NXT Takeover: Toronto 2019
Toronto, Ontario, CA - August 2019
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Adam Cole is the reigning NXT Champion, Shayna Baszler is the NXT Women's Champion, the North American Champion is Velveteen Dream, and the NXT Tag Team Champions are the Street Profits.
COMMENTARY: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuiness, and Beth Pheonix
After a somewhat weird/fairly uninspired "opening" that was basically just a static shot of the crowd staring at a video wall that was airing the same NXT hype music video we've seen dozens of times backed by the same tired metalcore (or whatever one calls it) garbage, it was time for our opening contest: The Street Profits defending the NXT Tag Team Championships against The Undisputed Era, specifically Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish. I'm not super familiar with The Profits outside from a random NXT match and their Takeover appearances, so I was a bit surprised that Angelo Dawkins, who stands 6'5'' and 260 pounds (according to wikipedia), was actually able to keep up with the mat wrestling of O'Reilly in the early going. While Montez Ford has the more marketable look and charm, I was less impressed with his minutes, especially his transitions, as there were some noticeable times when he was practically "leaning in" to the Era's offense or literally waiting for them to strike him. The lack of polish is glaring in 2019 WWE where the vast majority of wrestlers, say what one may about their characters or star power, are almost all smooth workers. As the match went on, things picked up and the hot crowd helped too - this was an audience that wanted to see a great match so they treated a very good match as that, giving it a loud "This is Awesome" chant despite its flaws. Dawkins was the clear MVP of the contest, his hot tag resulting in two great power spots that saw him literally toss one UE member into the other. It was a tremendous visual and got a massive pop. The finish was a bit puzzling as it really seems like The Street Profits have been called up to the main roster and I'm not sure they're really a team that one could build a division around, but those questions don't go into my grading. A hot opener that kept my interest from beginning to end, even if there were some sloppy moments. (3.5/5)
Io Shirai took on Candice LeRae in the next match. Shirai turned heel since the last NXT Takeover, betraying her biggest supporter, LeRae. The crowd was not as amped for this as the previous match, but did pop big for some of Shirai's vicious offense. I was really impressed by how much Shirai's moveset, demeanor, and pacing differed from when she was a babyface. LeRae kept up with her, but this really felt like a Shirai "coming out party," a match designed to spotlight her talents as a heel (talents I fear will go to waste on the main roster some day). Just when I thought this match might've went too long, they busted out yet another big spot. Unfortunately, my Network's audio was glitching terribly and made it seem like the ref was making all sorts of 4 counts, but luckily it clicked back in time for Shirai's submission finish. This wasn't an all-time great classic, but it was definitely above average. (3/5)
Before the next match, Matt Riddle showed up and challenged Killian Dane. I'm a Riddle fan, but I don't watch NXT TV enough to know about or care about this feud. It was nice that they got some time on this show and I liked the pull-apart brawling (including getting to see Riddle drill Ricochet and Breeze with short-arm knees to the face), but the final spot was hokey and overtly staged. I think I would've preferred something a bit more novel or "buzzworthy" here.
