BRM Reviews NXT TakeOver: In Your House 2021 (AWESOME!)

[Big Red Machine]

NXT TakeOver: In Your House 2021 (6/13/2021)- Orlando, FL



SIX-MAN TAG TEAM MATCH FOR THE NXT NORTH AMERICAN TITLE AND NXT TAG TEAM TITLES: Bronson Reed(c) & MSK(c) vs. Legado del Fantasma- 7.25/10
This was a great action opener. Not much more to say about it other than I don’t think anyone thought the titles were going to change hands, and Legado del Fantasma feel like they’re about to get called up (or, I guess, theoretically maybe released, but I see them getting called up to the main roster as far more likely).

EARLIER TODAY, THE WAY INTERRUPTED KYLE O’REILLY’S INTERVIEW IN THE PARKING LOT AND STARTED A FIGHT- All of the brawls they’ve been using to build this up feel forced to me. Aside from the Cole/Kross and Cole/O’Reilly pairings, this doesn’t feel like a heated feud. It’s just a title match.

MERCEDES MARTINEZ vs. XIA LI (w/Tian Sha)- 6/10
Xia got a big-ass sword for her entrance. Also, her braids are dyed a bunch of different colors. She is barely recognizable. The action in this match was good, but the psychology was baffling. Xia Li is clearly the heel in this storyline. She was a heel in her last feud, and this feud is happening because she is unreasonably upset about a clean loss to Mercedes FOUR YEARS AGO. And yet, in this match, it was Xia who got shined up in the beginning until she got cut off when Mercedes ducked and she kicked a ringpost, and Xia who then got beaten down until she made the big comeback. Then, they seemed to throw all of that out the window for a spot where Boa pulled Xia out of the ring to save her from Mercedes’ offense… and then Xia got back into the ring and got the win with a knockout kick.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- Okay, so Xia is a heel now.
Xia ordered Boa to get her a chair. She went to take out Mercedes’ knee but Mercedes kicked Xia in the knee, got the chair, and destroyed both Xia Li and Boa when he came into the ring to try to help. Mei Ling made some effects happen on the screens and with the lighting. Mercedes said she wasn’t scared, hit Xia with the chair again, and called Mei Ling a “bitch.” Mei Ling got up and moved towards Mercedes, and goozled her. Mercedes hit her in the gut with a chair, but Mei Ling grabbed her by the chin and threw her off the ramp into the fencing.
This is a non-employee attacking a wrestler, right? Something needs to be done about this. This isn’t Lucha Underground where you can just bring your sensei to ringside. I’ll give them a chance to explain this on TV, but I’m not optimistic.

TIMOTHY THATCHER & TOMMASO CIAMPA PROMO- mostly great, but…
Ciampa was great, but Thatcher has been turned into a clown. This was to build up their blow-off with Grizzled Young Veterans on Tuesday. It definitely got me excited for the match, but why are we spending PPV time on this? Are TakeOver viewership numbers actually higher than the free TV show?

LADDER MATCH FOR VACANT THE MILLION DOLLAR CHAMPIONSHIP: L.A. Knight vs. Cameron Grimes- 8.5/10
Instead of just hooking the belt up to the hook, they have it inside of a clear briefcase. It’s SOOOO weird. I also couldn’t help but chuckle every time the announcers told me that one of these wrestlers would prove himself worthy of “the legacy of the Million Dollar Man” or whatever by winning a gimmick match that Dibiase never competed in.
I appreciated that these two seemed to be making an effort early on to make it more about positioning yourself to get the belt rather than just doing ladder spots. That both focused the story on where it should be, and made the big bump spots later on feel more important. Knight won, which is the right move because Grimes is a clown. He had the match won at least once (at the end, and also probably when he decided to go get the golden ladder from the state instead of the one in the ring), but wasted time, allowing Drake to recover and stop him.

HIT ROW & TODD PETTENGILL PLUG MERCH- snore

ANOTHER FORCED BRAWL BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS IN THE MAIN EVENT HAS BROKEN OUT BACKSTAGE- snore
This time it’s Kross and Dunne. Who cares?

NXT WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Raquel Gonzalez(c) (w/Dakota Kai) vs. Ember Moon- 8/10
The story here was Dakota’s interference costing Ember chances to win, and they told that story extremely well (although one has to wonder why Shotzi Blackheart waited until Dakota had screwed her friend over five or six times before coming out and dealing with Dakota instead of doing it after the first time. Some friend she is.) They had an exciting match (even if the outcome never really felt like it was in doubt) and they played off of the spot from TV this week where Ember put Raquel down with the Eclipse very well. If you like great action and solid babyface/heel dynamics, this was the standout match of the show for you.

TODD PETTENGILL AND DEXTER LUMIS PLAY KARATE FIGHTERS- yes, really

JOHNNY GARGANO WALKS PAST TEAM ANNOYANCE BEING PULLED AWAY FROM DAKOTA KAI & RAQUEL GONZALEZ- The amount of backstage brawling is getting comical at this point.

