Dominik Dijakovic vs. Keith Lee

[9.0] "What an amazing match, Dijak and Keith Lee had what is possibly their greatest match with each other. In my opinion, this should've been the match where Dijak won the North American titles. This also gave us one of the best lips outside of the ring ever with Dijak jumping from the top rope into Keith Lee who was sitting in a chair. Another thing was one of the best 2.999 kickouts in NXT. This should've been 5 Stars. (Was written on 11.02.2025)"

"[7.0] god damn its baffling how crazy this is at points, keith lee is unbelievable and really had wasted potential when he moved to the main roster"

[4.0] "Definitely some cool moments here but they don't really connect together cohesively enough for me to call this match good. Like Dijakovic's chair dive is such a sick spot but it doesn't mean anything in the greater context of the match because Lee is just back on offence a few seconds later anyway which takes a lot of steam out of what should be a big moment. This happens with basically all the other big spots in the match too; a guy will take a big move and just get back on offence without any real struggle. The crowd were hot for this and there were a few moments that I enjoyed here but for the most part this wasn't really my thing. **"

[9.0] "This was like watching a cruiserweight match and super heavyweight match all rolled into one. Insane."

[10.0] "Such an incredible match between both men with absolutely brilliant and hard hitting big men shouldn't be doing action, spots and psychology between each other, both gave such incredible performances as always and the crowd was red hot for everything."

[9.0] "Keith wearing a shirt for his coach that passed due to cancer and Dijak wearing Kobe/Gigi Hoodie. what a sequence in the middle this match fucked this was awesome 2 big man doing some crazy stuff i loved it"

[9.0] "Easily one of my favourite matches I've ever seen. This here was peak NXT. The chair spot is so memorable if you which I mean. And of course two giant of men doing acrobatic style wrestling is always gonna garner huge pop from the fans"

[8.0] "What an incredible match, that was awesome, definitely their best work together so far, felt like a tribute to this very long rivalry, those two know each other very well, they had several matches on the indies and brought the rivalry to NXT, a bigger spot, and this was very nice, the fact that both hugged at the end is beautiful, they're rivals that respect each other and fight hard, they're each other's mirror, always competing, and that's very special, even considering they work styles that I'm not the biggest fan, they accomplished something very unique here. This match was bonkers, I know them for being big guys doing flippy stuff, but this can really be considered a slugfest, the match wasn't so fast, they were relying on spots, of course, but the stiff moments were the special ones, I loved the stuff outside of the ring, they created anticipation for every nasty spot and it was great, the dive on the chair by Dijakovic was nuts. The ending of the match was elongated as expected, but it had one really good nearfall, that generated a huge crowd reaction. Psychology is never a huge factor in their matches, but I liked that here you could see that Dijakovic was clearly carrying a chip on his shoulder, and wanting very bad to beat Keith Lee - {****}"

[8.0] "These guys definitely did some crazy shit in this match, but several sections of this dragged like nothing else. I also found the striking spots boring, even though they were hitting each other hard. Well, at least some of the time they were hitting each other hard. When you don't sell, it doesn't look as intense. Also, this could have been a good 7 minutes shorter."

[10.0] "10/10 My Second Favorite match of all time. Sure, there were a couple sloppy moments, but that is nothing compared to the crowd, striking, and spots."

[9.0] "Awesome match two big dudes beating each other up. Lots of spots. They were wrestling like people half their size. Dijak with a springboard front flip to the outside, spanish fly from top rope, and Keith hitting two spirit bombs before ending it with a big bang catastrophe. Hard hitting match"

[6.0] "A red-hot crowd, and a highlight tape for the ages, Sure, there were some slow moments and botches, but who really cares? Is it the most special thing ever, no, but this was great in the moment, as far as I remember. Give in a 10 or a five, I think you're right either way. 3.25 stars."

[8.0] "If this match didnt have as many botches or sloppy moments, it could have been a 10, but that doesnt mean this was a bad match, far from it. These 2 put on one of my favorite kinds of matches, 2 big dudes who can move and wont stop doing wild shit. Dijak is one of my new favorites and it makes me really sad that Vince either didnt see this match, or did and still decided to ruin him. The chair springboard, the top rope Spanish fly, and the power bomb sequences were all super hype. I love this match."

[9.0] "A huge opener to start this show. Both wrestlers really gave everything they had. Dijakovic does not hesitate to take risks by doing several dives and dives. A super hot and responsive crowd. (4*1/2)"

[8.0] "This was an awesome opener with a red-hot crowd. There was some insane stuff in this match. A big highlight being Dijakovic's springboard to the outside. Some of the match was a bit sloppy, but this was a lot of fun. ****1/4"

[6.0] "While not a bad match, it's very sloppy. While still impressive that guys this big can move as quickly as they can, their size isn't an excuse for being sloppy, as we've seen they're totally capable executing these moves in PWG and even other NXT matches. Still, extremely fun watch with extremely fun spots."

