Sunday, June 13th, 2021
WWE Performance Center
Orlando, Florida
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Todd Pettengill is introduced and welcomes us to In Your House.
Winner Takes All Six Man Tag Team Match
MSK & Bronson Reed vs. Legado del Fantasma
This match has a lot of potential to be incredible. We get the fast-paced beginning that you would expect from these guys. Bronson gets tagged in and Escobar decides to tag out. Reed uses his size and power to dominate his opponents and that leads to a triple team senton splash from Reed. I don't even know how people feel about them, but I love MSK. We get the cliched aerial assault from all six guys that I could probably do without and it ends with a Reed suicide dive. Fantasma does a nice heat segment with the constant tags leading to somersault elbows in the corner. Reed does a double Samoan Drop, but why in the world did Wilde get on his shoulders? Escobar somehow hits a Michinoku Driver on Reed, but Carter makes the save. Wes Lee then makes an awesome dive to break up a pin attempt on Carter. Escobar is on the outside making funny faces and Reed just steamrolls him through the barricade. MSK hits some fantastic double teams and Reed hits a top rope splash for the victory. That was a really awesome opening match that probably could have used a few more minutes, but it still delivered the goods.
Match Rating: ***3/4
Mercedes Martinez vs. Xia Li
I feel like I can't remember the last time I saw either of these ladies wrestle. Li drives Martinez into the ring post early on and tosses her back in the ring. After a dropkick knocks Martinez out of the ring, Li misses with knees and hits the post. Martinez goes on the offense and shows off some rage. She hits a nice Razor's Edge into a Dominator for a nearfall. Boa gets involved, but Martinez isn't having it and continues the attack. Back in the ring though, Li hits a beautiful spin kick and that is all? Um...wow? I did not expect that one to be as quick. They were having a nice match, but it's hard to kick into the next level when it's that short. After the match, Li goes to attack Martinez with the chair, but she kicks it away and then wails on Boa. Up next is Li and she wails away. Apparently Tian Sha is the Fiend of the women's division and she tries to intimidate Martinez. She no sells Martinez and tosses her off the ring apron. Obviously there is more to come here.
Match Rating: **1/4
Ladder Match For The Million Dollar Championship
LA Knight vs. Cameron Grimes
Grimes is such a good example of a guy who got over by staying the course and committing to his character. Grimes pulls out a hurricanrana, but it allows Knight to grab the first ladder. We get a ladder duel and it leads to Grimes delivering the big boot to the face of Knight. Grimes drives Knight into the barricade with the ladder from the apron and then delivers a big kick. Knight is able to fight back and shows off to DiBiase. Back in the ring, Grimes hits a German suplex into the ladder, but he telegraphs sliding the ladder into the crotchal region. It ends with a brutal looking neckbreaker on the ladder standing on it's side. Grimes hits a big back body drop onto the ladder and Grimes is trying to make his comeback. He then tosses Knight over the top rope onto a ladder set up on the ring and barricade. Grimes heads out to the stage and grabs the gold ladder. Knight meets Grimes up on the ladder, but Grimes shoves him off. Knight immediately tips the ladder and knocks Grimes off. They start battling outside and Grimes climbs a ladder. Knight lands on one of the pillars and then leaps off of it for the big spot of the match. The cameras do a poor job of not getting off both competitors, as you could immediately see them talking to one another. That definitely took away from the moment. Grimes climbs the ladder, but Knight comes in and tips him over and onto another ladder in another big spot. Knight climbs the ladder and grabs the Million Dollar Championship. I expected Knight to win here, as it just makes sense for a heel to carry this title. We'll see what they do from here. This was a good ladder match, but not anywhere near the top.
Match Rating: ***1/2
We get some more Pettengill shenanigans and more brawling backstage between the main eventers.
NXT Women's Championship Match
Ember Moon vs. Raquel Gonzalez
Moon explodes early on giving Gonzalez everything she has, but all it takes is a brief Dakota Kai distraction for Gonzalez to take over. Gonzalez impresses with some nice offense. Moon is finally able to get Gonzalez off her feet with a big forearm. Kai again gets involved, so Moon hits a suicide dive onto Gonzalez. Moon goes up top, but Gonzalez meets her up there and hits a superplex. Moon counters the one-armed powerbomb into a nearfall. We really need to cool it on the frustrated reactions after nearfalls. Moon counters a suplex into an Eclipse. She then hits a Codebreaker off the second rope. She heads up to the top rope and hits the Eclipse. Kai tosses Gonzalez's leg on the rope to break the pin attempt. Out comes Shotzi Blackheart and she attacks Kai and brings her to the back. Moon hits a tornado DDT onto the entrance ramp. Moon goes for another Eclipse, but Gonzalez catches her. We get a little bit of a sloppy spot and it leads to Gonzalez hitting the one-armed powerbomb for the victory. They worked hard here, but Gonzalez never really felt like she was in jeopardy to me and it just felt like more of a TV main event.
Match Rating: **3/4
We get some Karate Fighters and Dexter Lumis is Pettengill's opponent. We also see more of the brawl between Dakota Kai and Shotzi.
Fatal 5-Way Match For The NXT Championship
Johnny Gargano vs. Pete Dunne vs. Kyle O'Reilly vs. Adam Cole vs. Karrion Kross
After the four challengers battle first, Dunne is the first to face Kross and he's tossed out. O'Reilly is up next and he gets hit with a kick to the head. Gargano now is next and he gets suplexed. Cole sneaks in and takes Cross down with a low dropkick. Dunne then drags Cole out and the other three attack him. They are doing everything they can to put Kross over here, but I'm still not feeling it. The action spills outside and Kross gets thrown through the door of the house set. Gargano tosses Dunne into his opponents in the corner. Kross is back and he starts dominating again. Things start picking up with Gargano doing what he does best and he gets a nearfall on Cole. Dunne and Gargano hit some awesome combo moves. I'm not sure what's up with them hyping up the largest crowd thing when it's such a small crowd. All five men are down now after a hard hitting sequence. Kross is the first man up and he starts firing up some German suplexes. O'Reilly and Cole work together and powerbomb Kross onto the table and it somehow doesn't break. The other four men start brawling and I can't help but think about how much better this match would be without Kross. Gargano and Cole hit a double superkick on Dunne off the top rope, but I don't agree with Dunne kicking out there. That was one fall that absolutely needed to be broken up. Cole hits Panama Sunrise on Gargano but Dunne pulls him out. Dunne invites Kross into the ring and he gives Kross everything he has. Kross puts Dunne in the Kross Jacket, but Dunne works the fingers to get out. Gargano hits One Final Beat on Dunne, but then gets put in the Kross Jacket. Cole breaks it up and then O'Reilly attacks him. O'Reilly hits a top rope knee drop, but he gets hit with a superkick from Cole. We get a double submission, but O'Reilly is fading and he releases his hold. The referee calls for the bell and Kross retains. Why would you have O'Reilly take the loss there? Also, I'm done with Kross as champion. For me, it's time to move on. This was a great main event, but probably not in the top tier of TakeOver matches just because the bar is too high.
Match Rating: ****
If a TakeOver isn't nearly flawless, it's on the bottom of the rankings. This was another up and down show, but still extremely enjoyable. It was bookended by two action-packed matches, but I was a little let down with the middle three matches. This show definitely gets a recommendation, even if it wouldn't be at the top of the list for NXT. Somehow, it keeps seeming like I didn't like this show, but I swear I did!
Overall Rating: 79%
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