Sunday, August 22nd, 2021
Capitol Wrestling Center
Orlando, Florida
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Million Dollar Championship Match
Cameron Grimes vs. LA Knight
So Grimes apparently has Ted DiBiase in his corner now. Grimes goes for the Million Dollar Dream early on, but Knight is able to escape before he puts it on. The action spills outside and Grimes hits a few kicks, one with an assist from DiBiase. Grimes hits a boot to the face of Knight on the apron. Grimes goes up top, but Knight takes out his leg and he falls to the ground. Grimes tries to make a comeback, but Knight catches him for a powerbomb and a 2 count. Knight takes out the legs with a dropkick of Grimes after another attempted comeback. Knight hits an inverted Attitude Adjustment, but Grimes is able to kick out. We get some nice back-and-forth between the two and it leads to Knight leaping up to the top rope and hitting a super German suplex with Grimes being flipped over with the release. After a kick out, Grimes is able to slap on the Million Dollar Dream. They go for the WrestleMania VIII Bret Hart/Roddy Piper finish, but Grimes is able to kick out and still hold onto the hold. Knight is able to drive him into the turnbuckle to break the hold and then heads outside to grab his title belt. The referee tries to get him to drop it, but Grimes hits him with a kick to the head. DiBiase hits him with a right hand on the outside and then puts on the Million Dollar Dream. Grimes hits the Cave-In and is the new Million Dollar Champion. This was a lot longer than I was anticipating, but they delivered a strong match. Grimes is really just an enjoyable talent.
Match Rating: ***1/2
NXT Women's Championship Match
Dakota Kai vs. Raquel Gonzalez
Raquel has really improved in the ring, but she just lacks the personality to be a top tier character. Gonzalez starts off hot with lots of tossing the smaller Kai around. Kai tries a high crossbody off the top rope and Gonzalez catches her and rolls through and throws her on the top turnbuckle. She then hits another fall away slam. Gonzalez runs up the turnbuckles, but Kai trips her up and hits the Yakuza Kick. Gonzalez is knocked out, but she's out of the ring. I'm not really digging Dakota Kai's new look. I feel like her old look really defined her. Kai's offense doesn't last long and Gonzalez hits the Vader Bomb for a nearfall. Gonzalez hits a pretty vicious looking sit down powerbomb, but Kai is able to kick out. Gonzalez drops Kai onto the top rope and she falls onto the elevated entrance ramp. Kai is able to hit a top rope double stomp, but we're in full blown kick out of everything mode here. They battle up in the turnbuckles and Kai hits a nice kick to an upside down Gonzalez. Gonzalez hits a chokeslam off the second rope and gets the pinfall victory. This was actually quite a bit better than I expected. I wasn't sure what exactly to expect, but this was a nice match.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Kay Lee Ray's music hits and she stands there as we go into an Applebee's commercial.
NXT United Kingdom Championship Match
Ilja Dragunov vs. Walter
Walter feels like the one guy on the roster right now that could leave for AEW and not get lost on the roster. I'm definitely lower on Walter than the majority, but he is the type of wrestler you desperately need on your roster. I never got around to watching the original match, so I'm not really sure what to expect. We get lots of mat wrestling to start off, with Dragunov playing the plucky underdog. The action spills outside and Walter hits a powerbomb to the apron. Walter tries to put on a sleeper hold and just ends up to hit a German suplex. Walter puts on the Boston Crab and then switches to the STF. Dragunov is somehow able to hit a back body drop, but Walter fights back with a suplex. Walter hits a big boot, but Dragunov is desperately trying to fight back. He ends up hitting a big knee to the jaw to slow Walter down. Dragunov is snapping and hits a German suplex. Dragunov hits a stomp dropkick off the top rope and then a senton off the top rope. He goes for a running forearm, but Walter catches him with a sleeper hold and into a suplex. Dragunov is back up and hits him with an elbow to the back of the head. That was pretty cool. Dragunov is treating this match like the match of his lifetime. Walter goes up top, but Dragunov hits a superplex. Dragunov is now upstairs and hits a missile dropkick. Walter comes back with a dropkick and then a powerbomb for a 2 count. Walter hits another powerbomb and then hits a top rope splash, but somehow Dragunov kicks out. That probably should have been something that he doesn't kick out of. Dragunov again fights back, but even in this story, it's a little bit too quickly for my taste. He gets on the back of Walter, but Walter climbs the ropes and drops him on his back. Dragunov again puts on the sleeper. Dragunov then hits a series of blows to the back of the neck and then puts on the sleeper again and gets the quick tap out. I did not expect that at all. I know the world is in love with Walter, but this match was mostly Dragunov here. That was one heck of an individual performance, even if I had a few complaints on the selling. Walter's 870 day reign is officially over. Where will he go from here?