[6.0] "This was another contrived and forced epic from these two. I hated their PWG match and didn't like any of their other NXT matches, but i wouldn't consider this outright bad. The problem here is that these two already did everything they could do in their PWG match, so all of their following matches consist of almost all of the same spots, no sells, and facial expressions. The chain-wrestling wasn't very interesting, and the strikes were hit or miss. Lee had the better technique, while Dijak was sloppy and most of his strikes lacked impact. They still had their usual sloppiness and awkwardness during their big spots/sequences. Dijak suplexing Keith Lee onto the apron had zero impact and Lee almost spiked himself on the top of his head when he flipped out of the Chokeslam for the 100th time in their feud. There is some good stuff here, such as Dijak hitting a great looking Corkscrew and a dive onto the outside. Lee excelled with some of his heavy strikes and power movies too. I still didn't like the finishing stretch much at all, because it didn't feel organic at all. Choreographed sequences, no selling and nearfalls + the shocked facial expressions. Decent in parts and i didn't think it was bad but it was serviceable enough. ***"

[5.0] "I want to see a hoss fight, not two big guys cosplaying an Ospreay match. And this match was definitely these two having their match, and their match does very little to excite me at this point. It is their collection of "Isn't it crazy that THESE two are doing THESE moves! ? " exhibition. I thought all their stand and trade spots look badly rehearsed, and Dijakovic always seems to be 25% off on every super complicated thing he executes. So these matches are always filled with "MAN that's impressive for a guy his size. Imagine if it landed! " moments. Dijakovic keeps breaking out new things, and they are impressive, like his twisting moonsault in ring or his gigantic swanton to a seated Keith Lee on the floor, but these moves always seem to get sold about as long as any other less dangerous move he could have done, and that's a "him" problem. For every move I liked, there was a moment that immediately showed that it wasn't actually that devastating, and Dijakovic doesn't have the acting chops to pull off the bad fighting spirit faces he always attempts."

[10.0] "Honestly, one of the best big man matches you'll ever see. These two do stuff that's just unbelievable for their size, it's unlike anything I've seen before and to this day after. *4.75*"

[9.0] "Just an awesome opener. Lee and Dijakovic just go so well together when they step into the ring. This was all about one-upmanship and it was so much fun. Full of absolutely crazy moments, especially for their respective sizes. A true clash of the titans in Portland."

[8.0] "Pretty cool spotfest that was entertaining almost from start to end, however my favourite part of this match is the moment Lee double-chopped Dijak in the chest for the first time next to announce tables. The silence that occured was insane. This match wasn't obviously perfect, particularly I didn't like the spot where Dijak no-sold Lee's Spirit Bomb and in addition, few strikes ended up looking very sloppy. Overall, I can't sat this was a bad match. Had a great time watching this bout that really showcased both Lee and Dijakovic's incredible athleticism."

[10.0] "An absolute war from both sides, ridiculous moves from the big men, massive moves and hammering strikes in between. Even if it wasn't a technical showpiece, it is 100% worth a watch how fun and heart stopping close the bout is."

[9.0] "It might be an unpopular opinion, but I think this was MOTN for Takeover Portland. "Explosive" is the right word to describe it. It was like a WWE version of Godzilla vs Kong, but with Hurricarranas and Spanish Flies. Dijakovic's Shooting Star Press was something superior, and even if he was defeated he made a very good impression"

[9.0] "Awesome match. These two have such good chemistry. Just sucks how badly treated both were in WWE. Hoping Dijak can get out of that mess and join Lee in AEW perhaps."

[9.0] "Easily one of the best hoss fights I've ever seen. These two took what they did in their previous encounters and turned it up to eleven. Dijak and Lee both earned their place at the top of NXT after this match. It's a shame that WWE never really capitalized on their hype."

[9.0] "Great chemisrty, amazing crowd, stunning spots. They did so many things that you don't really expect from guys of their size. Two heavyweight athletes put their all against each other to create an epic battle. Their no-sells might sound bad at first, but it really added to the match, as they were putting even more fire in an already electryfying crowd. Sure, there were some sloppy moments and a few minutes of the match slowing down, but the rest was just gold. Even near the end of the match, where they could've just ended after Lee's Spirit Bomb, they decided to continue, building up Dijakovic more and giving us some more hard-hitting action"

[8.0] "Athletically, this is a match that stands out from the pack in every single way. Two giants of modern wrestling going out there and putting on a match that would have been impressive if executed by Junior Heavyweights. Simply put, this was a one of a kind experience in a WWE ring. There were moments that were a bit sloppy, but I cannot possibly go any lower than this based on the incredible feats of athleticism. 4 stars, 8 out of 10."

