex for two. McAfee is showing some crazy athleticism here. McAfee tries to take it to the apron for a punt, but Cole dodges, and Pat ends up booting the steps. Oh no, toe injuries a real pain in the ass. He might not even be able to go out for ice cream after the show. Inside, Cole capitalizes with a figure four, but McAfee escapes. Cole unloads on the leg in the corner, but Pat fights him off, and blasts him with a clothesline. He delivers a punt for two, but a flying axehandle attempt is stopped with a superkick from Cole, and the Panama Sunrise finishes at 16:10. Really basic match, but McAfee definitely shows a lot of promise and potential. * ½


NXT Women's Title Match: Io Shirai v Dakota Kai: Shirai blitzes her at the bell, beating on her challenger until Kai falls out of the ring. Shirai follows, but a distraction from Raquel Gonzalez allows Dakota to send the champ into the post. Back in, that gets Kai a two count, and she works the arm from there. In rather dull fashion, and for a long ass time, too. Shirai finally fights her off and hits a flapjack and a tiger feint kick, then dives with a springboard flying dropkick for two. Reversal sequence ends in Shirai countering a German suplex down into a double stomp, so Kai takes her out to the apron to try a German suplex from there, but Shirai counters that with a double stomp to the throat. Back in, that gets Shirai two, so Kai grabs the bad arm to back her off a little. Shirai won't back down, so Kai starts straight up kicking her in the head, but a big boot in the corner misses. That allows Shirai to start unloading running kneesmashes in the corner, and a flying double stomp knocks Dakota out of a tree of woe for two. Dakota has lost a hair extension, so you know it's getting real now. Kai grabs a cross-armbreaker to try and force a submission, but Shirai gets the ropes, and bails to the apron on the break. Kai pulls her back over with a GTS, but Shirai is in the ropes at two, and poor Dakota is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Shirai capitalizes with a German suplex to set up a flying moonsault, but the referee is down, so no count. That allows giant Gonzalez to come in and murder the champ, and Kai gets on top to steal the title... but the cover only gets two! Some good Diesel'ing from Gonzalez there, but it wasn't enough, sorry. Kai tries another GTS, but Shirai counters to a crippler crossface on the way down, but the referee is still groggy. That allows Kai time to escape, and she bails, but Shirai dives after her with a flying moonsault press. She forces the challenger back in, and a flying moonsault retains at 17:14. This took a little while to get going, and was generally good once it did, but felt very much like an indie effort overall. ** ¼


Main Event: NXT Title Match: Keith Lee v Karrion Kross: Kross tries charging at the bell, but that ends badly. Kross tries turning it into a slugfest, but that goes even worse for him, and the challenger bails. Lee follows, so Kross tries slugging it out again, but Lee just destroys him. The way Keith is eating him up here makes me think he's dropping the belt tonight. Kross dodges an avalanche against the post to get control, and he works the arm on the way back into the ring. For a long ass time. Like, I appreciate good psychology, but do more with it than five minutes of non-stop armbars. But then, Kross looks like Randy Orton from certain angles, so I guess he's going with what works. Lee finally escapes the armbars long enough to hit a powerslam for two, but Kross starts kicking him in the head, and uses a single-arm DDT for two. Lee fights off another DDT with a suplex for two, so Kross throws a headbutt downstairs, and hits a clothesline for two. Lee with his own clothesline that leaves both men looking up at the lights, but Kross recovers first with a Saito suplex for two. That's fitting, since this match is boring me to tears. Kross goes for the kill with a chinlock/bodyscissors, but Lee is too fat for the bodyscissors to properly work, and it doesn't really go anywhere, or build much in the way of drama. Also, Keith needs looser gear in the worst way. I do not need a trip to the sausage factory every time he works a match. Lee starts making a sleepy comeback after getting out of the hold, and he uses a sitout powerbomb for two, but a trip to the top backfires when Kross superplexes him to win the title at 21:50. Another flat match in a series of them tonight. Actually, it was worse than flat, it was downright boring. Especially since that extended armbar shit in the early going built to precisely nothing. ½*


BUExperience: Yo, remember when TakeOver specials used to be something to get excited about?

DUD