Former TNA Champion Bobby Roode and Kota Ibushi were in the crowd at the NXT Takeover: Dallas event on Friday in Dallas, Texas. Both men were featured on-camera and acknowledged by the broadcast team.
Jim Ross, Michelle Beadle, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, and Stephanie McMahon were also shown on camera. Vince McMahon was in attendance backstage, but he did not appear on camera.
Powell’s POV: Ibushi was shown early in the show, while Roode was shown wearing a suit prior to the main event. At the risk of reading too much into the placement, I came away feeling like Roode was shown there because his character will be targeting the NXT Title. Prowrestling.net Live listeners got the first word regarding Roode appearing at NXT. I opened Thursday’s show with a spoiler warning before giving the news that Roode was expected to appear at the NXT live special.
Dot Net senior staffers Will Pruett and Jake Barnett attended the show and passed along some interesting observations. Jake spotted Steve Austin watching the Bayley vs. Asuka match from the back of the building. Meanwhile, Will Pruett noted that Hall and Waltman stuck around and watched the Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn match after being shown on camera (and may have stayed longer). Will added that Ross and Ibushi watched the full show in the arena. As we’ve noted in the past, many of the legends who have appeared on the past NXT Takeover specials are in the crowd just long enough to appear on camera.
Triple H released a photo of Vince watching the Nakamura vs. Zayn match on a backstage monitor, so we can officially say that Vince has seen a Nakamura match! Vince also attended last year’s WrestleMania weekend NXT live special. Finally, Stephanie was booed by the live crowd when she was shown prior to the Bayley vs. Asuka match.
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