By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT Takeover: In Your House
Streamed live June 7, 2020 on WWE Network
Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University
Pre-Show Notes
The pre-show started off with Todd Pettengill introducing the In Your House pre-show, complete with classic 90s graphics. The show then cut to Scott Stanford and Sam Roberts at the WWE Studio. They were also joined by Pat McAfee via Zoom. Roberts was continuing to play heel, as he does on NXT TV. The commentators discussed the usual formula discussion points, like quick breakdowns and predictions. They also aired video packages for the major matches.
Main Show
Todd Pettengill narrated the introduction for the NXT Takeover: In Your House show. The match graphics has a 90s CRT Television filter. The show then cut to a live performance of the band Code Orange performing their song Underneath, which is the theme for this month’s Takeover show. The camera also showed the Performance Center trainees banging on the plexiglass to provide cheers for the event (LOL… there was a Kona Reeves sighting)…
Mauro Ranallo, Tom Phillips, and Beth Phoenix were on commentary. The wrestlers made their entrances from a house themed set. There was a fake front door and windows. The wrestlers made their entrance through the fake garage…
1. Shotzi Blackheart, Tegan Nox, and Mia Yim vs. Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez, and Candice LeRae. Yim volunteered to start the match and LeRae decided to send Gonzalez in. Beth Phoenix noted that Gonzalez’s all black look reminded her of the 9th Wonder of the World, the late Chyna. Yim got a few strikes in but Gonzalez overpowered Yim. Yim escaped a suplex and tagged in Nox. Nox got a few kicks in on Gonzalez. Gonzalez tagged in Kai. Nox reversed a leapfrog in to a rollup for a rollup exchange.
Shotzi Blackheart landed a sling dog on Kai. Kai caught Blackheart re-entering the ring with a scorpion kick. LeRae tagged in and missed a Senton. Blackheart sent LeRae into retreat after hitting her with a roundhouse kick. Blackheart almost botched another suicide dive, but thankfully Gonzalez caught her and suplexed her. A bunch of women hit dives on the pile of women outside. Nox hit the pile of women with a Molly Go Round.
Blackheart and LeRae brawled in the ring. Blackheart hit LeRae with a dive. Blackheart then locked LeRae in Cattle Mutilation (Daniel Bryan’s old finisher). Gonzalez gave Blackheart a lariat after getting LeRae out the move. Blackheart kicked out of LaRae’s pin attempt at two. Blackheart was dragged to the heel corner where the heels traded quick tags and cut the ring in half on Blackheart. Blackheart hit Kai with a jawbreaker and enzuigiri. LeRae and Yim tagged in with Yim getting the upper hand off the neckbreaker. Yim hit LeRae with a bridged dragon suplex for a two count.
LeRae hit Yim with a pumphandle back suplex. Gonzalez and Nox tagged in. Nox hit Gonzalez with boxer punches, but couldn’t get Gonzalez off her feet. Nox escaped a Gonzalez toss. Gonzalez reversed Nox with a power bomb. Yim and LeRae brawled and then made their way to brawl into the “garage”. Kai accidentally ended up hitting Gonzalez with a Yakuza Kick. Nox and Blackheart cleared Gonzalez from the ring. Nox hit Kai with the Shiniest Wizard for the win.
Tegan Nox, Shotzi Blackheart, and Mia Yim defeated Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez, and Candice LeRae via pinfall in 9:50.
A WWE Good Humor Ice Cream Sandwich commercial aired. Eric Bugenhagen, Drake Maverick, and DIO Maddin were some of the wrestlers included in the ad…
John’s Thoughts: I’m curious if these cookie sandwich ice cream bars are as good as the original WWE cookie ice cream bars. Anyway, good high energy match. Not quite the epic storytelling tales we usuallly get on Takeover, escpecially when kicked off with a killer Tag Team match, but this match was still pretty damn good. Extra points for Gonzalez catching Blackheart off that dive. Even more points for the Beth Phoenix and Raquel Gonzalez seemingly doing a tribute to the late Chyna with the Beth shoutout and Raquel color scheme. Another note, Yim and LeRae brawling off the screen, means they’ll definitely get involved in the Keith Lee vs. Johnny Gargano match, right?