FATAL FIVE-WAY MATCH FOR THE NXT TITLE: Karrion Kross(c) (w/Scarlett) vs. Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Pete Dunne vs. Johnny Gargano- a PERFECT 10/10!
People seem to be quite split on this match, but you can put me in the “loved it” camp. The story of this match follows naturally from what we have seen on NXT TV: Kross is the big, scary, dominant monster that the others had to realized that they needed to work together to take out before any of them would be able to win. In addition to that, they had some nice callback spots from Cole and Gargano, and lots of tremendous action all around.
But, of course, we see big spotty matches all the time (just because there was a clear story here doesn’t mean the match wasn’t spotty). What sets this one apart, however, is just how smooth everything was. Everyone seemed to always be perfectly in position. There was not a single moment when it felt like someone as waiting for someone else do get ready to catch the on a dive or break up their pin or whatever else. Intellectually, I know this match was highly choreographed, but the execution was timed perfectly enough that it never once prevented me from pretending that it wasn’t. Throw in some wonderful little detail spots like Kross taking the finger-break spot and then selling his finger when he popped back up to lock in the sleeper, and you’ve got a perfect match.

MCKENZIE MITCHELL INTERVIEWS WILLIAM REGAL- Regal says that there is too much chaos and he thinks “it’s time for a change.” Well… at least the overdone brawling served a larger purpose.


This was an awesome show from NXT. TakeOver continues to be surest bet in wrestling. I have some reservations about the booking, but those are all conditional on where things go, so I will save those thoughts until they become relevant on TV. In terms of action and pay-offs, though, this was an excellent show.
That being said, I do have to note that absolutely none of the nostalgia worked for me at all. Was anyone really that fond of In Your House? Or Todd Pettengill or Doc Hendrix? And the whole “Todd Pettengill doesn’t get modern technology” bit was completely tonally inconsistent with the rest of the show (not to mention being the same gag Triple H did on NXT this week and I thought it was dumb then, too). The “In Your Hose” idea was cute for early in the COVID pandemic, but I never want to see it again.

[NWK2000]

This was an awesome show from NXT. TakeOver continues to be surest bet in wrestling. I have some reservations about the booking, but those are all conditional on where things go, so I will save those thoughts until they become relevant on TV. In terms of action and pay-offs, though, this was an excellent show.
That being said, I do have to note that absolutely none of the nostalgia worked for me at all. Was anyone really that fond of In Your House? Or Todd Pettengill or Doc Hendrix? And the whole “Todd Pettengill doesn’t get modern technology” bit was completely tonally inconsistent with the rest of the show (not to mention being the same gag Triple H did on NXT this week and I thought it was dumb then, too). The “In Your Hose” idea was cute for early in the COVID pandemic, but I never want to see it again.

This actually makes me wonder how far out Hunter and co book NXT, because a lot of the Pettengill segments were booked like they were going to have a minimal live crowd, certainly not the segment you'd put out while touring in an arena. I doubt we will see it again for that reason.

[Big Red Machine]

This was an awesome show from NXT. TakeOver continues to be surest bet in wrestling. I have some reservations about the booking, but those are all conditional on where things go, so I will save those thoughts until they become relevant on TV. In terms of action and pay-offs, though, this was an excellent show.
That being said, I do have to note that absolutely none of the nostalgia worked for me at all. Was anyone really that fond of In Your House? Or Todd Pettengill or Doc Hendrix? And the whole “Todd Pettengill doesn’t get modern technology” bit was completely tonally inconsistent with the rest of the show (not to mention being the same gag Triple H did on NXT this week and I thought it was dumb then, too). The “In Your Hose” idea was cute for early in the COVID pandemic, but I never want to see it again.

This actually makes me wonder how far out Hunter and co book NXT, because a lot of the Pettengill segments were booked like they were going to have a minimal live crowd, certainly not the segment you'd put out while touring in an arena. I doubt we will see it again for that reason.

I didn't get that vibe at all. It just came across like usual backstage comedy stuff to me.

[NWK2000]

This was an awesome show from NXT. TakeOver continues to be surest bet in wrestling. I have some reservations about the booking, but those are all conditional on where things go, so I will save those thoughts until they become relevant on TV. In terms of action and pay-offs, though, this was an excellent show.
That being said, I do have to note that absolutely none of the nostalgia worked for me at all. Was anyone really that fond of In Your House? Or Todd Pettengill or Doc Hendrix? And the whole “Todd Pettengill doesn’t get modern technology” bit was completely tonally inconsistent with the rest of the show (not to mention being the same gag Triple H did on NXT this week and I thought it was dumb then, too). The “In Your Hose” idea was cute for early in the COVID pandemic, but I never want to see it again.

This actually makes me wonder how far out Hunter and co book NXT, because a lot of the Pettengill segments were booked like they were going to have a minimal live crowd, certainly not the segment you'd put out while touring in an arena. I doubt we will see it again for that reason.

I didn't get that vibe at all. It just came across like usual backstage comedy stuff to me.

So you think we'll see prolonged talking segments at Takeovers when they start touring again? Given how touring NXT Takeovers have been structured, it's been very light on that. I feel like we'll go back to that when the touring starts again.

[Big Red Machine]

This actually makes me wonder how far out Hunter and co book NXT, because a lot of the Pettengill segments were booked like they were going to have a minimal live crowd, certainly not the segment you'd put out while touring in an arena. I doubt we will see it again for that reason.

I didn't get that vibe at all. It just came across like usual backstage comedy stuff to me.

So you think we'll see prolonged talking segments at Takeovers when they start touring again? Given how touring NXT Takeovers have been structured, it's been very light on that. I feel like we'll go back to that when the touring starts again.

Not at all. I thought it was comedy they did because of the In Your House theme.