Both world titles were on the line, the North American Championship was contested, and the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic concluded at NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day on Feb. 14.
Who emerged victorious? What were the best matches of the night?
Get caught up on all the action here.
One of the biggest events of the night took place on the pre-show, as former Impact Wrestling and NWA star Eli Drake, known for his promo work, interrupted the proceedings for his debut. The now curiously-named, “LA Knight” proclaimed that he is going after the North American Title and NXT Title, putting the roster on notice.
Let’s see what Drake does on the episode of NXT after Vengeance Day, but this was a big splash.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals
Result: Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai win by pinfall
Grade: A-
What an excellent match! I cannot say enough about how amazing Raquel Gonzalez, Dakota Kai, Shotzi Blackheart, and Ember Moon all were! This match was hard-hitting, creative, and filled with suspense. I was on the edge of my seat, wondering who would win, even though, logically, Raquel and Dakota were the clear favorites as the established tag team.
Raquel and Dakota won after Raquel threw Ember into the ramp and then threw her off the stage completely. This isolated Shotzi, who tried another big dive to the outside but was thwarted by the stronger Gonzalez.
The tag team work in this matchup was excellent from both sides. I loved how the babyfaces isolated Dakota, showing their own tag team chemistry and then putting over Raquel’s strength when she entered the fray.
We even got an Eclipse kick out to make Raquel look strong, which was the big story of this match. Of course, the kick out happened after Dakota Kai took precious few seconds with a little bit of clever interference.
Raquel and Dakota are serious candidates to take the titles off Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler.
Johnny Gargano (c) vs. Kushida for the North American Title
Result: Johnny Gargano wins by pinfall
Grade: A
Now THAT was high drama! I was convinced at multiple points that Johnny Gargano would tap out and lose the North American Championship to Kushida, who had Gargano locked into so many submissions that targeted Gargano’s injured left arm.
But each time, the champion found a way to hold on and fight out of the hold. And in the end, it was Gargano who managed to score the pinfall victory and keep the title.
The animosity between these two men and the way they knew each other played into this match perfectly. We saw so many fluid counters and exchanges between Kushida and Gargano, with the best of them actually occurring early in the match.
Kushida and Gargano had a LOT of time to work with, and they made the most of it. Just as Kushida targeted Gargano’s left arm, so, too, did Gargano Kushida’s neck. And it was the former NJPW star’s neck which proved to be the most vulnerable in the match, as Gargano attacked it to pick up the win and retain.
Gargano never has a bad TakeOver match, and this was no exception. Hat’s off to both men. Although I wanted to see Kushida get the win here, it seems like Dexter Lumis is being positioned as the one to take the title off Gargano. Hopefully, Kushida gets his big win in NXT, though. He’s too good to not be North American Champion in the future.
But again, this was a certified banger.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals
Result: Wes Lee and Nash Carter get the win
Grade: B+
Another awesome tag match to close an exciting Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals! And in this case, the babyfaces won in a welcome crowning moment for NXT’s newest tag team!
Wes Lee and Nash Carter are two fantastic tag team wrestlers, and they are going to be the bedrock of this tag division for quite some time! The recent NXT signings showed out at NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day, with Lee being the particular standout.
Lee’s hot tag was one of the finest moments of the show. His acrobatic offense stole the spotlight in this match, though it may have even been outdone by his selling of a Suicide Doomsday tag team move from Grizzled Young Veterans.
Zack Gibson and James Drake were great as well. The Grizzled Young Vets have long been one of the best tag teams in the NXT system, and they pulled out all the stops to try and win this huge finals matchup. They fell short, and they were in disbelief at the heart Lee and Carter showed in this one.
MSK have made believers out of so many NXT fans, and those watching who weren’t familiar with their work prior to WWE have likely quickly learned what they are all about. It will be exciting to see how they use this victory as a springboard to further success.
Io Shirai (c) vs. Mercedes Martinez vs. Toni Storm for the NXT Women’s Championship
Result: Io Shirai wins by pinfall
Grade: B+
Another great match at NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day. You had to know with the talent of these three women involved in the match, we’d be in store for a treat. And we were. So many fans ended up rooting for Mercedes Martinez to pull off the upset, because she delivered another top-drawer performance in this Triple Threat.
Martinez had a couple of close calls and hit some big moves. She popped me a little with her casual evasion of Io’s moonsault to the outside before then tossing the champ over the barricade.
But in the end, Shirai, arguably the best wrestler in the entire world inside that squared circle, retained her NXT Championship. She did so after it looked like Toni Storm would score a pinfall victory on Mercedes Martinez. Io moonsaulted in to break up the pin, and she got the 1-2-3 on Martinez to seal yet another successful title defense.
It was the correct booking decision on WWE NXT’s part, and it leaves us with plenty to think about heading into the next episode of the Black and Gold brand. As it stands, the most likely next match for the title would be Storm vs. Shirai after Storm was protected from a pin.
Another highlight of this wonderful match was Io taking it to the skies with another high-risk move, crossbodying off a great height onto her two competitors. It’s amazing how much Io puts her body on the line in each of her title defenses, and not only is it exciting, but it also serves to put over just how much holding this prestigious championship means to a wrestler.
Finn Balor (c) vs. Pete Dunne for the NXT Championship
Result: Finn Balor wins by pinfall
Grade: A+
So we have an early Match of the Year contender!
I cannot say enough about the job Finn Balor is doing right now as the NXT Champion. Every single match of his feels like both a war and a chess match at the very same time. The psychology of Balor’s matches has you gripped on the edge of your seat, to the point where you are terrified of the hard-hitting nature of the vicious moves themselves and also of the very panic that Balor might indeed lose the title on this night.
The suspense and violence of Finn Balor vs. Pete Dunne was off the charts. I was hooked by the technical wrestling between the two of them at the beginning. It was smooth, painful, and teasing. And it was all purposeful. Each hold felt like it mattered and was part of a calculated game of strategy from two athletes on the top of their game. And it all led to a furious sprint at the end in which both men threw everything at each other, knowing only their absolute best shot would win the day.
In the end, Finn took home the honors, ripping out the mouthguard of Dunne before delivering the Coup de Grace and 1916 to put the result beyond all doubt. Dunne is one of the best wrestlers in WWE in his own right, but as the champion, Balor is operating at a level that is miles above what anyone else is doing inside the ring. I love that in his second stint in NXT, he can show his technical quality to a different degree and do actual psychology-based wrestling to an audience that fully appreciates it.
There was one last thing to close the show that has HUGE ramifications. Adam Cole attacked Kyle O’Reilly. The Undisputed Era just might be over.