Hello everyone. Here are my thoughts on tonight’s NXT TakeOver Portland that took place:
NXT TakeOver Portland Review
⁃ Poppy the band performs briefly to open the show. Good stuff
⁃ Keith Lee def. Dominic Djakovic to retain the NXT North American Championship:
Fun match to start the show. Generally, I’m not too fond of two big guys wrestling, but they made it work. What’s funny is how Keith Lee has the palm of the crowd in his hands. Never underestimate how charismatic he is.
⁃ Dakota Kai def. Tegan Nox in a Street Fight:
Solid match between the two ladies. Lots of emotional moments between the two. At the end, Dakota Kai wins after interference from Raquel Gonzalez putting Tegan Nox through a table. Wished the match was longer
⁃ Finn Balor def. Johnny Gargano:
The first half of the match was a little slow and felt a little lackluster. I can’t fault them since they had to follow two really good matches. Luckily, it got better and finished strong.
⁃ Rhea Ripley def. Bianca Belair to retain the NXT Women’s Championship:
Decent match. Felt a bit lackluster compared to previous matches, but not a bad match. After the match, 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble winner Charlotte made an appearance and announced she will face Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Title at WrestleMania
⁃ The BROserweights (Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle) def. Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) to become the NEW NXT Tag Team Champions:
Fun match overall. Lot of close moments where it looked like a title change didn’t happen, but it happened.
⁃ Adam Cole def. Tommaso Ciampa to retain the NXT Championship:
Tremendous main event. Both guys brought their A game for this match and it looked like a title change was gonna happen, but it didn’t come into fruition. After several interferences from Undisputed Era, the key factor was Johnny Gargano turning on Ciampa. At the end, Cole retained
Overall, it was a fun NXT TakeOver show.
Grade: A-/B+