The pre-show featured the first match of the night as three tag teams competed for the right to challenge Imperium for the NXT Tag Team Championships.
Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza represented Legado del Fantasma against Breezango and the duo of Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan.
Mendoza and Fandango kicked things off, but it only took about 10 seconds before all six men were getting physical with one another. Breezango took control early thanks to Fandango's being the biggest competitor in the ring.
The match lasted about 10 minutes, so we saw a lot of quick sequences without much time for rest or recovery between them. After several close calls, Tyler Breeze scored the win for his team with a Supermodel Kick.
Grade: C+
Analysis
The pace of this match was a little quicker than it should have been out of the gate because of the short time they were given on the pre-show, but that doesn't mean the match was bad.
All six competitors had a moment to shine as they moved from sequence to sequence. There just wasn't enough time for anyone's offense to have any lasting effects.
Fandango was one of the most active wrestlers in the match, and it was great to see him being taken seriously as a veteran competitor instead of being treated as a comedy character.
If this match had five to 10 more minutes, they could have let the big moves stand out more and made this match even better.
The first match on the main show was a clash of styles, as the submission specialist Thatcher took on the striking expert Balor.
The Prince was not intimidated by Thatcher's size advantage and rushed him as soon as the bell rang. Balor even outwrestled him at one point to lock on an armbar.
They kept things technical for the first few minutes with a lot of different holds and transitions. It was a nice display of Balor's technical ability against a man known for being one of the best grapplers in NXT.
As soon as he took control, Thatcher started putting Balor through the wringer with a variety of different holds that stretched every limb on his body to its limit.
Balor landed hard on his left leg when he missed the Coup de Grace, and Thatcher seized the opportunity to put him in a single-leg Boston crab. The Prince barely made it to the ropes to force a break.
After countering several different holds, Balor put Thatcher away with a Coup de Grace followed by a 1916.
Grade: B+
Analysis
The difference in styles between these two competitors made both men adapt. and it led to a fun, competitive contest that made both of them look good.
Thatcher's submission skills are second-to-none. He put on a clinic during this bout by using holds that punished every part of Balor's body. It was old-school in the best way.
The Prince used his strikes when he could, but he also kept up with Thatcher when it came time to bring it back down to the mat.
This is one of the few cases where a match might have benefited from being shorter. Some of the sequences began to feel repetitive toward the end. Other than that, this was a solid performance from two gifted wrestlers.
As expected with a five-man ladder match, this bout started with all five men going at it right away. Velveteen Dream was the first to go for a ladder, but Grimes was there to send him into the steel steps.
Johnny TakeOver tried to set up the ladder, but he was stopped by Priest and Reed. Dream and Priest used the ladders in some unique ways to take out the other competitors.
At one point, Reed crushed all four opponents in the corner with a few ladders between them. From this point forward, the match turned into a series of big spots. Every Superstar had their moment in which they came close to winning after taking out everyone else in the ring.
Candice LeRae ran down to prevent Grimes from winning. She ended up beating the tar out of him until Gargano helped her deliver a hurricanrana from the apron. A few moments later, Reed crushed Gargano with a splash while he had LeRae on his back.
It looked like Dream had the match in hand as he climbed the ladder toward the end, but Reed sent him flying off it. Gargano almost had his hand on the belt, but Priest knocked him down and claimed the title.
Grade: A
Analysis
When you stick five talented wrestlers in a ladder match like this, they are going to put on a fun show. This was no exception.
One of the things NXT does so well is it gives every wrestler in a contest of this nature some time to shine. Even though only one man can leave with the title, the other four all came out of this match looking good.
Even after almost 30 years of ladder matches, the stars of WWE keep finding unique ways to use the weapon to punish their opponents. We saw several things in this match that have never been done in a WWE ring before.
This bout would have killed with a live crowd in attendance. It had some great action and a few surprising moments.
The leader of The Undisputed Era faced a unique challenge Saturday night as he took on former NFL kicker and WWE correspondent, Pat McAfee. They have been slowly building their feud for a long time, but they stepped it up in recent weeks as they prepared for this fight. Surprisingly, McAfee has been a good antagonist.
Cole sent his teammates to the back so he could stand by himself while McAfee had his cronies with him ringside in an attempt to intimidate the longest-reigning NXT champion in history.
They started with a basic collar and elbow tie-up and Cole applied a headlock that he locked in deep. McAfee broke free and used a leapfrog to get out of the corner. He was proud of himself but almost ate a superkick a moment later.
A standoff with McAfee's crew led to the rest of the UE coming out to stand by Cole. The Punter took out everyone with a shocking dive from the top turnbuckle.
