6 Biggest Takeaways From NXT TakeOver: In Your House 2021

6. Karrion Kross Retains NXT Championship

Pridefully, the NXT Championship five-way between Karrion Kross, Kyle O’Reilly, Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano & Pete Dunne was a reason alone to watch NXT TakeOver: In Your House.

There was too many spots to name but it certainly blew the roof inside your house. Especially the roof of Pete Dunne, who was on the receiving end of many of these manouveres. For example, Dunne was hit by a double superkick during his moonsault in an epic moment! It is safe to say his head would be in quite a bit of agony this morning.

We also witnessed a rather fascinating Undisputed Era reunion as O’Reilly and Cole hit a double powerbomb on the NXT Champion, Karrion Kross. However, this was short-lived as Cole and O’Reilly still had to battle their differences during this bout.

Moreover, don’t devalue Gargano – NXT’s most prized jewel – or the upcoming, Pete Dunne as they gave a spectacular showing in this match. Dunne applied plenty of devasting finger-twisting moves and Gargano fought his rebel heart out, proving he can still make a good NXT Champ in this day and age.

However, they all fell and prayed when Karrion Kross locked in his powerful Kross Jacket finishing move and forced O’Reilly to pass out for the Championship retention.

This victory ended a fun ‘In Your House’ event, however, Kross holding the belt didn’t come across as highly valued by fans. Adam Cole was the most-over which particularly contradicts being the biggest heel on the brand. With O’Reilly most likely being built up as the man to beat Kross, where does Cole fit into the equation? We should get answers on the next edition of NXT…

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5. MSK & Bronson Reed Retain In ‘Winner Takes All’ Fight

Now let us travel back in time to the opening match. ‘In Your House’ firstly opened its door to the ‘Winner Takes All’ bout which featured both the NXT Tag Team and North American titles being defended by MSK and Bronson Reed, respectively. This was against the opposing, Legado Del Fantasma.

This was a fiery opener as TakeOver openers often are, however, it didn’t seem to click with the Capitol Wrestling crowd for some reason. On the other hand, it still delivered mighty spots like Reed bulldozing Santos Escobar right through the plexiglass. Additionally, Reed’s tsunami splash is always a spectacle to watch.

MSK and Bronson Reed win. Looking into the future of both divisions, MSK’s next challengers should be the victors of the Tornado Tag Match between Grizzled Young Veterans and Ciampa & Thatcher. Bronson Reed should convey his brute strength against the head of the Hit Row, Isaiah “Swerve” Scott.

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4. Xia Lee Defeats Mercedes Martinez

In her first TakeOver, Xia Lee defeated Mercedes Martinez in a decent bout. Xia Lee has it all; character, personality, entrance, culture, an undeniable wrestling ability. She will be a force to be reckoned with on the NXT Women’s division for sure but the post-angle sort of desaturated her impressive win. After Lee got a promising victory with the aid of a Boa and Martinez stare-off, Lee wanted to hurt her opponent more dramatically.

Unfortunately, her use of a steel chair didn’t get rolling as Martinez got hold of the foreign weapon and used it to get herself over, until the demon who watches over Lee’s matches, Tian Sha was summoned and threw Martinez off the stage.

Tian Sha looked awesome here as always and will remain an interesting presence during Xia Lee’s bouts, however, this basically made Xia Lee look weak after her exciting victory on a TakeOver stage. Perhaps this will lead to Xia Lee having to fight further for the satisfaction of Sha? This story still seems to be slowly building and it’ll be intriguing to see what direction it goes in next.

• in your house
• Karrion Kross
• william regal
• nxt

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