[9.0] "An incredible opener, and another fantastic showing from Lee and Dijak. They truly never disappointed. It was both men trying to throw every bombs they had at each other until one goes down. I actually preferred over their "five stars" bout from PWG. [****1/2]"

[6.0] "It was fun enough but they could have done much better and they did that before. It feels repetitive at this point but it's still fun."

[5.0] "Keith Lee (c) -vs- Dominik Dijakovic - (NXT North American Title) [** 1/2] I'm simply not feeling the chemistry between these two. It was the same with the PWG match they had a few years ago. They do some big stuff, some of it looking great, but the rest doesn't look right to me. Shame because some feel this was the best match on the show. I felt it was the worst."

[4.0] "It is appreciated to see the physical abilities of these 2 guys, but I think it is really boring to see only a sequence of spots in which they do not structure anything and that the epic they seek to give the match does not convince me."

[10.0] "Pure masterpiece. Dijak and Keith Lee, just FIGHT FOREVER guys. It was an incredible match that made me go through all the emotions, they gathered all the ingredients needed to make a NXT Classic and executed them perfectly because it was one. I liked everything about this match, neither of them was better than the other because they complement each other so well, they did absolutely exceptional sequences like this Swanton on the commentator's chair outside the ring, and so many others that I can't name. There are also a lot of near-falls and I must say that when Dijakovic came out of the second Spirit Bomb, it went straight into my list of my favorite kick-outs ever. Amazing action, hot crowd : what better way to open an NXT TakeOver ? It was an exceptional match that deserves all the praise in the world. After years of epic battles in the indies and even in NXT TV, Lee and Dijakovic were finally able to extend their incredible chemistry on a big stage and it resulted in an EPIC match. There was a lot of hype for this match, Mark Henry had promoted it as the best big men's battle of the century and we can only agree with him. Amazing, tremendous, fantastic, brilliant match here."

[9.0] "Enormous match, some spots were insane, Keith Lee is a machine and he impress me like he always does in NXT. Incredible no sell of the Spirit Bomb by Dijakovic who did an excellent work, these two have so much chemistry in a ring, they are telling an incredible story. The only default is that it was long to me to be invested. ****1/2"

[9.0] "Great match, they went a bit crazy on the nearfalls at the end and maybe burned through a few too many incredible spots, but incredible they were, and I watching these big dudes try to smash each other apart."

[9.0] "While I did love their other matches on NXT TV, none of them really felt like candidates for a MOTY list. This one did. It lived up to all my expectations. I was not surprised by how good this match was, as they were finally given a chance to do this kind of match on the Takeover stage, and I knew that would yield amazing results. A fantastic combination of high spots and power moves, and the facial expressions of both men alone told a great story. A perfect example of how to open a show. (****1/2)"

[2.0] "I don't understand the praise that this match has gotten. All they did was try to have a big spots fest and I really think they went too far with the finisher kickouts and it just took me out completely, they can be done right if structured well, but this was just spam after spam. Extremely overrated - *"

[8.0] "A very good match. Lee and Dijakovic played the crowd well. The crowd was completely hot for this match and these two behemoths, titans etc. delivered a great match. This was everything I wanted from this match. I would have loved it if they did something more but overall, this was a very good match. ****1/4"

[7.0] "After a slow start and a couple of big spots, including a fairly spectacular one, the match picked up and it evolved into a toned down version of the kind of match you? d see between these two in PPW."

[9.0] "Holy crap, what a fucking match! I wasn't that hyped at first because of how many times had already fought but i was still surprised : while the story isn't much more than "who's gonna be the best big guy", they sure made the most of it and went full "John Woo" with the spots (especially the high flying ones). Despite this, they still managed to put a little more that their previous bouts : i really liked their facial expressions and i really loved Dijakovic selling the pain from the sit out powerbomb while still going through it (i really that type of spot). However, Dijakovic's strikes kinda low down the rating for me (i guess it wasn't too bad because of how he's built but still, he could have been a little stiffer). In conclusion, is it the match of the year? No, but if you want a big men doing crazy athletic stuff type of match pushed to insanity, i highly recommend you that one."