A video package aired to set up the Finn Balor vs. Damian Priest…
2. Finn Balor vs. Damian Priest. Balor hit Priest with a Shotgun Dropkick before the bell and dominated Priest with boots after the bell. Priest got a moment of respite after slamming Balor into the steel steps. Priest carried Balor up a steel step he set up outside and then jumped off it to the apron and slammed Balor’s back on the apron. Balor and Priest traded shots in the ring. Priest hit Balor with an innovative leaping Flatliner. Priest then caught Balor with a leaping back elbow. Priest slowed down his onslaught, wearing down Balor with a chinlock.
Balor escaped the lock with a jawbreaker. He fended of Priest with double boots. Balor caught Priest with a leaping lariat. Balor countered Priest with a vertical suplex. Balror then dropkicked Priest off the apron. Balor hit his aggressive boots on Priest against the barricade. Priest gave Balor a lariat and did the Razor Ramon pose to tease the Razor’s Edge. Balor escaped the Razor’s Edge, but not a Falcon Arrow. Balor recovered, tripped Priest to the mat, and hit Priest with a grounded double stomp.
Priest hit Balor with a Muay Thai kick punch combo. Priest caught Balor with a cyclone kick. Balor grounded Priest with a Pele Kick. Balor hit Priest with a series of running forearms. Balor reversed a choke with a Victory Roll for a two count. Priest taunted Balor with a vertical leap to the apron. He then gave Balor an Irish Whip on the barricade. Priest gave Balor a Razor’s Edge on the apron (Ouch! to those who remember Seth Rollins vs. Balor, which took out Balor for a year). Priest started headbanging and he hit Balor with a series of back elbows in the corner.
Balor reversed a third elbow with a Sling Blade. Priest reversed the Shotgun Dropkick with two cyclone kicks. Balor reversed Priest with an elbow smash. Balor hit Priest with a shotgun dropkick. Priest recovered to prevent Balor from hitting Coup De Grace. Preist hit Balor with a Super Choke Slam. Priest was slow for the pin, and got a two count. Priest told the referee that he ain’t done yet. Balor and Preist brawled on the apron.
Balor escaped Priest’s Razor’s edge attempt to the steel step outside. Balor then hit Priest with a forearm to send Priest into the step at ringside. The highlight of that move was the loud thud that Preist made. Balor caught the back of Preist’s neck with the Coup De Grace in the ring. Balor then hit Priest with the Coup De Grace for the victory.
Finn Balor defeated Damian Priest via pinfall in 13:07.
Mauro noted that Finn Balor broke the Takeover record for victories with 11 wins. Priest was laying on the bottom buckle. Balor gave Priest his Real Shooter double finger guns. Priest was about to pull back his imaginary arrow before the Raw commercial aired…
An Adam Cole parody ICO-PRO ad aired…
John’s Thoughts: Now that’s the type of Takeover match that we’ve gotten used to. That was a stellar match. People who are looking for something to complain about may complain about the no-selling. I thought the no-selling by Priest worked. That’s a dimension to big man vs. little man matches. This was definitely Priest’s best match in NXT. His highlights being that Super Choke Slam and that thud he made by falling on his back. I was scared for Balor’s career though, from the Razor’s Edge on the apron. People who remember why Balor only had a one day Universal Title reign now this all to well.
Io Shirai was shown getting ready backstage…
A video package aired to set up the Keith Lee vs. Johnny Gargano match…
Johnny Gargano entered the arena through the front door of the set. He gave a picture of Doc Hendrix (Michael PS Hayes) a thumbs up. I’m guessing he’s wearing a Marvel themed gear again, just it’s not obvious at first glance. Before entering the ring, he put the house keys into his underwear, a la Joey Ryan. Thumbs up to Keith Lee, who was wearing a Black Lives Matter tights…
3. Keith Lee vs. Johnny Gargano for the NXT North American Championship. Lee manhandled Gargano early on with Gargano doing his pest act. Lee freaked Gargano out with a jumping fan kick. Gargano then ran away from Lee and caught Lee with a baseball slide to shake up Lee a bit. Lee caught Gargano during Gargano’s suicide dive attempt. Gargano escaped, but was caught again off the cannonball attempt. Gargano escaped a Spirit Bomb attempt onto the steps by poking the injured eye of Lee.