The North American Championship was on the line next as The Velveteen Dream defended the strap against Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong. As has become a Takeover tradition, Dream had an elaborate entrance - this time featuring The Mountie's theme song, a tip of the hat to the Toronto Raptors and, in the first few minutes of the bout, some Bret Hart-inspired offense. Dream should be bulletproof on the main roster - but this is a company who couldn't make Shinsuke Nakamura a star when he was the talk of the industry. As one could've predicted, this was a frantic, madcap match with a very thin story - but that's not to say it wasn't fun and didn't feature some hellacious spots (many of which came out of Roderick Strong, a guy that has quietly been involved in some of NXT's best matches of the past few years). Dunne was no slouch either - his suplexes are fantastic and he got a great pop for a double fingerbreak spot. If anything, it was Velveteen Dream, the most charismatic of the bunch, who shined the least. I've written about it before, but Dream is at his best when he is the foil to another strong character - and though excellent technical workers, Strong is not that and Dunne is a far better ruthless heel than likable babyface (note that one of Dunne's best moments a blatantly heel move - a face-crushing curb stomp on Dream that drew legit groans from the Toronto crowd). The final minutes were as strong as the rest of it and it legitimately felt like anyone might steal the win, especially considering that Dream is so over that he either should be fighting for NXT's top prize or bypassing it altogether and heading to the main roster. The best match of the night up to this point. (4/5)
One of my favorites - Shayna Baszler - defended her NXT Women's Championship against Mia Yim next. The crowd was definitely a little bit deflated after the last bout, barely responding to the introductions to either woman. I liked the story and build towards this match as Yim sought to "bring the fight" to Baszler, attempting to brawl with and bully Baszler, something Kairi Sane and Ember Moon couldn't do. Yim went after Baszler's arm early, smashing it between the post and the stairs, which Baszler sold well as the match progressed. It was also cool to see Yim escape Baszler's submission-based offense with real simple escapes - like raking her eyes or jamming her fingers down her throat. The rest of Yim's offense was fairly basic and not necessarily excellently-executed, but it deserved more than the live crowd was giving it (which was not much in the first 6-7 minutes). Baszler's aforementioned longterm selling was great, but it didn't prevent her from hitting some big moves herself- including some nasty knees to Yim's chin. Things picked up a bit when Yim hit a huge sunset flip powerbomb off the top rope for 2, a move that was swiftly followed by Baszler locking in her Karakula Clutch. Yim was able to escape by going after Baszler's fingers and countering the maneuver with an armbar, but Baszler countered that into another Karakula and, when that didn't work, a Triangle Choke with her legs to tap Yim. I'm not sure who should defeat Baszler for her title, but it shouldn't be Yim - at least not yet - as she definitely didn't "wow" the crowd the way, say, Bianca Belair did a few months back. No worse than average, in fact, this would destroy just about any Divas match from before 2013 or so, but the bar has been raised and this one struggled to get much of a response from the crowd. (3/5)
Main event time - Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match for Cole's NXT Championship. I'm guessing this will be one of the more divisive matches of 2019 - to some, it will probably on their shortlist of Match of Year contenders. To me, it was everything I expected but nothing more - and, sadly, that means it was exactly as long-winded and overcooked as I (and everyone else) predicted. On the plus side, we didn't see too much of the "Gargano concussion face" and, all things considered, there wasn't a gratuitous amount of finisher kickouts (though, of course, there was that) There was some psychology too - with Gargano intentionally taing the DQ loss in the first fall to set himself up to win the second. Unfortunately, while the intention was there, the execution was lacking. Gargano getting himself DQ'd would've made more sense if he had actually capitalized on strategy - instead, his chair attack was treated like a transition move, no different than any of the other high spots. And, if you're a fan of high spots, this match certainly offered a whole bunch of them, though, because we've seen these guys wrestle for over 100 minutes at the last 3 Takeover specials, I couldn't tell you which spots were actually fresh. Unlike the Ciampa/Gargano matches, in which the audience, for the most part, "played along" and cheered the hero over the villain (the "Fuck You Ciampa" chant was an instant classic), the Toronto crowd being split 50/50 and chanting "Fight Forever" was eye-rolling to me and made it abundantly clear how much Gargano has cooled since being considered "the next Daniel Bryan." The final fall was the most brutal, but didn't even go far enough to be called a true hardcore match due to the lack of blood. I'm not a superfan of gore or anything, but after a straight a match, a No DQ match, and a weapons-loaded cage match, someone should at least have a swollen eye or a bloody nose. Like I've said about all the matches in this series, there was too much good wrestling, too many good moments, and too much passion from both men for this to ever be considered a "bad match" or even just average. But I would never revisit it and that is what separates a good match from a truly all-time great one. (3/5)
