[6.0] "Honestly, this TakeOver was a small disappointment. The first two matches were pretty good, Johnny Gargano vs Keith Lee was for me the best match of this TakeOver, the Backlot Brawl Match wasn't great, Karrion Kross vs Tommaso Ciampa did his job, and the Main Event was pretty disappointing. That's my point of view for this first edition of NXT TakeOver: In Your House. Show rating: 5.5/10"
[7.0] "A weaker takeover which was average . A solid opener , a good match between Priest/Balor and a very good main event saving the takeover from getting even worse. Lee/Gargano was underwhelming as I expected more . The squash was meaningless and the NXT title match was a disaster ."
[7.0] "Pretty solid event with a fair amount of good matches and some rather average encounters. Opening six woman tag was solid for what it was and a nice showcase for the women. Priest vs Balor was great. I thought Priest held his own well against the experienced veteran. This could have gone either way. NA title match was excellent and I liked the usage of the key towards the end. Two different styles but they worked very well. Now the NXT title match could have been fun but honesty it was just there. I felt like it was just a way to give Cole one final successful defense. In no way did it seem like Dream could win, but his Negan outfit was a high point. Kross picks up the upset win against Ciampa in a match that happened. I can see why the main event was thought of as MOTN, even though I found it pretty good at best. At times it felt a bit slow or sloppy but I cannot say that the women did not deliver. They did well, and Shirai deserved the win. This show was solid and honestly I liked it for the In Your House throwback.. and Todd Pettengill."
[6.0] "This Takeover was one of the weaker ones but the show wasn't bad. The six woman tag match was good. Nothing noteworthy though. (***) Finn Balor vs Damian Priest was great. (***3/4) Keith Lee vs Johnny Gargano was surprisingly average. They were slow despite being agile in the past. (**3/4) The Backlot Brawl was disappointing and pretty boring with both Adam Cole and Velveteen Dream stalling by looking for each other. The last spot was pretty good though. (*3/4) Karrion Kross murdering Tommaso Ciampa was intense and fun to watch despite being a squash match. (**1/4) The main event was MOTN with Io Shirai finally winning the NXT Women's Title (****) Overall, good PPV but, pretty weak in some areas."
[7.0] "Not the strongest Takeover but certainly not the weakest. //// Opening tag was a fun opener but sloppy in parts. Nothing too bad but also nothing too stellar either (**3/4) //// I didn't know what to expect from Balor/Priest but they did well. This was a pretty good brawl with nice transitions throughout. (***3/4) //// Lee and Gargano just felt like 20 minutes of nothing to me, I don't know why. I definitely enjoyed some of the spots where Gargano struggled with the size difference (like dragging Lee back into the ring). The whole key thing was odd, we all knew he put it in his trunks so why him trying to bust down the door looked stupid. (***) //// Backlot Brawl sucked. Just straight-up sucked. I don't give star ratings to cinematic matches but if it was on the matchguide it would get a solid 2. //// Kross and Ciampa was short but I'm kinda glad it was. It served its purpose and was a solid showing for Kross. (***1/4) //// The main event took a moment to gain its footing but when it did it was pretty fun. They basically worked mini-matches between the three throughout the match. I absolutely LOVED the finish too, so well done. (****1/4)"
[6.0] "Fun show but definitely not reaching the high points of other Takeovers, with two actively bad matches. [Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez vs Mia Yim, Shotzi Blackheart & Tegan Nox] - 3 stars. [Finn Balor vs Damian Priest] - 3 1/4 stars. [Keith Lee vs Johnny Gargano] - 4 stars (Match of the Night). [Adam Cole vs The Velveteen Dream] - 1 3/4 stars (Worst of the Night). [Tommaso Ciampa vs Karrion Kross] - 2 stars. [Charlotte Flair vs Io Shirai vs Rhea Ripley] - 4 stars. Average match rating: 3 of 5 (or 6 of 10)."
[5.0] "Garbage womens match to open as usual. Balor and priest put on a pretty good showing. Everything else was a bit of a let down. The Cole match was fun for what it was but there's only so good a match like that can be. Main event was garbage as you'd expect from the women involved. IO or not, 95% of womens matches are trash and this shouldn't have been anywhere near the main event."
[7.0] "We get it, no crowd and all, although still a weaker Takeover event. 6 Man Tag Team Match is skippable, nothing special. Balor vs Priest was an amazing match considering few had opted for them to deliver in that level (****). Much more was expected from Johnny Takeover vs Keith Lee but they underperformed (***1/4). Backlot Brawl wasn't anything special except for Dexter Lumis showing up to further his storyline with the UE. Kross vs Ciampa was basically a near to squash match with Kross announcing his arrival in style, Kross' performance was unbelievable (**1/2). Main Event didnt disappont, fairytale ending & some great spots including the crossbody from the IYH were the highlights of the match, Io Shirai deserves it, Charlotte & Rhea performed equally well (****). I cannot seem to give this show more than 7 points. Balor/Priest & Charlotte/Io/Rhea best matches of the night, Gargano/Lee could have done better."