Match Rating: ****
Cameron Grimes cuts an emotional promo and DiBiase gives a babyface response handing out money to Grimes. Grimes then says there will be a million dollar celebration on Tuesday night.
William Regal walks up to Samoa Joe and tells him that he is biased and is rooting for Joe.
Two-Out-Of-Three Falls Match
Kyle O'Reilly vs. Adam Cole
The first fall is a standard match and they start things off right away. O'Reilly gets in some high impact blows, but Cole comes back with a leaping knee. O'Reilly hits a spinning clothesline and goes up top. Cole catches him with a superkick on the way down. He goes for Panama Sunrise, but O'Reilly blocks it and reverses it into a pin attempt and gets the early lead at 1-0. Cole is in disbelief, as we are now into street fight rules. O'Reilly puts a trash can on Cole and seats him in a chair. O'Reilly runs off the apron and hits a vicious looking dropkick. That was pretty awesome. Cole is back with a steel chair and rams it into the ribs of O'Reilly. Cole has the kendo stick now and keeps attacking the ribs. He rolls down the knee pad, but O'Reilly sees it coming, so Cole hits him again with the kendo stick again. He hits a backstabber and gets a 2 count. They hit 3 simultaneous boots and both men are down. They start battling on the ramp and O'Reilly throws Cole off the stage and into the barricade cage. Cole sets up two chairs, but O'Reilly is able to counter. Cole though throws O'Reilly on the top of the two chairs to win the second fall. We are now to the steel cage fall, as the medical staff checks on O'Reilly. Cole doesn't even wait for the cages to come down and hits a powerbomb onto the table. Once again the medical staff is checking on him. O'Reilly is fighting back pretty quickly and hits a few running knees into Cole into the cage. He hits a knee to the back of the head and both men are down. Cole comes back with a low blow and starts climbing the cage. Both men are standing on the top rope and O'Reilly gets crotched after a left hand to the jaw. Cole then hits Panama Sunrise, but O'Reilly kicks out. The crowd didn't seem to buy that nearfall. Cole brings out some handcuffs and slaps them on O'Reilly. Somehow O'Reilly puts on the heel hook with one hand and Cole taps out? I'm not sure I love that finish. I get making O'Reilly look like a star, but that seems a little unbelievable even for wrestling. The rest of the match was very enjoyable, but a little less than what I was hoping for.
Match Rating: ***3/4
Dragunov is backstage and says long live the czar. Legado del Fantasma tells Hit Row that they're going to take care of them Tuesday night.
NXT Championship Match
Samoa Joe vs. Karrion Kross
I really like Samoa Joe, but with the exception of him just destroying Kross, it's going to take a miracle for me to be heavily invested in this match. Joe starts off quickly to show us he still has it. Kross hits a boot and puts on an ankle lock that must not be that effective because Joe kind of no sells it. Joe hits a dive through the ropes. After Kross has me looking at fantasy football rankings, Samoa Joe has a nice burst of offense. Unfortunately, it's short lived and we're back to Kross again. Joe hits a kick to the head and then the Muscle Buster and we have a new NXT Champion. I didn't really think they would do that, but I think the majority of the fanbase isn't going to be upset with that one. They only gave them 12 minutes also, which I didn't expect. Again, I'm not complaining. This wasn't bad, but just was nowhere near everything else on the card. It feels like they've pretty much given up on Kross though. After how strong they made him look at the last TakeOver, he loses clean and with no smoke and mirrors. Good for Joe.
Match Rating: **1/4
This was another strong TakeOver, but probably in the bottom half overall. Everything was entertaining up until the main event. It wasn't bad, but it felt like a TV main event. They honestly should have probably just put on Walter last, because there was no way that they were going to be able to follow that or the Cole/O'Reilly match. This was an easy thumbs up for me though and a definite recommendation.
Overall Rating: 83%
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