What NXT Got Right and Wrong at TakeOver: Vengeance Day

Right: MSK winning the men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic

By virtue of Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan being the NXT Tag Team Champions, MSK winning the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic made the most logical sense.

Wes Lee and Nash Carter made their debut in the tournament as the overnight sensations, managing to topple Jake Atlas and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Drake Maverick and Killian Dain, and Legado Del Fantasma to make it to the finals.

In a story of heart and grit, the newcomers thwarted The Grizzled Young Veterans’ second attempt at claiming the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic trophy. With youth, agility, and excitement on their side, MSK is well on track to becoming a key fixture in NXT’s loaded tag team division for years to come.

It’s hard not to imagine them as the favorites to capitalize on their tournament win by taking the titles from Burch and Lorcan.

Right: Shirai retaining, Toni Storm avoiding the pin

If you had to pick NXT’s 2020 MVP, the correct and only answer is Io Shirai. Clocking in at over eight months as NXT Women’s Champion, Shirai is strengthening her case with each passing day as one of the greatest champions in the title’s overall well-booked history.

Mercedes Martinez’s return to NXT was a welcome surprise and while it was hard not to get behind her as the aggressive veteran, her taking the pin in this match was the right call.

Toni Storm’s entire attitude change has been rooted in the pursuit of the NXT Women’s Championship. Storm’s finals victory over Shirai in the most recent Mae Young Classic has been wisely tied-in to signal Storm as the biggest threat to her reign thus far.

Whether it happens on NXT or is saved for the next TakeOver, Shirai vs. Storm will likely center around the fact that Storm was well on her way to victory at Vengeance Day before Shirai swooped in the last-second to score the winning fall.