[7.0] "By TakeOver standards a somewhat weaker event, but there was still a good amount to like here, including three good matches in Shirai-Flair-Ripley, Lee-Gargano and Balor-Priest, an impactful first TakeOver match for Kross in his rapid victory over Ciampa. Cole-Dream didn't really do much for me; the cinematic format didn't really add anything to the match that couldn't have been done in a normal in-arena match, nor introduce anything to the format that we haven't seen before (I also think that, across all companies, we're past the saturation point for these cinematches - not every show needs to have one). The In Your House theme, while a nice bit of nostalgia, seemed like somewhat of a random overlay and could have been played up a bit more as a reference to our current quarantine days, though I did like the house key utilization and door-cam angle during Lee-Gargano."
[7.0] "Mia Yim, Shotzi Blackheart & Tegan Nox vs. Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez: ***1/4; Finn Balor vs. Damian Priest: ***3/4; Keith Lee vs. Johnny Gargano: ***; Adam Cole vs. The Velveteen Dream: cinematic stuff, not the best even in that category; Karrion Kross vs. Tommaso Ciampa: **; Io Shirai vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley: ***3/4"
[5.0] "This fell well below usual expectations for a Takeover. There were some really fun elements with the In Your House theme, but those were the highlight of the show. The in ring action was well below par for NXT. The opening tag match was enjoyable, the main event would have been solid for a mid-card match on most takeovers. But the world title match didn't work as a cinematic match, this was the first Gargano match that I can remember that I didn't enjoy, and the Kross/Ciampa match was incredibly underwhelming. This one really missed the mark for me."
[8.0] "Great Show, really great show. I Personally Think that Double or Nothing was a little better, but overall it is a great show. Showstealer personally I would quote Johnny Gargano vs Keith Lee, has been really fantastic as a Storytelling Point of View and a Psicology point of View. I Honestly dont enjoy David vs Goliath Stories but this one was fantastic and Gargano proved again to be the best worker in NXT otherwise, Keith Lee proved to be the most Outstanding worker in WWE today. I loved also Balor vs Damien Priest. Balor is in his best shape in his WWE run and Damian Priest was able to use the oportunity to face the Prince to show the world his talent. Really Good stuff, Hard hitting and Great finish with two Culp de Grace in a Row. I loved also Karrion Kross vs Ciampa I never Thought that it could easly be a squash and I never thought that Karrion Kross was so good in the ring as a Worker (Ranallo quotes about UWF was great). I personally didn't enjoy Adam Cole vs The Dream that much, I think this Movie-Matches right now are getting burned out, WWE and AEW use it to escape the empty arena matches but after the Boneyard and the Firefly fun house and the Stadium Stampede right now it has been all said and done. Happy for Adam Cole I was betting about the Dream become NXT champion and I can not Understand the way they booked him in this 2020 feud with the leader of Undisputed Era. Main Event was good. I would never thougt this could be the Main Event and I think they did it to let Io Shirai all the moment and because they Wanted to present a Japanese ending with all the confetti etc. Great match but I don't agree with other accounts in this site I don't think is the Showstealer, I dont enjoy that much Triple Threat MAtches and I don't Like the way WWE many time present it, it was good but not the best match of the Night. I also loved all the retro stuff, remembering the In Your House shows in the 90's, the home, the commercials and NXT logo at the beginning."
[5.0] "This wasn't good at all and was a return to the development era for NXT. So much was wrong and only strong individual performances held the card together. The opener was a complete mess, but that is to be expected with this sort of random match. In 10 minutes not one decent sequence of moves says it all. Balor was strong, but Priest not up to this level. Lee and Gargano was a massive flop and one that bookers should be ashamed off. Nothing in the match story followed any wrestling logic. The "back lot brawl" is another flop, why are two pure wrestlers booked in a hardcore match? All the stipulation achieved was a couple of spots while covering up the undoubted technical skills of both men. Another match with no logic. Kross and Ciampa was very good while it lasted. Hopefully this is the beginning of a big push for Kross and the end of the road for the stale Ciampa. The main event is massively overrated because the fans darling Shirai finally wins the title. Ripley was well out of her depth and her striking was Shane McMahon bad again. All three struggled, Flair in particular needs a proper match in order to chain her moves together. Shirai saved the entire show with her spectacular spots, but was largely anonymous besides. Overall, the booking of the entire show needs a serious review, this card should be guaranteeing a 8 at least, but decisions made above the wrestlers prevented that. Positives were Balor, Kross, Shirai, Cole also showed up well although well out of his element."
