Brad addresses the fact that the build for TakeOver 36 hasn’t been great. But more often than not TakeOver’s pay off, right? Right??

6. This is a lackluster Takeover. They can tell me it’s the BIGGEST EVENT IN NXT HISTORY, but I know better. No North American Title match. Neither of the tag titles will be defended. No Gargano. No Ciampa. I’m struggling to care about most of the matches. But it is NXT, the Black & Gold Standard, so I’ll reach deep to find a way to care.

5. Karrion Kross versus Samoa Joe If you’re like me and think Kross sucks biggity balls, I got twoooooo words for ya: Hoss Fight. Kross can’t work a match beyond eight minutes. This should be eight action packed minutes of two large men running into each other at high speeds. I’m hoping they let Kross do what he does best, which would thankfully mean a short & sweet match. 

4. Adam Cole versus Kyle O’Reilly I’m not sure how or why this feud has continued. It’s been five months of each guy giving the same promo. There have been no new layers added. As far as trilogies go, they want this to be Ciampa-Gargano, but it’s not even close. Knowing this will finally be the end excites me. It’s time for something new for both men.

3. Cameron Grimes versus La Knight I’m excited for everything Grimes does. He gets it. He has IT. He is must watch TV. He’s a backwoods savage. He’s a hillbilly millionaire. He’s a butler. Everything he’s done has been great, and despite the fact that he’ll be in the ring with Knight, I’m confident he’ll deliver. 

2. Dakota Kai versus Raquel Gonzalez Of all the matches at Takeover 36, this has had the most logical and consistent build. It’s a simple story. Kai brings in Gonzalez. Kai turns on Gonzalez. Kai wants to prove she’s main event. Gonzalez wants to prove she’s great on her own. Throw in a championship belt. What’s not to love? I’m a Dakota Guy.  

1. WALTER verus Ilja Dragunov The first six months of 2021 saw Dragunov laying out the most compelling story in all of wrestling. The loss to WALTER pushed him to the edge of insanity. His battle with that demon was gripping. That has since been watered down with everything from respect to preserving the purity of the sport. Despite the half-assed storytelling, it’s still easy to get excited about these two trying to top their first encounter in front of a live audience. And if you’re a gambling man, Las Vegas has the over/under at the number of times the announcers reference brutal/brutality at 44.