Flattest Takeover in quite some time. Apparently the Saudi show getting Backlash cancelled and NXT having to do a random unconnected Takeover with no build led to them having to change their taping schedule because Full Sail wasn't available when they needed due to schedule changes, so they did 6 weeks of TV in 2-3 days without knowing exactly who they'd have available for Takeover, which is why the last month and a half of NXT TV has been so random and most of the build for the matches on this Takeover were done in promos and backstage stuff.
Street Profits vs TUE: KOR/Strong is the superior TUE team
This never really got out of second gear.
Io vs Candace: Candace is not that good at the wrestling thing, however Io is one of the GOAT female wrestlers so it turned out okay but this whole thing was supposed to be Io vs Kairi, in an angle that made sense. Candace was a last minute replacement and it really doesn't make sense. They had like 2 interactions on TV before Io turned heel and they made it seem like they were BFFs for years.
Strong vs Dunne vs Dream: Lmaooooooo at Dream coming out to The Mountie's theme
This also felt flat to me, lot of blown spots. Dunne/Strong came off that way on the weekly show recently as well.
Shayna vs Mia Yim: Another casualty of the Saudi show, Mia Yim replaced Bianca in this angle because they didn't know or think they'd still have Bianca by the time they got to Summerslam. Even though it's been Bianca's angle since before WM Takeover to go full face and finally be the one to end Shayna's reign, instead they just plugged Mia into that spot and acted like anyone should give a shit even though Mia Yim is not good at all. And Shayna's reign has gone on so fucking long no one gives the slightest of shits. She should have dropped the title ages ago. At this point they've booked themselves into the same corner they did with Asuka.
Gargano vs Cole: This is about the most excessive match I've seen in a grip and it was fucking dumb. Gargano is the dumbest fucking face intentionally getting himself disqualified in the first fall so he could skip to the second fall that was a no DQ match but then not immediately winning it after beating on Cole with a chair. It's even dumber because Gargano was in control when he got himself disqualified and then did a lol shrug and still lost the match like a fucking idiot. This reminded me a lot of the HHH/HBK 3 stage of hell match where they were just jerking themselves off to how epic they could be because time (and blood in that case) = epic, this is a match that had a TOP ROPE CANADIAN DESTROYER as a near fall 50 minutes into the match.
Cole looks like a nerd who won by a fluke, Gargano looks like a nerd for costing himself the match twice, and they spent almost an hour killing every possible finisher either could ever have.
