NXT Takeover: Toronto (Saturday, Nov. 19)

[Mike Hunt]

I thought this might have been better than the most recent Takeover. The only thing the show might have lacked was a debuting wrestler (though I guess Mickey James coming back kinda counts).

If I was giving letter grades to the matches, it'd probably go:

Roode vs Dillinger (A-): Nothing particularly memorable in ring, but a great entrance vs a great gimmick. Good fire shown by both. Technically sound.

Authors of Pain vs TM61 (B+): Dumb gimmick to the match but whatever. The AoP don't do all that much spectacular stuff, but they're also far from "lumbering big guys". Thorne's dive off of the crane was cool. Miller's power display was cool and what a perfect moonsault. He usually bores me but both TM61 guys impressed me equally this match.

Revival vs DIY (A+): Everything has already been said. It was great. My only minor complaint, and it's something some people love, is that I find simultaneous submissions to end the match is a little corny.

Asuka vs Mickie James (B): I was very impressed with Mickie James in this match and Asuka was up to her usual high standards, though I wish she'd do less "hip attacking". It just looks lame. While the execution of this match was very good, I didn't actually like the story they told. They'd built Asuka up as a dominant fighter, even over the likes of Bailey and Nia Jax and for some reason, they decided to have James have the upperhand for 70% of the match. It just didn't make sense to me.

Nakamura vs Samoa Joe (A-): I agree that it was better than the last one. I wonder if my opinion would have changed (for the better) had Nakamura won. Only real gripe I had was Nakamura seemingly forgetting (or choosing not) to sell the leg. Graves tried to help by talking about adrenaline. Side note: I find it interesting that Joe has left the last three takeovers either bleeding or injured (this was just a minor cut over the eye but it just kept the streak going).