June 3, 2020 – Winter Park, Florida
Candice LeRae dco. Mia Yim
This match was going fine, though not particularly exceptionally, when it ended by double count out at 3:51. A fight on the ramp turned into a big brawl featuring Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez, Shotzi Blackheart, and Tegan Nox. Later, they’ll announce a six-woman tag at Takeover stemming from it. I believe that’s the first ever straight up six-person tag match at Takeover. But then Johnny Gargano and Keith Lee came out and it turned into that mixed tag match that seemed inevitable. *
Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae def. Keith Lee & Mia Yim
Gargano tried to get out of the match because he wasn’t in his ring gear, but Lee and Yim wouldn’t let him get away with that. I bet Jake Ziegler loves that Gargano and Lee are wrestling in street clothes as they didn’t expect to wrestle tonight. Early on, Yim hits LeRae with Sole Food and it gets a two-count. I don’t think that move is different enough from Protect Ya Neck for the latter to be a finisher and not the former. Not long after, Gargano hits Lee in the eyes with his car keys, distracting Lee and Yim long enough for LeRae to roll up Yim for the win at 3:47. As far as matches go, we’ve gotten nothing so far, but this was a solid build to the Takeover match. *½
When asked about the NXT Championship match at Takeover, Dexter Lumis begins to draw a picture with sharpie markers. Later they go back to it and it’s Lumis driving a car with the Undisputed Era in it. Earlier today, Drake Maverick was manic when asked about his match tonight. He’s feeling no pressure because anything could happen. I’m not sure that’s how pressure works.
Next up is Takeover: Prime Target for the NXT Championship match, which has been revealed to be a Backlot Brawl. Haven’t seen one of those in a while. The entire Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly is at higher risk for COVID-19 allegedly, so perhaps the rest of his crew has been tested?) picks up Cole in a limo for a party. On the other side, Dream talks about all the times Cole wronged him. Cole celebrates with the UE at dinner. Dream brags about his accomplishments at a young age. He also talks to the spirit of Prince through a mirror. Talking heads make predictions and say nothing of interest.
Isaiah Scott def. Tony Nese
I’d already forgotten that Nese screwed Scott in the tournament. This was fun while it lasted, though it didn’t last long. Jack Gallagher came out and tried to distract Scott, but Scott countered Nese’s finisher to a roll up for the win at 5:35. Were Nese and Gallagher officially aligned before this? **¼
Tyler Breeze & Fandango def. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch and Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong {Number One Contenders Triple Threat Match}
The returning Breezango are astronauts tonight. Breeze did a little thing here that I loved; he looked closely to see if one opponent would pin another rather than breaking it up right away, forcing both of them to use more energy. Wish the commentators had picked up on it. I also liked that this was three-guys-in-at-once rules. There was some fun stuff in here, though like all matches tonight we didn’t get to see a lot of it. Fandango pinned Fish with a diving legdrop at 6:00 (shown). Imperium comes out after the match, but before they can have a stare-down with their new challengers, Bivens Enterprises comes out and does nothing. It’s so awkward for them to just stand there and do nothing! **¾
Chelsea Green fired Robert Stone last week after her win. It didn’t really make sense and they don’t attempt to make sense of it here.
Santana Garrett def. Aliyah
I cannot cannot cannot believe Aliyah continues to get TV time. Stone comes out looking all disheveled, hitching his wagon to her now that Green has moved on. Aliyah at least showed some fire here, and they didn’t sacrifice Garrett to her, so there’s not a ton to complain about here. Garrett won with a handspring moonsault at 2:04. Stone looks lost. *¾
Todd Grisham is really shiny when introducing the womens’ Prime Target. I guess the makeup person got furloughed. Io Shirai talks about being stronger alone while she holds her breath underwater. Rhea Ripley’s daily training routine is documented. It’s pretty creepy that the crew was in her room while she was sleeping, and her dog seems to think so too. Charlotte Flair is nervous to be back at Takeover. She shouldn’t be, she missed all the Takeovers that weren’t at Full Sail. Then I lost interest and went on Twitter. Both Prime Target segments sucked. They shouldn’t do these if the virus stopped them from doing them right.
Cameron Grimes def. Bronson Reed
Glad to see Reed’s quarantine has ended, and I was VERY upset to hear that Reed was the victim of a verbal racial assault while on a walk with his wife today. This was all Reed until Grimes hit the Cave In for the win at 2:40. I super hope they’re burning through all these sub-sixers so that the main event can get some time. After the match, Karrion Kross comes out and beats up Reed before threatening Tommaso Ciampa in the camera. *
El Hijo del Fantasma def. Drake Maverick {Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Match}
They’ve actually stopped calling this an Interim Championship, so I guess Jordan Devlin doesn’t exist anymore. He’s still tweeting about the title, so I haven’t lost hope. If I’m not mistaken though, Devlin’s name wasn’t mentioned during this match. The match was fun, and actually got a bit of time. Maverick’s underdog story was diminished a bit by the crowd refusing to chant for him, though they did sigh when Fantasma won. Speaking of the win, it was lame as the parking lot luchadors came out and distracted Maverick, leaving him open for the Thrill of the Hunt from Fantasma at 11:38 (shown). After the match, the crowd chants for Maverick (where was that organized chanting during the match?!) as he says goodbye to WWE. But then Triple H comes out and gives him a new contract. It pretty much had to end that way for Maverick. ***
Woof, this episode dragged. I’m hoping that’s not a sign of things to come at Takeover. I’m also wondering if they postpone the tag title match for after, because if not we’ve got a seven-match Takeover on our hands for the first time and nobody wants that.