Gargano tried to run away, by knocking the front door. They showed a camera from the front door security cam. Lee ended up bouncing Gargano off the door. They brawled back to the ring. Gargano fended off Gargano by twisting up Lee’s digits. Lee punch Gargano and sold the finger pain. Gargano got Lee to the mat and started stretching him, while also stomping on the injured hand. Mauro pointed out Lee’s injured retina and fingers being factors in this match.
John’s Thoughts: I forgot to note it during my NXT TV review, but Gargano stomped on Lee’s fingers after poking Lee in the eye.
Gargano went into methodical offense mode, with a focus on Lee’s fingers. Gargano banged on the plexiglass to react to the booing students. Gargano locked Lee in a half Cobra Clutch. Gargano worked on Lee’s upper back with knee jabs. Gargano then focused on various ways to keep Lee grounded, by making sure to focus offense on Lee’s fingers. Some PC students started chanting “Johnny Sucks” to the Darth Vader Theme. Lee used his healthy hand and forearm to hit Gargano with a few shortarm forearms.
Lee reversed the slingshot spear with a forearm smash. Lee slammed Gargano’s back to the mat and got a two count. Gargano hit Lee with forearms smashes, but Lee smashed Gargano to the mat with one forearm smash. Gargano got a legscissors on Lee and went for an armbreaker. Lee tried to deadlift Gargano, but Gargano pulled back at Lee’s fingers. Lee escaped. Gargano got a few strikes on Lee and Lee followed past them to hit Lee with a forearm smash. Gargano escaped Lee’s Spirit Bomb attempt by pulling at Lee’s hand and getting a Sunset Flip for a two count.
The students started saying Johnny Gargano Sucks to the John Cena theme. Lee blocked a GargaNo Escape attempt. Lee gave Gargano a headbutt. Gargano reversed a Big Ban Catastrophe attempt with a rollup. Lee got a moment of respite after hitting Gargano with a Uranage. Gargano kicked the second rope into Lee’s hand and hit Lee with a Suicide Dive Tornado DDT. Gargano tried to lug Lee’s dead weight to break the count (so he can win the belt) Gargano then argued to the referee.
After the count got reset by Gargano entering the ring, Gargano was surprised at ringside with Lee hitting Gargano with the Monty Brown Pounce, sending Gargano through the ringside plexiglass. Candice LeRae tried to get Lee’s attention while Lee was carrying around Gargano. Mia Yim ran out and beat up LeRae. Gargano pulled the house key out of his trunks and jabbed it in the eyes of Lee. Gargano hit Lee with One Final Beat for a great nearfall. Gargano hit Lee with a superkick. Lee kicked out and threw Gargano into the referee. No ref bump though. (Thumbs up for no-selling ref!)
Gargano then hit Lee with a few more basement superkicks for more nearfalls. Gargano went back to stomping on Lee’s fingers. Lee powered through and hit Gargano with a Spirit Bomb. Instead of going for the pin, Lee recovered a bit and made it to his feet. Lee hit Gargano with another Spirit Bomb seamlessly transitioned into a Big Bang Catastrophe for the victory.
Keith Lee defeated Johnny Gargano via pinfall in 20:35 to retain the NXT North American Championship.
John’s Thoughts: Very entertaining storytelling here. Gargano was doing great by being heel-plucky. The match was enhanced by the multi-show storytelling of Lee’s kayfabe finger and retina injuries. In my opinion, this match was better than the last one given the fun styles clash and storytelling. The interesting part long term is the ending. What do they have planned for Keith Lee next as North American Champion because he’s run through a lot of the credible wrestlers on the roster that aren’t vying for the main belt. I also thought the injury outs would have protected Lee in the title loss and he can move on to the main title? I trust that NXT knows what they’re doing, but NXT’s long term booking can always get derailed whenever random callups happen.
