NXT Takeaways Heading in to Takeover
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Summerslam week has arrived which can only mean one thing… TAKEOVER! This year NXT will be following the main roster this year and will be taking place on Sunday. This has easily been the best built up event for NXT this year as every match on the card has had proper time to get the audience invested.
- Karrion Kross vs Samoa Joe
- Adam Cole vs Kyle O’Reilly
- Dakota Kai vs Raquel Gonzalez
- Cameron Grimes vs LA Knight
- Walter vs Ilja Dragunov
Just looking at this card makes the show must see. Any wrestling fan would not need much to be sold here which makes the build for each match all the better. It is something NXT had not done well in quite some time, so for them to focus on it for such a great event is a blessing. With the go home show now in the books, we have everything set in stone and can start preparing ourselves for the insanity that will be taking place inside the ring on Sunday. So before we get there, we’ll take a look at the 5 things to look at heading in to Takeover 36.
#5: Dakota Kai’s Time
Dakota Kai has been a part of the women’s division in NXT for quite some time. She has been a fan favorite for most of that time. Even after her vicious turn on Tegan Nox at War Games, the fans couldn’t bring themselves to turn on her. We have wanted her to sit atop the division for awhile now and there is honestly never been a better time than now.
In her first shot at the title, she was nothing more than a sacrificial lamb. Shayna Baszler was the champion, needing a challenger and Dakota pulled the short straw on that one.
In her second chance, Io Shirai proved to be too much for her and Raquel at ringside was not enough to over come the odds.
Raquel’s reign as champion has been subpar at best. There were moments where she looked like the champion we all thought she would be when she dethroned Io. But then there were moments where she looked in over her head. With Dakota Kai by her side, doing the dirty work to make sure the belt stayed on Gonzalez, it was only a matter of time before egos would get the best of one of them and this clash would happen. Having Dakota be the one to turn was an interesting choice seeing as how the fans have not gotten behind Raquel. But with Dakota being the one that brought Raquel in, it’s only fitting that she is the one that takes her out. So There is simply no better time than now for Dakota Kai to get the strap.
#4: MSK Deserves Better
I knew very little about this team when they debuted in NXT. I know they came from Impact and they were clearly talented, but had seen very little of what they were capable of doing. I mentioned last week that the Tag Division was in shambles for both the men’s and women’s division but it doesn’t make any sense. MSK came in and won the Dusty Classic, using that as a showcase for the fans to see who they were and what they were capable of. From there, they would go on to win the Tag Titles and with them being the most talented team in the division, it is rightfully deserved.
For whatever reason though, the fans weren’t buying in to them. The boos would come when the fans returned and it has left a lot of people confused. If that wasn’t enough, they have been given next to no competition for their title reign. You have two young guys on top of a division, that used to be a cornerstone for NXT, that have charisma, talent and the look you want for the position that they are in. The booking has been subpar at best with their best challenge being a make shift team of Ciampa and Thatcher. And even in that scenario, the challengers were favored.
If all of that wasn’t enough, here we are going in to Takeover and they are not on the card. The tag team champions are not on a Takeover event and that is absolutely ludicrous. Tag Team matches are what we expect to see start the show and get the crowd amped up. The Tag Titles are supposed to have the kind of prestige to them that makes a Tag Title match a must for an even this big. But nope. Instead, they get to main event the go home show and have their victory over shadowed by the build for another match. I would say things will probably get better, but we are 4 months in to their reign and mediocre would be an over statement for their reign. With both being under the age of 30, there is still time for this travesty to be rectified in the future but it might be time to take the belts off of them so they can build themselves back up and hope that the division is in better shape by the time they get there.
#3: The End is Near
Karrion Kross has been on Raw for a month now having matches with Jeff Hardy and Keith Lee. It wasn’t looking good for him at first when he was on the receiving end of his first loss to Jeff and it didn’t get much better for him when he and Lee went 50/50 on their matches. His booking on Raw was making it look like Kross was going to drop the title to Joe and come to Monday nights as just another guy on the roster. Since then, he was able to avenge his loss to Jeff and then come back and absolutley destroy him the next week. People haven’t forgotten what happened but Kross has slowly climbed back to looking like a monster again and it is just in time for his clash with Samoa Joe.
