We’ve got ourselves another marquee NXT event tonight, folks! Karrion Kross has come in with a big fanfare but tonight it’s put to the test against one of the brand’s biggest stalwarts in Tommaso Ciampa! 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!
Karrion Kross vs. Tommaso Ciampa
Ciampa went directly from his so-called final match with Johnny Gargano to this. As he was begrudgingly admitting Johnny was the better man, he was attacked from behind by Kross in what was the latter’s first on-screen appearance in NXT. Karrion and his manager Scarlett were part of a lengthy series of dramatic vignettes warning that doomsday was coming. They’ve certainly made a big impact on arrival and have maybe the best entrance in NXT history, but we’ve only seen so much of Kross in the ring. This is truly his first big major match and that’s an interesting thing to consider.
In NXT they don’t usually do this. Often when a new big signing comes in, they actually don’t put them on TakeOver right away, or if they do it’s a quick and easy win. It’s very rare that they immediately go after one of the big guns like this, and Ciampa is for sure one of those big guns. This is because they typically don’t have new people beat the stars right away, but they also don’t want to undercut them by having them take a major loss right out of the gate.
That puts them in an interesting spot here because it’d be a bit anticlimactic if all that fanfare just lead to Kross up and losing his first TakeOver match. Something that should be considered though is that Ciampa considers himself to be in his twilight years. He’s suffered major injuries that have likely shortened his career and at 35, he’s looking at his legacy a lot these days. He probably is getting to the point where putting over newer (albeit not necessarily much younger) guys like Kross just makes sense.
It’s probably bold one here but I actually think I’m gonna predict Karrion Kross to get the upset here.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get TheOvertimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