[8.0] "Pretty good show overall. The opening six-woman tag match was a fine opener with some fun moments, but had some botches. Good enough for a 3-star rating. Balor vs. Priest was a 13-minute match full of action, aggression and delivered throughout. That match was good enough for a 4-star rating. Gargano vs Lee was good, dragged just a bit, but was overall enjoyable with some very good spots. It could've been a bit shorter, but at least it wasn't as long as most Garagno Takeover matches. I'll give it 3. 5 stars. The Backlot Brawl was not filmed well, felt awkward, and had tons of unneeded jump cuts. It wasn't too long, and the closing minutes were enjoyable, so I guess it's good enough for a 3 or 3. 25 rating? Kross vs. Ciampa was mostly an extended squash, which was shocking considering how long and competitive Ciampa's past Takeover matches were. Kross got put over big-time. The match was 2. 5 stars, but the importance of what happened in that match is what matters. The main event was a bit uneven and sloppy in the first half, but was incredible in the second half. The finish was fantastic, the match never overstayed its welcome and it might have stolen match of the night honors from Priest/Balor. I'll give it 4 stars, but a bit more or less isn't out of the question. All in all, this show was about around a 7 or 8 out of ten. It was under 2 and a half hours, which is is great, considering it was a six-match card. Only one match even reached 20 minutes, so it didn't drag at all. There were some fantastic throwback "ads" such as Ico-Pro, mixed in, giving it the nostalgia feel a show of this moniker requires. This was not the best Takeover ever. It wasn't top five. Ultimately, it was a very good show with no bad matches, tons of highlights, and a well-paced one overall. It could have been better, but it was quality entertainment when all was said and done."
[7.0] "This is probably the worst takeover ever, but that not as bad as its seems as Takeover have all been at a really high standard. The opening six woman tag team was good however it seem that Raquel Gonzalez is not at the same level as the other 5 which brought the standard of the match down. Balor vs Priest was an interesting big man vs little man contest and probably made Priest look good but he took one hell of a bump outside. Gargano vs Lee was really good in parts, but its seems like there was something missing to make it special. Cole vs Dream, if they had a normal match, would have been the match on the night however the backlot brawl didn't have that wow factor, certainty nxt dropped the ball on this match. Ciampa squashed by Kross, surprised result after that great match with Gargano didn't see a squash coming. Triple threat match was for certain match of the night, little rough in places but overall the good feeling for end the show"
[6.0] "A decent show, but certainly one that falls below the high standards set by TakeOvers past. The opening tag match was sloppy, although Dakota Kai came across very well and stood out as the MVP of the match, both athletically and in terms of character work. The multi-dive spot in the first five minutes was very cheap and not especially well executed, and this OK-quality match wouldn't have stood out on TV, let alone a Takeover. Balor-Priest was probably the low-key match of the night, opting for a straightforward story and executing it beautifully. The use of the ring steps was very inventive and this did a very good job of getting Priest over while still portraying Balor as the clearly superior wrestler - really good stuff. Lee-Gargano was a mixed bag - slightly too long (or at least, too much downtime outside the ring) and tonally inconsistent, it was nevertheless consistently entertaining and a good showcase of two world class competitors. The Backlot Brawl sits at the bottom of the pile of 2020's cinematic matches - by no means was it awful, but it never really embraced the potential of these kinds of matches. A bit too dull overall, and slightly marred by the constant and jarring shine of the headlights, it still had its moments. Kross-Ciampa was too quick to really get into it - it did its job of making Kross look like a monster but as a viewer I was left wanting much more. The main event was mostly good - two main drawbacks in that it relied on a lot of very familiar triple threat psychology, and the finish left a LOT to be desired - we've seen Charlotte lose this exact way multiple times in the past year, and it wasn't executed as cleanly as you'd want. Even with those gripes included, it's still a strong match, but it arguably should have been better than it was. Overall, a slightly disappointing show, but that owes more to high expectations than any in-ring failings - this was still fundamentally sound and a decent watch."
[7.0] "Not the best takeover for sure but still a good ppv The NXT championship match was a bit disappointing to me .. Top 3 of the night 3. Keith Lee 2. Karrion Kross 1. Io Shirai of course"
[5.0] "Very average show. Squash, recorded match and Gargano with Keith failed in my opinion by booking . The other 3 matches are not even bad. The main match of the day is a very good match."