NXT Takeover: Toronto 2019 will not live in on the memories of anyone except for *maybe* the Toronto fans in attendance (it depends on how many Molsons they ingested). While the matches were uniformly good-to-great, this was not a show on the level of an NXT Brooklyn or even an NXT Brooklyn II. Across the whole evening, Mauro Ranallo was throwing out lame cultural references, delivering one of his most grating performances ever (it didn't help that this show, unlike some of the early Takeovers ran a full 3 hours). While the tag opener was strong (and some people are even calling it the Match of the Night), the crowd seemed disinterested in both women's matches and the main event was, almost paradoxically, a "by the numbers" self-conscious epic filled with undersold high spots, nonsensical weapon use, and masturbatory overuse of would-be finishers. As a Gargano fan, it almost saddens me that he's been put into a starring role but is burdened with "scripts" that rely on him working 30+-minute rematches with the same two rivals (in this case, the match went 60). Its the equivalent of the 15-pound sundae they used to offer at Baskin Robbins - its so much of a good thing that you're sickened at the thought of eating it again once its over. Here's hoping that the next Takeover features some fresher talents because, while this show earned a relatively high Kwang Score of 3.30-out of-5, I'm curious if they could score even higher if they shifted away from the Undisputed Era-centric show that they offered here.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
Before the next match, Matt Riddle showed up and challenged Killian Dane. I'm a Riddle fan, but I don't watch NXT TV enough to know about or care about this feud. It was nice that they got some time on this show and I liked the pull-apart brawling (including getting to see Riddle drill Ricochet and Breeze with short-arm knees to the face), but the final spot was hokey and overtly staged. I think I would've preferred something a bit more novel or "buzzworthy" here.
The North American Championship was on the line next as The Velveteen Dream defended the strap against Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong. As has become a Takeover tradition, Dream had an elaborate entrance - this time featuring The Mountie's theme song, a tip of the hat to the Toronto Raptors and, in the first few minutes of the bout, some Bret Hart-inspired offense. Dream should be bulletproof on the main roster - but this is a company who couldn't make Shinsuke Nakamura a star when he was the talk of the industry. As one could've predicted, this was a frantic, madcap match with a very thin story - but that's not to say it wasn't fun and didn't feature some hellacious spots (many of which came out of Roderick Strong, a guy that has quietly been involved in some of NXT's best matches of the past few years). Dunne was no slouch either - his suplexes are fantastic and he got a great pop for a double fingerbreak spot. If anything, it was Velveteen Dream, the most charismatic of the bunch, who shined the least. I've written about it before, but Dream is at his best when he is the foil to another strong character - and though excellent technical workers, Strong is not that and Dunne is a far better ruthless heel than likable babyface (note that one of Dunne's best moments a blatantly heel move - a face-crushing curb stomp on Dream that drew legit groans from the Toronto crowd). The final minutes were as strong as the rest of it and it legitimately felt like anyone might steal the win, especially considering that Dream is so over that he either should be fighting for NXT's top prize or bypassing it altogether and heading to the main roster. The best match of the night up to this point. (4/5)
