NXT TakeOver XXV Thread (June 1st, 2019)

Because Johnny won?

If I'm going to be brutally honest, I think this was the first bad NXT TakeOver. Certainly the weakest by far, at least. Just honestly horribly booked, and the build wasn't that good either. It's such a shame because usually NXT is borderline perfect. It's such a shame that they got it so wrong this time.

Starting off with some positivity, it was fantastic to see Street Profits win the NXT Tag Team Championships! They're such a good tag team, and they've been wrestling for so long with practically no success, it's great to see them finally reach the top of the division.

Unfortunately, that's the best that the show got. Breeze VS Dream was pretty good, don't get me wrong. Even if it wasn't as mindblowing as I expected, it was still fairly memorable. I would have been happy with either man winning, but I do wonder how big a shock it would have been if Breeze had won.

The NXT Women's match was such a monumental letdown. Honestly, I think it's time I gave up on the NXT Women's division. I've never been a fan of Shayna Baszler. She's a good heel, don't me wrong. But she's such a bore to watch. They're so obsessed with giving Shayna a monster run, that the NXT Women's division has suffered greatly, and it's so incredibly stagnant. There are so many fantastic talents in the division, from Candice LeRae, to Dakota Kai, to Bianca Belair, to Io Shirai. Yet none of them are allowed to shine, because Shayna simply HAS to be the undisputed star of the division. Triple H has repeated the mistakes of Brock Lesnar and Alexa Bliss on the main roster. Shayna has been on top of the division for nearly 14 months now. It's LONG overdue to give someone else a shot. I'm just so sick of getting my hopes up every single TakeOver, only to be disappointed. And Io's attack post-match made no sense. Shayna is a heel, and viciously attacking the opponent after losing is a complete heel tactic. Io is a babyface. How does this make any sense?! I can only hope that the reason Shayna has held the title for so long is because Triple H has been waiting for Dakota Kai to come back to take the title. I can accept that. But until Shayna loses the title, I simply can't stand watching the NXT Women's title picture anymore.

The result of the main event was just horrible. Don't get me wrong, Adam Cole is fantastic, and deserved to be NXT Champion in his career. But by taking the title away from Johnny Gargano on his first defense, months after immediately losing the North American Championship in the same fashion, they've turned Johnny Gargano into NXT's Sasha Banks, in terms of embarrassing immediate championship loss. How are we supposed to take Gargano seriously anymore, if he can't successfully defend any championship he wins? In my opinion, Johnny Gargano should be the face of the brand, and deserved a long title reign. Not to be a transitional champion. And all that is not even to mention how backwards this entire feud has been. What makes a rematch intriguing, is when the stakes are raised, by adding a stipulation. However with this feud, they started with a 2/3 Falls match at New York, then LOWERED the stakes with a regular singles match at 25. How does that make any sense?!

Honestly, it feels like the exceptionally poor main roster product has affected Triple H's creative process. TakeOver had an exceptional run, but now the streak of excellent shows is over, with NXT's first bad TakeOver. Of course this is all just my personal opinion. Even if I didn't personally enjoy the show, I'm glad to read that it seems everyone else on here did.

I personally thought it was one of the best Takeover's ever, especially for my low expectations.

And Cole/Gargano not only surpassed the first match, I'll say it was one of the best matches ever. They had me hanging at every fall. I didn't see Cole winning either, but he definitely deserves it.

I thought the show was great but those first two matches blew everything else away. 

Takeover always impresses no doubt.

Opening match winner was predictable (if he wants to have any legitimacy against Brock), but man it was so impactful! Great showing again by Riddle.

I don't see why there's so much love for the Street Profits. Everyone loves Montez Ford, nobody remembers the other dude's name. Montez is the breakaway star of this team and has carried it from day one. They should have been an enhancement team, every tag team on the roster doesn't need to win the belts. I hope Orchin/Berch and the Forgotten Sons never win these belts, or else who is going to make the really good teams look great?

Breeze vs. Dream is what it was, not bad, but not 5-star, but the right guy went over.

I thank God every day that I can see thicc Auska on Tuesdays and thicc Io on Wednesdays...I don't care if they win or lose, I just love watching them. I fear I might explode if I try to youtube an auska vs io match...hell I'm going to go do that right now.

Cole vs. Gargano II are two guys I care nothing about. Yes they are both techincally sound, but to me they both lack charisma. I feel they are both transition champs until the real deal gets back in the ring - Chiampa!

Agreed fully with you both, besides the Gargano/Cole sentiment. I feel Cole is one of the most charismatic talents within the entire company. He just plays the sleazy laid back heel.

I however DO NOT miss Ciampa that much. I personally don’t believe he should’ve been NXT Champion or in the main event picture, outside of his feud with Gargano.

Oof your favorites didn’t win so it’s the worst takeover. Gargano is injured, that’s why he lost. We’re lucky he pulled through to give us the stellar match he and Cole had.