On the other side, the story bringing back Joe to in ring competition has been done perfectly. From cool and calm management that headed the security team to furious and determined challenger, looking to bring Kross down to reality. Joe’s intensity has been next level and has helped sell this match as a monumental clash between two bohemoths who absolutely want to rip each other apart. Kross playing cat and mouse with Joe has been great, as it showcases how much anger Joe has while allowing Kross to look like a masterful villain that has gotten in his opponents head and is just waiting for the opportunity to take his shot.
Fast forward to the go home show this week where it closed with these two going at it. Damn the security. Damn waiting for Sunday. They wanted to kill each other and it showed. The preview we saw had them tearing through security as they put each other through the barricades and chain link fence, almost as if they were ready to tear the whole building down. And with the rumors of a new look for NXT, how fitting would it be if that is exactly what these two did. Piece by piece. Inch by inch. The CWC gets turned to rubble as Kross and Joe settle their differences. With so much uncertainty moving forward, this match could go either way at this point. This is a completely stacked card for Takeover and I am looking forward to every match on Sunday, but this is the one that takes the cake because for Kross or for Samoa Joe… The End is Near.
#2: Adam Cole’s Last Dance?
Take a minute and try and think of a wrestler from the history of NXT that has a better claim as the face of the brand than Adam Cole. Once you have that name, take a few more minutes and come up with your argument as to why it’s not Adam Cole. Got it? Okay, now throw it all in the trash can because you don’t have a legitimate case. Since his arrival, Adam Cole has been a big deal. His accolades speak for themselves and his matches do the same. The only knock on Cole is that it took him too long to get the NXT Title, but he more than made up for it with the longest reign in NXT history. The only successful faction to date? Headed by Adam Cole. He has become so synonomous with the brand that it seems foreign to picture it moving forward without him. No other man or woman has that claim.
The idea that he would come to the main roster was inevitable. Not a matter of if, just when. And it was always the fantasy that it would be with The Undisputed Era but when they broke up, hearts broke all across the wrestling universe. Adam going alone? How will it work? Well, as he has so boldly put it. He is a once in a lifetime superstar. So just like his move up to the main roster, it’s not a matter of if he would get over in WWE, just when.
But now, it all might be a pipe dream. Looking back 10 years from now, we might be looking at one of the biggest “what ifs” of the decade. What if WWE didn’t let Adam Cole go? Hopefully, that isn’t the case and we are able to see him continue his career with WWE and he goes on to be the superstar we all know he can and should be. But with a handshake, short term deal on the plate right now that ends after Takeover, we don’t know what happens after that. Are we about to witness Adam Cole’s last match in NXT? Even moreso, are we never going to get Adam Cole on the main roster? In a time where WWE needs young superstars more than ever, losing him would be a travesty. And I don’t even know if that word can fully incapsulate the magnitude that this loss could be for them. We all know what’s waiting for him on the other side and it wouldn’t surprise me if it happened. I can just hope, like a lot of others out there who patiently wait for what happens with Adam Cole post Takeover.
#1: The Undeveloped Era?
With the possible impending departure of Adam Cole, what could be bigger than that? How about a complete makeover for NXT? At this point, it is all rumors and speculation. I have tried my best to hold off on any kind of speculation of my own until after Takeover. But with Takeover coming up, the time to laugh the rumors off or accept the reality of change are getting closer by the days now.
Something that happened in the closing segment of NXT caught my ear. As Karrion Kross made his slow walk to the ring to confront Samoa Joe, he said: “This is bigger than you. This is bigger than me. This is about the future of this brand.” Those words hint at a change coming, hence my idea for himself and Joe to tear the CWC down to nothing.We’ve heard they were going back to a taped format with a new look but then a few days later the news breaks that the tapings are only temporary. Those weeks that we have a taped show could be a time to rebuild a new set, and feel for the show.
We’ve heard of the no more talent over 30 idea, yet the show after Takeover is being pieced together with matches that consist of talent well over that age. No more vanilla midgets? If that was the case, it would make sense that they would have been released with all the other talent recently. That still could happen, but it just seems like a lot of noise.
Regardless of what was true and what wasn’t, it definitely feels like a change of some sort is coming and it will be interesting to see it all unfold in the coming weeks following Takeover. If it is the end, it was a helluva run and hopefully we don’t lose a lot of what made NXT so special to it’s fans. Time will tell but until then, enjoy Takeover 36 because it is going to be a fantastic show that every wrestling fan should be able to enjoy.
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