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NXT Takeover XXX – Counter-Programming AEW Saturday Night Dynamite

In the very first battle of the Saturday Night Wars, NXT Takeover airs on the WWE Network opposite AEW Dynamite, which was preempted for the NBA Playoffs. AEW put on a killer episode of Dynamite that stuck the landing as well as any wrestling show I've seen in the past few years. How will NXT Takeover XXX stand against it? Let's find out.

NXT Takeover XXX Report – Part 1

Before NXT Takeover XXX proper starts… there's a pre-show match tonight. After all, there's an episode of Dynamite on tonight, and WWE has got to counter-program, after all.

Breezango vs. Lorcan and Burch vs. Legado del Fantasma – NXT Takeover Kickoff Match

• The winners of this match will get a shot at Imperium for the NXT Tag Team Championships.
• The NXT tag team division is… not very deep right now. So the teams competing are Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, Breezango, and Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde.
• It's a triple threat, and it's basically chaos—lots of flippy shit.
• Tyler Breeze gets the pin after a superkick.

There's no way Breezango are becoming the next tag team champions, so this match seems pretty meaningless, but what can you expect from the kickoff show, especially when it was just added at the last minute to screw with AEW. In any case, it's time for NXT Takeover XXX.

A very aggressive "we are NXT" video starts off the show and then a video package for the event set to Metallica's Moth Into Flame. Vic Joseph and Corey Graves are the on-site commentary team for tonight. Beth Phoenix is there via skype or whatever. They've made some changes to the set to make it unique for Takeover XXX. There are three big Xes at the top of the ramp.

Finn Balor comes to the ring first, followed by Timothy Thatcher. The opening bout gets underway.

Finn Balor vs. Timothy Thatcher

• This is a grudge match because Thatcher caused Balor to lose his second chance match for the North American Championship on NXT on Wednesday.
• The start of the match is a grappling contest, with Thatcher has the advantage in. Finn puts forth a good showing, though.
• Balor manages to dump Thatcher to the floor, and that lets him get in some kicks, but Thatcher goes right back to working Balor's leg.
• That goes on for a while until Balor makes a very brief comeback.
• Thatcher then transitions to stretching Balor's arms and neck.
• Actually, he's pretty much working every body part. Back, ribs, you name it.
• Balor finally gets a real comeback. They trade blows for a while, and both men end up knocked out and lying on the mat for a while.
• Balor hits his usual offense and goes for a Coup de Grave, but Thatcher rolls out of the way.
• Balor sells his leg after the move, and Thatcher gets a half crab on him. Balor pretends he might tap then crawls for the rope break.
• After a few more exchanges, Balor tries for Coup de Grace again, but this time he hits it. He sells the leg but still picks up Thatcher for the 1916 DDT and the win.

This was a good, straightforward match to start the show. Better than the kickoff match, for sure. Balor needed a win after getting punked throughout the qualifying matches, but at the same time, Thatcher really didn't need this loss. Oh well.

Keith Lee and Mia Yim ae seen walking outside, Bayley and Sasha Banks are seen in the crowd, wearing masks. We get a video package for the five-man ladder match. We'll find out how that goes in the next part of this NXT Takeover XXX report, so click down below to read it.

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