Another old school Good Humor ice cream ad aired, this time with Bronson Reed, Tegan Nox, and Shotzi Blackheart…
A video package aired to hype the NXT Championship Backlot Brawl…
The show cut to the cinematic camera shots for the Backlot Brawl. Adam Cole drove up to the backlot with an Undisputed Era themed pickup truck, complete with UE flags. Velveteen Dream drove up to the backlot with a Yellow Lamborghini. Other random cars surrounded the ring (with people in the cars as a makeshift crowd). Instead of dressing up like Prince, Dream opted to cosplay as Negan from the Walking Dead this time, he had a barbed-wire-less Lucille bat…
4. Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream in a Backlot Brawl for the NXT Championship (Cinematic). Cole refused to enter the ring until Dream dropped the bat. Dream threw the bat away. Dream threw his scarf at Cole. Cole and Dream traded quick rollups. Cole then ran away from Dream, who had his bat back. Cole hid inside a car while Dream banged on the car with the bat. Cole got out of the car and hit Dream with a forearm (with the batch catching Cole’s ear).
Suddenly an Uber car showed up. Dream and Cole brawled around the Uber, causing the Uber to drive away. Cole and Dream brawed to the sidewalk. Cole gave Dream a drop toehold into a street light pole. Cole tried to escape into the building, but the doors weren’t unlocked. Dream recovered and Cole was gone, presumably in one of the buildings. Dream found an unlocked door, and Cole came out with a fire extinguisher spray to the face. Cole beat up Dream around ringside, including Cole hitting Dream with a pump kick. Cole retreated a bit, when Dream showed a bit of life.
Dream got his hands on Cole and tossed Cole into the ringpost. Dream did his hip swivel and axe handle strike to Cole at ringside. Cole rolled to ringside to escape a pin attempt. Cole caught a flying Dream ringside with a superkick. Dream recovered and power slammed Cole on a car. Dream brought a ladder into play and set it up next to the car Cole was lying on. Dream was distracted when Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish drove up and honked the horn.
This allowed Adam Cole to climb up the ladder with Dream. Dream shoved Cole off the ladder, breaking the glass on the car. The camera zoomed into Cole’s arm to show he was bleeding (or “bleeding”). Strong and Fish brawled with Dream to the ring. Fish and Strong then unloaded Cole’s pickup with a bunch of chairs. Suddenly creepy ass Sam Shaw appeared from under the ring, the guy is Dexter Lumis now.
Lumis punched around Fish and Strong. Lumis was also wearing his classic Patrick Bateman gear. Lumis shoved Strong and Fish into the trunk of the car and drove away. I’m assuming Fish and Strong have just been kidnapped by a Serial Killer character. Cole with his jacked up arm made his way to the ring while Dream was recovering. Dream then did a nice reversal to the Canadian Destroyer with his Dream Valley Driver. Dream got a two count.
Dream put Cole on a chair to sit. Dream hit Cole with the Purple Rainmaker through the chair. Dream got a two count on Cole for a false finish. Dream shambled and told Cole that every era has to end and Cole’s dream is about to end. Cole gave Dream a low blow during Dream’s promo. Cole hit Dream with the Panama Sunrise through the chairs and picked up the pinfall win.
Adam Cole defeated Velveteen Dream via pinfall in 14:57 to retain the NXT Championship.
Mauro noted that Cole’s reign is 372 days and will continue. Cole celebrated his win, yelling “Forever”. Cole posed at the top of his pickup truck, saying he’s the best there’s ever been. Several Jeremy Borash drone shots showed Cole celebrating and Dream lying on the ground…
John’s Thoughts: While not as meaty as the last two matches. I thought the last two matches had more compelling content. This was a great Attitude Era style hardcore match. The setting worked well. I thought they could have ramped things up a little more, but maybe they’re just not blowing their load early.
