Mia Yim vs Bianca Belair
Following their first bout three weeks ago, this was a great rematch. Yim and Belair both have big personalities and are both physically strong so they’re able to play off each other well. The ring psychology was great here too. This is the only secondary women’s feud currently and the ladies killed it.
Winner: Mia Yim
Grade: B
Purple Shade
Velveteen Dream is one of the best talkers and users of theatrics currently in WWE. I absolutely loved this hype up package for the match between him and Tyler Breeze at Takeover.
Grade: A+
The Champion and her backup
Shayna Baszler’s confidence is one of the things that draw me to her. She comes off very much as an unaffected monster and I like it.
Not Graded
Kushida vs Drew Gulak
I adore submission moves and this was a whole submission move buffet! I genuinely didn’t know who was going to win. A haven of matt-based wrestling showed us exactly why Gulak is one of the best talents on 205 Live. I would’ve preferred a more definitive win than a glorified backslide, but perhaps we can get more matches between the two.
Winner: Kushida
Grade: A
Candice has Io’s back
I wonder if Candice LeRae and the other horsewomen will actually get into it at Takeover. This could be an interesting dynamic!
Not Graded
Undisputed Rematch
I have to give all the props to the production students behind the video packages. This hype up for the upcoming NXT Championship match was awesome!
Grade: A
Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan vs The Forgotten Sons
The actual wrestling match, despite its short length, was really good. I love to watch Lorcan and Burch knock people’s heads off. But the chaos between all of the teams involved in the championship ladder match was fantastic. This is going to be an insane match and I honestly don’t know who I want to win. Having the Undisputed Era stand tall after all their issues the past couple of weeks was a nice touch.
Winner: No Contest
Grade: A
Final Thoughts
This was a great go-home episode for the upcoming Takeover event. The match card looks solid and should produce some bangers as always. I do think we need to implement some more secondary women’s feuds in the future, however. It’s been a while since we had more than one women’s match at a Takeover.
Overall Grade: A-
