5 Biggest Headlines From NXT TakeOver: In Your House
Not including the triumphant return of Todd Pettengill...
Feels a little weird to see NXT be the one to play on retro tastes. Hey, you do what you have to do to keep things novel, since you lack the usual diehard TakeOver crowd there to geek out over the crazy twists and turns. Nonetheless, I suppose it does make sense for WWE's current "new generation" to be the ones to get an In Your House set, Todd Pettengill's dad jokes, and a few other cheeky nods to a period in which the mullet entered its extinction phase.
Lack of creature comforts aside, NXT TakeOver: In Your House was plenty unusual from the rest of the TakeOver anthology. The booking of a few matches was a bit off the beaten path, as was the ending of one title bout. The designated "cinematic" match didn't seem to hit the spot for many, either. That said, TakeOver did stick the landing with one preferred outcome, and if you can end the show on a high note, sometimes that's enough.
Here are five headlines coming out of Sunday night's TakeOver.
5. Finn Balor Outlasts Damian Priest In Hard-Hitting Battle
Really, the main focus here is that Priest took an insane, inadvisable fall onto the ring steps after being knocked off the apron by Balor. It was the sort of landing that enables sciatic specialists to continue making payments for their vacation homes on the Riviera.
For Balor, the match gives him his 11th victory at a TakeOver, setting a new record for the most ever. It seems to be only a matter of time before Balor's elevated back into the title picture, given that he's more viable than any other potential challenger in terms of established cred.
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.
