We’ve got ourselves another marquee NXT event tonight, folks! Damian Priest is shooting his shot at becoming a major headliner when he goes up against a legend of the black and gold in Finn Balor! This TakeOver is a rather unique one bringing back a branding I’m not sure anyone ever expected… it’s NXT TakeOver: In Your House! It’s cute and nostalgic in some ways, but it’s also a name that basically translates to being lesser than a regular PPV. I mean seriously that was the whole idea back in the day. Perhaps they want lower expectations than usual for this, the first and maybe only TakeOver of the pandemic era. Still the card looks as strong as just about any other so let’s get into the previews!
Finn Balor vs. Damian Priest
Weeks ago, Finn Balor was meant to take on the Velveteen Dream in a singles match – something that may well be followed up on in the future – only to be taken out of the bout thanks to a backstage assault from a mystery attacker. Finn searched angrily for his assailant only for him to reveal himself with a nightstick assault that cost him a match with Cameron Grimes. The one and only Damian Priest has targeted Finn, purely because of Balor’s storied history in building NXT and TakeOver in particular. Priest wants to build his own legacy at Finn’s expense.
Priest is one of those guys, are there are a lot in NXT, where it’s a little hard to tell exactly what level they want them to reach. Going into this match, Finn is very much on a level above him and has generally been portrayed as a major star since his return to NXT late last year. They have been working on his gimmick a fair bit over the past few months with him getting a signature weapon of a retractable nightstick over and he’s certainly done his part in the ring as well. In theory they could pull the trigger here, have him beat Finn and make it the catalyst that turns him into a main event heel.
It’d be quite the changing of the guard if we had Priest go up against Velveteen Dream for the NXT title on the next TakeOver… but I can’t help but think the opposite is a little more likely. Finn/Cole feels like the big Summer destination feud to me and it’s felt that way for a while. Balor over.
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