Cole spent a few minutes on defense before he started throwing hands. Somehow, the kicker was able to kick out after a fireman's carry neckbreaker and a backstabber. He even hit a perfect backflip from the top turnbuckle before leaping back up to the top rope and hitting a superplex for a close two-count.
Cole used the steel steps to take out his kicking leg before he locked McAfee in the Figure Four. He escaped and kicked Cole below the belt while the ref was distracted. He lined up and punted Cole in the head for another near fall.
Cole hit the Panama Sunrise, and McAfee sold it beautifully to cap off one of the best celebrity matches we have ever seen in a WWE ring.
Grade: A
Analysis
Cole has been a heel for his entire run in NXT, but this feud may be the thing that turns him and the UE into babyfaces, especially since McAfee has been playing the bad guy the entire time.
McAfee did not take this match lightly. He came prepared and ended up surprising a lot of people by finding ways to realistically keep himself alive in a fight against someone with a lot more experience between the ropes.
It's always risky to bring a non-wrestler into a match like this, because you never know if they can handle the pressure. Not having a live crowd may have helped McAfee settle in and enjoy himself as a performer.
His athleticism was some of the best we have ever seen from a celebrity athlete in a wrestling match. Anyone who doubted McAfee's commitment was eating a slice of humble pie after this bout. Even if this match was graded on a curve because McAfee isn't a trained wrestler, this would have earned a high mark.
The women's title was on the line as the rhyming opponents Shirai and Kai engaged in a battle that has been in the making for several weeks.
The Captain of Team Kick took control early, but the champ rebounded and took her down with a dragon screw leg whip.
When they took the fight out of the ring, Kai used the ring post to hurt Shirai's elbow. The challenger slowed the pace and began punishing her with anything that would damage her arm.
Shirai found her second wind and began to make a comeback, but the New Zealand native almost made her tap out with an armbar. The Genius of the Sky hit her trademark moonsault, but the referee couldn't make the count after being knocked out. This gave Raquel Gonzalez a chance to interfere.
Once he recovered, the ref counted to two before Shirai kicked out. She took out Kai and Gonzalez with a moonsault before hitting Captain Kota with a second for the pin and the win.
Rhea Ripley came down and confronted Gonzalez to prevent her from attacking Shirai after the match. The powerhouses stared each other down before Gonzalez left with Kai.
Grade: B
Analysis
These women are two of the tentpoles of the NXT women's division. Their feud has been built up in a satisfying way, and they have made every interaction feel important to their storyline.
This match had a lot of amazing TakeOver encounters to live up to. It might not have been the best women's match we have ever seen, but it was a solid performance from two stars with bright futures.
Captain Kota was especially good as the heel. Shirai is the kind of Superstar who is hard to root against, even when she is supposed to be the antagonist. It was smart for WWE to have her move away from her villainous persona without changing too much about her character.
Giving Gonzalez her own feud against Ripley is a good way to make her more than just Kai's enforcer. We will see where it goes from here.
The main event of TakeOver 30 saw Lee defend his NXT Championship against a man who has been almost unstoppable since his debut, Kross.
When the ref called for the bell, Lee ran right at Kross and knocked him down with a shoulder tackle. Doomsday tried to come back with a flurry of strikes, but The Limitless One backed him up with his own series of lefts and rights.
Kross had to retreat out of the ring to recover before he took control. He put Lee against the plexiglass, but the champ was the one who sent him into the barrier. Kross kicked the guardrail into Lee's arm to finally get the advantage.
The challenger kept him grounded with a few submissions that focused on Lee's injured arm. It took a long time before Lee was able to hit a powerbomb to give himself a little breathing room.
They went back and forth with power moves and clubbing blows for the next few minutes. The challenger applied the Kross Jacket submission, but Lee refused to go down without a fight.
They both ended up on the top rope as Lee prepared to hit something big. Kross turned it around on him and hit a huge suplex for the win to become the new NXT champion.
Grade: B-
Analysis
It's always risky to give a new Superstar a big push and then immediately put them into a high-profile feud with a top champion. That bring said, Kross was up to the task.
Lee is a great champion and the perfect opponent for a guy like Kross because he can match his power and intensity. What Kross gave up in size, he made up for with speed.
The middle portion of the match was a little slow. It was mostly just Kross keeping Lee down with various forms of a hammerlock and armbar. It allowed Kross to show off his technical prowess, but it brought the match to a screeching halt for a couple of minutes.
They picked the pace back up but were never able to reach the level we all know these two are capable of getting to. If they have another encounter down the line, it will likely outshine this bout by quite a bit. On a side note, it's a little disappointing to see Lee's reign end so quickly.