Todd Pettengill did a WWE shop ad. Pettengill was confused over there not being 900 numbers anymore. Pettengill announced that “technology has wiped out 900 numbers”. Todd then showed Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Road Dogg acting like Derrick Zoolander and Hansel in front of a CRT monitor computer, confused at how it worked. Pettengill noted that Hunter, Shawn, and Dogg were chatting with fans over “AOL chat”…
John’s Thoughts: The 90s kid in me respects the 90s throwbacks. We get too damn many 70s and 80s throwbacks. More companies need to show the 90s some love. More Power Rangers and Boys II Men in our lives please…
A video package aired to set up Karrion Kross vs. Tommaso Ciampa…
Karrion Kross and Scarlett [Bordeaux] made their entrance. Kross was menasing as usual. Scarlett was as sexy as usual with her webbed catsuit…
5. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Karrion Kross (w/Scarlett). Kross dominated Ciampa wtih a release suplex early on. Mauro noted that Kross is a master of Sambo and a lot of martial arts. Ciampa hit Kross with a kick in the ring, but Kross no sold it and dumped Ciampa out of the ring. Kross slammed Ciampa’s “neck” on the apron. The replay showed that Ciampa did a proper bump on the apron. Kross hit Ciampa with knees and a release back suplex. Kross continued to torture Ciampa with more suplexes.
Kross then kneed Ciampa against the bottom turnbuckle. Kross then put his hands behind his back and dared Ciampa to hit him (shades of his match against Petey Williams). Ciampa went for it and Ciampa got hit with a Northern Lights and clothesline. Ciampa managed to get his first real offense in with a flurry of punches and a knee to Kross, sending him to ringside. Ciampa hit Kross with Willow’s Bell for the two count. Ciampa hit Kross with running knees. Ciampa yelled “get up motherf–ker!” (as it sounded like, due to the crowd reaction) Kross reversed Ciampa’s Fairy Tale Ending with an F5 Toss Kross then put Ciampa in the Kross Jacket. Ciampa passed out.
Karrion Kross defeated Tommaso Ciampa via ref stoppage in 6:13.
The PC students chanted Fall and Pray. Kross glared at Ciampa while Scarlett hung off him…
John’s Thoughts: This is the only result that should have happened. I personally would have put Kross over stronger, but I’m not going to complain about a match where he got 95% of the offense. I understand the counter-argument though, as Ciampa is a former world champion. At least Kross still goes over strong. This is not a Nigel McGuinness vs. Kurt Angle situation. Kross vs. Lee next? I’d be happy with a Kross Fight Pit match too if they can pull that off somehow.
The camera showed Code Orange in the crowd. They also showed a disheveled Robert Stone leaning on a NXT logo, looking depressed…
Renee Young talked about how she was going to handle the post-show Triple H Facebook Chat (the one that Cathy Kelly used to do)…
A video package aired to set up Charlotte vs. Io vs. Rhea for the NXT Women’s Championship…
Entrances for the main event took place. Mauro reminded viewers that the champion doesn’t have to be pinned to lose the championship. Alicia Taylor handled the formal ring introductions…
6. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai for the NXT Women’s Championship. Mauro noted that the women last main evented NXT back in 2015 with Bayley vs. Sasha Banks. The PC gave Flair “You don’t go here” chants. Flair rolled to ringside to allow Shirai and Ripley to brawl a bit. Flair quickly interjected and put the kicks to Shirai and Ripley. Shirai landed a reverse X Factor on Flair. Flair came back with a neckbreaker. Flair hit Shirai with a fallaway slam. Flair said “This is my house, you two are guests”, as she gave her opponents Ric Flair chops. Flair taunted her opponents more, and her opponents ended up pummeling Flair with clubbing blows.
Flair and Ripley brawled at ringside. Ripley crashed and burned (safely I think, due to handstand) off a cannonball attempt. Flair threw Ripley into the plexiglass. Shirai dove through the ropes and hit Flair with a huracanrana. Shirai dominated for a bit before getting slammed by Flair. Ripley caught Flair with cravate knees and a Yakuza kick. Ripley hit Ripley with a basement dropkick. Shirai hit Ripley with a reverse Fameasser. Shirai hit Flair with a 619.
