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NXT Takeover XXX – Keith Lee Sacrificed at the Altar of Karrion Kross

, tA long Saturday night of pro wrestling is nearly at an end, but the best could be yet to come. There's still an NXT Women's Championship match and a showdown between Keith Lee and Karrion Cross for the NXT Championship. Welcome to part 3 of our NXT Takeover XXX report.

NXT Takeover XXX Report – Part 1

Samoa Joe shills for WWE Supercard, then Drew McIntyre joins the commentary team. He says he's gonna kick Randy Orton's ass tomorrow. Then he predicts Keith Lee will win against Karrion Kross tonight. We see Kross warming up backstage. Then a video package for the NXT Women's Championship match. Dakota Kai comes out first with Raquel Gonzalez. Io Shirai comes out.

Dakota Kai vs. Io Shirai – Women's Championship Match

• Shirai goes hard after Kai at the start, but a distraction by Gonzalez lets Kai take control.
• She works Shirai over, concentrating on her left arm, for a long time.
• Shirai finally hits a palm strike that gives her some momentum. She hits her offense: 619, springboard dropkick, double stomp, and another on the apron.
• But Kai reverses a pin attempt into an arm bar and starts kicking Shirai in the head.
• That only makes Shirai mad. She fights back, but Kai hits a scorpion kick. She misses running big boot, and Shirai hits a couple of bullet train knee attacks.
• She goes up for the moonsault, but Kai blocks her. Kai tries for a superplex, but Shirai fights back and hits the double stomp on Kai in the tree of woe. But Kai kicks out.
• Kai hits the Kai-ropractor on Shirai and then locks in another armbar. Shirai makes the ropes with her foot.
• Kai hits the GTK kick on Shirai, but Shirai gets her foot on the rope. Kai goes for a big boot but hits the ref, knocking him out. Shirai hits the moonsault but the ref can't count.
• Raquel Gonzalez attacks Shirai and then drapes Kai over her. But Shirai still kicks out!
• Shirai gets a crossface on Kai, but Kai rolls out. Shirai knees her in the face. Kai rolls outside, and Shirai hits a moonsault onto her and Gonzalez. Then another moonsault in the ring gets the win.

It's hardly surprising to anyone that this was a great match, unlike the last one. Gonzalez attacks Shirai after the match, but Rhea Ripley comes out to make the save. Ripley and Gonzales stare each other down in the ring. Gonzalez backs off and leaves with Kai.

Video package for the return of NXT UK. It's happening mid-September. I guess I'll have another show to recap. Cesaro is seen in the audience. Damian Priest is accosted by McKenzie Mitchell in the parking lot. He has a hot tub set up back there. He pops a bottle of champagne and jumps in the hot tub with two babes. Uh… Okay?

Video package for Kieth Lee and Karrion Kross. Karrion Kross and Scarlett come out first, followed by Keith Lee. This is the main event.

Karrion Kross vs. Keith Lee – NXT Championship Match

• Lots of big strikes from Keith Lee to start this thing and after losing a few exchanges, Kross rolls outside.
• Lee follows, and they brawl at ringside. Lee breaks one of the plexiglass barriers. It's back and forth, but Kross gets the best of it and injures Lee's left arm.
• Kross works that arm in the ring for a while. And by while, I mean the majority of the rest of the match. Kross is focused on that arm, and Lee has no answer for Kross's submissions.
• That is until Lee picks Kross up and hits the Spirit Bomb. Lee is too hurt to even try to cover, though.
• Lee does get in some offense now, but nothing that comes close to putting Kross away, and Kross continues to shut him down. Lee looks absolutely exhausted while Kross is barely selling any sign of fatigue.
• Lee tries to hulk up, but Kross suplexes him instead. Kross gets the Kross Jacket on Lee. Lee nearly passes out, but at the last second, before the ref ends it, he wakes up and crawls for the ropes.
• Lee makes one more attempt to fight back. He hits a headbutt that rocks Kross and then another Spirit Bomb, but Kross kicks out. Lee drags Kross into the corner and starts climbing the ropes, but Kross stops him. Kross climbs the ropes too, and they fight up there. Kross hits a saito superplex and gets the pin.

Pretty good match with a clear story being told. The story is that Kross is simply unstoppable, which has been his story since his debut. It was strange to see Lee, normally so dominant, essentially helpless in this match. I wonder what's next for Lee. Presumably, a redemption story against Kross, but if so, then what does that do for Kross? If not Lee, I don't know who in NXT can be a credible contender against Kross the way he's built up.

Takeover XXX was pretty good. Quite a few good matches and the main event had an interesting ending. Not quite as interesting as Dynamite, though, which I felt was the stronger show overall, even though Takeover was a PPV. Dynamite set up a lot of stories for the future and advanced some angles, and Takeover did less of that. In particular, Lee's loss seems to be an abrupt ending to what was a mega-push that was just getting started. From becoming the first double-champion in NXT history to getting squashed in a month. That's quite a trajectory. But Saturday Night Wars aside, both shows delivered tonight. Tomorrow, we see if SummerSlam can do the same.

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