One of my favorites - Shayna Baszler - defended her NXT Women's Championship against Mia Yim next. The crowd was definitely a little bit deflated after the last bout, barely responding to the introductions to either woman. I liked the story and build towards this match as Yim sought to "bring the fight" to Baszler, attempting to brawl with and bully Baszler, something Kairi Sane and Ember Moon couldn't do. Yim went after Baszler's arm early, smashing it between the post and the stairs, which Baszler sold well as the match progressed. It was also cool to see Yim escape Baszler's submission-based offense with real simple escapes - like raking her eyes or jamming her fingers down her throat. The rest of Yim's offense was fairly basic and not necessarily excellently-executed, but it deserved more than the live crowd was giving it (which was not much in the first 6-7 minutes). Baszler's aforementioned longterm selling was great, but it didn't prevent her from hitting some big moves herself- including some nasty knees to Yim's chin. Things picked up a bit when Yim hit a huge sunset flip powerbomb off the top rope for 2, a move that was swiftly followed by Baszler locking in her Karakula Clutch. Yim was able to escape by going after Baszler's fingers and countering the maneuver with an armbar, but Baszler countered that into another Karakula and, when that didn't work, a Triangle Choke with her legs to tap Yim. I'm not sure who should defeat Baszler for her title, but it shouldn't be Yim - at least not yet - as she definitely didn't "wow" the crowd the way, say, Bianca Belair did a few months back. No worse than average, in fact, this would destroy just about any Divas match from before 2013 or so, but the bar has been raised and this one struggled to get much of a response from the crowd. (3/5)
Main event time - Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match for Cole's NXT Championship. I'm guessing this will be one of the more divisive matches of 2019 - to some, it will probably on their shortlist of Match of Year contenders. To me, it was everything I expected but nothing more - and, sadly, that means it was exactly as long-winded and overcooked as I (and everyone else) predicted. On the plus side, we didn't see too much of the "Gargano concussion face" and, all things considered, there wasn't a gratuitous amount of finisher kickouts (though, of course, there was that) There was some psychology too - with Gargano intentionally taing the DQ loss in the first fall to set himself up to win the second. Unfortunately, while the intention was there, the execution was lacking. Gargano getting himself DQ'd would've made more sense if he had actually capitalized on strategy - instead, his chair attack was treated like a transition move, no different than any of the other high spots. And, if you're a fan of high spots, this match certainly offered a whole bunch of them, though, because we've seen these guys wrestle for over 100 minutes at the last 3 Takeover specials, I couldn't tell you which spots were actually fresh. Unlike the Ciampa/Gargano matches, in which the audience, for the most part, "played along" and cheered the hero over the villain (the "Fuck You Ciampa" chant was an instant classic), the Toronto crowd being split 50/50 and chanting "Fight Forever" was eye-rolling to me and made it abundantly clear how much Gargano has cooled since being considered "the next Daniel Bryan." The final fall was the most brutal, but didn't even go far enough to be called a true hardcore match due to the lack of blood. I'm not a superfan of gore or anything, but after a straight a match, a No DQ match, and a weapons-loaded cage match, someone should at least have a swollen eye or a bloody nose. Like I've said about all the matches in this series, there was too much good wrestling, too many good moments, and too much passion from both men for this to ever be considered a "bad match" or even just average. But I would never revisit it and that is what separates a good match from a truly all-time great one. (3/5)
NXT Takeover: Toronto 2019 will not live in on the memories of anyone except for *maybe* the Toronto fans in attendance (it depends on how many Molsons they ingested). While the matches were uniformly good-to-great, this was not a show on the level of an NXT Brooklyn or even an NXT Brooklyn II. Across the whole evening, Mauro Ranallo was throwing out lame cultural references, delivering one of his most grating performances ever (it didn't help that this show, unlike some of the early Takeovers ran a full 3 hours). While the tag opener was strong (and some people are even calling it the Match of the Night), the crowd seemed disinterested in both women's matches and the main event was, almost paradoxically, a "by the numbers" self-conscious epic filled with undersold high spots, nonsensical weapon use, and masturbatory overuse of would-be finishers. As a Gargano fan, it almost saddens me that he's been put into a starring role but is burdened with "scripts" that rely on him working 30+-minute rematches with the same two rivals (in this case, the match went 60). Its the equivalent of the 15-pound sundae they used to offer at Baskin Robbins - its so much of a good thing that you're sickened at the thought of eating it again once its over. Here's hoping that the next Takeover features some fresher talents because, while this show earned a relatively high Kwang Score of 3.30-out of-5, I'm curious if they could score even higher if they shifted away from the Undisputed Era-centric show that they offered here.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
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