Written by Rob Crowther IV and Michael Vacchiano
On the eve of its annual SummerSlam PPV, the black and gold brand of WWE has the honor of presenting its historic 30th event. NXT Takeover XXX will feature two extremely different juggernauts in the main event fighting for its prestigious world championship. The vacant North American title will crown a new holder with a high-stakes ladder match featuring some hungry up-and-comers looking to make their mark. And the longest reigning champ in NXT history, Adam Cole “Bay-Bay”, will take on…Pat McAfee? Yep, you read that right. One of those things may sound like it doesn’t belong on the lineup, but the company has never disappointed with these Takeover events so yours truly has faith. Let’s get to it…
Finn Balor vs. Timothy Thatcher
This last-minute addition to NXT Takeover XXX featured a solid bout between the Demon King and the new unofficial poster boy for “Toothless Aggression.” Balor showed off his own impressive grappling skills in the early going by matching Thatcher hold-for-hold. But the Prince was soon overmatched and got slowly worn down by Technical Timmy’s various submissions. Thatcher definitely knows how to handle more joints than Snoop Dogg.
Balor’s attempt at a late-match coup de grace resulted in him tweaking his already injured leg, allowing Thatcher to trap him in a grapevine ankle lock. Finn was able to escape and land some of his explosive offense, including a nice-looking sling blade. The tough-as-nails Thatcher wouldn’t stay down until Balor finally landed his patented double stomp off the top rope. For extra measure, Finn planted the gritty grappler with a 1916 DDT to pick up the hard-fought win. Kudos to Thatcher for stepping up and hanging with one of NXT’s (and WWE’s) best in-ring workers.
Winner: Finn Balor
Ladder Match for The North American Title: Cameron Grimes vs. Bronson Reed vs. Damien Priest vs. Velveteen Dream vs. Johnny Gargano
This match was very good, but I had some issues with ring psychology here. There were many times that guys were at the top of the ladder with no one around but couldn’t quite figure out how to pull the title down. (Or so it seemed) For example Damien Priest was at the top of the ladder for a good couple of seconds before someone stopped him from pulling down the belt. There was also another weird spot where velveteen Dream went from a larger ladder to a smaller ladder to get the belt that was perfectly in reach. Another strange spot involved a swining title knocking down a competitor after losing momentum on the third or fourth swing. It was very odd.
That’s not to say this match didn’t have some great spots. Candice LeSLAY came in and stole the show with a “Candice-canrana” right before she rode Bronson’s back during a splash onto her husband. Gargano would impress as always with a modified ladder One Final Beat and a sunset powerbomb from the ladder. Grimes would hit a very impressive horizontal Spanish Fly-esque mid-air power slam maneuver that was really cool. Dream would be eliminated from the match as he fell off a ladder, spring-boarding himself through an outside table area.
As expected Damien Priest would come out with the W here to become your NEW North American Champion.
Adam Cole vs. Pat McAfee
The Undisputed Era leader was no-nonsense from the beginning as opposed to McAfee jaw-jacking at the onset. Incredibly, the former NFL punter showed off some great athleticism inside the ring throughout the match. The more experienced Cole outwrestled McAfee for the better part of the contest. Nevertheless, the sports show host displayed some smooth evasiveness, and even landed on impressive dropkick midway through. Also super impressive was McAfee doing a cannonball flip to the outside during his match with Cole on the floor. Cole also kicked out of a punt kick from McAfee which was wild.
Towards the finish, McAfee was shoved off the top rope and actually backflip landed on his feet in the ring! He immediately followed with an awesome vertical leap into a superplex on Cole. The longest reigning NXT champ ever rebounded and planted McAfee with a nasty ushigoroshi before preparing for the Last Shot. Not satisfied with his knee shot finish, Cole opted for a Panama Sunrise for the 1-2-3, BAY-BAY!! But major credit is owed to non-wrestler McAfee for holding his own in the squared circle, including selling the flip piledriver at the end. Prepare to see the highlights on Sportscenter, peeps.
Winner: Adam Cole
Dakota Kai vs. Io Shirai (Women’s NXT Championship Match)
This match was a show-stealer. I was so happy to see these women get the time they deserve on the card.
Io would impress with her signature spots including the 619, rollups, and the best springboard dropkick you’ll ever see.
The Joshi Judas also hit more stomps than a vinter. Dakota was able to get in plenty of offense as well with plenty of holds and her patented GTK for a near fall. Cue the ref bump and interference from Raquel Gonzalez. Shirai would hit the moonsault for what would be the win, but of course the ref was out. It would be no matter for Shirai who would singled-handledly take out both opponents with a moonsault to the outside. One more moonsault on Kai would seal the deal for you reigning, defending NXT Women’s Champ Io Shirai.
Post match set up a really nice stare down between Rhea Ripley and Raquel. I look forward to that feud/match.
Also a nice glare from Rhea at the current NXT Women’s Champion for good measure.
Karrion Kross vs. Keith Lee (NXT Championship Match)
This big-time matchup was a hard hitting back and forth contest, which is exactly what you would expect. What I didn’t expect was the way this match ended. I had predicted that IF there was going to be a winner it would indeed be Kross. I hate to see Lee have such a short reign, but Kross has been billed like that of a Brock Lesnar. He’s undefeated and even uses a modified F-5 from time to time. After a failed Kross Jacket submission attempt, Kross was actually able to win after an off the top rope Doomsday Saito Suplex. I did not expect that to be the move to put away Lee, who has also been booked very strong. What I expected was a 10 count on the mat after that. What we saw may have been Lee’s last appearance on NXT? Could we see him on RAW or Smackdown in the very near future?
I wasn’t thrilled with the ending of that match, but I am very happy to see Karrion Kross get the strong push. He is very deserving of the NXT title as he’s been an accomplished indy competitor, respectful of the business, well spoken and a hell of an in-ring performer. The guys is the real deal, so I’m okay with the win here.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
NXT Takeover XXX was solid, but not quite on that Takeover level. You automatically are at a disadvantage when Mauro isn’t on the show at all. Also, we are again limited by the Performance Center when we are well aware that the Thunderdome is now an option. I would’ve loved to see Kross’s entrance in the Thunderdome with pyro and the whole shebang. Throw in a live band for good measure and maybe we’re up to par. Regardless we will certainly take what we can get these days.