Shirai reversed Flair with a double stomp and basement dropkick for a two count. Flair caught both Ripley and Shirai with a spear. Flair got two counts on both women. Flair told the PC students to suck it, complete with a crotch chop. Ripley blocked Flair’s moonsault with the knees. The women broke up a few pins. Shriai reversed a Rip Tide. Shirai locked Flair in a crossface. Ripley broke it up. Flair slammed Ripley for a two count.
Flair crash and burned on a Natural Selection attempt. Both women brawled. Shirai hit ripley with a slingshot dropkick. Shirai hit Ripley with a meteora in the corner. Flair hit Shirai with Natural Selection for a nearfall. Flair kicked out of Shirai’s crucifix follup for a two count. Flair locked Shirai in a Figure 8, but Ripley pulled Flair by the hair to the outside. Flair caught Shirai with a Suicide Dive Plancha. Flair tossed Shirai through the glassless fake window. Ripley tossed a plant prop at Flair.
Ripley and Flair brawled around the “front yard” of the house set. Flair rubbed Ripley’s face against the plexiglass, taunting Ripley at the same time. Shirai climed to the top of the fake house and hit her opponents with a crossbody from the second story (similar to what she did in Lucha Underground when she beat Pentagon Jr.).The crowd chanted “Holy Shit”. Shirai tossed Flair in the ring. Ripley crotched Shirai when Shirai posed. Ripley sidestepped Flair, causing Flair’s head to smash the second turnbuckle.
Shirai adjusted her weight to block a superplex. Shirai slipped away and got the upper hand on the top rope. Ripley blocked a Frankensteiner. In the same move, Flair hit Shirai with a Yakuza kick. Ripley powered through and hit Flair with a Super Rip Tide. Shirai broke up the pin for the false finish moment. The PC fired up for Shirai. Ripley locked Shirai in the Prism Trap (Reverse Texas Cloverleaf).
Ripley attacked both her opponents with a kendo stick and Mauro reminded viewers that there are no DQ’s in a Triple Threat. Flair hit Ripley with a spear. Flair locked Ripley into the Figure Four right into the Figure Eight. Shirai hit Ripley with a moonsault while Flair rolled on the ground and yelled “Shit!”. Shirai picked up the pinfall.
Io Shirai defeated Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair via pinfall in 17:36 to become the new NXT Women’s Champion.
Highlights from the match aired. Streamers and confetti filled up the ring while Shirai was hugging the title belt on the top rope. (They actually went a bit overboard with the streamers). Mauro noted that the extreme amount of confetti and streamers is normal in Japan. Io then posed with the belt to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: Really good stuff there. Takeovers never disappoint. Credit to Charlotte Flair for wiggling around her shoulders during the Figure Four to essentially do a correct version of the finish from the Kushida vs. Drake Maverick vs. Jake Atlas match from two weeks ago. I had my doubts that the women would deliver, not because they’re women, but because Shirai and Ripley were so cold heading into the match, that I didn’t think it would carry over well to the match. This ended up being very entertaining and worthy of a PPV main event. That said, I could argue a few other matches on this show as a main event too. Don’t cha like takeovers.
Well, I was afraid this would be the one. The “okay” Takeover. I was willing to grade this on the curve too given the lack of big arena fans. Thumbs up to the Performance Center students for doing their best job as a crowd tonight, being innovative with the chants. I think it does help to show the “unknowns” on camera, as you don’t have to expect heel or face reactions from them, and I think aside from Eric Bugenhagen, they did a good job not shoowing big names in the crowd. Takeovers have a formula, and that formula is great and gratifying. It’s going to take me a bit to figure out my favorite match, but I will, trust me. I’ll talk to a few of ya’ll soon, with Jason Powell in the member’s exclusive Audio Review for Dot Net members.
Kono Dio Da. Like your all caps DIO reference. Do you even know what Know what a Kono Dio Da is?