[6.0] "Not as good of a show as we are used to from TakeOvers, however, the first TameOver in the Covid era delivered 3 good matches. Opening 6-women tag match was fun, had some nice dives. Never got past the fun stage though, so an adequate ** 1/2. I really enjoyed Finn vs. Priest. Loved the spots involving the ring steps. Another minute or two and this could have been great. *** 3/4. Gargano vs. Lee was okay. It didn't work as well as some other small man heel vs. giant face matches as there were some awkward spots with the big difference in size between the two men. Also went a bit longer than it needed to. ***. Backlot brawl could have been fun, but the gimmick ended up hurting the match more than helping it. Some cool spots, but took too much time to set them up. Lighting was awful. * 3/4. Ciampa vs. Kross was about what I expected, although I thought Ciampa may have gotten a bit more offense. ** 1/4. Main event was good. Loved the finish, dive off the set, and the use of the kendo stick, however besides those spots I don't recall any others that used all three women at once. A few more creative spots could have helped this become great, I have higher standards for triple threats but still a pretty good *** 1/2. Three good matches and no egregiously bad matches results in a 6/10 from me."
[8.0] "Overall a good show. Opening 6 woman tag pretty good. Nothing special but alright **3/4. Balor vs Priest was a great match and a great showing from Priest, who doesn't really get the credit he deserves, even as far back as ROH ****. Gargano vs Lee was a really good match. Had a nice story for it and good performances by both, but idk something felt slightly off ***3/4. Cole vs Dream wasn't bad but it was the weakest of all cinematic matches and the camera work/lighting was really bad. Kross vs Ciampa was what it needed to be. I've never been big on Kross but he needed a dominating win here. Did find his facial expressions more funny than scary though ***1/4. Charlotte vs Io vs Rhea was a great main event. Sloppy at times but the stiffness worked too. Charlotte was no selling a lot from Rhea though which was weird, they had some real sloppy exchanges. But the action was still great and the Io win is nice ****1/4."
[7.0] "Nox, Blackheart, & Yim v. Kai, Gonzalez, & LaRae (6/10) - I was pretty impressed by everyone here. Raquel absolutely saved Shotzi on that one tope suicida. It's great to see Tegan get some revenge on Kai, and that next Mia Yim v. Candice LaRae match should rock. Finn Balor v. Damien Priest (7/10) - Didn't expect much from this ut it really did build up nicely throughout. Priest looked dominant, and Finn throwing some hard strong style looking strikes. That last back bump on the stairs looked excruciating, holy shit. Johnny Gargano v. Keith Lee (8/10) - Real slow build but it lead to a great story with the injured hand and eye of Lee. Johnny was really hamming it up as a heel and I love it, he's so good. Good win for Lee over an established guy like Gargano, Lee's one of the best babyfaces in wrestling. Adam Cole v. The Velveteen Dream (7/10) - My least favorite "cinematic match" of the recent bunch, still a bunch of fun to watch even if I was left wanting more. Cole's trash talking and the Dexter Lumis follow up were my highlights. Karrion Kross v. Tommaso Ciampa (5/10) - Exactly what it needed to be. I Don't exactly love Kross & Scarlett, but if they're going to the top of the card, this is the way to build them up. Looking forward to see where Ciampa goes from here. Charlotte Flair v. Io Shirai v. Rhea Ripley (9/10) - Great match, the addition of Io to the Flair/Ripley dynamic only improved things. They all had some crazy spots, but Io might've been most impressive. A deserved win for sure."
[8.0] "Great but not elite. Three matches the quality of Priest/Balor, Lee/Gargano, and Shirai/Ripley/Flair make it a great show, but a really poor and frustrating NXT title match holds it back. The women's tag was entertaining enough but not really up to what you expect from a Takeover match, and Kross/Ciampa was more of an angle, but those two matches didn't take up a great deal of time. 3 really, really great matches and one major misfire."
[5.0] "The nostalgia gimmick was obviously put up to cover the fact that this was an incredibly mediocre show. I liked the NA, Women's, and Finn/Priest matches, but then you had a sloppy tag team match, a squash, and a disappointing "cinematic" match."
[9.0] "Finn Balor and Priest had a banger of a match with a ton of great strikes. **** Keith Lee and Gargano was smartly booked, and both showed a ton of technical ability. **** Cole and Velveteen had a decent showing that was elevated by the unique presentation. ***1/2 Karrion Kross has an awesome presentation, with an okay match in the end. He shows a ton of promise. *** The main event had a feel-good ending with a ton of great spots. It was a blast. ****1/2 This Takeover delivered while also remaining a subdued major show, which I think will help reset expectations for future shows. Overall it was fantastic."
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