[8.0] "7. 85/10 : Alright, now that they had their Takeover match can they stay away from each other for a while? One LONG while? While, yes, "two giants beating the shit out of each other while defying big man standards" will always have some entertainment value to it as long as they do it through spots we have not seen before, (like fuck, that springboard to the outside on the chair! Un-fucking-believable nor forgettable! ), I think it's fair and safe to say seeing this match on a card is no longer exciting. Somebody here said that they actually have a very forced chemistry and I can't unhear it, it's so true. Dijakovic still has ways to go before becoming interesting beyond "giant man does not giant man things! " both in-ring and personality wise. If you have never seen these two against each other then please, don't let this deter you from watching this match, you'll like it; but if you have, there is only a handful of spots here that will interest you."

[6.0] "They bring nothing new here. Just same thing they have produced in the last few years - Big boys doing cool, big moves. The set up of spot was pretty dull here as they just waited for too long to set up new spots. Much like Balor/Gargano, i completely lost my interest by half of the match. I did like some parts of this match. Pretty good overall."

[5.0] "I'm so tired of this style of match up, I do not vibe with it at all. They are not bad wrestlers but they are obsessed with this fake epic style of doing a series of spots that don't flow in any meaningful or interesting way. Some of the transitions and striking exchanges were embarrassingly sloppy. It's like their trying to wrestle like they're light heavyweights, but they're not, and it shows."

[8.0] "Some really awesome athletic moves and a hot crowd but in between the exciting moves and moments there was a lot of nothing happening which brought the match down a bit, liked the end where the pace picked up a little and we got closer to seeing a match with more sequences of action."

[5.0] "Now that these two have had their style of match on a TakeOver, can we please keep them away from each other? Every match they've had further proves how their chemistry isn't organic as they continue striving for another convoluted acrobatic contest much like their PWG affair. This clash does however try remaining grounded in some level of realism, for better or for worse. The chain wrestling is plodding, detached from the rest of the match and feels vapid of meaning compared to their intense starts in past encounters. Dijakovic's forearms and clubbing blows look sloppy, only garnering reactions from the slap sounds made alongside. Him suplexing Lee onto the apron also holds little impact as Keith Lee ends up rolling on the edge instead of being dropped on it. Lee works well enough to salvage these efforts with good timing for his selling and reversals, but Dijakovic does shine when it comes to his aerial manoeuvres; the Corkscrew Moonsault and Springboard Somersault Senton especially outdo the big dives of their past encounters. There's still a sense of awkwardness in between these highlights; they'll still tease their corny turnbuckle spot and highly choreographed sequences when they are nowhere close to as impressive looking at the dives and power moves that follow minutes afterwards. The finishing stretch returned to their bread and butter, with each exchanging high spots that can be hit-or-miss. The occasional botch/slip up happens (Lee flipping out of a Chokeslam almost spiking himself) and both men kickout of everything but the other's finisher, resulting in all kinds of overdone facial expressions. I do appreciate Dijakovic's selling of the neck towards the end though, bouncing back to his feet from a Spirit Bomb ala their PWG match, only this time he can't capitalize on the moment and ends up suffering another one. There are some truly great parts here, but barely anything that wasn't already shown in their previous matches. **3/4"

[6.0] "Fun acrobatic contest between two big men who are both impressively athletic. I really don't see it as much more than that though to be honest and rather than wowing you further, with each match that goes by I find it to be diminishing returns. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but it's not a particularly great match for me."

[6.0] "This was more a showcase of various spots than a match. It didn't flow particularly well instead just moving from crazy moment to crazy moment. It was a display of breathtaking athleticism and the crowd loved it but at this stage it would be more of a surprise to me if these guys just had a simple wrestling match."

[8.0] "This was a battle of giants so it was a lot of attempts to gain power which was great. It wasn't an overly flashy match so when they did their big spots it really had a bigger impact. Both men did moves no men their sizes should be able to do. I liked the finish of Dominik's body giving out on him due to the weight of Lee (****1/4)"

[6.0] "It was fine. I'd like the see these two try to not just repeat the same match they've had many times before, but apparently that is too much to ask for."

[7.0] "This was easily a one man show between these two men. Dijakovic, while having his moments, looked lost and confused most of the time during this contest. His moves are insanely silly and don't do much for his character. I can never tell if he's trying to pull off monster heel or just athletic big man most of the time. Keith Lee easily carried this one tho. With his insane strength and incredible timing, he was able to make sure this match went past the "decent" mark in my opinion. All of his moves looked good and he provided excellent character work as well. Good match that could've been better if Lee had a better opponent. ***1/2"

[8.0] "Good opening match. These guys do incredible things despite their size. One of the best matches on this show. ****1/4"