Was NXT TakeOver 31 The Worst TakeOver Yet?

Over the last few months, NXT TakeOver events have lost a lot of the hype that once made them the premier show to watch on the WWE Network, though that same comment can probably be said for NXT as a brand.

Since the debut of AEW: Dynamite, NXT has suffered from a dip in ratings and general interest, despite the meteoric rise of Keith Lee, the return of Finn Balor and various feuds that would have originally been considered the hottest in the industry.

It’s a shame to see the once great show fall so far in such a short amount of time. It’s not like they’re doing anything too drastically different, but fans are just waning on the brand and the general sentiment towards them is now one of apathy. I’ve kept tabs on the show, and have regularly tuned in around TakeOver events to stay up-to-date on the latest happenings. The most recent made me quite pumped to see NXT TakeOver: 31, with UE’s Kyle O’Reilly stepping out of the shadows to face NXT Champ Finn Balor in the show’s main event.

Outside of the main event, however, there wasn’t much to raise your eyebrows at. Damien Priest defended the North American Championship against Johnny Gargano, the latter’s partner challenged Io Shirai for the Women’s title and the Cruiserweight Championship was finally getting some TakeOver exposure in a match that felt like it had been done many times over. Regardless, I’m always ready to be surprised by NXT, like we all have been many times in the past. Unfortunately, I wasn’t.

The show as a whole felt sluggish and incredibly unimportant in the grand scheme of things. No championships changed hands, the matches didn’t have that ‘wow factor’ that makes you suddenly think of Dave Meltzer’s star ratings and the overzealous crowd kind of left an air of cringe throughout the preceding. Thankfully, the main event between Balor and O’Reilly did manage to reward my anticipation with a fairly decent match that told a great story on both parts and made O’Reilly look like a future singles star. The ending, however, totally let it down.

Who even is Ridge Holland and why is he closing out a TakeOver? Yes, he’s looked pretty dominant since debuting in NXT UK, but pushing a guy like this too early is only going to lead to negative reviews. Since the Peaky Blinder wanabe made his first appearance in the US, he’s squashed a couple of nobodies to no real effect. For him to suddenly target the Undisputed Era and treat former NXT Champion Adam Cole like a ragdoll is a massive jump in expectation. It left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth; very WWE-like of them.

That wasn’t the only shrug-worthy moment. Following Shirai’s victory over Candice LeRae, two superstars made their re-debut, presumably jumping the queue of contendership and putting their name in the hat for the next TakeOver. Firstly, we had Toni Storm, the former NXT UK Women’s Champion who is now officially trading brands. I’m sure this has been on the cards for a while, but with COVID keeping the majority of their stars landlocked it put a lot of that on hold. Fair enough.

I was a little confused at first, having spent the last few days surmising who the mysterious NXT Insurgent could be. Assuming that all this time the NV-goggle wearing former champion was spouting about ‘Toni Time’, I was a little let down. It felt very anti-climactic, to say the least. Luckily, NXT then jumped back to that concept and brought out yet another former champion in Ember Moon.

This was a pretty cool return, but ultimately came a forgettable moment. The commentators barely hyped up ‘The Shenom’ and allowed her return to be met by crickets from the crowd that WWE employ to make them look good. Perhaps it would have been a little more effective if they hadn’t shown Storm on the screen a few moments prior. Either way, it was a lot to process and felt very rushed — definitely not their best return skits.

With the landscape of NXT remaining exactly the same as it did prior to TakeOver: 31, there’s not much to really be excited about at the moment. Really, the only thing that excited me going forward was the announcement of the return of Halloween Havoc, which may lead to the return of ‘The Demon King’ or something equally creepy. I personally believe 31 will go down as one of the most inconsequential and worst TakeOver events to date, one that probably could have been kept to a stacked few weeks of NXT TV to help bring in a few wins in the ratings war. Sorry, Kyle, you deserved better.

We need something to restore some of our faith in the NXT brand, for now I see it as a dying star in the WWE Universe. It’s time to shake things up around here.

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